Appointments and even more appointments

After having had both Flu jabs (normal and swine) and checked that the scar from his operation had completely healed, Colin started taking Sutent again on 20th November.
On Monday 23rd we went to ROH (Royal Orthopaedic Hospital) for Colin's first check up after his Op.

When we arrived in the car park it was very windy and as Col let go of his wheels (walking aid) to put on his coat - they proceeded to go off down the car park on their own with Col trying to run after them shouting (very quietly) HELP!!!! I didn't know anything was wrong as I was getting his phone out of the car for him until I saw him trying to catch up with them (not very successfully) HA HA!!! Thanks to a nice lady who was crossing the car park they didn't hit any cars on their travels and the man in the security cabin might have stopped them if he hadn't been laughing so much.

Anyway back to the reason we were there, first he had to go for an x-ray and then we saw the Oncology Nurse who checked Colin's reflex's - yes there were some - ha ha, she said he is doing very well and should gain muscle tone back in his thighs eventually.



We now have photos of Colin's spine and the work that Mr Stirling did to it, the first is of his spine from the back and shows the titanium bracket and the second is the side view which shows the bracket and two bright patches which are cement.



We have also been to the QE today to see Prof Nick James to discuss Colin's treatment plan and starting a course of 10 fractions Radiotherapy on the spine as soon as possible. He suggested having the Radiotherapy in the two week break between cycles of Sutent but I pointed out that that would be over Christmas and New Year and probably not a good time. He agreed with this and is arranging for a Planning Meeting hopefully for next week with a CT Scan asap and starting the Radiotherapy sessions very soon.

Round of Radiotherapy over

Colin has finished his round of Radiotherapy and now has a two week wait until he sees a Consultant at Worcester, he has an Appt for 21st August.

As well as the above Appt he will also be having a CT Scan of his chest in Birmingham to see if the HD IL-2 treatment had any effect and as a baseline for starting Sutent. Hopefully the scan will be in two weeks but not on the 21st ;) and then he will have an outpatient Appt with Dr P.

That's if I don't deal with him first, as his tolerance levels are very low and he is snapping at everything and can't handle any change in plans even very slight ones. I am having to try very hard not to snap back, but Kieran doesn't understand this and keeps getting told off by Colin for minor things - poor child.

I did mention this to our GP today and she said it can be a side effect of the Dexamethasone (steroid) his is on, so I will try and put up with it and not snap back/or punch him :-/