My Cancer Story - To help others.

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Well folks, another year and I am still here and going strong. It is now 2.5 years since my diagnosis and just less since my surgery.

Life is great and I absolutely cherish every single minute of my time with my family. I have reached a point where I don't have to think every day about cancer. Eating is difficult but we are wonderful bit's of kit are we not? The body adapts so quickly and so well.

I remain in touch with the beautiful, brilliant and talented surgeons & medical teams who saved my life and have kept me alive. Never ever do they look for praise, but boy do they deserve to have it.

As we go into 2017 please remember. 8.5k people will die in the UK this year from Oesophageal Cancer most of these lives could have been saved by earlier diagnosis.

If you are having any troubles swallowing food or drink (it goes over but gets stuck before your stomach). Go to a doctor and tell them about Oesophageal Cancer and ask to be checked. If you are munching out on indigestion tablets? Get checked. This is a treatable disease if caught early.

Oh. If you haven't got a V8 in your life and never had one. Try it. The best fun you can have whilst keeping your pants on.

Have a great year folks.

Love to all xx
 
Very pleased to hear you are doing well Bruce. You are very right when you say about getting prompt diagnosis . I am convinced my daughters best friend would be alive today had she been diagnosed with bowel cancer at an earlier stage , despite being sent home twice from hospital with no diagnosis.
A friend of ours lost their daughter to oesophogal cancer in 2005 at the age of 27. Sadly, she suffered from bulimia (i think that is the correct term) and had already lost a lot of weight before eventually agreeing to going in for tests , and got a late stage diagnosis. On the other side of the coin, a friend of mine told his 52 year old brother that he should get a prostate check as he was over 50. His psa count was 19 , and I am pleased to say that due to prompt surgery he is alive and well today.
 
Very pleased to hear you are doing well Bruce. You are very right when you say about getting prompt diagnosis . I am convinced my daughters best friend would be alive today had she been diagnosed with bowel cancer at an earlier stage , despite being sent home twice from hospital with no diagnosis.
A friend of ours lost their daughter to oesophogal cancer in 2005 at the age of 27. Sadly, she suffered from bulimia (i think that is the correct term) and had already lost a lot of weight before eventually agreeing to going in for tests , and got a late stage diagnosis. On the other side of the coin, a friend of mine told his 52 year old brother that he should get a prostate check as he was over 50. His psa count was 19 , and I am pleased to say that due to prompt surgery he is alive and well today.

Thank you for this.

The facts are stark. My surgeon tells me that when he speaks to people who have been diagnosed, almost all, will report being aware of the symptoms, with a very high number reporting "indigestion/heartburn problems" and/or "difficulty in swallowing". Many GP's are still not boned up on this disease, many others see themselves as the financial gatekeepers for the NHS so are reluctant to push for CT scans and Endoscopy procedures (both of which are very expensive). I visited my GP multiple times over a six month period with worsening symptoms. I was diagnosed within 48 hours, after I insisted on being seen privately.

Put another way: Swallowing is so normal we never have to think about it, we just do it and it just works!! If we have to think about it? Then something is wrong and we should get it checked. Most of the available "PPI" medicines that are prescribed or sold over the counter - Zantac, Gaviscon etc, do a great job of masking the symptoms, to the point that you can believe that all is ok. If you have to keep using these medications (or similar ones) then something is wrong. It is not normal to do so.

I was a "social" drinker and serial curry eater with a very stressful job in the City. I attributed my "indigestion and swallowing problems to my lifestyle and was happy to keep a packet of Zantac in my pocket....WRONG.

It is not an "Old Persons" disease any more. Some think that this is largely due to changes in diet and social habits. Processed foods have never been so popular and alcohol is now seen as just something we do, the norm and not the exception.

Tell your GP what you now know and ask for a second opinion.

Thank you.
 
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I had a further procedure for this on 6th December, a little more cutting and the first session of HALO (radio frequency ablation). Today is the first day I've been able to swallow anything close to normality since the 6th.

I had another biopsy taken which appears to be clear of cancer. So that was great news for Christmas. The best present I could have had.

I've got my next procedure booked on 14th February. If that one also shows a clear biopsy then I'm considered cancer free. HALO treatment will then continue until the surgeon is happy they've eradicated my Barrett's and removed the cause altogether. At that point I'm transferred back to my original consultant for monitoring every 3 months for a year. If that proves clear then it's extended to 6 months, then 9 months.

I think then I'll be periodically checked for life.

Unlike Bruce I had no symptoms and my condition was discovered when they were actually looking for something else. Catching this early is everything, it is completely curable when discovered in it's early stages.

I'm now in this good position because I had private medical insurance. The tests and procedures that have been covered by BUPA would not have been so forthcoming in the same timescale on the NHS.

The following is the timescale for my diagnosis, it's progression and treatment.

Late July 2016 I was found to have High Grade dysplasia, this is mutated cells that are not cancerous but which have a high chance of cancer developing. At this point no one seemed to be in a rush, it wasn't great news but I was told it wasn't super urgent. In fact I could go on holiday if I had one booked without any worries.

Early August I meet my consultant surgeon in London and I'm booked in for a procedure 4 weeks later.

Early September I had the procedure and it was clear (later confirmed by biopsy) that the dysplasia had become cancer but fortunately non invasive.

So I got lucky, the surgeon told me if this hadn't been found until Christmas I would have been in a lot more trouble, the cancer would likely have become invasive.

I'm 47, historically not someone in the demographic for this problem.
 
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Best wishes Red for continued good news throughout the coming year, likewise, you too Bruce.

Take care gents.
:)
 
NOMONEYBUTAMERC said:
signed , and shared on social media.

Thank you for signing and sharing. I should have thought to ask that you all kindly share on your social media. We do know that this makes a massive and very real difference. People may live as a result of your signatures and sharing.

Thank you.
 
Signed and shared!

My father in law was diagnosed with throat cancer on Monday, the day after my mum died 2 years ago - so this now has even more resonance than it did before (although not much as I feel strongly about contributing anything in the war against cancer).

Strangely Bruce, I once worked for Hitachi Micro Systems Europe (which became Renesas).
 
This Monday will mark 5 years post surgery for me. The stats indicate that if you make 5 years, you've got about an 80% chance of getting to 10 years (bar the proverbial bus), which sounds pretty decent odds to me, all being said.

Haven't heard from either RED C220 or Brucemillar for several months. Not that I know either of you guys, but shared experiences etc, gets me wondering hows life treating you at the moment.
 
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5 years is a great milestone. Must be good for the body, mind & soul. Hopefully Bruce & Alan will give equally good updates as yours. :thumb:
 
Tangey

I am still here and doing well. I am now 2.5 years post surgery and enjoying every single second of every single day. It is a struggle as I try and recover from the massive surgery and I am told that in itself takes up to 5 years. I will celebrate another birthday on Sunday that I thought I would not see. I am blessed to have had such wonderful support from such a fabulous medical team and my beautiful wife, children and grandchildren.

I saw Allan (Red) a couple of weeks ago and he was also going well.
 
Nice one Bruce.
 
I had another round of HALO on the 6th June and it looks like that should be my last. The biopsies didn't find anything untoward.

I now move on to monitoring, next oscopy will be 6 months, if that's clear then it's 9 months. I think it then goes to once a year for life.

So effectively I'm "cured" which is the benefit of having my condition being caught much earlier than it would have been. The reality is I got lucky, I was being monitored every three years and what I had developed at 2 years and 10 months after my previous oscopy. If it had been one month after a 3 year check I'd have been in the same mess as Bruce as you really get no symptoms until it's a bit too late.

So I had just enough cancer for a critical illness policy to pay out but not enough to cause any serious issues, a bit of result in hindsight.

It changes how you think about life, what you worry about and don't worry about. For me I got let tolerant with people who were wasting my time but far more patient with genuine people.

I worry far less about what other people think and just get on with what makes me happy.
 
It changes how you think about life, what you worry about and don't worry about. For me I got let tolerant with people who were wasting my time but far more patient with genuine people.

Very true.

Whilst I've not had cancer myself touch wood, my mum got to 5 years and just after was the beginning of the last 1.5 years that saw the end sadly.

Watching my FIL go through the same thing in April brought it all back.

I would say I have changed much in the same way you have.

I also care very little about the small things that just don't matter.

In other words, don't sweat the small sht!

Good luck with your situation tangey.
 

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