Update from Ron Smith
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Ron,
I thought you were teasing me like Peter and Jeff used to about my hair color!!!!! I promise I havent been taking anything illegal or legal!I was always a brown sauce girl! Still am…there is an Irish pub in our town that brings brown sauce with your hamburger and I might go overboard on the sauce just for nostalgia sake.
Kris
Ron, I dont know where I got it but I thought you lived in Dundee. My mind must be playing tricks on me. Of course Stirling is one of your nearest towns as my friend and I decided that in Scotland, all roads lead to Stirling (no really, when you travel you will always see signs to stirling).
Right now, it is at the tale end of summer so I am blond with red highlights, but once the trees turn color, so will my hair to a robust auburn red.
I know Gartnavel well, it was where they were going to remove the horrible gallstones that were causing my jaundice (if only). TBH, although it was the oldest and most run down, it was the cleanest hospital with the most caring staff out of all the hospitals I have been to. I hope the chemo works and that it causes no angina!
Kris
Dear Kris and Joyce
Many thanks for your good wishes.
Kris, I will start the chemo on Tuesday and it is all done at the Beatson. That is now the main cancer centre in Scotland. Not sure what your reference to Dundee means; my local hospitals would be Falkirk or Stirling. But it is only the Beatson that gives gemcitabine. I stopped attending Edinburgh a year ago when it was decided that the only course available would be palliative chemo. I have an open invitation to contact Mr Powell if I wish to chat but, really, there is no real point. Everything is done at the Beatson or neighbouring Gartnavel.
I have often been told I need my head examined but, to date, I have resisted the pressure to get a head doctor. Seriously though, the link with Leeds never happened since Professor Lodge felt he could do nothing for me.
One question Kris – were you a brown or a red girl?
Ron
Dear Ron,
Here’s hoping the new course of action does you some good and zaps some of those nasty tumors. Let us know how you’re feeling – we’re all pulling for you!
Joyce MRon,
It is so good to hear from you…yes I remember those Scottish fish suppers (I always ask for more vinegar and sauce please). I have been hearing my friends complain about the weather there and not being able to get out. I have had the same problems here in Sweden as we get our weather from you.So, they are starting you on chemo soon. Will you be going to the Beatson or will they be treating you in Dundee (that is right isnt it?). Is your head doctor in Leeds or is it based still at Edinburgh Royal? I have been thinking about you and have been worried since I havent heard from you. I somehow feel linked to Sue because our cases and timeline are so similar and to you because we were treated by the same doctors and that you live where part of my heart does.
I will think the best thoughts and send prayers your way and hope the chemo kicks some bum.
KrisHello everyone. I have been fairly quiet over the last few months but now have a new situation to report. I was persuaded by doctors at the oncology centre that it may not be in my best interests to start chemo at the start of the year as I was not showing any symptoms and it could actually prove to be detrimental. My last CT scan, in April, indicated that the tumours had become larger and for the first time, I was told there may be “something” on my lung. Apart from that, however, I was still symptom free, with nothing unusual coming back with my blood tests.
Over the summer I have noticed changes, ending with my GP confirming that a small lump I could feel in my neck being an enlarged lymph node. I had also found I was starting to feel a bit bloated and seedy if I ate too much or sat about too long. The worst time was at the beginning of this week when, in a rare time of weakness, I had a fish supper. (Kris, if you are reading this you will know what a Scottish fish supper is like – delicious but a killer, especially when served with lashings of salt, vinegar and sauce!). It took me more than a day to get over it. What has made things worse is that the summer in Britain, particularly in Scotland, has been dreadful, making it very difficult to get out for walks or spend time in the garden. So I am definately not as fit as I was earlier in the year.
Anyway, I have now decided to start chemo and on Tuesday next I am due to have my first treatment. I will be having Gemcitabine on its own, 7 weeks on and 1 week off. I am a bit nervous about it since my trial with Xeloda only lasted 3 days and brought on my angina. I have been told Gemcitabine is different and should not have the same outcome. But I am worried that it will lay me low and will be the start of a quick deterioration. But there appears to be no obvious alternatives. Radiation, RFA, cyberknife, theraspheres, or anything of that ilk has been ruled out as unsuitable due to the number and positions of my tumours. I am told that if the Gemcitabine does not work I will have access to clinical trials. Well, I’ll just have to wait and see how it all pans out.
Ron
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