The end is in our sights
/I’m not sure where to begin here really. Perhaps with the good news! Johnsy and I went to see Professor Dalgleish at Parkside Hospital on 11th April for the results of the scans taken the week before. These were CT scans which were due at the midpoint of the Professor’s initial treatment plan - after four of the eight sessions of immunotherapy.
We were holding tightly to each other in his office for some good news and hoped above all imagination that he would tell us the cancer had not spread, got bigger or at best, had got smaller. I had allowed myself to imagine a few times, that he would say everything had gone and whilst that was such an enjoyable thought, it wasn’t realistic ……… or so I thought! With no real fanfare, Professor Dalgleish told us that he could not see any trace of any malignant tumours in my liver. It was literally unbelievable and definitely took a while to sink in. Obviously we both burst into tears immediately and just hugged for five minutes which I think made the matter of fact Professor a little bit awkward…
He reported that he can still see a few tiny shadows on my lungs but these have got smaller after my immunology. The fact that they’ve got smaller does indicate that they are probably cancerous, because they have been susceptible to the drugs. BUT they are so tiny small that he can’t tell what they are and he can’t biopsy them to tell what they are either. There is also a very small chance they are benign. As I’ve said before, he seems to be very confident that if there is ever anything nasty that pops up in the lungs, he can get rid of it. So for now, his advice is that no action is necessary in this area and that we should simply keep an eye on the blips in the forthcoming scans.
He was extremely interested in what we’d been doing on the nutrition front and how I’d changed my diet. His professional opinion is that this will have hugely complemented the drugs. It does say in so many books I’ve read, more people who survive are those that take a multi-faceted approach to beating the disease and not just sitting back and relying on the drugs alone. All hail the green juice and a positive mental attitude!!
He has recommended that I finish my treatment plan which means two more sessions of immunotherapy on 31st May and 21st June. This is to give my system an extra boost designed to help prevent recurrence any time soon. After that, and for the foreseeable future, there will be MRI scans of the brain and CT scans of the body every three months to monitor for anything rearing its ugly head. As Johnsy said the other day, I’ll be better off than most for the time being because anything that comes up will be spotted straight away.
To say this is pretty awesome news, is an understatement! Happiness, relief, respite, joy – none of these words come close to covering it, it’s just extremely emotional. It gives me such confidence that even if Terry or any of his mates do come back, we’ve beaten them before and can beat them again. We’re about to go off (with hats, sunglasses and the most un-dorky rash guards possible – well done that Mara Hoffman) to Mauritius for two weeks to allow this turn for the better to really sink in and to properly relax and chill out. It will be our first holiday after seven months of hell, so a much needed one!
Whilst away we want to start thinking about our fund raising plans so please watch this space, feel free to send any good ideas to us. We want to support St. George’s Hospital Neuro surgery department, Cancer Research (melanoma/skin cancer) and Paul’s Cancer Support in Battersea. All are wonderful institutions and have been such a big part of our journey so far.
We also want to have some sort of celebration to rejoice with you! Again, there are no words that can convey how lucky we feel and are to have such an incredible, amazing, unwavering and unbelievable support network. You all absolutely rock and we love you. Watch this space.