Mrs Moo
09-08-2007, 01:22 PM
Hey girls!
Well, what a lot has happened since I last checked in on 15 June... our summer hols have been and gone and we start back at work tomorrow.
If you remember, the last time I was on here I was telling you about my families medical year from hell... literally. My nan died, my BIL was diagnosed with cancer and my dad had a triple bypass, both kids with chicken pox... Well my BIL was given the all clear in May and my Dad is up and about looking better than ever... that was it for the year we thought... but oh no.
We got back to the UK for our 10 weeks of relaxation and fun. Matt (dh) went to play golf on the Tuesday after our return, had a lesson with a golf pro who slightly changed his swing and so he played his round differently to normal. He woke up the next morning with a painful, stiff back. This continued for a couple of days and he ended up going to see an osteopath who told him he'd put a disc out and so he put it back in. He asked about a small lump on his chest that appeared and was told it was a small piece of gristle. The pain continued.
The next weekend we went to visit his brother, who by luck is also an osteopath, he did more work on Matt and said that the lump was probably due to the strained muscle in his back twisting his spine and causing his ribs to protude slightly. This is in fact what it looked like. Tim (brother) suggested Matt found a local osteopath to treat him near to where we were staying. And, as the pain was still debilitating at times this is what he did.
So the following Wednesday (just one week from the first visit to an osteopath) Matt went to a third lady who agreed with Tim about Matt's back and confirmed that the lump was displaced ribs.
On Thursday night Matt was in such pain that he collapsed on the bathroom floor and we had to call out the paramedics. I have never been so scared in my life waiting for the ambulance to arrive. In fact once it arrived Matt's pain had passed and, although initially they thought he was having a heart attack, they decided it was just a muscle spasm. Again, due to his treatment the previous morning this seemed to maked perfect sense.
On Friday he went back for more treatment at the osteopath and on Saturday I ended up driving him to the emergency room as the pain had become unbearble again. After hooking him up to the ECG machines again they eventually decided that they were not happy with the osteopaths 'rib' diagnoses and arranged to have him x-rayed then and there. We had to wait a bit for the scan to come through and I was watching from the cubicle as they got the scan up on the screen... needless to say I could see one dr was not sure about what she saw and got another to look. "Boy, that's weird!" was all we heard and bearing in mind the recent history with cancer in the family our hearts sank. Matt was booked in for a CT scan on Monday. Eventually the pain passed and we went home.
(Forgot to say that in the middle of this on Friday evening we took Annabel to the emergency room with suspected meningitis... fortunately it wasn't and that has kind of paled into insignificance really!)
On Sunday (after about 3 hours sleep) it was Annabel's Christening day. We were not in the mood really but in the end it was so nice to be surrounded by family and friends.
On Monday he phoned to get an appt for the CT scan and was told next Wed (as in 9 days). This was the day we were meant to be going to France! but nine days still counted as an emergency appt! In between all this Matt had managed to sign on with a dr and get treated by the osteopath again. On Monday afternoon we got a call to say the CT scan had been brought forward to the next day.
Matt had the CT scan on Tues (sorry... I'm rambling but it does get there eventually!) which was pretty traumatic for both of us. He went out for a quiet drink with his brother in the evening and then we ended up in the emergency room again... this time they took him in to the resusitation room and wouldn't let me in with him for ages. Once he was settled I told the dr (different dr again) about the CT scan and they were able to bring it up on the computer. I couldn't make head nor tail of what I was seeing. Eventually the pain passed and we went home.
The next day Matt was called and asked to go for a biopsy on the lump on his chest on Friday. By this time we had been in England for 2 weeks. We saw a consultant first who explained about the lump, or mass, in Matt's chest. It measured about 13cm by 9cm and they did not know what it was hence the need for a biopsy. Because of where the biopsy was taken we had to wait for an hour to check that one his lungs hadn't been punctured or there was no internal bleeding. We were sent to wait in the cancer unit with people having their chemo, Matt found this quite alarming. Luckily all was fine and we were allowed to go home. We were given an appt to see another dr on Monday.
We were told Matt has non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (cancer of the lymph glands) on July 18 the day before both his and his mum's birthday. This is the identical cancer to his brother. Same place, same type, they were about the same age at diagnosis and the drs tells us there is no genetic link!
Our lives fell apart for a while and I am not sure it has sunk it yet, at least not properly. However, we came to the conclusion that whatever the cancer was, if they could do something about it then we could handle it.
During the following week he had to make a sperm donation (the chemo will make him infertile) and visit the hopital numerous times, we did however mangage to get to Devon to see my mum and dad for a bit and give the kids some space to run. (Matt's mum and dad's place is tiny!) Meanwhile his pain continued although he was able to control it more by being doped up with painkillers.
The actual cancer type is aggressive (fast growing) non-Hodgkins lymphoma, Stage 4 (Staging goes from 1 to 4, 1 being good). But it is only affecting the glands in his chest cavity (between his lungs) and his spleen (which apparently counts as another lymph node) and possibly his lungs as they have a slightly glass like appearance (this could be due to a chest infection though). Apparently, if you have to have cancer, this is the one to have as it responds so well to treatment. There is a 60% chance of total cure.
Then my other nan died on 31 July.
Matt had his first chemo session on August 3. It was a hellish day... I think explaining to Jacob was the worst thing I had to do, but he took it all in his stride and asked to see 'Daddy's bad lump ' and then said "You're hair is going to fall out and that will be funny!"
It took 7 hours to give Matt the drugs! We had had to wait once we arrived for them to make up the drugs (this took about an hour) and that combined with the stress, Matt's needle phobia and everything else, he passed out when they flushed the canula with saline solution. At this time he was also in an awful lot of pain and ended up in a side room in bed. At the end of the day he had to get through it and for me it was 'fight back' time. (That night I ended up in the emergency room with Annabel and a chest infection ~ they gave her the same steroids Matt had been given with his chemo!)
The chemo drugs are amazing! The lump on Matt's chest (which ended up being about 3 inches long, 1 inch wide and about 2 inches raised off his chest) had gone within 48 hours! The drs said the tumour would shrink 50% in the first 10 days. Wow!
Matt booked flights for the kids and I to go to France on the 7 August for 10 days, originally we had been going for 3 weeks. I didn't want to go for obvious reasons but he insisted as he knew I would be coming back to work and so on. We did have a nice time with a group of friends but I was so glad to get home!
Matt had his second chemo on August 24. This time we were in and out in 3 hours (Matt having suffered no allergic reaction first time round) and he was brilliant.
We flew back to Kuwait on August 29. We decided that for the kids sake and our sanity (not to mention I need to work to pay the mortgage!) we needed to be in our home environment.
We saw a dr at the cancer hospital here last Sunday (the first working day we were back in Kuwait) and he reassured us that the treatment he will get here is the same as at home. He showed us around the hospital and while it is not as nice as the hospital at home it will be only for a short time. So his third chemo (providing all his blood levels have returned to the proper levels) will be this coming Wed (12 Sept). In total he needs eight lots (so far two down, six to go), and working on intervals of 3 weeks the last one should be just after Christmas. Hopefully we will be able to start 2008 in a more positive light.
Sorry about the long drawn out post but it's hard to start at the end and just say 'he has cancer' because everyone has wanted to know more! If you are interested in reading more this is a good site
http://www.lymphoma-net.org/
Thanks for reading ~ prayers are very gratefully appreciated!
:bighug:
Sally
Well, what a lot has happened since I last checked in on 15 June... our summer hols have been and gone and we start back at work tomorrow.
If you remember, the last time I was on here I was telling you about my families medical year from hell... literally. My nan died, my BIL was diagnosed with cancer and my dad had a triple bypass, both kids with chicken pox... Well my BIL was given the all clear in May and my Dad is up and about looking better than ever... that was it for the year we thought... but oh no.
We got back to the UK for our 10 weeks of relaxation and fun. Matt (dh) went to play golf on the Tuesday after our return, had a lesson with a golf pro who slightly changed his swing and so he played his round differently to normal. He woke up the next morning with a painful, stiff back. This continued for a couple of days and he ended up going to see an osteopath who told him he'd put a disc out and so he put it back in. He asked about a small lump on his chest that appeared and was told it was a small piece of gristle. The pain continued.
The next weekend we went to visit his brother, who by luck is also an osteopath, he did more work on Matt and said that the lump was probably due to the strained muscle in his back twisting his spine and causing his ribs to protude slightly. This is in fact what it looked like. Tim (brother) suggested Matt found a local osteopath to treat him near to where we were staying. And, as the pain was still debilitating at times this is what he did.
So the following Wednesday (just one week from the first visit to an osteopath) Matt went to a third lady who agreed with Tim about Matt's back and confirmed that the lump was displaced ribs.
On Thursday night Matt was in such pain that he collapsed on the bathroom floor and we had to call out the paramedics. I have never been so scared in my life waiting for the ambulance to arrive. In fact once it arrived Matt's pain had passed and, although initially they thought he was having a heart attack, they decided it was just a muscle spasm. Again, due to his treatment the previous morning this seemed to maked perfect sense.
On Friday he went back for more treatment at the osteopath and on Saturday I ended up driving him to the emergency room as the pain had become unbearble again. After hooking him up to the ECG machines again they eventually decided that they were not happy with the osteopaths 'rib' diagnoses and arranged to have him x-rayed then and there. We had to wait a bit for the scan to come through and I was watching from the cubicle as they got the scan up on the screen... needless to say I could see one dr was not sure about what she saw and got another to look. "Boy, that's weird!" was all we heard and bearing in mind the recent history with cancer in the family our hearts sank. Matt was booked in for a CT scan on Monday. Eventually the pain passed and we went home.
(Forgot to say that in the middle of this on Friday evening we took Annabel to the emergency room with suspected meningitis... fortunately it wasn't and that has kind of paled into insignificance really!)
On Sunday (after about 3 hours sleep) it was Annabel's Christening day. We were not in the mood really but in the end it was so nice to be surrounded by family and friends.
On Monday he phoned to get an appt for the CT scan and was told next Wed (as in 9 days). This was the day we were meant to be going to France! but nine days still counted as an emergency appt! In between all this Matt had managed to sign on with a dr and get treated by the osteopath again. On Monday afternoon we got a call to say the CT scan had been brought forward to the next day.
Matt had the CT scan on Tues (sorry... I'm rambling but it does get there eventually!) which was pretty traumatic for both of us. He went out for a quiet drink with his brother in the evening and then we ended up in the emergency room again... this time they took him in to the resusitation room and wouldn't let me in with him for ages. Once he was settled I told the dr (different dr again) about the CT scan and they were able to bring it up on the computer. I couldn't make head nor tail of what I was seeing. Eventually the pain passed and we went home.
The next day Matt was called and asked to go for a biopsy on the lump on his chest on Friday. By this time we had been in England for 2 weeks. We saw a consultant first who explained about the lump, or mass, in Matt's chest. It measured about 13cm by 9cm and they did not know what it was hence the need for a biopsy. Because of where the biopsy was taken we had to wait for an hour to check that one his lungs hadn't been punctured or there was no internal bleeding. We were sent to wait in the cancer unit with people having their chemo, Matt found this quite alarming. Luckily all was fine and we were allowed to go home. We were given an appt to see another dr on Monday.
We were told Matt has non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (cancer of the lymph glands) on July 18 the day before both his and his mum's birthday. This is the identical cancer to his brother. Same place, same type, they were about the same age at diagnosis and the drs tells us there is no genetic link!
Our lives fell apart for a while and I am not sure it has sunk it yet, at least not properly. However, we came to the conclusion that whatever the cancer was, if they could do something about it then we could handle it.
During the following week he had to make a sperm donation (the chemo will make him infertile) and visit the hopital numerous times, we did however mangage to get to Devon to see my mum and dad for a bit and give the kids some space to run. (Matt's mum and dad's place is tiny!) Meanwhile his pain continued although he was able to control it more by being doped up with painkillers.
The actual cancer type is aggressive (fast growing) non-Hodgkins lymphoma, Stage 4 (Staging goes from 1 to 4, 1 being good). But it is only affecting the glands in his chest cavity (between his lungs) and his spleen (which apparently counts as another lymph node) and possibly his lungs as they have a slightly glass like appearance (this could be due to a chest infection though). Apparently, if you have to have cancer, this is the one to have as it responds so well to treatment. There is a 60% chance of total cure.
Then my other nan died on 31 July.
Matt had his first chemo session on August 3. It was a hellish day... I think explaining to Jacob was the worst thing I had to do, but he took it all in his stride and asked to see 'Daddy's bad lump ' and then said "You're hair is going to fall out and that will be funny!"
It took 7 hours to give Matt the drugs! We had had to wait once we arrived for them to make up the drugs (this took about an hour) and that combined with the stress, Matt's needle phobia and everything else, he passed out when they flushed the canula with saline solution. At this time he was also in an awful lot of pain and ended up in a side room in bed. At the end of the day he had to get through it and for me it was 'fight back' time. (That night I ended up in the emergency room with Annabel and a chest infection ~ they gave her the same steroids Matt had been given with his chemo!)
The chemo drugs are amazing! The lump on Matt's chest (which ended up being about 3 inches long, 1 inch wide and about 2 inches raised off his chest) had gone within 48 hours! The drs said the tumour would shrink 50% in the first 10 days. Wow!
Matt booked flights for the kids and I to go to France on the 7 August for 10 days, originally we had been going for 3 weeks. I didn't want to go for obvious reasons but he insisted as he knew I would be coming back to work and so on. We did have a nice time with a group of friends but I was so glad to get home!
Matt had his second chemo on August 24. This time we were in and out in 3 hours (Matt having suffered no allergic reaction first time round) and he was brilliant.
We flew back to Kuwait on August 29. We decided that for the kids sake and our sanity (not to mention I need to work to pay the mortgage!) we needed to be in our home environment.
We saw a dr at the cancer hospital here last Sunday (the first working day we were back in Kuwait) and he reassured us that the treatment he will get here is the same as at home. He showed us around the hospital and while it is not as nice as the hospital at home it will be only for a short time. So his third chemo (providing all his blood levels have returned to the proper levels) will be this coming Wed (12 Sept). In total he needs eight lots (so far two down, six to go), and working on intervals of 3 weeks the last one should be just after Christmas. Hopefully we will be able to start 2008 in a more positive light.
Sorry about the long drawn out post but it's hard to start at the end and just say 'he has cancer' because everyone has wanted to know more! If you are interested in reading more this is a good site
http://www.lymphoma-net.org/
Thanks for reading ~ prayers are very gratefully appreciated!
:bighug:
Sally