It is all good news!

Hi everyone,

I did start with a title, Good News and Bad News but decided that ultimately it is all good news however bad it may sound to some!

I am back from my palliative care clinic and now have the full picture. The best news ever is that the pain is being caused by an ulcer with a sloughy area (means that it is not healing like it should and is a bit mucky). To some this may not sound like good news but for me who until then had suspected cancer had returned to my bowel, it was brilliant news.

The only way to clear the ulcer is to remove this piece of my bowel which would mean me having a permanent colostomy. Not particularly great news but again better than the cancer having returned to my bowel.

My choice at this moment in time is to not go for the surgery due to the fact I would have to wait for at least 6 weeks before and potentially 6 weeks after chemo - this is due to the Avastin I am taking every 3 weeks as it doesn't allow for wounds to heal. So no chemo for 1 1/2 - 3 months is not an option for me at the moment. I have other things to consider that will give the ulcerated area a chance to heal. My palliative care registrar agreed that if the pain is under better control there is no real reason to chance not having chemo for 3 months.

Of course my cancer would love not having any chemo for a number of weeks - it would have a chance to grow, I am not about to let that happen.

Thanks for all the support

Much Love

Tony xx