Greg's Journey

A side-story to dealing with cancer, is dealing with Covid. If I catch Covid, the treatment doesn't stop now that it has started. This means that as well as my boosters being up to date, I've had to take a new drug, Evusheld, that is best described as a "Covid condom". This is a very new drug and is only available to a very small number of patients, so I'm feeling super-exclusive. This drug prevents the Covid virus entering the body in the first place. So, this is great news! Until I find out its two mega-injections in the rear!  There are two injections (different drugs) delivered at the same time; one in each cheek so I can feel pain evenly. St Vincent's had exhausted all their stocks of the drug but hunted around and found a chemist in Knox that had the drug and organised for me to have it on Thursday 29th December, in the evening. After confirming that all the correct paperwork had been exchanged during the day, Claire and I went down to the pharmacy and m...

Welcome to Week Two of treatment, or the lull before the storm.  This week is dealing with the after-effects of chemotherapy, and getting ready for the pain that I've been told is coming in Week Three from the radiotherapy. I'm very philosophical about it even now, as it's just a bridge to the the other side of this. Chemo. Wow. A cukoo-land where nothing tastes right, you feel like shit, and you're always tired and lethargic. There's nothing like savouring a hot roast chicken and gravy crusty roll. Biting into it, and, WTF? What is going on here? This looks delicious but what has happened to taste and smell? Gone. I never realised how important taste and smell are to food. If you don't have them, I do understand the "why bother eating" brigade. I had the chemotherapy treatment last Wednesday, and it's taken till today, the following Wednesday, to get over the hump of it. Probably the only thing that was able to cut through from a taste perspective...

Following the chemo, it was another radiotherapy session, with a follow up review with my specialist, June.  The radiotherapy went as normal and I'm getting to know the routine well. Then I met Claire in reception and we both went through to see June. I like June; she is direct, compassionate, no-nonsense and human. I'm also glad that she is a professor, is an expert in my cancer, and is keeping a close eye on me. I don't use Google for anthing related to my journey. I only listen to my team of medical experts, and June is at the top. Whatever she says, go's, in my opinion. Today was to go through my treatment plan, what they have found, and for some post-treatment, quality of life discussions. So, it is curable. Great, now we are wanting to discuss from the scans, what we have found, where we are treating, and the impact this will have longer-term.  Two tumours There are two tumours in my neck, both roughly the same size, just over 6cm in length, shaped like pears. One...

Today, I got introduced to the drug that's going to kill my cancer for the first time. Hello Chemotherapy, but more specifically, the drug, Cisplatin. I'm told this is the sledgehammer of chemotherapy, and I will have it in Weeks 1, 4 and 7 of my treatment. The day started off by leaving home at 7:15 in the morning to make sure we weren't late. I have worked out that there is a carefully choreographed movement of parts around me ranging from nurses, doctors, pharmacists, dieticians, speech pathologist, radiology technicians, oncology specialists, and medical practice administration staff. I do not want to be THAT guy that runs late and throws the entire system into chaos. We arrived just before 8am and scored an on-street park close to the hospital. No need for long-term parking today as Claire would not be allowed to stay with me. We waited for about 10 minutes in the cancer centre, and then a cheomo nurse, Jane, came and collected me, welcomed me to Session 1 (yay!) and s...

Day One of the treatments to beat cancer has finally arrived. Arriving at St Vincent's, I could only think about how beautiful a day it was, and perhaps this was a sign of how this is all going to go: Perfectly! A quick check in at GenesisCare, the private radiation therapy specialists at St Vincent's, handing over some more paperwork, and then it was time to sit and wait. Not really knowing what was going to happen made me a little bit anxious, but I didn't have long to sit and ponder, and before I could get too philosophical, Alex came and found me and walked me through the process. I'm sure she has done it hundreds of times, but I appreciated that she recognised I was a newbie. Maybe it was because every other patient I saw had radiation burns, no hair from chemotherapy, or both. Maybe the ones who still have beards are a standout as newbies. But, I digress. Alex walked me to the locker room where our masks are kept. I'm in locker 6. It feels weird opening locker...

So, Week 1 of my treatment has finally arrived, with all of my session times for the week now locked in. Friday involved a bit of running around to get a final (4th) Covid shot that the St Vincent's Cancer Centre wanted me to organise. Then, on the 30th December, they have organised for me to have Evusheld, a pre-exposure prophylaxis for Covid-19. The fun thing about this is that it requires two injections in the rear - woohooo! To everyone who have asked if they can help with meals, driving and more; a very big THANK YOU! The dinner and driving rosters are now open so fill yer boots! Dinner Roster Managed by Claire's sister, Merran. Link below, or contact Merran on 0423 952 668 Click here for dinner roster Driving Roster Managed by my brother, Troy. Link below, or contact Troy at troy@thefurlongs.com or on mobile 0401 523 789 to book a spot. Click here for driving roster This first week involves Radiotherapy everyday (Friday is 2 sessions 6 hours apart), and Wednesday also inc...

Another visit to St Vincent's today, and more blood donated to medical science :) First stop was a new building for me at St Vincent's, Building D, and the cancer centre there. This appointment was with an oncology doctor, to assess me for my chemotherapy "receipe" and to discuss my treatment. Once again, Claire was there to support me. After lots of questions and a quick medical checkup, it was determined that I will have three four-hour chemo sessions in Weeks 1, 4 and 7. I'm being given the biggest and baddest chemo drug they have, and we were walked through the treatment, side effects, and actions to take if things go off the rails. Quite daunting. If my temperature goes over 38 degrees, I am to come straight to emergency. Don't call, just come in. This is due to my immunity system being comprimised by the chemotherapy so any bug I may catch could be very serious for me. Once I start, anyone visiting the house will be asked to sanitise their hands and wear...

It's amazing how much paperwork has been generated so far. My IT business brain is screaming at a solution here. I've just received two envelopes in the post from St Vincent's, with multiple forms and appointment information. I have to fill in more forms with my personal details and medical history. It would be oh-so-great if I could have a digitally encrypted file I could send them, or some other sort of pre-filled form. I'm sure some of the dates of previous medical procedures change between forms due to my middle-aged memory :) I've also found out that an additional Chemotherapy review appointment has slipped in without anyone telling me, so lucky I'm reading all these forms.  

The starting week of treatment has been confirmed for radiotherapy and chemotherapy, hereafter referred to as RT and CT, because I'm lazy :) My first week looks like this: Monday 19th December - 1 x RT session - 15:00 Tuesday 20th December - 1 x RT session Wednesday 21st December - 1 x CT session, 1 x RT session Thursday 22nd December - 1 x RT session, 1 x Review session with doctor Friday 23rd December - 2 x RT sessions, minimum 6 hours apart I don't have times yet (except for the Monday), but once I do I will update this post. As for the driving roster, once I have times I will publish a driving roster. If you'd like to drive me in, it would be greatly appreciated! I'll make the roster for drive in and drive out, so if you want to do both you can. Sometimes, if it is going to be an 8-9 hour day there, I assume you'll only drive one way :) Anyway, I'm glad to finally have a start date so we can get on with beating cancer! Bit anxious of what to expect, but, let...

I'm getting used to being used as a sticking thing for needles, and the ones they use for IV lines. I think they are called cannula's. Anyway, after they are removed and I've let the medical fraternity have a bit more of my blood, it's couple of hours before the bandage can be removed. I used to have hairs on my arms; no longer, it's all been ripped off. Now I have an understanding of waxing! My youngest daughter, Caitlin, created a funny video and altered our voices as we hammed up Claire ripping it off. Look for Claire's wicked grin at the end.

Nice to get home last night from the Datacom Christmas party and find lovely flowers for the family. I just loved the jar they came in upon which a simple message was printed: Fuck Cancer.  Yep, and that's only to start with.

St Vincent's Cancer Centre has confirmed my initial appointment for Chemotherapy consultation will be 14th December, then the first treatment will be the 21st December. This means that my start date for treatment will push back a week from 12th December to the 19th December according to RT team, but they will confirm shortly.  Hurry up and wait ... oh well. Bit of a pain as I was all mentally prepared to start on the 12th.

Today was my CT scan and mask creation day at GenesisCare at St Vincents!  I met all the team who will be looking after me, was told what was going to happen, and was made to feel welcome. The whole team were wonderful and said they'd get to know me well as I'd be siing them pretty much everyday through till February. First off was more paperwork - yay - great to hear that Medicare picks up most of the tab. Then it was onto meet my cancer nurse, Amanda, who was lovely  and spent a lot of time explaining everything to me. Then she stuck a needle made for an elephant in my arm and started pulling blood and then sticking dye into me, so I could go and get another scan! Before I could get the CT scan done though, I had to have my radiotherapy mask created. This is a mask that I will wear for each radiotherapy (RT) session that will position my head and keep it still so they are shooting xrays in the right spot; pretty important. The mask is moulded for my head and neck area. When ...