An Inspiration
Dear Viv,
Its my Sunday morning time. Up early with a cup of tea in the peace and quiet. Today instead of the weekly Telegraph I read your diary. My Mother and Uncle both passed away through cancer – the latter cancer of the throat like you – and even though I was a child I remember his suffering. Whilst modern medicine has enabled this disease sometimes to be overcome, it takes a special person to want to live badly enough to go through the hell of the treatment from what I can understand.
If – “God forbid’ – I am ever to face such a test, I now know who I can turn to for inspiration ! I am sure many others also are drawing strength from your example. And as I get older and the physical bits don’t work as well as they should, I hope that I can remember how lucky I am and to follow your example of living to the full. And I am sure that you gained a lot of your strength from Avril ! Isn’t it amazing how strong our ladies can be when they also have to face such a test ! Fabulous.
Thank you.
Mike
Spring update
It has been a while since Viv’s last update, he felt that significant news was needed before adding another entry to the diary. Now there was some news and it’s significance was major. On the 26th of March Viv headed off to Faro Hospital for his quarterly check up with specialist Dr Caba. The good doctor proceeded with his usual routine of sticking a camera up Viv’s nostril and down his throat so that he could assess the progress. Although the doctor came up smiling on examination of Viv’s throat he could still see a lot of scar tissue where the tumour had been and the throat was still very swollen and inflamed. Although this was not causing Viv any pain he did have a constant feeling of wanting to vomit which the doctor assured him was quite normal and would be with him for some time to come. As a precaution however Dr Caba did recommend scans and a blood test as the swelling and the scar tissue in Viv’s throat could be camouflaging something he couldn’t see. DR. Caba stressed that these tests were a precaution but this still made Viv feel very uneasy and down at this stage.
On the 30th of March Viv underwent lengthy tests to determine whether there was still any traces of cancer left in his throat. First they scanned the top half of his body and they then performed a Berium Meal scan which involves a dye that is fed into the veins through the form of a drip. This caused Viv no discomfort, it was trying to get the needle into his veins that was the real challenge. Like many people Viv is not a huge fan of needles, the fact that the nurse needed five attempts to find a vein did not help matters. The Nurse explained that the radiation treatment actually shrinks the veins and they become very difficult to locate. On top of this Viv was instructed not to move a muscle, as you can imagine this was an extremely unpleasant experience that he did not want to go through again anytime too soon. There was the usual agonizing 7 day wait for the results. As much as Viv wanted to remain confident there was still doubt in his own mind as to whether he had truly beaten the disease that he’d been fighting for the past year.
The final results came through on the 9th of April, once again Viv heard those magic words “All clear” and the sigh of relief was as big as he’d ever breathed. The scans showed scar tissue in the throat area which he was already aware of and was to be expected. More importantly his white blood cell count was absolutely normal which indicated that his system was cancer free at this time. (Touch wood ) Viv had felt that his post treatment recovery had been quite a rapid process. Each day he saw improvements in his health but now it seemed that those final stages of recovery were taking the most amount of time. He likened that process to the building of a house the initial foundations and structure of the building go up in no time, it’s those final touches, the little details that seem to take forever.
Physically Viv is looking good, he feels he is still a little bit skinny but he is trying to put on weight, I¹ve recommended Guinness which I think he’s going to try. He still gets fairly tired after any kind of exercise and is in constant need of water due to his mouth being unable to generate any saliva. His eating habits are almost back to normal though, apart from the any dry foods such as bread, pastry, steaks and piri piri of course. Viv has accepted that he will need to be patient during this final stage of recovery. He realises that the inside of his mouth has been slowly shedding dead skin from the radiation and now has a completely new lining of skin which is extremely sensitive. Brushing his teeth or eating hot or cold food is unpleasant all over again and he is still yet to enjoy his big passions, a glass of wine again. Despite this he looks at the bigger picture, the fact that he is alive and completely free of cancer and that eventually everything will be back to normal.