Hi All,
I've just had the follow-up meeting with my oncologist, and have also shared the address of this blog with her (hi Jo!), and I think the information I got confirmed my usual feeling of "Good news with a healthy dose of uncertainty".
I had a few concerns and questions that I wanted answering and they were all covered. In particular, the recommendation is for no further treatment at this stage. This decision is based on a lack of evidence that post-operative chemo (or radiotherapy) actually has any real benefit in these kind of situations.
I'm ok with this. There is no evidence at the moment that there is still any cancer in me, so it would therefore be impossible to measure whether any chemo had been effective, and based on the fact that there is little evidence that the pre-op chemo was particularly effective it would just seem like putting myself up for a possible bad experience for absolutely no reason.
In the meantime, my oncologist does want to send my tumour sample to a pathologist who specialises in endocrine tumours just for a second opinion on the histology, and this might throw up something which might mean a different approach, but otherwise, this means that my next follow-up will be with the surgeon in three months time.
Going forward, I will probably have the option of having regular scans if I want, but the advice is actually not to have them as they can be counter-productive. The stress caused by waiting for the results of a scan may outweigh the benefits. Apparently there is little advantage to catching a re-emergence early, over catching it later. Apparently the body is very good at indicating a re-occurence - if it comes back, you will just "know" anyway.
As you may have noticed from this blog, I'm pretty good at not worrying or stressing out about stuff unless there is something actual to worry about, so apart from a few wobbles in advance of the surgery, I've been pretty stoical about all the meetings and results that I've waited for during this whole process, so I'm not sure the argument above applies to me.
The question is really - if it is going to come back, do I want to know as soon as possible, or do I want to maximise the period of blissful ignorance? Interesting philosophical/psychological question! I need to put a bit more thought into this one!
One thing is for certain, I'm not going to spend the rest of my life worrying about the rest of my life!
No point! As soon as my diet is sorted, I fully intend to get on with things 100% - back to work, back to travelling, back to gigging and maybe a few other projects on the side. Which leads me to my latest "hair-brained" scheme ...
Many of you know that I like my cars and am long overdue to replace mine. The general idea is to get a two-seater for fun, and replace my Audi with a van for the band gear at some point (rather than the compromise of a big cruiser like my S8 which serves the purpose of being fun, but also having a big boot).
My latest idea is rather than go out and buy a sporty number, I would like to build one. This would be cheaper than a production car, but also more satisfying as a project.
Having seen a few of these at Le Mans in previous years, my heart is currently set on an Ultima GTR. The World's fastest production car from 0 - 100 - 0. Faster than a Ferrari Enzo or McLaren F1, yet fairly practical (will go over speed bumps etc) and a 20th of the price. I reckon you don't get much more fun than that!
Of course this is a bit of a pipe dream at the moment, and probably won't come to fruition, but I'm struggling to see a reason why not to do it - what better excuse do I have after all? If I'm not going to live out a few dreams now, when am I? :)
Check out the pic below, and the website (click here) and see what I mean ...
Ha ha! :)
Cheers All!
Colin x
Monday 30 March 2009
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11 comments:
Hi mate,
Glad to hear things look positive Col. Sad to see that you fancy a yellow sports car during mid life. Hey grow a pony tail, buy a harley and keep on cruising and be done with it. ;-)
My advice is to buy the coolest VW camper van (immaculate and done up) that money can buy and then have the best of both worlds in one car. It takes me back..... aaahhhh
All the best mate.
Al & Em
I think it will be blue, not yellow, but otherwise you're right! :)
Nothing wrong with a yellow sports car......we love our 'Turbo Charged Custard'!!
Annie
hi col,
well it all sounds like great news which must be such a relief for you.
Must say i think you should just cut to the chase and go for the harley too!! If you're gonna do mid life crisis you might as well do it properly!!
I have had the sports car, the harley and the camper van over the years and the one i am left with is the camper! Not glamorous at all but great for impromptu weekends away...and then there's always a boat?? now, thats a thought!! lots of love alison
Glad to hear the positive news!
"Hair-brained" my arse! You have to do it. Built a Caterham in the late '80s with a friend and his brother and it spent more time on track embarassing far more exotic machinary than it did on the road!
Plan to do it again soon with my son - you'll get such a buzz building it although the Caterham route is easier than Ultima as you get everything you need brand new without the need to source engine and gearbox. Will send through the build manual so you can get an idea of what is involved.
How's your weight coming along?
Andy T
Excellent news Colin and good to hear the positive outcome of the meeting with Jo.
I ran a Harley dealer for 2 years, so if you're interested in scratching that itch (if indeed you have one) let me know. My bruv has a RS500(?) Caterham - as Andy says they're a hoot.
It doesn't strike me you need much convincing to do it, and just in case you do take a peek at http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&hl=en-GB&v=ji5_MqicxSo I view it ever now and then to give me a kick-up the arse. TTFN jb
That'll be the R500, current Top Gear car of the year and track record holder. In such a car weight is key hence question of how your weight is going ;-)
Andy and Jeremy and Alison etc,
Sorry, a Harley is not an option. I personally don't get them. Why so much for something so slow?
Anyway, my biking days are over since I gave away my Zephyr 750 - I'm definitely looking for something more dry and usable.
Unfortunately that also rules out the Caterham. Just too little room inside, and just too impractical. I know the Ultima is not much better, but the small amount better (solid roof, aircon etc) makes all the difference.
There is also the element of rarity. Caterham's are somewhat common, whereas you don't see too many Ultimas out there.
Camper Van? Actually, I thought about a modern camper instead of the van, so I could sleep in it at "away" gigs. I took a look at the prices and a new one is over 40 grand! I couldn't believe it. You can get a six berth RV for less than that (too big for what I want)! Old VW's are just too slow/cold/leaky/basic/swervy.
Colin,
Can I just remind you of that moped (C70?) of yours that you stripped down in the kitchen and left on the table for 4 years before you threw it in the bin!
You'll need a much bigger table for this! ;o)
Please note that this is the first time I have left a comment here, as Krishna has only just told me how!
Ade x
Ade ...
Hmmm. Fair point. I was hoping no-one remembered that!
However, as I said at the time, the reward has to be worth the work, and I just couldn't motivate myself to complete the restoration of what would have still been a Honda C70 at the end of the day! :)
And, he who lives in glass houses ... didn't you ship an Enfield Bullet all the way back from India to restore, only for it to rot to pieces in the back garden? :)
Tee Hee, Colin
Colin,
Been a while since I posted, but have been snooping in the background and keeping up with you.
Now cars, have you seen this http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-uk/www/cars/ULTIMA/Ne-2-4-5-6-7-8-27-44-49-53-61-64-67-103-133-146-236,N-240-4294961806/search.action?showMoreOptions=&formSearchParams=Ne%3D2%2B4%2B5%2B6%2B7%2B8%2B27%2B44%2B49%2B53%2B61%2B64%2B67%2B103%2B133%2B146%2B236%26N%3D240%2B4294961806&make=ULTIMA&model=&min_pr=&max_pr=&referrer=quick&postcode=ch74ea&radius=1501&e_min_pr=Ne%3D2%2B4%2B5%2B6%2B7%2B8%2B27%2B44%2B49%2B53%2B61%2B64%2B67%2B103%2B133%2B146%2B236%26N%3D240%2B4294961806%2B15&e_max_pr=&ukcarsearch_full.x=21&ukcarsearch_full.y=11 2 for sale on Autotrader, have the dream today.
As for building looks like your C70 experience will need to be improved on for an Ultima.
If you want to try out a caterham, feel free to come over to my 'van (Great big static) on Angelsey as I am only 5 miles from Ty Croes (Fifth Gear Track) and there are regular track days where you can hire someone elses caterham.
Serious offer...
AXB
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