Ultrasound and THAT phone call

On Monday 31st October I had an Ultrasound at i-Med in Clayton. It was pretty efficient, and the person doing the ultrasound lived only a few streets away. As he was doing the ultrasound, we were talking about our families, how we both go walking around the area for exercise and the like. The ultrasound was quick, painless and efficient. I didn't think anything of it, and saw it as a way of providing Arj, my GP, with some answers.

I knew there was a problem, when Arj called later in the evening, after practice hours. He wasn't screaming "YOU'VE GOT CANCER", but that's what I heard. He said there were some concerning lumps and he was organising getting me into an ear, nose, and throat (ENT) specialist asap. When he said he was making the booking, and I WOULD be going, I knew it was serious.

All I can say, Arj, is thank you for doing the work to catch this, at this point. I can't remember if he rang back later that night, or a day or two later as the head was spinning, but he organised an ENT meeting with Tim in Box Hill for Thursday.

Popular posts from this blog

Home again!!

Image
After nearly 4 weeks in hospital, it's time to go home! As one nurse quipped to me, "Hospital is where sick people go. Home is where sick people go to get better".  To those who visited, or helped Claire keep everything running at home while she juggled starting a new job and looking after pets and kids; thank you. It's so good to be home amongst familiar surroundings. As an added bonus, Formula 1 testing was on last night so it was great to put my feet up and watch F1 on the big screen :)
Read more

Week 8 - I'd rather forget it. Hallucinations and more.

Image
Week 8 since treatment started, and the first week with no treatment, is a week in my life I'd really rather forget. It turns out I developed Aspirated Pneumonia and Week 8 I was running a fever over 40 degrees, while dealing with the after effects of chemotherapy AND radiotherapy. In addition, I was on morphine injections and cocaine mouthwash for pain, and was sweating and hallucinating, whilst in a 4-bed room in a public hospital ward. The burns on my neck from radiotherapy were at there peak, so imagine what the burns were like on the inside of my neck! In addition, chemotherapy was smashing me for six. Seriously, I cannot imagine a worse week ever in my life. Claire battled with a SNAFU to get me transferred across to St. Vincent's Private Hospital and by Thursday evening I was transferred across to the private hospital. If you are reading this and don't have private health insurance; get it.  I don't have much of a recollection of this week other than frightening ...
Read more

Tumor shrinking, Greg not shrinking :)

Image
At my weekly meeting with my radiation oncologist, June, on Tuesday, she was on the lookout for tumor size in my neck and what they were up to. I have been able to noticeably see and feel the tumors reducing in size, and to quote her "tumor is shrinking, Greg's not shrinking, this is good". My weight is still holding stead (omg I am eating like a horse!) and the tumors are indeed shrinking; great news! This week is also when June walked through my upcoming chemotherapy and pain medication to allow me to continue eating as long as possible. I've been prescribed a solution to gargle, swish and swallow before eating to totally numb my throat for 15 minutes or so. This is to enable me to get food into me "normally" for as long as possible. The other drug is a type of liquid morphine derivative that I squirt into my mouth, swish around, then swallow. I'm to use this when panadol will no longer keep the pain at bay. Other than this, it's radiation therapy ...
Read more