Just thought I would note down where we are with things at the moment. Chris has been an absolute legend with how he is coping with the radiation. He is having full head radiotherapy, so he is having the full shebang. He’s feeling tired, speech a bit unclear at times, headachy but is battling through. He only has three more sessions then fingers crossed that’s it’s for Northampton hospital (can’t deal with the stressful drive and lack of parking much longer!). The staff have been great with him, he’s been anxious and it’s something he doesn’t look forward to but I don’t have to drag him in each day so we are doing well. I’m very proud of him. Time will tell if this treatment is working, they say it can take between 3 weeks and 3 months to see an improvement. The radiation won’t cure the tumours or even shrink them to be able to remove, just hopefully reduce their size so he can regain the use of his left hand , get some feeling back in his left side of his mouth and improve the speech.
We’ve had a busy few days with multiple appointments in multiple hospitals but we have done it, fuelled by caffeine and sweets we have soldiered on (taking a few wrong turns along the way - Chris is despairing having to have me drive him around) .
So we had a last minute appointment with the oncologist at MK yesterday, we were both extremely anxious that it was further bad news as Chris had had a Mri scan on his liver last week. But it is completely clear! Dr saka was surprised, normally with bowel cancer the liver would be the first place it spreads to but Chris’s case, in the doctors words is “bizarre”. Chris certainly isn’t doing this by the book. I asked the doctor how long he thinks Chris has had this cancer, he said he has no idea but we think we have been under so much stress this year that it masked the symptoms.
So the plan is for Chris to start chemotherapy the week after Christmas (must allow time for festivities! Aka beer and wine!). He will have two drugs which could have some nasty side affects. He can have 12 treatments over 6 months but it really is unknown how his body and the cancer will respond. After 3 months they will check to see what’s happening and either continue with that treatment or try something else. He is currently being tested to see if he can have a third drug which he can take indefinitely but it all depends on a genetic marker.
So will this cure Chris’s cancer? No, but it will hopefully stop it from spreading elsewhere and keep him fighting for as long as possible. We won’t give up without a fight. Team Leach!