Just When Things Were Going So Well ...

Greetings, Friends, Family and Loved Ones.

Fancy meeting here after all this time! Who'd 'a' thought it, ay? Apart from the odd minor setback, the general trajectory had been one of constant improvement: back at work, eating, drinking, playing, etc., etc. Had a two great holidays: a fabulous cruise down the Danube, followed by a lovely family break in Suffolk.

God, I was pleased with my recovery; God, I was a smug git. I suppose I should have known that life just doesn't run that smoothly. I'm not saying everything was perfect, but all things considered, it felt life was getting back to something approaching normality. Enter, stage left, the malign spirit who took control of my life about 18 months ago.

I had noticed a bit of fatigue, but it was all brought to a head around the time I was due to go into hospital for a relatively minor op, to sort out the bulky mess that is my neck, and give me more mobility in my shoulders. Around the same time, I noticed a lump in my abdomen, and was sent for an ultrasound scan at Whipps Cross hospital.

This scan revealed that there is indeed a lump, that it is a hard object, and that it shouldn't be there; but more than that it could not tell - at least about the lump. Rather more worryingly, the scan also identified that I had developed a pleural effusion: i.e., a quantity of fluid on the area around my right lung.

So, I turned up as planned for the operation, having been given prior warning that this fluid may scupper the whole proceeding, which indeed turned out to be the case: I was not considered well enough to undergo general anaesthetic, and so the op was called off. However, as they had me in hospital, the medicos decided to carry out some tests, to find out what was going on.

In spite of all these warning signs, Catherine and I were still pretty laid-back about things, assuming that whatever was going on was relatively minor, and we'd take it in our stride. Imagine our surprise, dear friends, when we were informed that in fact the CT-scan had shown a new cancer in my lung, which had also spread to my liver and spleen. (You may want to read that sentence again: I still find it barely believable, over 2-weeks later.)

To be continued ...