Today I learned that I have cancer again.
The type has yet to be finally and definitively identified and labelled, but it IS cancer, and I am going to have to have another course of treatment, whatever the final label might be. And, sod's law, the likelihood that this cancer is in any way linked with my previous cancer is just about nil. So lucky old Colin's only gone and gotten himself a second, different type of cancer 'cos beating one cancer just wasn't enough for him. The Pratt.
The ENT consultant today (this new lump is on my neck) didn't want to speculate too much because all of the test results are not back and so he didn't want to misinform me, but he did venture that he thinks it's most likely Hodgkin's Lymphoma, and, as he put it, if I had to have cancer there, this was about the best one to get, as the outcomes for treatment are pretty damn good! I'll hang on to that, because positive messages, wherever they can be found, are going to part of my armoury again as I take on this next fight.
But there are different stages to Hodgkin's and until all the results of the CT and MRI scans I've had over the past week are in, its not possible to say just what stage this is at or quite how it will be treated. My next step is to meet with the Consultant Haematologist (possibly not until next Thursday!), who should then have those answers, and hear from him just what treatment I have to look forward to. It could be radiotherapy, chemotherapy, or a combination, I believe, and the goal is to shrink the growth and kill it, rather than excise it, as they were able to do with my old adversary, my soft tissue sarcoma.
However, as I said, I need to hang onto the positives, and those are that this WILL respond to treatment ... so, whatever that might have to be, I'm ready and willing to have it ... as soon as you like, nice Mr Haematologist man ... please!
One thing that I do know is that, as a result of my 365challenge for Cancer Research UK (all that fund-raising better bloody well pay off now, CRUK; a fix wouldn't half be welcome right now!), I am probably now fitter than I've been in many years, so that is only going to help me in this fight. So that, clearly, is another positive to hold on to.
And so, oddly enough, is the fact that I have had a tumour before! Because, had I not had an unexplained lump on my arm three years ago that turned out to be that tumour, I might not have looked to have had this lump investigated anything like as quickly as I have had this time. And who knows what that might have meant over time? Getting stuck in now is certainly the best thing I could have done, I'm sure, and without my "prior knowledge", I'm unlikely to have done so.
So let's hope that we've spotted and caught this one good and early, but whatever the case might ultimately be, the fact is that treatment is on the horizon, and I am already looking beyond that horizon to the day I write another blog update to say that yet again, Colin has kicked cancer's arse!
I know I'll be fighting this day by day, but I also know that I have all of you lot out there cheering me on and offering me the amazing support I've enjoyed from you once before, all over again. And believe me, that means a hell of a lot to me, so ... from the bottom of my heart, and in advance ... my heartfelt thanks. C'mon, let's kick cancer one more time for Colin!
The type has yet to be finally and definitively identified and labelled, but it IS cancer, and I am going to have to have another course of treatment, whatever the final label might be. And, sod's law, the likelihood that this cancer is in any way linked with my previous cancer is just about nil. So lucky old Colin's only gone and gotten himself a second, different type of cancer 'cos beating one cancer just wasn't enough for him. The Pratt.
The ENT consultant today (this new lump is on my neck) didn't want to speculate too much because all of the test results are not back and so he didn't want to misinform me, but he did venture that he thinks it's most likely Hodgkin's Lymphoma, and, as he put it, if I had to have cancer there, this was about the best one to get, as the outcomes for treatment are pretty damn good! I'll hang on to that, because positive messages, wherever they can be found, are going to part of my armoury again as I take on this next fight.
But there are different stages to Hodgkin's and until all the results of the CT and MRI scans I've had over the past week are in, its not possible to say just what stage this is at or quite how it will be treated. My next step is to meet with the Consultant Haematologist (possibly not until next Thursday!), who should then have those answers, and hear from him just what treatment I have to look forward to. It could be radiotherapy, chemotherapy, or a combination, I believe, and the goal is to shrink the growth and kill it, rather than excise it, as they were able to do with my old adversary, my soft tissue sarcoma.
However, as I said, I need to hang onto the positives, and those are that this WILL respond to treatment ... so, whatever that might have to be, I'm ready and willing to have it ... as soon as you like, nice Mr Haematologist man ... please!
One thing that I do know is that, as a result of my 365challenge for Cancer Research UK (all that fund-raising better bloody well pay off now, CRUK; a fix wouldn't half be welcome right now!), I am probably now fitter than I've been in many years, so that is only going to help me in this fight. So that, clearly, is another positive to hold on to.
And so, oddly enough, is the fact that I have had a tumour before! Because, had I not had an unexplained lump on my arm three years ago that turned out to be that tumour, I might not have looked to have had this lump investigated anything like as quickly as I have had this time. And who knows what that might have meant over time? Getting stuck in now is certainly the best thing I could have done, I'm sure, and without my "prior knowledge", I'm unlikely to have done so.
So let's hope that we've spotted and caught this one good and early, but whatever the case might ultimately be, the fact is that treatment is on the horizon, and I am already looking beyond that horizon to the day I write another blog update to say that yet again, Colin has kicked cancer's arse!
I know I'll be fighting this day by day, but I also know that I have all of you lot out there cheering me on and offering me the amazing support I've enjoyed from you once before, all over again. And believe me, that means a hell of a lot to me, so ... from the bottom of my heart, and in advance ... my heartfelt thanks. C'mon, let's kick cancer one more time for Colin!
Oh bloody hell Colin!! You can kick this in the arse for sure.
ReplyDeleteThinking of you xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Thanks Claire, I intend to, but I'll take all the support that FB & Twitter offer as I kick with all my might! Keep it coming ;D
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