Tuesday 4 December 2012

Update

...one or two more chemo' sessions to go, to be followed by another full scan and some targeted radiotherapy to any remaining hot spots around mid January, until then I have no idea where I stand or what will happen when chemo' stops...


To update the update - on the bad side I've been in constant pain since new years eve, I've had three radiotherapy sessions for pain relief in the last week or so as the cancer took off through my bones as soon as chemotherapy stopped (the last two chemo' sessions were cancelled since my bone marrow stopped producing blood cells)

On the good side blood transfusions sorted the marrow problem out, I'm steady around the 65Kg mark and chemo' shrunk the Crohne's blockage (a massive increase in quality of life right there)

The oncologist says he can do no more for me and I went to Monash at Moorabin this week to sign up for an experimental chemo' program (mostly the same chemo' drugs with a different delivery system to target the bones) next week I get a PET scan and bone density scan, I should be glowing in the dark by the end of this if nothing else but at least the pain relief mostly worked.

Rob

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow!

So good to hear from you again. I look forward to more posts from you in the future. I'm sure you'll pull through.

I've read that raw-milk can help with crohns, but I don't have a case study to point to..

-Brad, Potsdam NY, USA

Peter (ex Transition Corner Inlet) said...

Hi Rob,

Glad to hear that you're getting effective treatment for the cancer. Thats a pretty good weight gain - so hopefully the chemo will fix it. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you.

Re. the crohn's.. I was diagnosed with the same in 1997 and know what you're going through. I virtually cured myself by following the 'Specific Carbohydrate Diet' for 6 years. I have been in remission for a decade. I highly recommend the diet. http://www.breakingtheviciouscycle.info/

Take care, Peter

Anonymous said...

Bummer........ sorry to hear the bad news Rob. You can't go yet anyways, the shit hasn't hit the fan!

My old man had Crohn's disease. Every ten years they'd take a metre of his intestine out, and we used to joke he had enough to last him at least another fifty years....... but a brain tumour got him in the end.

My mother in law was given six weeks to live twenty four years ago with cancer. She got the chemo treatment, and she's still with us.... so don't give up on us yet mate.

Mike

The Naked Mechanic said...

Thank's for the tips fellas, I'm on a low residue diet and bulk it out with flat bread and one to two litres of full cream milk per day, slices of butter and fresh eggs. Stuff like sustagen causes me grief so i eat little but often and experiment with adding different foods to the mix - win or lose some on that front but that's what pain killers are for.
My copy of "breaking the vicious cycle" should be here next week.

I haven't given up here Mike but waiting for the next scan is driving me nuts; I'm 55yo with no property, super or assets beyond my tools, library and personal skills, and I'm told I'll never work a full day again
If I am in remission as suspected then I have to do some serious planning beyond covering my funeral and the chemo' brain fog isn't helping, though that is slowly improving
Rob