Ticking away ~ Day 1112 ... a third stay in hospital.

As some of you will already know I had a third stay in hospital over the weekend.

I'd gone to bed on Thursday evening having spent an enjoyable evening with my daughter and Gary watching World War Z. By midnight it was noticeable that there were some spots/blotches around the top of my fat right leg ... and by very early morning they were worse and I was feeling less than 100%.

Calls were made to a certain telephone number where we had to quote my reference which relates to me and which avoids calling 111 etc. By 7am [it may have been earlier] I knew I was going to be taken to hospital with cellulitis again. I believe the prophylatic antibiotics I've taken for the last few months saved me from being as poorly though. I had a temperature though it wasn't so bad as the second trip to hospital in June and although I was sick in a convenient bedside bucket it was only fairly minor.

I wasn't a bundle of fun in the ambulance though. I just wasn't interested.

I wound up in a new department in hospital, Ambulatory Care, part of the CDU [Clinical Decisions Unit] and they kept me in a bed on Friday evening on the antibiotics I was on before during my second stay.

I had thought that surely on my third visit to hospital it couldn't be as eventful as the other two ... but it was ... with all sorts of men being walked in by the police and ambulance men and women. This included one young man who had taken an overdose of paracetamol [which could have done a lot of damage to his liver apparently] and an older man who was apparently drunk [he didn't sound or seem it] who had fallen down some steps and been brought in by the police into the bed next to me ... in the middle of the night. He was chatty ... with himself ... the lights were out ... everyone else [pretending to be] asleep. He kept saying "I think I might leg it ..." Next morning I learnt that he had, in fact, "legged it" preferring to walk to Alfreton 7 or 8 miles away rather than stay in a warm bed for the night.

Then on Saturday evening I was told I could go home provided I came back every day for an intravenous antibiotic injection. So on Sunday, Monday and today I've travelled the 11 miles to hospital for the fitting of a canulla, then an intravenous injection before the canulla is removed. It beats staying in hospital though it has to be said my forearms are rather more bruised than normal.

By this coming Friday I may well be clear to revert to prophylatic antibiotics. We'll see. Life is certainly far from dull at present ... and I still feel ok, that is the amazing thing.

Ticking away ~ Day 1107 ... well, at least the sun is shining...

I've had a visit to the hospice and a visit to the hospital this week and it seems that [other than a monthly dose of bone-strengthening drugs] there is little more to offer other than palliative care from here on in.

I had thought that a further session of chemotherapy might be available but the doctor thinks that it might do more harm than good. So, to maintain my quality of life, there is probably not much more that they can do other than keep me pain free or at least as pain free as possible.

I now have to take this onboard and live with it.

It was nice to see a couple of the nurses who had looked after me when I had the chemotherapy ~ they came over and had a word. It may be that I won't need to go back there in future. It is more likely I will be visiting the hospice. Indeed I will be getting the bone-strengthening drugs there in due course. The staff at the hospice also keep an eye on my swollen legs.

We forgot to take a photo outside the hospital yesterday but we decided to go and have a pub meal where I had a chocolate sundae after enjoying a bacon joint with bubble and squeak and a cider sauce.

We took a photo in there though, well Jamie did. It shows me enjoying an apple and raspberry J2O ...

 

Meanwhile here in Derbyshire it's a beautiful day ... and I'm rather looking forward to a pizza for my lunch.

Ticking away ~ Day 1101 ... three years today since diagnosis ...

Hard to believe but it's a fact. It is three years ago today that I was first diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer and three years later I'm still around to talk about it.

There's a photo too, showing me just a few hours ago after enjoying a cup of coffee at a local garden centre.

I've managed to smile on this one as another photograph taken just a few days before showed a rather more serious face ~ not for any particular reason but probably just because sometimes I can look a bit miserable.

So, what's the state of play.

Well, I'm due for a couple of check-ups next week which will no doubt reveal more.

At present I can't walk more than a few yards without a zimmer [or safety walker as some of the health care professionals call it]. 

Besides a zimmer I also have :-
a wheelchair, just in case it's a longer journey I suppose;
a railing to help me up and down stairs ~ I managed to talk them out of putting in a stair lift. Not just yet ... please;
a seat to get into and out of the bath on. Before this was installed I hadn't had a proper bath or shower in weeks; 
a raised toilet seat as the original one is too low; and finally,
an electric powered reclining chair [to help me get up and down].

I still take a lot of tablets including Oxycontin and [as a back up and because they act quicker] Oxynorm. These are pain relief tablets ~ they aren't going to cure me. The morphine based tablets I had been prescribed originally didn't agree with me ~ they gave me a rash on the inside of both arms though the rash didn't itch.

I believe that I may have another dose of chemotherapy which may prolong things but I will know more after my visit next week. After that I'm not sure that there are many more options open to me. I'm not getting downbeat about it though.

I haven't been out for a walk for some weeks now and it is debateable whether I will go out for a 'real' walk ever again. I have however read much more and that is proving to be an acceptable subsitute.

I realise I may never walk along any of the beautiful paths I have wandered all my adult life. I used to wonder how I would cope with that. Well, so far, I seem to be coping surprisingly well ... and surprising myself in the process.



Footnote ~ the hawk-eyed amongst you may have noticed that 3 times 365 is not 1101. Even allowing for a leap year or two 3 times 365 is still not 1101. My system must have broken down somewhere ... and that's the way it will have to stay. 

Ticking away ~ Day 1056 ... oh, that's a bit of a blow.

After a week of scans, bloodtests and what have you I turned up at hospital this morning wondering if I was fit enough to join the Clinical Trial I had been screened for ...

The doctor asked how my back felt and I told her that it had started to feel easier. She then informed me that the MRI scan showed that cancer cells had got into my spine and this had resulted in some compression of the vertebrae. As a result the only course of action she could recommend was radiotherapy ... starting today.

The chances of being involved in the clinical trial are obviously reduced but they are going to ascertain whether I can still take part if the radiotherapy is effective ...

By about midday I was once more being irradiated (you feel nothing) and I was home by 2-ish. I will now have treatment for the next four days (excluding the weekend). I have been warned about the possibility of increased pain (at least initially) so I need to keep my painkillers close by.

It's a blow. I have always been able to console myself with the thought that I would get better in a few days time ... or a week ... or a month.

I will prevail for as long as I can.

It is two years and two days since I retired. Here I am enjoying a pint as a newly retired Legal Executive ...

Ticking away ... Day 1044 ~ a short update ...

The good news is that I'm going for a CT scan, blood tests and an ECG on Tuesday of next week with a whole body bone scan the following day.

If I get through the screening then I could well be starting the clinical trial a week on Tuesday.

The bad news is that I have been suffering quite a lot of pain in my back, groin and left thigh/knee. So bad in fact that I was put on Codeine painkillers for a week or so but when they weren't working I was given Tramadol, starting yesterday. Whilst the Tramadol helps I still have some pain. The two scans will no doubt tell us more !

I must have been feeling poorly because I haven't been online for a few days. I just wasn't interested. I haven't been out for a walk either. I can just about walk to the car and a little bit further and that is it.

I'm in pain as I type this so if you'll excuse me I'm heading downstairs to put my feet up.

As regards some of my other problems ~ the rash ... the 'swelling' ... these are much better than they were.

Stay well !

Ticking away ... Day 1029 ~ fungal infection and rash decisions ...

Where to begin ... 

They always say first things first but such a lot has happened during the past eighteen days. 

First, my sore 'area' is now much better you will be pleased to hear. Treatment with a couple of lotions/creams have cured that ~ one of them we had to keep in the fridge.

I developed a fungal infection though which necessitated three visits to the GP to see three different GPs. One of them [the second doctor I saw ~ who I like a lot] patted me on the shoulder after examining the rash [which is mainly on and under my arms but also down my front to a lesser degree] and said " ... very interesting ..." before recommending I saw the third doctor who had been on a dermatology course. The third doctor prescribed another lotion/cream which I don't have to keep in the fridge ... and which is also beginning to work ... and my rash is less of a problem than it was. Fortunately it hasn't itched.

The biggest problem though is that since the radiotherapy I have suffered with a very bad back. I thought it was muscular problems initially but I have to be realistic. It could be something much more ominous. Anyway I've been taken paracetomol and perhaps they help a little.

I've also been to discuss the clinical trial at the local cancer hospital ... and signed up. I have a two to one chance of getting the new drug that is being tested. The drug hasn't been officially approved yet but the results are encouraging, apparently. I have had some blood samples taken but I still need a bonescan and a CT scan. This will determine whether I am suitable. I could be rejected.

It seems that 160 men in the UK are being recruited in this clinical trial and I'm possibly going to be one of them ~ largely because I appear to be in better shape than I perhaps ought to be given my situation.  

Finally I want to apologise for not visiting your blogs. Sitting in my chair in front of my PC is uncomfortable after a relatively short space of time.

Ticking away ... Day 1011 ~ deep in the natal cleft ...

Note for the squeamish ~ you'd best not read this.

Sunday morning used to be about getting out walking ... and thinking about a pub lunch ... but as I lay on my bed this [mid] morning I brought to mind Bob Dylan's song 'Things Have Changed' ...

Then I started to wonder whether I should post this blog. Do people really want to know about the side effects [assuming that's what they are] of radiotherapy ?

Well, I always intended this to be a full and truthful journey ... warts and all.

Fortunately warts aren't involved. 

Phew, I hear you say.

However, I have developed two other rather unpleasant symptoms.

The first is oedema ~ fluid retention in the body ~ and this has occurred in a most personal and private place. My GP recommended frozen peas. So on a couple of occasions I have laid down on the bed with a packet of frozen peas wrapped in a cloth pressed against a certain part of me for over 15 minutes. Thankfully it has worked. Whether this will be a regular occurrence we will see. Fortunately the oedema doesn't hurt.

Incidentally [and I did ask] I couldn't get a prescription for frozen peas.

The vision of me lying on a bed with a bag of frozen peas pressed against me has its amusing side ... many is the wry smile that has appeared when I have told members of my immediate family. 

Just in case you wondered, the oedema and the lymphoedema in my right leg are separate matters.

The second problem area is just a few inches away but round the back [in the natal cleft] where I am incredibly sore and which has been seeping blood very slightly. Savlon has been liberally applied by a 'volunteer' ! Did I mention that this is sore ?

On a plus note I am generally feeling better and hopefully the two side effects mentioned above will lessen or go away completely in the next few days.

I apologise if anyone thinks this is going into too much detail but I was never aware of this sort of thing happening and personally I think we should be more open about these things ...and, of course, you don't have to read this.

In other news I have actually made an appointment with the dentist.

Ticking away ... Day 1007 ~ what happens next ...

A week after finishing radiotherapy I'm still feeling its effects and it may be another week before improvements are felt.

 

Today though I was back for my four weekly appointment. I've been taken off the Abiraterone which has served me well during the last seven months and I'm being weaned off the steroids. Abiraterone doesn't work for everyone. Someone we met today for the first time in over a year only had two courses [I had eight] and he is now probably worse off than me.

I have a number of options open to me :~

[1] Enter a clinical trial with new medication that is showing encouraging results. I have to meet certain criteria ... and even if I'm accepted I may get the placebo ! The clinical trial is finishing soon so I need to get in quickly if I'm going to get in at all. Paperwork explaining the trial will be sent to me in the next few days.

[2] Another course of chemotherapy. This won't be as effective as the previous course but could keep me going for longer than not having it at all ! It wasn't available ten years ago.

[3] Bone strengthening drugs. These may well be needed as the cancer appears to be attacking my bones. One drawback is that I need my teeth to be in good order and they aren't. A visit to the dentist may be needed. [I think the doctor has seen my smile.]

All these three courses of treatment have to be provided in the city hospital an hour away rather than the town hospital twenty minutes away.

The doctor mentioned in passing that the limp that I have may be caused by one of the bones in my pelvic area that is as good as broken. This is due to it being bone/cancer/bone. The radiotherapy may resolve this ~ the next week may tell me more. There's no wonder it hurt a few months ago when I missed the step on that stile ... and when I roll over in bed every night.

Here I am after the visit ...

 

On a positive note the bacon baps were as good as ever and the social side of visiting hospital continued when I met someone I'd been talking to just yesterday. I hadn't seen her for months before that ...

One negative note ... I'm not sure they do bacon baps in the big city hospital.

This photograph has already appeared on Facebook and someone has said that judging by my smile the news must have been good. I wouldn't go quite that far but again it's been a case of me getting what I expected.

Ticking away ... Day 1001 ~ Team Wildgoose ...

As a follow up to yesterday's blog in which I mentioned a celebration, here's an exclusive photograph of the inner circle that have been carrying me this last one thousand days.

It comprises my children, their mother, my grandson and, of course, my Beloved. Unfortunately my Beloved had somehow got herself behind the camera instead of on the bench ! Perhaps next time we'll get her in picture.

It was a very modest celebration and it didn't last too long which was probably a good thing as I started to seize up in all the wrong places.

Here's [most of] Team Wildgoose ...  

Ticking away ... Day 1000 ~ Man of the Thousand Days ...

First, please allow me to ask that no one writes "here's to the next 1000 ..." I can only think along the lines of one day at a time.

So, what news ?

I've finished my radiotherapy ~ and this is my first free day [other than last weekend] for a while. I feel good, well ... ok ...

I was warned that I might be in more pain for a while after the treatment than before but when there's no real reaction after the first couple of days then you tend to think [well, I do] that that's the way it's going to stay.

The note I was handed when I finished my treatment mentioned that "radiotherapy reactions continue to build up for a week or two and should then settle down over a few weeks ..." ~ we'll have to wait and see but so far I am in some discomfort. I feel as though I've been kicked in my left buttock by a donkey.

The only piece of music of merit that I recall from the last two sessions was Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. It's difficult keeping still when that's playing and on that particular day it was playing loudest of the five days. The line that stuck with me from the song [for some reason] was " ... nothing really matters ..." ...

Yesterday, on the last day of treatment, I thanked the radiographers and technical staff in the room and said how they had helped me through the experience ~ they were marvellous.

So, now we wait and see how it's all gone. I have another four-weekly follow-up appointment a week today. My, how time flies when you're having ... treatment.

Finally as you can see one thousand days has passed since I was diagnosed. I can't believe it. Thank you whether you've been with me all along or just picked up on my ramblings recently. All your comments make a difference. 

There's talk of a little celebration this evening. Let's hope I'm up to it. So far I don't see any reason not to be there ...

Once again, thank you.

Ticking away ... Day 996 ~ Lust for Life ...

Here I am, three fifths of the way through my course of radiotherapy. 

They said I would probably feel tired and possibly slightly nauseous. They also said that the pain might get worse before it got better.

They were right. 

Hey, at least I'm not hobbling around quite as much. The limp and/or the lump seem to be less of a problem.

I ... just ... feel ... a ... bit ... rough ...

The actual radiotherapy lasts just five or six minutes ... and part of that time is me hoisting myself on to the couch and adjusting my clothing so that the radiographers can line up on the little marks on my skin around the left side of my groin. The treatment is nothing unpleasant ~ it's just like a long x-ray.

The radiographers have been brilliant. They've been friendly and understanding. When I left on Friday afternoon they all wished me a 'good weekend' ... and not just me but all the other patients too.

For that five or six minutes of treatment there's two hours travelling and a short wait.

Why Lust for Life ?

Well as I lay there for my first treatment on Wednesday, and after the radiographers had left the room, I could hear some background music coming from somewhere in the room.

It was Iggy Pop's Lust for Life. I smiled ... perhaps there's someone with a sense of humour looking after me.

There's a link here if you want to listen to the song. Only listen if you like rock music and can stomach a few scenes from Transpotting.

If you don't want to listen to Iggy Pop [or even if you do] then you can have a look at me [with my fat right leg] sitting in the Peak District Countryside after a bacon and sausage [!] bap on my way home after the first treatment ... 

 

Ticking away ... Day 991 ~ Irradiate ! Irradiate ! Irradiate ! ...

I have something to confess. I talk to myself at times. Well, that's not strictly true, a little voice in my head talks to me telling 'Charlie Boy' to do this ... and to do that ... most often it's saying 'come on, Charlie Boy, you can cope ... don't lose your grip ...'

The thing is no one really prepares you for slowly falling off the Edge of the World. 

You can't jump off the x-ray couch and form a 'T' with both hands and ask for some 'time out'. 

Today though the little voice inside my head [which, it has to be said, makes me smile quite a lot] said wouldn't it be funny when you start your radiotherapy if a Dalek-like voice calls out from behind the screen "Irradiate ! Irradiate !  Irradiate !"

In the event I didn't get the chance to see if this was actually going to happen because although I was x-rayed and marked up ready to be irradiated I was told half an hour later that, in fact, my actual treatment wouldn't be starting until Wednesday with further 'doses' on Thursday, Friday, Monday and Tuesday ... then that would be it.

 The doctor this morning mentioned in passing that the radiotherapy wasn't a cure ... it was just to help ease the pain ... and it has to be said pain has surfaced and made itself known ... rather like an uninvited shark at a swimming gala.

At present I'm hobbling around a bit. I walk upstairs labouriously putting my right foot on a step and then bringing my uncomfortable [ok, painful] left leg up to the same step. [I now avoid walking up steps if there's a crowd behind me.]

 

"Come on Charlie Boy. Stop whinging ... go and make yourself a coffee ..."

Ticking away ... Day 979 ~ me and my three legged dog ...

Since I came out of hospital four weeks ago I haven't really made up lost ground ~ over the past four weeks my 'groin strain' has become more and more uncomfortable. It got to the stage where, even with two walking poles, I was only able to walk a couple of miles on a flat trail on Monday evening and it took me two hours. We were taking photos as we went but even so ...

So, after my CT scan a week ago today I was prepared for nearly anything when I went for my four weekly follow-up appointment with my oncologist.

We got there for the 9.30 appointment and after the usual weigh-in and blood pressure check Jamie and I were talking to the doctor who seemed very relaxed ... and then she said "when is your CT scan ? " ... that's right, the results hadn't filtered through to her yet.

The doctor felt that, in view of the discomfort I was experiencing in my groin, it might be worth me having an x-ray. This obviously wasn’t going to be one of those hospital visits where we were sitting down to a bacon bap within an hour of my appointment.

[I will now try and edit out some of the details you don’t need to know … I'm trying to save you time ...].

We walked through the hospital to the x-ray department. Who should walk in whilst we were sitting there but one of my former work colleagues … “What are you doing here” ... 
 

My name was called and I went into the x-ray room after putting on one of those gowns. I lay there while six or seven x-rays were taken of my pelvis and left hip. This involved some discomfort on my part as the radiologist had to x-ray my left hip by lining up the machine whilst my right leg was supported on a metal frame. She was shooting under my right leg.

 I was given a pink slip of paper with a bar code to walk back to my doctor so that she could see the x-rays immediately.

Initially though we saw the pharmacist to talk about my medication. After she’d gone we [Jamie and I] realised that we were sitting in a side room with comfortable chairs. You know what that can mean. As I sat there, across the corridor, I caught a glimpse of a couple of friends I knew from my days with the ramblers …

After twenty five minutes the doctor came in and she was able to say that whilst they were looking at the x-rays they were also able to see the results of the CT scan. This showed up that in addition to a swollen lymph gland on the left side of my groin [that’s a lump I have there at present] I also have a ‘met’ in my left hip socket and a smaller one in my right hip.

By ‘met’ I assumed she meant metastasis and she did indeed confirm that that is what she meant. 'Met' sounds much less threatening though doesn't it.

The good news [yes, there is some good news] is that radiotherapy should soon knock the swollen lymph gland and both metastases into touch ! Hurrah ! I just need one session and they would tell me within the next 7 to 10 days when that will be.

On that note Jamie and I headed off for our bacon bap. We were now attending to the serious business ~ the bap !

However, who should we bump into in the Café@theRoyal but those two walkers … one of them having the same complaint as me. I said hello … they didn’t recognise me [it happens a lot] ... but once I’d introduced myself we sat and had a chat and he picked my brain as he has only recently been diagnosed. I think he took comfort from the fact that I am still  around nearly three years after being diagnosed, particularly as I have Stage 4 prostate cancer and he has Stage 2 …

Jamie’s telephone rang. It was my doctor wanting to have a further word.

We headed back to her department. She was apologetic. I will need five ‘doses’ of radiotherapy not one … I wasn't angry. I wasn't upset. These things happen. Mistakes are made. Life is too short ...

Eventually we got away after all the toing and froing and I spent the afternoon feeling tired [mentally as much as physically I think].

Yesterday my enthusiasm seemed to evaporate fairly early in the day too.

Today though I feel enthused enough to post this even though my groin is feeling decidedly uncomfortable. I might even resort to some painkillers … at some stage.

So, I’ve had a setback but I expected it … possibly worse … now I aim to get the radiotherapy behind me and hopefully get out for some walks …

In the meantime here’s a photograph taken once we’d got back to the car park …

I don't shave as often as I used to do.

Ticking away ... Day 921 ~ the further tales of a man and his own personal cancer.

Yesterday, Day 920, me and my Stage 4 cancer as well as my son travelled to Chesterfield Royal for another 28 day check-up ... though perhaps I should call it a follow-up appointment. Anyway, you get the idea.

I got weighed and my blood pressure was taken. The Atenolol I have been given for the last 28 days has done the trick ~ my blood pressure is down ! I've been having a weekly check on my blood pressure though I haven't told you. Even I know there's a limit. [I'm thinking of you. I don't want to labour a point].

I've not even told you about my mallet finger ... what's that ? You'd like to know ? OK ... well, I went to the Pulvertaft Hand Clinic within the Royal Derby Hospital  where, after eight weeks, the doctor asked me to take off the plaster around the splint ... "Don't you want to do it ?" I asked ... "No, I might hurt you if I did it ..." he replied. So, gingerly, I unwrapped my middle finger and, lo and behold, it stayed straight ! I think the next thing he said was "Don't bend it !" I didn't bend it but you know what it's like sometimes when you know you mustn't do something ... you do it ... but not this time ... so far. The next stop was the therapist who told me that for another four weeks at least I have to keep my splint on though now it will largely be held on with velcro with a bit of plaster. I have to perform two exercises ten times at one go to build up the strength in the tendon. These exercises have to be carried out eight times a day. One involves squeezing a tin of mushy peas very gently. [Note : it doesn't have to be mushy peas. Any can or aerosol will do but I mustn't grip and lift. I go back in ten days for a check up as regards the finger].

Meanwhile back in Chesterfield yesterday, I saw the doctor who seemed happy enough with how things were going. I did mention that I had some discomfort in my groin especially when I walk. It wasn't pain ... just discomfort. I can feel something in there. It could well be that the pelvic bone has been affected by the cancer or the drugs or the chemotherapy ... or all three for all I know. Anyway, radiotherapy may be an option further on down the line. In the meantime I can resort to painkillers though [as mentioned] I have no pain at present.

He did say though that he would like me to double up on the Sando-K, a potassium supplement. However, just in case it increases my potassium levels too much [which can be as dangerous as having low potassium levels] I've got to have some more blood tests ...

As long as they keep me pegged together though I'm happy enough.

A photograph was taken in the car park ...

Keep smiling folks.

Ticking away ... Day 892 ~ Send for three and fourpence !

Another month has gone by so today I was due for another follow-up appointment at hospital at 9.30. I was without my right hand man and lucky charmer ... Jamie. He was needed elsewhere. What would I do ? I felt like a football manager without his lucky suit before a crunch game against his biggest rivals.

There was nothing for it ~ I would have to seek reinforcements

So along came a couple of the ladies who are nearest and dearest to me for their first visit to the Cancer Treatment Suite ... I know how to show a woman a good time.

We got there early and I was seen within five or ten minutes. 

I got off to a bad start ~ my blood pressure was 200 over ... something or another ... that was the only bad news actually. My PSA reading had gone down from 22 or 23 to 19 and everything else seemed ok.

Another appointment was arranged for four weeks hence but I have to start taking a beta blocker [Atenolol] as well as having my blood pressure monitored weekly.

As you can imagine the relief I felt was fairly great. I never know what to expect. I hope for the best but fear the worst. There's no wonder my blood pressure is high. Still, let's not dwell on the negative.

We adjourned to the coffee shop, me and the two ladies, and I had my obligatory bacon bap.

Outside a photographic image was captured ...

I look well for a man with Stage IV prostate cancer don't I. It's amazing what our doctors can do ... and it's all on the NHS. It's worth remembering that since its launch in 1948, the NHS has grown to become the world’s largest publicly funded health service.

In other news, Spring is in the air.

Jamie will be back with me in four weeks.

Ticking away ... Day 867 ~ the low side of normal ...

Six visits to hospitals and a medical centre in eight days ... and now I've got a bit of a break, not literally thankfully.

I'm not going to go into details as regards the visits you will be pleased to hear but I can show you a photograph of my mallet finger in its splint made especially for me by one of the therapists at the Pulvertaft Hand Centre within the Royal Derby Hospital ...

Except when I wash my finger every four or five days the splint has got to stay on for eight weeks and then for four weeks during the night after that. If I bend the end joint of my finger once in that time then we're back to square one. Oh boy.

The most important visit though was probably the last one on Wednesday [Day 864] when the doctor at the Chesterfield Royal Hospital told me everything seemed to be going ok in the circumstances and, wonder of wonders, my potassium level is up to the low side of normal [namely 3.5]. What have I been doing that resulted in this revelation ? My theory is that it's the red wine ... I need more red wine.

After the good news Jamie and I adjourned to the Cafe@theRoyal and had a bacon bap each ... well Jamie had two.

We walked to the car and a photograph was taken. The old boy's hair seems to be getting whiter ...

I am in good spirits and enjoying life. 

Ticking away ... Day 836 ~ plugging that damn wall ...

Earlier today I had my first check-up after being put on Abiraterone. Everything seems to be going well except my blood pressure is up and my potassium level is down. This means I'm being given 10mg of Amlodipine as from tomorrow rather than 5mg ... together with all the other tablets of course.

There's not a lot to add really except the doctor and the pharmacist wanted to know how the Abiraterone was affecting me. I said the worse side effect is having to take them at 6.30 whilst half asleep. If I don't drop the top of the Buxton Water bottle because I'm fumbling about I have been known to drop one of the tablets [which I pick up hastily and swallow without thinking too much]. I don't have to take the tablets at 6.30am but I'm supposed to take them an hour before food and I don't fancy sitting around for an hour doing nothing before I have my breakfast. 

After talking to the pharmacist about my medication we had to go to the pharmacy to get the extra Amlodipine and then as part of my self-medication involves a hot bacon cob we adjourned to the Cafe @ the Royal ...

It had started to snow as we sat drinking our coffees and eating our cobs but there was still time for the usual photograph to show you how this 62 year old is looking nowadays ... 

 

Thanks to Jamie, of course, for taking me there and having to put up with his old Dad ... it is much appreciated Jamie.

Finally, I'd like to say 'hello' to Hayley's Grandma ... I sometimes wonder whether I'm going on a bit too much about the state of my health but when I learn that Hayley reads these blogs to her Grandma because she likes to know what someone else is going through too ... well, it makes it all worthwhile. 

Give your Grandma a hug and a kiss from me Hayley.

Feet together/poles apart ...

Having taken Abiraterone for two weeks now I can report that I feel better generally but I still have some discomfort in my groin ... so I bought myself some walking poles to make walking easier.

They were just £15, hardly top of the range, but they should take some pressure off my hips and pelvis etc.

In the event, just this afternoon, I walked for just 45 minutes, quite slowly from Alport up to the packhorse bridge near Youlgreave ...


 

I'm not a big fan of walking poles but at least they enabled me to get out into the countryside. This may be as good as it gets unless my pelvis improves ... somehow.

We'll see.

The other news is that the Abiraterone hasn't affected my kidneys or potassium levels etc. The pharmacist declared yesterday that the results of Tuesday's bloodtest were "absolutely fine".

Finally my compact digital camera has gone kaput so I'm going to have to replace it or stick with my SLR which is bigger and more cumbersome. The two photos above were taken with my phone !

It will be interesting to see how my groin/pelvis feels during the night and in the morning. It is surprising how you don't realise as you turn over in bed how your body 'corkscrews' on your pelvis  ... until you have a problem with your pelvis. Ouch.

Ticking away ... Day 809 ~ A is for Abiraterone ...

You may have already seen my comment elsewhere as regards yesterday's trip to the hospital with Jamie.

We got there early because sometimes you can get in early to see the doctor. This was not one of those occasions and we were still in the waiting room an hour later.  Then we were called into a side room where we met a new doctor, the fourth so far in this adventure of mine. And she was very nice, asking me how I was doing ... so I told her about my discomfort in the left side of my groin and that also in the last couple of days I was feeling discomfort in my left armpit.

Then she told me the results of my CT Scan by and large confirmed what my discomfort was all about ... but she said there was no sign of cancer cells in the pelvic bone. She had also mentioned that my PSA reading was up to 55 !

So good on one point not so good on two. Still I expected bad on all three fronts.

The doctor suggested that I start taking Abiraterone, a newer type of hormone therapy. Before I can start this though I had to have my blood pressure taken and undergo a bloodtest. Once these had been undertaken I was told the Abiraterone would be delivered direct to me at home. I then have to have a bloodtest in a fortnight so the hospital can see it's all going well and then go back in a month for another checkup.

On average Abiraterone prolongs a man's life by four months more than a man who isn't on Abiraterone.

Whilst I was there three or four of the nurses who looked after me [and Jamie] when I was having chemotherapy came and had a chat with us to see how we were doing. That was good of them.

At 9am this morning my Abiraterone arrived and I will start taking it early tomorrow morning. Four tablets have to be taken at least an hour before eating [or two hours after eating].

There's a warning with the tablets that Abiraterone should not be handled by pregnant women or women who could become pregnant. They should use gloves. 

It will be interesting to see what it does to me.

Incidentally there is no photograph of me because although we took five or six, they have all been swallowed up in my camera ... somehow.

Ticking away ... Day 789 ~ I can't help myself ...

Time for another Prostap injection today. I watched the syringe slide into my tummy ... and I watched the syringe slide out. Fascinating. I hasten to add that it goes in at an angle and not straight in.

My next injection [in 12 weeks time] is the Friday before Good Friday. In other words the Friday before Easter.

My 'groin strain' is more uncomfortable than it used to be and I would think any 'serious' walking is out of the querstion for the time being. This is something of a setback for a walker [as in 'rambler']. I will just have to 'set back' [as some of our American cousins say] and dig the slowness for a time. It can be done.

The last time I saw my doctor he intimated that radiotherapy would hopefully improve the quality of life so lets hope it improves it enough to let me walk a bit more easily ... after I've had my CT Scan on the 10th January.

Finally if anyone thinks I'm doing these blogs to get attention then please move along as soon as possible. I don't ... I do it largely for anyone who finds themself in this sort of situation.