Og's Blog Pt. 02

Og's Blog Part 02 January to 19 April 2020

Copyright oggbashan (and copyright for those I have quoted)

Apart from the Author's name this is supposed to be non-fiction.

A couple of people have asked me to make a permanent record of the real-life anecdotes I had posted in the Authors' Hangout and General Board so this is the second part.

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1 January 2020

Quote:

Originally Posted by TarnishedPenny View Post

Oh, forgive me, Ogg. I forgot to give you sincere good wishes for 2020. Hopes and prayers that I'll be able to say the same thing for 2021.

That is still unlikely but as an 'anomaly' I suppose it might be possible. The previous most optimistic forecast was possibly July/August 2020.

6 Jan 2020

Today I had my fifth chemotherapy session. I had to wait 2.25 hours from my appointment time to the start. I was at the hospital from 1330 to 1900.

It is boring.

I shouldn't complain. I feel no pain from the procedure and have no side effects except losing hair on my head, but sitting that long is very frustrating. The battery ran out on my e-reader.

9 Jan 2020

Another oddity

I expected to lose my hair when I started chemo so I asked my hairdresser to cut it very short so I wouldn't block the family's plugholes.

I lost some of my hair after the first and second chemo sessions. The hair on my head and my beard thinned. My body hair was unaffected except from the pulling off of plasters on my arms after blood tests and the chemo cannula.

BUT - the hair on my head after five chemo sessions is now regrowing. That isn't supposed to happen. What is weirder is that hair is now growing on the bald patch I've had for a decade. Although short, I now have more hair cover than I've had for years.

17 Jan 2020

Another oddity:

Last night I took my wife to a restaurant. For the past decade my hearing has meant that in a restaurant with background musak and conversation I couldn't understand what was being said to me. If I put my hearing aids in, all that happened was that the background became louder and I still couldn't understand.

But last night, in a restaurant we have been to many times, I could hear my wife clearly. The musak was just as loud, as were the conversations from the others around us.

Either my hearing has improved, or my brain is processing sounds better.

Odd. But I'm not complaining.

18 Jan 2020

This morning I had a haircut and beard trim. Although my hair is still very short it is growing, even one the part that has been bald for over a decade. It was straggly in places. The amount cut was very small compared to before chemo and I had it drastically shortened before that started but why, when I lost hair after the first two sessions of chemo, is it growing again?

18 Jan 2020

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blind_Justice View Post

Just some grim and lighthearted conspiracy theory here: Maybe the chem cocktail meant to fight the tumor has some regenerative properties? You're secretly part of a pharma test group - I mean, if you're about to leave this mortal coil, you could at least partake in some on-patient research, right? Dead men tell no tales of medicinal malpractice after all.

You keep showing them, Mr. Ogg! Future generations of oncologists will read about your case and be amazed.

They do seem to be struggling to understand. I am the first ever case of Lambert-Eaton Myasthenic Syndrome they have ever had, and I don't fit the text books.

The speech therapist has already shared her recordings of my speech difficulties with her colleagues and has had hundreds of responses, most of which are WTF?

21 Jan 2020

****!

I went for a pre-chemo check today. Although most indicators are good, if not very good, my white blood cells and immune system are compromised. The next chemo session has to be delayed for a week and I have another pre-chemo check next Thursday. I already have an appointment next Thursday and we collect grandson from school that day. Timing will be critical.

30 Jan 2020

Another pre-chemo check this morning. The indicators they get immediately are all good - Blood/Oxygen still 100%; temperature OK; breathing OK; blood pressure 135/65 . I wait to see whether the blood tests show white blood cells recovering. No phone call = OK for last chemo session on Monday after CT scan on Sunday, but scan might be delayed until after chemo.

PS: Weight has gone up by one kilo since I started chemo, probably a little more, maybe a kilo and a half, since I was weighed with my coat the first time. That isn't supposed to happen either.

1 Feb 2020

Thanks for the good wishes and prayers.

This morning, I walked, with my 4-wheeled walker, to the local shops - a mile round trip. That is about my limit on uneven pavements. Around a local tourist site with well-surfaced paths, I can do nearly two miles. With my walking stick I can do about 30 yards. Without it? About 30 feet.

2 Feb 2020

Scan this morning - Yes, on a Sunday!

Parking easy, little traffic and seen on time. (I had to arrive an hour before the scan to ensure I had enough liquid, then an injection of iodine; about ten minutes for the scan and ten minutes recovery time. Scan scheduled for 11.15 and driving out about 11.40.

Last (of six) chemotherapy sessions tomorrow.

3 Feb 2020

Last of six chemo sessions today. As on previous times, they had difficulty finding a vein to put the cannula into. It took an hour before they found a machine to detect a vein and a skilled operator.

My veins are large enough and in good condition - just deep inside my arm.

Now I wait until early March to see the oncology consultant to see where we go from here. In the meantime, I see the neurology, geriatric (sorry - care of the older person!), and orthoptics specialists all of whom will say - see oncology!

If that isn't enough I go to the foot clinic tomorrow and my physiotherapist next week. I have told rheumatology I don't want an annual review of my ankylosing spondylitis which hasn't changed for a decade. That would have meant yet another long drive to a hospital outpatients' clinic to be told 'You haven't changed!' I know that!

PS: Two of the usual side-effects of chemotherapy are nausea and loss of appetite. I still have, unopened, the nausea pills given to me after the first session. This evening, to celebrate the end of this set of chemotherapy we went to a local restaurant for a three-course meal. Loss of appetite? No.

3 Feb 2020

Apparently good health? Apart from the reducing symptoms of Lambert-Eaton - unsteadiness on feet which has improved; slurred voice - I can now be understood all day long; and double vision - improving but still not good enough to drive; I don't have any signs that I actually have lung cancer.

My lung capacity is 97% but I think it is really 100% because I didn't know how to do the test; my blood oxygen is consistently 100%; my blood pressure would be great for someone a couple of decades younger than me and is fantastic for my age; all my other blood tests except managed Diabetes II are clear.

I'm stupidly fit - just dying.

5 Feb 2020

Odd

Last night I had a meal followed by a slice of eldest's daughter's birthday cake.

Yet my blood sugar reading was 4.2 - the lowest it has been for months. The cake must have affected me by the morning - 14.4. That is more in my recent normal range since chemotherapy raises my blood sugar levels.

It might have been since I walked over a mile yesterday shopping in our local city centre but I still don't understand the low reading. Neither the low or the high gives me any symptoms although I am not allowed to drive if my blood sugar is below 5 - but I can't anyway because my vision is compromised.

19 Feb 2020

Today I had an appointment with a consultant neurologist at the Ambulatory Care Clinic.

We were held up by unusually heavy traffic so I had to sprint from the car park. Not surprisingly, my blood pressure was slightly raised but not excessively so. My weight has increased since last measured by about a kilo.

The consultant was startled by my speed with my four-wheeled walker. I can do seven miles an hour on an even surface for about 100 yards before I have to slow down a bit. I need it because I can become unbalanced without warning but with the walker I am faster than my wife can walk. He is not used to patients who can move faster than him. Most are tottering around very slowly and carefully.

He can't do anything for me until oncology has finished with me but if they decide they can do no more - or - much less likely and improbable - they have eradicated the cancer - he can prescribe medicines which could alleviate or remove my symptoms but NOT while I am having chemotherapy or radiotherapy.

I will see him again in April when the oncology specialist has discussed in early March where we go from here, which depends on the results of my latest scan which I don't yet know.

20 Feb 2020

Quote:

Originally Posted by JamesMiehoff View Post

That's probably faster than I can go at the moment. I have a crushed disk in my lower back and it interferes with the signals to my legs. I can correct for it if I am walking, but if I walk too fast or try to run, one leg pushes harder than the other and I begin to wobble until I either stop or I fall over.

I used to hate running, but I would love to start doing it again, if for no other reason than to build up some stamina after three rounds of bronchitis last year. But I can't.

Jamse

I have NO disks at all in my spine and several fuzed vertebrae and haven't had disks for over 30 years thanks to Anklyosing Spondilitis. The cancer interferes with signals from my brain to my legs which is why I fall over.

But with a four-wheeled walker I can keep my balance and move fast. Perhaps you should try one. I had to choose carefully to find one that was strong enough for my weight (about 200 lbs) and could adjust for my height - still slightly over six feet despite losing inches with a twisted spine.

Many walkers are only suitable for little old ladies.

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5 March 2020

Today was crunch day - a follow-up visit with the oncology specialist after the last session of chemotherapy and a scan the day before that session.

It was to decide 'Where do we go from here?" wherever here is.

The scan showed I have NO Cancer cells; NO enlarged lymph nodes - nothing.

But this cancer is the sort that recurs again and again. While I am cancer-free now I should expect to have it again in a few months.

We decided to go for preventative radiotherapy of my chest but NOT my head which could have significant side-effects of loss of cognition. That would be five x ten-minute sessions over five days. If successful that should reduce the recurrence - for a while but the cancer will still return sometime.

As my medical son-in-law said when told by my medical daughter who came with me:

"My father-in-law has more lives than a fucking cat!"

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5 March 2020

Thanks to all the well wishers.

I'm still not really accepting that I am cancer-free for a while. That is totally unexpected by me, my family and the oncology consultant.

But it comes with a warning - it will come back probably more resistant within a couple of months.

6 March 2020

Quote:

Originally Posted by JaxRhapsody View Post

You seem fine for the most part, Ogg. At least enough to still post here, keep on keeping on, dawg.

Fine for the most part?

Apart from the reducing symptoms of Lambert-Eaton - unsteadiness when walking; speech difficulties and double vision - I am remarkably fit and not suffering from anything. Even the chemotherapy effects were only hair loss - nothing else. I'm supposed to have nausea and loss of appetite. We went out of a restaurant meal an hour or so after the first session and I enjoyed all of it.

With a four-wheeled walker large enough and strong enough for someone of my size (not easy - most are designed for little old ladies!) I can walk a mile. I use a stick around the house but now I sometimes forget it as my symptoms are mild and intermittent.

My speech? At first even my wife could not understand me by noon; now I can be understood all day long even though it can be an effort to make my speech clearish. It's not like it was when I could address a large audience of hundreds without a microphone or give an hour long talk on a variety of subjects but it is usable.

My eyesight is taking longer to recover. I have double vision most of the day and have to wear an eyepatch over one eye to type this. The neurologist thinks he might have a solution once I have stopped treatment for cancer.

The double vision means I am unsafe to drive which is the most annoying part of my symptoms. What is slightly worrying is that I pass the UK's minimal test for acceptable vision to drive - reading a number plate at 25 metres but I KNOW I am unsafe so I don't drive.

6 March 2020

Quote:

Originally Posted by EvelynEden View Post

This is fantastic news! I know we don't know each other well but I am so happy to hear of your recovery.

I don't like to think about the cancer coming back, but if it does, I would suggest having a look at fasting for chemo- my uncle went through chemo and only found that when he fasted a few hours before till a few hours after chemo- he had no problem with appetite and nausea (which you have stated not having to deal with, fortunately) but there is also evidence to suggest that fasting for chemo actually helps to protect the good cells and enhance the effectiveness of chemo, so it's worth checking out.

All the best, I hope though that this is something you won't have to worry about.

Fasting? I don't do fasting. I like my food and I didn't have any loss of appetite after chemo. I have to fast for the scan. That causes havoc with my blood sugar levels. I usually compensate by having a full English breakfast as soon as possible afterwards.

Although I have had lung cancer I have actually put on a couple of kilos. I am still historically nearly as light as I have ever been at 200 lbs. In my fit youth I was nearly 300 lbs - most of it muscle.

6 March 2020

Quote:

Originally Posted by vanmyers86 View Post

Good heavens, man - you sound like a Viking marauder!

Let's just say although I frequented some rough port areas I never had any trouble...

Drunks would take one look and try to find someone their own size.

I used to train with Royal Marine Commandos - and usually won. I beat a Marine PE instructor over a challenging cliff traverse race. His time was 28 minutes. Mine was 13.

To be fair to him, he was faster by five minutes than the next fastest Marine - but he and they were amateurs on cliffs. I was a professional as part of the county's cliff rescue team.

9 March 2020

Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers. They appear to be working.

This afternoon I saw the respiratory consultant who discharged me or six months. I'm too fit for his clinic. My blood oxygen is still at 100% as it has been all the way through and none of his other patients can even dream of reaching 90%...

Now I am remission from lung cancer he sees no reason to see me except to check in six months that I haven't had a recurrence. He expects that my improvement from the symptoms of Lambert-Eaton will improve over the next two to four months and may even disappear.

This is good news. But I still face radiotherapy shortly.

11 March 2020

Originally Posted by KeithD View Post

I'd think there were a lot of cold climbers too.

Particularly me. I was the go-to person for cliff rescues when the sea was rough because I was qualified in Cliff AND Surf rescue. If it meant going into rough sea - Og was the expert.

18 March 2020

Oncology specialist advice about radiotherapy being done asap seems sensible.

I start radiotherapy tomorrow and will be finished next Wednesday. The NHS announced yesterday that they are suspending all non-urgent treatments from 1 April but I will be finished long before then.

It would be classed as non-urgent as it is palliative only to prevent a recurrence, not to treat the cancer I currently no longer have.

19 March 2020

First radiotherapy today.

It took me longer to change into the hospital gown and out of it than the treatment itself.

They have gowns marked as small, medium, large and extra-large. The extra-large was not really large enough! It was skin tight and I couldn't do it up. Why they bother when all the treatment is above the waist? I don't know.

PS. The hospital car park was half empty and we had a choice of disabled spaces. The area outside the cancer treatment centre was littered with used fag-ends despite prominent signs saying the whole hospital site is non-smoking.

20 March 2020

After-effects?

I was warned to prepare for some side effects - reddening/soreness of the skin at the site; sore throat; stomach upset; vomiting.

So far? The only effect has been as if had eaten too much of a medium-hot curry such as Madras. That goes away when I add food - and I like food!!

21 March 2020

The second radiotherapy treatment was today. Less after-effects than yesterday. Instead of a medium-hot curry think a medium curry such as Jalfrezi.

I wonder what will happen after Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday next week - the final three sessions?

After them, all other hospital consultants except oncology have either discharged me for being too healthy, or told me not to come back for six months. Respiratory consultant says that even when I had lung cancer, I was fitter and had better lungs than 99% of his patients. COVID (Care of the older person - formerly geriatric) consultant told me to go away because with my four-wheeled walker I'm faster than him, have better blood pressure, and am far too fit to see him. Earlier this year he said 'You're too fit and healthy - just dying!' His latest version omits the last two words.

At least they assume I will be alive in six months' time, which was not the prediction earlier this year.

It must be the thoughts, prayers and good wishes from people on Literotica that have had an impact. Thank you all.

22 March 2020

I'm getting worried about the next three days of treatment. Will my hospital still be operational?

After those three days I will be staying firmly at home because I am a high risk person. But I don't want treatment to stop in the middle.

23 March 2020

The third radiotherapy went OK today and the scheduled appointments for tomorrow and Wednesday are on but times slightly altered by five or ten minutes.

The drive to and from the hospital was very quiet with much less traffic except a few obviously inexperienced cyclists wobbling all over the road.

At the hospital we had a choice of disabled car parking slots instead of my wife dropping me off while she searches for any space, anywhere.

23 March 2020

Quote:

Originally Posted by Handley_Page View Post

Thoughts & Prayer, IOgg

Thanks, HP.

They seem to be working.

The side-effects of radiotherapy?

Apart from after the first which made me feel for an hour or so as if I had eaten too much medium-hot curry - nothing, nada, zilch.

23 March 2020

Quote:

Originally Posted by KeithD View Post

Hoping you can slip in these next two days of therapy before the effects of the virus skyrocket there and then that you are left in peace at home for the duration.

I'm hoping so too. My oncology consultant said "Do the radiotherapy NOW - before it's too late because of the virus".

So far, so good. Only two more sessions to go but the number of patients visiting the oncology department is reducing daily. All of us are at risk but radiotherapy, unlike chemotherapy, does not affect the immune system. We can park right next to the department's door, and be in and out in half an hour.