Happy (?) Anniversary

Bowel cancer is highly treatable if caught early. Its symptoms are  documented elsewhere on this blog, and all over the 'net. Please read the information and make sure your friends and family do the same. I was ignorant of the symptoms and put up with them as "normal" for two years. That resulted in a further two years that I could have done without.

On September 23rd 2009 I had a bit of a funny turn at work. It turned out to be not very funny at all, and set me off on a journey that's still ongoing. I'm beetling along on a medical mystery tour where only the driver knows where it's going, and nobody really knows who the driver is.

Never in my wildest dreams did I think that one day someone would be telling me I had cancer and then over a year later telling me it was back and that it was aggressive. I hadn't planned for two major operations. I wasn't expecting to become a regular at four hospitals to avail myself of the services of a collection of top surgeons and cancer specialists.

I've had cameras inserted into just about every orifice in my body. I've had to drink or be injected with an assortment of fluids, some radio-active, to facilitate CT scans, MRI scans and PET scans. What did I do to deserve a tumour the size of a grapefruit, and needing part of my liver, bowel, bladder and stomach removing? Then why did it come back and spread to the muscles and arteries in my left leg, causing the removal of lymph nodes and permanent damage to my leg? Perhaps the Great Creator is claiming me back bit by bit!

I certainly wasn't expecting to have to inject myself daily or to finish up pooing through a hole in my stomach, both probably now for the rest of my life. Well, I suppose it's something different! I've had so many blood samples taken that I almost qualify for a donor's badge, and I currently spend three days every fortnight having toxic chemicals pumped into my body in the hope that this nasty little problem can be halted in its tracks. As if all that isn't enough parts of my journey now have to be taken with the aid of a walking stick or my little buggy due to the aforementioned complications during surgery resulting in a mobility problem.

So, what caused all this? I can't remember running over a nun carrying a black cat, so there must have been something else. There was, and quite simply it was IGNORANCE. I was totally ignorant of the possible signs of bowel cancer. Had the obvious one - passing blood - reared its ugly head I'd have been off to the docs like a shot, but it didn't. So I spent at least two years putting the odd bouts of back pain, constipation, Delhi belly, feeling tired etc. etc. to the onset of old age. How wrong I was.

I don't wish to scare anyone unnecessarily but I can't stress enough that, no matter how young or old you are, if your body isn't working as it should go and see someone about it. There's a good chance that it might be exactly what you thought it was - nothing serious. However it MIGHT be the start of something a bit more complicated that, if caught early enough, can be sorted out quickly.

Don't reserve yourself a seat on your own medical mystery tour because it's a bumpy ride and you never know where you'll finish up. PLEASE follow up on any problems with your body, no matter how trivial they may seem. Doing so might just save a lot of grief, and might just save your life.