Day Four - 22nd December 2011

Much the same as other days, went into work and then saw Dr. Boyes-Varley, who checks over my mouth and tells me that it's healing very well and no effects from the first few days of the radiation therapy.

Then its down to the oncology centre, x-rays as usual and then treatment, all over in a gif as the other days

Get home and surprisingly feel very tired, no other effects, although my sleep pattern getting really mixed up with these 2-3 hour sleeps in the afternoon..

So what vitamins am I taking?

I have been taking, Omega 3 with vitamin E, Vitamin D3, Bi-Quinol CQ10, also Procydin which is a nutrional supplement - an antioxidant free radical scavenger
I have also been taking to support my High BP and cholesterol - Niacin B3 and Red Yeast Rice, interestingly my Cholestrol has dropped to 4.6, from about 6.7, which is much lower than when I was just taking Simvastatin, my BP is steady now as well, although the Candesartan I take has seemed to keep this in check, the big thing for me here is to get off the statins!!

As mentioned before I am also injecting every other day Aimspro, which I think is definetly helping with the healing process..long may it continue to do so!!

Day Three - 21st December 2011

So usual start, off to work for few hours and then back home to be picked up by Vanessa and off to the Oncology Centre. They weigh me today and notice from when I waeighed myself in the UK a few days ago I have dropped a further 2kgs, still far to heavy but doing my best on eating those calories!!

Still taking x-rays which take 10-15 minutes or so and then usual treatment, today though I am off for physio as my jaw aches a lot, although after physio I feel like its broken, but she assures me it will feel better as it loosens up - I hope so...jeepers

Anyway get home and sleep for hours, probably won't sleep this evening now...losing my appetite but I think its more of a case I can't be bothered, to much going on in my head to think about food...

Day Two - 20th December 2011

Up fairly early and go into work, not feeling to bad, do a few hours in the office and then back home to meet up with Vanessa to take me up to the Oncology Centre, this by the way and one of the reasons for taking the treatment in SA is that it is only 5-10 minutes from where I live.

Anyway today much quicker, x-ray only takes a few minutes and then onto the treatment, again same sort of affect after it finishes, although my jaw is noticeably more painful, so have organised for physio after treatment tomorrow. For anyone interested tomorrow when I have it all in front of me I will list out all the vitamins, skin creams, etc that I am using which I hope will make this all the more bearable - along with Aimspro!!

Get home and sleep for a few hours and quickly pop out for a bit of Christmas shopping, not really hungry so finishing this and going to bed...nite nite

Arrive back in Johannesburg

So, good flight on Virgin Atlantic, what a great airline, really took care of me and helped me with my "dry ice" package with my medication in it, through the airport fairly quickly as no-one around, holiday season big time in Jozi....

Get home, unpack, shower and Vanessa (my landlady) calls and offers to take me to the oncology clinic, in fact I don't have a choice she insists and also tells me she is going to take me everyday in case I am not feeling good.

so, day one - ground zero for me, get to the clinic, they have to take x-rays to ensure they have the right dimensions and are directing the radiation to the right points at the right levels, all very intricate and with this mask on, very uncomfortable, after an hour we take a break as there is a clitch with the computer on the dosage levels - would like them to get that right!! anyway, get back on the table after about another 20 minutes and they start the treatment, lasts all of about 7 - 10 minutes...what do I feel?

Well, the first thing I notice is that I feel a bit dazed, my jaw joint on the right side of my face is a bit sore and thats about it, anyway, we stop off for something to eat and I must admit I start to feel really tired.

Get home and sleep for about an hour and a half and then go off and meet Nick and his family and Angela, have a nice meal and then home and now really knackered so off to bed..A busy first day!

Week 12th Dec. - Birthday week - probably need to forget that!!

So week off, well not really, we have decided that as I am back in SA for Christmas that we will do our Christmas Day on the 17th, so mad panic to sort the house out, loads of little jobs get done, new light fittings put up, bathroom floor scrubbed and the slate tiles re-sealed, pictures put up, house has been in a state of redecorating for what seems like 3 months!! so rooms to finish there, Moved half the house down to the shed, chucked out most of the stuff that was already there, usual sort of stuff that people do, just haven't done it for years!!, put new wardrobe up in Kendals bedroom.

So how is my mouth doing, well beginning to eat better having seen the doctor last week who also mentioned to eat loads of calories, I mean that is like a red rag to a bull so come on, cakes, ice cream, etc...all in the name of recovery of course. Jaw isn't as sore and my gum is healing well, can use my electric tooth brush on it now to clean it.

Orlanda gets her job offer from the bank so she is very excited and will look to come down to SA now on the 9th or 10th January. It will be great having her around

So, Friday we go out for dinner for the B-day, really enjoyable, just local in the village. I also see Prof. Haq who checks me over and gives me my prescription for Aimspro to get me through the treatment stage. I don't really know what to expect, he believes it will really help reduce the side effects, he already believes the healing of my gums has been quicker due to Aimspro, I hope he is right as this will be a great supportive treatmenet for other people if it works for me and trust me I will rant on about it forever

so, Saturday, all the family over and Carol puts on an amazing dinner for 21!! We somehow manage to fit everyone in our dining room, have a great night and realise that it will be the last night of drinking anything decent for the next 3 months!! So out comes a 1990 Dom Perignon, which was lovely, slightly flat, dark in colour but tasted sensational, certainly a thought I will keep with me through these dark moments of radiation treatment.

Write a card to each of my kids, which is very emotional for me and I am sure for them when they read it, but I think it is important they know how you feel, that I am a fighter and will win, that I am positive and trust the medical team to get me through this but most importantly I love them more than anything else in the world and whatever happens that will never change. So, off to the airport to start the next stage of this journey, what do I expect - don't know, what am I thinking - that it will be tough, that I will get through this and that pain serves to remind me that I am getting better, that the treatmenet is working and that I'll have a few years left in me yet...

As I go through these next 35 plus days I will try and update the blog daily

Week 5th Dec. - UK and still in recovery mode

So this week has been an interesting one, done a few days in the office, and met up with some old friends which is always a great life lifter, nothing like reminicing and then also being able to look forward to the future at what they and you are doing. I have found that talking through your situation is a great way to:

1. Level you, as there are always people out there in a worse place than you and the number of people that tell you about there loved ones or family members with cancer is amazing
2. Balances your mind, I have found that the more I talk about this illness the more I get it straight in my own head, I feel very positive and believe my inner strength to beat this will see me through

So met Mr Danford, this was on the recommendation of Mr Boyes-Varley. Carol came along which was good as he did a few things to alleviate her concerns. first he talked through the prognosis, the treatment plan I was on and agreed that the guys in SA were doing absolutely the right thing, he then went into detail as to why surgery should only be considered as a later option;

Basically, due to the size of the tumour (3cm in diameter) it would mean the surgery would be pretty invasive into my mouth with as much as 7cm diameter being cut out of my soft pallete, leaving a huge hole, even though they can fill this with tissue it is obviously static tissue and doesn't work in the same way as the main tissue there, which controls your swallowing, food intake, even your voice, all of which can be significantly impacted by this type of surgery....so radiation is the first and best option.

I have decided to take next week off and spend so quality time with the family, I'll pick Bradley up from his school on Saturday and that will be him finished until the new year. He has had his own trauma with having his appendix removed, still managed a jig or two at the wedding the other week!! He missed about 5 weeks of school though so not good in a GCSE year!!

Week 28th Nov. - In The UK Resting & Recovering

Well not really this week I have spent a few days in the office, catching up with people in London, but was great to have lunch with Carol & Lauren up in the city.

Went to Jersey on Tuesday to meet the team there, very pleasant day, although made longer by the virtue of flights only from Gatwick!! Not clever when you live in Buckinghamshire, anyway good day even though it was an early start.

Mouth beginning to feel a bit better, My jaw is still pretty sore and it is still difficult to eat but improving everyday, the lump in my mouth seems more noticeable now the teeth have been removed, not sure if that is figmant of my exploding imagination or whether it has grown, probably a bit of both?