Tuesday 20th October 2009

Saw my oncologist today, and it's not entirely good news I'm afraid (with a healthy dose of English understatement ...)

The results of my recent scan have showed that the last two cycles of chemo haven't really had much of an effect, and actually things have got a little worse since the scan before. There are signs of new growth in the liver, and expanded growth in some lymph nodes.

Whilst this is not major growth, it puts paid to any further treatment with these chemo drugs as it shows that the body has formed a tolerance.

As it stands there are no further treatment ideas on the table, although there will be further consultation amongst the experts just in case. This means that at this stage they are now firmly focused on managing symptoms and letting this thing run its course. Given the voracity displayed so far, I guess this means that I'm unlikely to see out next year. Of course nothing is set in stone, but based on the aggressive nature of the cancer so far, I have to be realistic.

The plan now is to have another meeting with my oncologist on December 15th and to see how things have progressed by then, and then to decide whether another scan is appropriate or not.

In the meantime, I'm going to have to get used to being worried by every little pain or sensation - whether it is normal or a symptom of something worse. I'm already a little concerned that these abdominal pains I still have are not just muscular. I hope they are, and if so I know that this type of muscle pains take a while to recover as you are using the muscles all the time, but I do hope they clear up soon, as it is now over a week since they started.

Anyway, not good news overall, but I'm not ready to give up yet - there's plenty more fun to be had!

thanks for listening,

Col x