Post Op

Colin had his spinal operation yesterday and as far as we know it all went to plan. He seems to be recovering quite well and has some feeling back in his right thigh already which is a good sign. He has an epidural in place at present so isn't in any pain.



Here is an example of a titanium bracket on the spine. Colin has had something similar to this done.







What Colin's back looks like at present, the top bit is just holding the epidural tube in place.
The bottom bit is where they operated.










And he has a web shooter (like spiderman)







On a more cheerful note Sue has been invited on This Morning to talk about Breast Cancer and her Blog with Dr Chris as it is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Operation Time

Since my last update on Thursday Colin has had lots of scans and x-rays and has been discussed between Dr P at QE (Queen Elizabeth Hospital) and Orthopaedic Consultant, Mr Stirling at ROH (Royal Orthopaedic Hospital).

Tomorrow he will be going to QE for Embolization of lower spinal area, to prevent too much bleeding which is the main risk from RCC then on Wednesday Mr Stirling will operate on the tumors on the lower spine removing them, then will rebuild the spinal bone with titanium and cement so column doesn't collapse hopefully leaving Colin pain free.

I am now feeling much better and able to do a bit more (not too much though) and I am allowed to drive again which make life so much easier as I don't have to rely on/ask people for lifts any more.
I would like to say a BIG Thank You to all the people who gave me lifts etc It was much needed and appreciated.

Now for the amusing bits: While I was in hospital Colin brought in the mains charger for iphone/ipod for me to charge my ipod, when I went back to hospital I knew I didn't take it with me. We had been looking for it for 2 weeks since then and really needed it on Thursday so Colin could charge his phone whilst in hospital, still couldn't find it so on Friday I bought a new one. Within an hour of getting home from shopping - low and behold what did I find in a carrier bag on the floor, YES the charger that I had been looking for everywhere.
Also because I couldn't drive last week I did an online shop at ASDA to be delivered between 4 & 6 pm on Thursday, not a problem you might think. But then we get informed that the Ambulance will be coming for Colin between 3 & 7 pm on Thursday, so what are the chances of them turning up at the same time???
Well just in case that happened I asked my Mum to come round for 4 pm, good job I did as Ambulance arrived at 4:10 and ASDA delivery arrived at: you guessed it 4:15.

So amusing things do happen even when you don't expect it and they make you laugh and that is a good thing as we all need to laugh occasionally, especially in this family.

Royal Orthopaedic Hospital, Birmingham

Colin is now an in patient at the above due to severe back pain, numbness in his thighs and not being able to stand for long or walk very far. He was admitted at 5.30pm and had an MRI scan at 6.30pm. We should have some results and an idea of what is going on tomorrow so I will update as soon as I can.
At least I might get a good nights sleep tonight as I won't have to get up an administer pain killers during the night, someone else will be doing that and getting paid for it ;-)

Health Update

Where do I start????

We came back from camping on 2nd Sept, then on 4/5th Sept I had a minor heart attack and ended up being in hospital until 10th Sept during which time I had an angiogram and angioplasty done. While in hospital I had stomach/abdominal pain, which after a CT and utrasound scan they couldn't find a reason for except maybe it was the tablets I was taking, so they told me to stop one of the tablets(cholesterol) and discharged me on the Thurs day afternoon. By the Friday afternoon I was in so much pain I went to my GP and she sent me straight back to A&E with a letter for the Surgical Assessment Unit, they did an X-ray, changed a couple of my tablets and discharged me on the Sunday afternoon (still with stomach/abdominal pain, but with soluble paracetamol for the pain). Even now I am still getting pain and nobody seems to know why or what is causing it but it is bearable pain now, I just wish it wasn't there at all.

Now for the update on Colin.
He had a CT scan on Mon 7th Sept and an outpatient appointment with Dr P on 24th, but in the middle of these, last Thursday his back started hurting and by Friday he was in bed and pinching my paracetamol. On the Saturday his left arm and right leg weren't working properly so we decided he should start taking his steroids(dexamethasone) again and we found so Co-codamol. On Tuesday he managed to get up with some help and go to GPs and she prescribed Co-dydramol and suggested upping his steroids to 2 a day. We had a lift to the QE on Thursday to see Dr P. When we saw him he explained that the CT scan showed some abnormalities on the lower spine and he has requested a bone scan, he has now started Colin on Sutent, prescribed Tramidol for the back pain and will see him again in 3 weeks.

None of the painkillers seem to be doing anything so when I went back to see our GP on Friday she prescribed Oramorph (liquid morphine) and upped the steroids to 4 a day. Hopefully this will help in time but at present Colin is in bed and still in a lot pain.

Back now - sorry it took a while .....

We had an eventfully camping holiday in Saunton, North Devon.
To start with the ground was full of stones, so we bent more tent pegs than not, but we did end up with something resembling Worcester Catherdral




The weather wasn't great but we did have a couple of sunny days, went to the beach and even went bodyboarding (no photos of me, hurray) only Colin, who spent most of Saturday in the sea.




As I said earlier the weather wasn't great, especially the strong winds which managed to break one of our tent poles (not impressed as it was a brand new tent), but after Sue and I did a blue peter repair job on it I think it was a lot stronger than before.


We had some friends join us on the Friday night for the weekend, found a shop that sold Cornish Rattler Cyder, so not the most relaxing holiday I've ever had, but it was fun.

On the way home we took the tent back to the shop and got them to exchange it for a different one.

Away Camping...

Radiotherapy is over and done with, as because the tumours are on the brain they only like to use Radiotherapy once as any more could kill brain cells ( and as we all know Colin didn't have many to start with :-) ). He has been advised to wean himself off the steroids by lowering them by 1 tablet every five days unless any of the symptoms reappear and in that case he can increase them again. Hopefully the symptoms won't reappear and he will go back to his old self (mainly his tolerance).
He has been in touch with Dr P in Birmingham and will be having a CT scan shortly and then should be starting on Sutent, but before that we are going on holiday.
The holiday is a 10 day camping trip to Saunton, North Devon with his sisters Sue & Rachel and our nieces Laura & Holly so we should have a great time. Kieran will have someone to play with as Holly and him get on well and if Sue & Colin get to grumpy Rachel & I will leave them to it and go off somewhere with the kids.
Colin is like a big kid himself at the moment buying camping stuff and is very excited, partly I think because it's our first camping trip with Kieran.
If I survive the next 10 days with that lot it'll be a miracle, but it might just be fun and give us time to chill out, I think we need it after the last few weeks!!!!!

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 :-/