Thursday 15 November 2012

The Cancer Rollercoaster.

As promised this afternoon Mr Smith called and gave me the results of the MDT meeting regarding the possibility of surgery. They say yes!!! well that's one hurdle passed he will send a FAX to refer me back to mr George at Guys for an appointment to see if he will take on board this surgery. As he was very positive about doing it in January i am hoping that things haven't changed too dramatically and that he will agree to go ahead. It is odd to feel so pleased that such an invasive surgery is going to be completed, up till now the tumours have not made any real impact apart of course from the operation i had back in Aug 07 but i bounced back from that to carry on as normal until now. I don't somehow feel the same will apply to this, but already i am experiencing changed in bowel habit and period like twinges and back ache due to my current situation.


Mr Mark George / Consultant General and Colorectal Surgeon

Mr Mark George qualified form St Mary's Hospital in 1991 and is a specialist in advanced primary and recurrent colorectal cancer. His higher surgical training was undertaken in the South East London Region. His research was performed at the Royal Marsden Hospital and Institute of Cancer Research and was awarded his Master of Surgery in 2002. He was appointed as a Consultant Colorectal Surgeon to Guys and St Thomas' Hospitals in 2003 and is lead clinician for colorectal cancer. He is interested in laparoscopic colorectal surgery and is a specialist in the treatment of advanced colorectal cancer and is the regional anal cancer surgeon.

Qualifications

2002 Master of Surgery. University of London
2001 F.R.C.S. (Gen). Subspecialty: Colorectal surgery
1995 F.R.C.S. (Eng)
1991 M.B. B.S.
1988 B.Sc. FIRST CLASS HONOURS in Physics with Medical Application

Position held

President of SE London and West Kent ileostomy association
Council member, Coloproctology Section, Royal Society of Medicine
Chairman of South East London, Colorectal Tumour Working Group 2006-8
They couldn't determine a great deal from my CT in terms of the pelvis, apart from some rectal thickening, they never can, but i know that it is grumbling and will have more CT's and MRI's at Guys if he decides to operate, if he doesn't i will be in a bit of a predicament and would expect i think to experience more pain and.............. well i think this isn't even worth contemplating.
They could see my lung mets and they have grown slightly, largest being 9mm which isn't so bad and certainly not big enough to affect the anaesthetic apparently, something i had not even considered.
So now i await the appointment to see Mr George. I do wonder if having this in January would have been better in hindsight, but i guess i understand the Onco's reasons for not wanting it done, this is all a bit of a guessing game in the end.
I did what you tell everyone not to do this evening and looked up images of pelvic excenteration, not!! a pretty sight, i also noticed high morbidity rate....but i think i am strong enough to get through this.
It does though affect any plans i might have had to travel more, i don't know what the lead up to the op is so if i can get away for a week even somewhere i might look into it, trouble is most people i know can't afford to go away and i would likely have to travel alone, but i have done that before its not that bad, you meet people along the way.
i had tentative thoughts about going over to Australia to see my two cousins and family and then going to New Zealand to see my very good friend who emigrated out there only a couple of months after my op. She was the one who took the boys for me as she met me at the airport with my car, instead of a drive home she got a week full of boys, having two of her own at the time. Since moving to NZ she has had a little boy and then a girl who i have not seen yet. I also have a friend in East Timor who has invited me over to visit him, now what and adventure that! would be i could fit it in along the way, or if i could fit in a trip like that at all!! looking very unlikely.
Going away for an extended period i think would also be good for the boys and their dad. I have been saying to him recently that he needs to do more, especially whilst i am still here to answer questions and so that the boys get used to him managing things. I can't get into the ramifications of him being in the house all this time and not doing anything, it's just how it panned out, but i guess now it is better that he didn't leave and can start finding out what is is like to run hearth and home. If i were out of the way he would just have! to get on with things, but then i guess if i am recovering from major surgery this would happen anyway. Personally i prefer the first plan of travelling in order to get this into place.
This is all kind of scary in a way but not so much that i can't deal with it, just it's like another big step in my cancer journey, not a word i like to use really but apt in this context. When i had my first op i didn't have time to think about it really, on the Tuesday i discovered that the op would happen and it went ahead on the Friday! whoooooosh it was all over.
So just need to get the go ahead, i really hope that he can do it, he did say last time that as the tumour is placed centrally i am very 'lucky' as this means that he can get margins ok........so here we go another round on the cancer rollercoaster!

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