Medical Assessment Unit

Colin was admitted to MAU (Medical Assessment Unit) yesterday afternoon after I called out our GP because I couldn't get him to get out of bed to go for his radiotherapy, he kept saying his back hurt, but most of what he was saying wasn't making any sense.

They took some blood and it seems he has an infection of some sort. He was dehydrated partly due to not drinking much because of his severe mouth ulcers (side effect from Sutent) so they have put him on a drip and have given him antibiotics. When I saw him early he was making a bit more sense but is still very poorly, hopefully he will improve quickly now they know what is wrong.

Radiotherapy again

Colin went to the QE on Wednesday last week for the planning meeting for his 10 Radiotherapy sessions, which start tomorrow, Fri 11th, then all of next week, Mon, Tues, Wed Christmas week and then the last one on Tue 29th just in time to start Sutent again on 3rd or 4th Jan.

He is suffering from the side effects of Sutent at the moment, the main one being a lot of mouth ulcers, which make eating very difficult so I have been a very good wife and made him home-made soup and a beef stew which I have puréed for him. This made Kieran laugh when I told him it looked like the baby food I used to make for him.

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.

Steroids & Sutent

The steroids seem to be doing their job and Colin is back to his normal self (normal as far as Colin & steroids are concerned).

His back has healed well and his walking is improving tremendously (he can almost keep up with me now) which means I don't have to keep stopping and waiting for him to catch me up ;)

Now that his back has healed and he has had his flu & swine flu jabs he should be able to start taking Sutent again, just waiting to hear from Dr P if that's OK.

Happy Halloween

Sorry I haven't done an update in 2 weeks but its been a difficult 2 weeks as Colin was trying to do things like walk around after his spine op. Originally we got a wheelchair from the Red Cross, but soon realised that he was never going to sit in it only use it as a walking support, so I rang the Red Cross again to see it they hired out walking frames, only to be told they didn't have any to hire but they did have one of the 3 wheeled types for sale for £10. So we loaded the wheelchair in the boot, took it back and bought the walking aid.


After a week of walking quite well with his wheels and finishing Dexamethasone (steriods) for the second time we assumed all was well.
Also I had an out patient appointment with my cardiologist, had an ECG (echo cardiogram) done, she looked at my blood test results, told me all my blood tests (liver, kidney etc) had come back normal and she was quite happy with my progress and discharged me from her cardiology.

We began talking about taking Kieran to Bournemouth as he asked if he could go to the beach there for his birthday, I had found a couple of B&Bs with vacancies, this was when I noticed Colin was not his usual self and didn't seem to want to do much. I assumed he had done to much walking since being discharged from hospital and was exhasted so didn't push him to do anything and left him to rest.

He managed to get up on Sunday, as we were going out for lunch with a friend. He had very low blood pressure and I suggested he didn't take his blood pressure tablets, also when vomited slightly before going out and just after starting his meal (which he didn't eat). Tuesday he came downstairs for Kieran's Birthday cake, but only because I insisted and we had visitors. (I took Kieran out for lunch with his Grandma, Grandad & Auntie Rachel to Bridges Carvery, then on Wed took him & a friend to see 'UP' at the cinema)

By Thursday he had vomited a couple of times since Sunday and hadn't taken any blood pressure tablets and seemed to be quite depressed and didn't what to eat or doing anything including answering text messages from friends. I was starting to worry so I phoned his Sister Rachel to see if she would come and see him and give me her opinion as to whether I should get the Doctor out to see him.
Rachel came round Thursday afternoon and came to the same conclusion as I had, so I called to Doctor and arranged a visit for Friday.

During Thursday morning I had made some soup (which Kieran said was really nice) and cooked a stew, which got eaten by Rachel, Laura, Kieran and Myself and was very nice.

The Doctor came on Friday morning and explained that Colin had stopped his Steroid's too quickly and the way he was was a reaction to that so she has reintroduced the Steroid's at 2 a day and has given him an anti-sickness tablet (Domperidone) 3 times a day.

Thankfully they seem to be working and he has eaten today and has been up out of bed and even had a shower and been to the pub. The only downside is he is snappy again (due to the steroids) but I can deal with that much easier than him being in bed not wanting do anything or see/speak to anyone.

Appointments, Appointments

Now we have to remember my appointments as well as Colin's.

Good job we both have phones with calenders on them otherwise we would miss things.

Colin had an appointment with Dr P at the QE on Thursday, who was pleased that his spinal tumor was dealt with so quickly by the ROH.

At present he has suspended Sutent until the wound on Colin's back has healed and once he has received details re: operation will decide if Radiotherapy is needed.

Colin is still recovering quite well, he can't walk very far but has got a wheelchair if he needs it.

One thing we have noticed is that he seems to have shrunk as I am now taller than him - sorry Sue he is still a few inches taller than you :)

Home Again

Colin came home yesterday.
He's legs are getting stronger each day and he can walk a little further each time, he is still in pain but the pain killers are working this time which is a relief. He slept for 8 hours last night which is the longest he has slept in over 2 weeks, so that's a good sign that he is getting better :-) and has started to reduce his steroids again.

Also Colin's big little sister Sue will be appearing on ITV1's This Morning programme today to talk about breast cancer and her own Blog Welcome to Sue's World with Dr Chris sometime between 10.30 and 12.30. Go Sue x

Video from 'This Morning' is now on You Tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b12L4jhlgV4