On 26th August I had my post-radiotherapy MRI scan. The scan looked good - as far as they could see. But they couldn't see far enough, so I needed a sigmoidoscopy. This is a bit like a colonoscopy, but doesn't go as far along the gut, only into the sigmoid colon. I was optimistic that radiotherapy had eliminated the cancer (known as Gertrude).
I met my 'oscopist and we elbow bumped. I was in my fetching paper pants with the hole in the bum and hospital gown and a mask of course. I think you have to abandon any thought of sartorial elegance at such occasions.
I felt, then watched, the camera begin its exploration of my insides and discovered that I also have a polyp, a small ulcer and, unfortunately, the tumour as well. Although it is smaller (no doubt zapped by five weeks of radiotherapy), it has not completely gone. Gertrude is holding on! On the visual display as well as seeing the view from the camera, there is also a little graphic of the endoscope and where it is, and it looks like a small wiggling worm. Or like a hair caught in the film in old cinema projections.
So its back to stage one, really, surgery. When I was first diagnosed, surgery was the preferred option, but Covid hit and as there is a risk (albeit small) of needing to be in ITU with abdominal surgery of this kind, it was decided that I would undertake radiotherapy instead. Having a leaky bowel in ITU when the unit is full of Covid patients was not a risk to be taken.
So here I am, more than six months later, and we are back to square one. But with a much smaller tumour, thankfully. Bowel cancer is an odd one and it can grow, go slow, grow... so the zapping may not have eliminated it, but certainly reduced it and stopped it from growing (or spreading).
Sadly, just as Covid is spiking again. I'm hopeful that at the Multidisciplinary Team Meeting this Friday they will come to a conclusion and get me a surgery date as asoon as possible, but I won't know for a while. I'm also hoping that sense will prevail and despite the stresses that lockdown measures put on us all, the UK's population will listen to the government's advice and help stop the spread of this nasty virus.
Stay safe, stay well, and keep smiling (under your mask).
Photo (C) Brittannia.com
Other posts in this series:
And on a more cheerful note:
- Watch out pagans... a blog post from 2006
Reminder:
If you have any symptoms that you are concerned about, even just a little, please visit your GP. Early diagnosis is life-saving.
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