We arrived back in South Africa on 21st June. It was good to be back, but I knew something was not quite right with my body. Just after Rowan's Wedding, (while we were in the villa in the south of France) I started to get really tired & had to go for an afternoon siesta every day. However, alarm bells didn't start ringing until we went to the waterpark with all the family. I then went for a bird walk around the lake but only managed around 300 m before I suddenly got very tired indeed. The ground was flat but I could hardly put one foot in front of the other. I knew then that all was not right with me.
Going for my liver biopsy.
So we arranged an appointment with our local doctor who referred me to the local hospital. There I underwent two CAT scans & an MRI. These revealed that I had metacystic colon cancer, which had travelled to my liver. I then underwent a liver biopsy just to make sure & this confirmed that the cancer was also in my liver. The stage was 4 A, so my outlook is particularly poor.
Metacystic cancer cannot be cured, treatment happens in order to prolong life. I then got all my medical papers together & a course of chemotherapy was started in Nelspruit. Both Delana & I decided that Sabie Park would be our best place to be. Nice & quiet & yet with wildlife all around us.
My chemotherapy course was an infusion every month for six months, which was conducted in the hospital & took around six hours. Whilst undertaking the infusion I felt reasonably OK but shortly afterwards it really hit me hard: chronic fatigue, loss of balance & really feeling terribly ill all the time. The other side effect was constant diarrhea, which really drained my energy levels further & in the first month I lost 15 kgs in weight. I was also on a course of oral chemotherapy for three weeks, then a week off before the whole cycle begins again.
Clare flew out for a week to help look after me. It was great to have her around & she really helped a lot with nutrition etc. Delana as usual had been wonderful & basically did everything for me for the first couple of months. Sometimes when I was suffering my back was giving me a lot of pain & I could hardly move around. Other times I couldn't speak or eat anything. Eating or trying to eat was a real problem for me. Everything tasted like mud & made the diarrhea even worse. It was a very hard time in my life.
After the third cycle the oncologist decided to warm the infusion to room temperature instead of the much lower, colder temperatures used previously. This seemed to lessen the side effects considerably. The doctors ( I have two) are very kind & explain everything to me. However, I don't believe they have been totally honest with me regarding the side effects. Go & live your life they say! This is while I can hardly walk, have chemo fogged brain & feel totally terrible all the time.
As the chemotherapy has
progressed, the side effects have diminished somewhat & I now can walk a
little & enjoy a bit of birding. I finished my course of chemo a couple of
days ago & so far have enjoyed two good days. I go for another CAT scan
on 27th November to see if the course of chemotherapy has done
some good & reduced the cancer.
I received relatively good news from my results on 27th. The two large tumors on my liver & colon had shrunk dramatically & there was no further spread into my lungs, lymph nodes or kidneys. Good news indeed! I had a chat with the doctor & we scheduled a PET scan in Cape Town on 6th December. This will determine if I can have an operation on my liver to remove the tumor. If it is just one tumor in one place then the operation is on, but if the tumor has spread in several parts of my liver then there is no point in operating. The liver operation will significantly alter my prospects of living a little longer. Fingers crossed!
We drove to Cape Town from Pearly Beach on 6th December. We arrived at the hospital early, but they managed to fit me in before my appointment time! Nice! I had two radioactive isotopes infused in my body & waited an hour for it to take affect. Then it was into the PET scanning machine which was no problem at all. The scanning lasted about 20 minutes, then I left the hospital with the promise of my oncologist in Nelspruit getting the results in two days time. And that is exactly what happened! Very efficient!
The results of the PET scan were far better than I could have reasonably expected. First, the tumor on my liver has ben reduced to scar tissue & it appears that the cancer is no longer active there. This will be confirmed by another MRI scan later. This also means that I no longer have to have a liver operation. Second, the tumor in my colon has reduced by a further 1.2 cm, which means that it can now be removed by an operation. This will take place in Pretoria by surgeon Haynes, the same person who conducted my liver biopsy. This operation will take place sometime in January. I also feel a lot better in myself. I can now walk properly again & go birding. I have a much more normal life these days. I still get very tired from the oral chemotherapy & sometimes feel dizzy, but in general I am OK.
We are in Pearly at the moment & this means I can take gentle strolls around the village & foreshore. Sea watching is also possible from the veranda. Looking forward to Clare coming out for a week over Christmas.
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