Thursdays Visit To The Oncologist

Last Thursday I caught the train to London to see the oncologist, Kimberley came with me for moral support and hang on to me if I went wobbly.

I must have been looking crap as nice young people gave me seats on the train and the tube.

I was ok walking but the stairs on the tube absolutely  knackered me .

It was a different hospital this time, St Marys in Paddington, it was nice to pass the narrow boats in Paddington basin, it bought back fond memories of the long hot summer of 2013 when we spent a month moored up in Paddington basin. We couldn't hang around though as it was pouring down with rain so we headed to the hospital.

The oncologist was actually based in the private Lindo wing , this is where all the royal babies are born , in actual fact Prince George  William and Kate's first was born whilst we were there back in 2013.

This is the entrance to the Lindo Wing , I took this photo when Elaine's sister, her nieces and great nieces paid us a visit back in July 2013.

Inside actually isn't too flash, but being private the service is great, no hanging around waiting etc.

We spent about an hour and half having a chat plus being examined and having blood tests, plus looking at all the previous scans.

My Cancer is Metastatic non small cell lung cancer T4N1M1c ( bone, brain, liver and adrenal  metastases)

Basically this translates to Im Fcked !

I have always asked her to tell me the truth and that I wanted quality over quantity of life and originally thought that 2 to three years would be doable....... wrong!!!

Originally she had thought that radiation therapy was going to be an option plus maybe immunotherapy  if that didn't work,  but and its a big but due to the type of cancer I have, and it gets a lot more complicated re markers etc that neither option will work and im at the end of the line!

I did agree to start a low dose chemo which will start next Friday,  it wont cure the cancer but might make the next few weeks, months a bit more tolerable,  the big problem is that its inside the liver. 

I wasn't expecting such bad news , so I have gone from thinking of trips in the UK and maybe to Spain to planning end of life care etc!

Im having a visit from the local hospice next Thursday so that will be good, Im also on a limited time now to sort out my stuff in Oz and Spain, the flat still hasn't sold in Australia yet but it is now getting nibbles as the price has been dropped, this should attract the bottom feeders looking for a bargain.

Spain is pretty easy as I rent the villa and have a lease until December, so the  family can go down in the summer  and sort it for me, there is some nice stuff down there but nothing of great value.  I have got the Jag for sale but once again will have to drop the price to attract the bargain hunters.

All in all a bit  of a shit but am very happy that I retired at 55 and had probably more adventures than some people that carry on to a ripe old age and of course was accompanied by the gorgeous Elaine  until August 2016.

I must not forget the brilliant time we had in Oz from being working holiday back packers in 1980 right up until we left in March 2012, it was a great place to live and was indeed the lucky country.

Nothing else to add really, she loaded me up with lots of new drugs that should hopefully give me a bit of spark over the next few months, she also added go and drink some Guinness to get some iron in you!

The trip back to Milton Keynes was pretty horrible as it was pissing down with rain, but once again the old boy got offered seats on the tube and train.

Happy Easter Guys XXXX