Slack of me to leave my reader(s) in the lurch like this. After my operation the results about the tumours came back. I had two different types of cancer tumour, both Stage 2. One was a run-of-the-mill adeno-carcinoma, which is the kind that most people get. This was in my appendix which probably explained the mild pain I occasionally had in that region. The other one was actually adjacent to it but in my small intestine. This one is called a carcinoid and is a weird thing which is very slow growing and for which there is no cure if it gets to other parts of your body. Carcinoids are a type of neuroendocrine tumour which can produce serotonin which can cause symptoms such as flushing, diarrhoea and blood pressure drops. These things I had experienced previously.
The nasty things were out of my body and the next step was to make sure they had not spread to the rest of me. So I embarked on a 6-month course of chemotherapy, once a week. The four major side-effects of chemotherapy are nausea, diarrhoea, fatigue and hair loss. I was “lucky” to be hit badly with only two of them, diarrhoea and fatigue. But mostly fatigue. I kept all my hair, or as much hair as a post-50-year-old man should keep, and could eat pretty much everything. There was no dieting while on chemo as the doctor like people to keep their weight fairly stable if they can.
Fatigue was my constant companion and proved to be something that was hard to shake even some months after chemotherapy finished. Some days I just slept and slept. Some days, I felt fine. Some days I felt fine and tried to do too much and paid for it the next day.
I always tried to be the good patient, turning up on time and being cooperative, but a couple of times I just could not face having the damned IV stuck in my arm.
Half the trouble is that I have really bad veins. Really bad veins. Small. Narrow. Thin walled. I would make a very unsuccessful junkie. Getting blood tests is always a hassle. Pre-operation IV is a nightmare. The nurse took four attempts to get a vein for my surgery.
One solution the Oncology nurses suggested was a PIC line, a permanent line in my arm which would obviate the need for a needle every week. Even fitting it was a task. Using ultrasound, a tube was threaded along my left brachial vein to a position just above my heart. That was on a Wednesday. My chemo was always on a Friday so I used it then. Over the weekend my arm started to feel sore. By Monday night it was aching and I could not sleep. On Tuesday I went back to the clinic and was sent for another ultrasound. The news was not good. The entire vein had clotted around the line and it would need to be removed. Worse, to avoid the clot getting worse and to help it reabsorb into my body, I was put in a six month course of a blood thinner which had to be administered by injection. Twice a day. By me. Luckily they didn’t have to go into a vein but into a fatty part of my body, of which I have a wide selection. Actually it turned out to be pretty straightforward.
My last chemo session was on the day before Christmas 2010. The best present ever. In March 2011 I had another CT scan and some blood tests and was given the all clear by my oncologist. I was officially in remission. I have an appointment with my surgeon every six month and see my oncologist every 3 months. I am about due for another CT scan and currently feel fine. What more could you ask for.
