Tuesday 9 September 2014

Close, but no cigar

Well the results are in and, to be fair, they're good. Another 50% reduction on the big liver mets and the primary tumour in the sigmoid has also shrunk. However given the number and spread of all the liver mets getting it clear enough to allow the liver resection was always a very long shot and so it has proved. They've shrunk a lot but there's just too many of them still to be able to remove enough liver to give clear margins and leave enough liver to cope with the vast quantities of alcohol* needed to fuel a dragon.

So the bad news is that I'm still palliative rather than curable but the good news is that with the amout of shrinkage they've probably bought me a fair amount of time before I get unwell again, hopefully somewhere towards the upper estimate of how long I have left. It's still there and it'll come back but with any luck that shouldn't be for a while and we have options when it does.

I'm back in two months for a ride in the donut of doom and we'll take a look then.



* A small glass of port and lemon at bedtime

4 comments:

  1. Sounds like GREAT news (as this type of news goes)

    A drop of port a day keeps the doctor away (don't forget some yummy cheese to go with it)

    Is your shower now a "luxurious spa"??? :)

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    1. It's not too bad to be honest, best we could have got under the circumstances

      And my shower is now the same shower only with a wierd showerhead that has a "pummel you into the ground" setting

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  2. I came across your musings from other blogs I read, so it's unsurprising to see that we have things in common - COBOL/IT/City job/ Grand Hyatt HKG/private aviation and so on.

    It's unlikely that I'd handle your news with the same grace you have - I'd spend every day in an alcoholic coma.

    I sincerely hope that you enjoy each and every day.

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  3. Hello Dracunculus
    Excellent and bloody accurate blog. May I introduce myself briefly?
    I have terminal lung cancer, diagnosed January 2014 at Stage IV. Wthout any treatment I would have lived on average 9 months (that's this month, then.) I opted for palliative treatment which involved one blast of radiotherapy at the spine (where it had spread) and four chemo sessions of Cisplatin (yep, platinum based) and Pemextred. The secondaries have all disappeared and the original tumour is a fraction of its original size.Am now on maintenance chemotherapy (Pemextred only for 15 minutes every 21 days) and to my oncologist's amazement the tumour has continued to shrink. Anyway, I'm now pain free, have a lot more energy, have had time to put my affairs in order, and am actually enjoying whatever time I have left be it months or years.

    What really annoys me is the idea by some that terminal cancer is somehow ennobling. And that if only I dropped the chemo and switched to apricot kernels/ green smoothies/ cannabis oil my cancer would be cured the 'natural way'.
    I mean, I enjoy the odd joint as much as any other person but...really?

    Anyway, I wish you all the best. Thank you for writing this blog.

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