90%

First of all thank you too everyone for reading the first part of the Blog. I had some great feedback and it was good to get everything out via a Blog.

The last time I wrote anything was at school, I can remember it vividly. We were asked to write a story about a man who was falling from a building and we had to write about his life that flashed before him. It’s ironic because that’s how I felt when I was told I had Bowel Cancer, the feeling of dread is quite overwhelming once you hear that word.  As the days went by though I quickly realized the prognosis was good, and I have a 90% chance of making a full recovery all because I caught it early(check your poo!!!).

So, back to the story on 21^st of January Dawn and I set off to the Hospital for a CT scan to see if the cancer had spread. I was called into a room where the nurse prepped me by inserting a canula into my arm to administer the drug that goes into my veins, this highlights the Lymph Nodes so they can see if the Cancer has spread into them. The nurse informed me I would also need to drink a Barium Meal. This shows up the stomach and bowel for the CT scan. It needs to be drunk over the hour before the scan.  I had noticed a small plastic cup that I presumed was for the drink, easy I thought it’s only a small cup east I thought I soon knock that back. Then she handed me a 1 liter container of what turned out to be an orange flavored thick chalky milkshake style goo, that did actually take a good hour to force down.  Back in the waiting room the others waiting for scans and drinking that drink winced with every sip as I did, there was definitely no gulping going on. The scan was over in a few minutes and apart from a feeling of nausea when what ever was in the drip was administered, but that soon went.

We were told it would be three days before my tests came back and it was going to be a long three days, luckily on the Monday, L(I’ll call her) the Colorectal Nurse Specialist rang me to tell me that the cancer  hadn’t spread.  To say it was a relief is an understatement of the highest order. I rang Dawn straight away give her the good news, it was the best news we had had over the last couple of weeks and we now knew there was a light at the end of the tunnel.

The next appointment was to see Mr T(not that one) the consultant. He was straight forward and professional as expected and explained in full where the tumor was and what the operation involved. Apparently he’s very well thought of and is at the top of this particular field, good to know in in good hands. Actually the NHS have been fantastic so far letting me know what’s going on as regards results and getting me quick appointments, keeping me in the loop etc. Mr T also explained the op would be keyhole and I’d have 4 small incisions as well as a larger one to remove the affected tissue.

The same day we were introduce to the  Research Practitioner for the Oncology Clinical Trials Team, also L so ill call her L2. I was asked If I would like to take part in the Foxtrot trials, an international research study of drug treatment for bowel cancer. I had already come across this on a web search for my condition and thought if asked I would take part. On the trial you are put into the computer and one of three courses of treatment are prescribed. I am going to be having Chemotherapy (Oxaliplatin) intravenously  for six weeks which consists of two courses three weeks apart, alongside that a course of Chemo tablets (Capecitabine), eight tablets a day for two weeks then a week off them before the second course of treatment. The plans changed slightly when my Oncologist decided to put me on a more intensive course of treatment as originally it was three courses of chemo before the op. Anyway three weeks after the last chemo  I go in for my op, and after that I’ll be on another course of chemo for 18 weeks.  So hopefully that will be that, sounds easy and barring any complications I hope it is, but as with everything so far we will have to take what comes, and we are definitely not taking anything for granted.

Yesterday 14^th January I went in for my first course of Chemo, there were quite a lot of other people in the waiting room and again I had one of those moments where it all becomes very real and quite daunting on what’s in front of me. But saying that it seems everyone there is just getting on and coping, it was quite a nice atmosphere really. Two lovely ladies were constantly walking round offering tea anc]d coffee, biscuits, toast, sandwiches etc. The nurses were great too all full of smiles, which is always a good thing in a hospital situation.

The nurse plugged me in as it were and the drug took two hours to go in. no real issues with it although it was very sensitive around where the needle went in and I had bad pins and needles on and off throughout, nothing major though. The worst thing about all of it was having the big plaster near the needle taken off, IT WAS REALLY BAD, excruciating what with my hairy arms. I am definitely shaving them next time, I might get some funny looks but I am not going through that again. God knows why women get waxed they must be mad.

So finally I’m at home and Dawn is looking after me. Not feeling to bad at the moment either. I had trouble sleeping last night so feeling tired today and a bit lethargic, but I’ll try and not have a nap today as I did yesterday, I don’t think that helped. My arm is still a bit sore and sensitive bit its nothing really. I’ve not had any side effects as  yet, and  no dashes to the loo for emergencies from either end(sorry). I’ve had the first dose of the chemo tablets this morning and am just waiting to see how I go with them. 

I’ve rang work and informed them I’m available to work for the next two weeks and hopefully that will be the case. So its onward to the next treatment, I hope the the cancer is enjoying the Chemo HA!!!

Thanks again for reading .

In the begining.

Hi, my name is Dave, and can I first point out that all grammar mistakes are my own, blame my teachers.
The only place to start is at the beginning, but first I'd like to thank my brother in law Martin. I had thought of doing a Blog a couple of weeks ago mainly because I was a bit fed up of telling everyone the story so far. The other reason is so I can go into more detail if need be and hopefully that way I wont miss anything important out. Martin said to me the other day"have you thought of doing a Blog about everything that's going on, well that was all the encouragement I needed and here we are. I'm typing at an incredible 10 words per minute so, if anything it will give me something to do while the family watch Dancing on Ice. I'm no writer either so bear with me.

Once upon a time there was a man called Dave, no that's rubbish.
Sorry.

Right I'm Dave 45 years old Married to the lovely Dawn, two fantastic daughters Aimee(12) Emma(10) nothing strange or out of the ordinary about that. Normal job, usual stresses and strains that go with the average family life, were just getting on with getting on, until everything is turned on it's head when I discover to my absolute shock and horror that I have bowel cancer.

Three weeks before Christmas 2012 I discover blood in my poo and some discomfort in my belly/stomach. Now it really isn't like me to go to the doctors I thought ah it'll be OK everyone has a bit of blood in it now and again. also the fact I was working in Scotland for a couple of weeks gave me the perfect excuse not to go. By the end of those two weeks the bleeding had stopped anyway but thankfully those adverts were still being played on the radio and I new something wasn't right. so on returning home I made the appointment at the doctors and was booked in to see him the same night. I thought nothing of it and went along expecting him to say "Oh don't worry its nothing, if its stopped having blood in it, whatever it was has probably cleared up" and that would be that. What I didn't expect him to say was "take everything off from the waist down, and lie on your side with your bottom facing toward me". My worst nightmare was about to happen, but to be honest it wasn't that bad, I just kept thinking about my poor doctor having his tea that night, having faced the horror that is my backside. A quick check of my stomach and that was it, he said he couldn't feel any mass which was good news to me even though I still thought I was going to be fine, nothing to worry about. when we sat down the Doctor told me he was going to refer me to the hospital just to make sure. looking back I was and am very lucky, it seems this isn't done in all cases like mine and some patients are sent away and asked to come back if symptoms persist.

So the after Christmas I was booked in to see Mr T (no, not him) at my local hospital on January 9th, he's the consultant who's dealing with my case, if that's the right word. I wont call any medical staff involved in my story by their proper name just in case, not that anyone has done anything wrong, its probably for the best that's all. so I told him all about what had been going on and yes you've guessed it, he examined me too, but again this really is nothing to worry about if you are worried about that kind of thing. Again he found nothing strange, but after a few questions he decided to send me for a Colonoscopy. Now even at this point I was still not unduly worried, after looking on the Internet I had managed to convince myself I had Irritable Bowel syndrome maybe Colitis.

As with Colonoscopies I was required to take Moviprep to clear my bowels, and Boy oh boy did they clear my bowels. I was a little worried though because after taking the two lots of Moviprep I had not had so much as a fart for a good 5 hours , but rest assured in the next two I more than made up for that and have never moved as fast in my life. Id have given Mr Bolt a run for his money over 20 feet, in slippers.

January 21st came and I find myself at the hospital with Dawn this time for the Colonoscopy, I was nervous but was still convinced id be getting diagnosed with IBS or colitis not that that a good thing to have, but at least I would know it was nothing worse. After the usual questions from the nurse I was given a gown and then wheeled into the room where the procedure would take place. As I was prepped I was surprised to see I had full view of the screen and furthermore of my bowels, now this was going to be interesting, how many people get to see inside there own body, cool. So in the camera went and the screen showed my innards in all there glory. it was a little uncomfortable but apparently I was sedated so apart from once or twice it wasn't too bad. The nurse said "if you feel any discomfort its because they have pumped some air into the bowel to make it easier to  see whats going on< feel free to break wind, that'll ease it". Easy for you to say I thought, you haven't got a camera shoved up your arse. I asked how far the camera had gone in and the guy in control said about a meter, that was a shock!. everything looked OK to me until that is a red and white bloody mass showed up on the screen "that doesn't look good I said" as the room fell quiet. "I'll come and see you when your dressed he said, and with that was taken back to the cubicle. That was when I knew it wasn't IBS or Colitis or anything else for that matter, it was Cancer, the big C. He came to get me and asked if anyone was with me, I called Dawn into the room. don't say it, don't say it I was thinking. but he did "there is no easy way to say this Mr Stout, we have found something and it is Cancer. Its located in the Colon just above the rectum, but we will need to do a CT scan to find out exactly where it is and to see if it has spread".

I think my first thought was I'm going to die, then what about Dawn and the girls, then despair but mainly I was numb and dumbstruck, so was Dawn. We sat in the car park for a few minutes but I cant honestly remember what we said. I said I need to go to my mums to tell her, we hadn't told any one we were going to the hospital. At her house I walked in knowing this would be one of the hardest things I would ever do. I told her, she cried Dawn cried, we hugged. I didn't cry and am to this day yet to cry, I don't know why but I'm sure I will at some point as I go on this journey. Anyway I told her everything, sat for a while and left not quite sure whether to tell the girls. We then drove to Rob and Jenny's house Dawns Mum and Dad who were just as shocked but offered there full and unequivocal support." you'll be fine Dave You can fight it"

Lastly it was on to Dawns Sisters Nicky and Martin, our brother in laws house. I told them, again shock and support. The girls were upstairs playing with there cousins Anna and Molly. I called them down, now this WAS the hardest thing I've ever had to do, bar non. Its hard to go into detail as its hard to remember what happened, all I seem to remember is Aimee's tears welling up and the look on Emma's face . I still don't know if it was shock or the fact that she couldn't take it in or if she didn't understand. They went back upstairs after I had reassured them I was going to be just fine after an op. At this stage I didn't know exactly what the treatment would be. all I knew is that I would need an operation at least as well as some chemotherapy at some point.

The next thing to do was to call my three brothers and over the next day or so I rang my closest friends and other family members. I don't know why but I felt the need to tell them myself and let them know everything I knew, I just thought it best that everyone knew the full facts and they didn't hear it from someone else and jump to conclusions.

I think that'll do for now, my eyes are sore form this marathon of typing and grammar mishaps. sorry about them but I did go to a really bad school. I did try honest.

Stay tuned for Part 2 coming soon.