Hi all,

I realise that it has been a while since my last post but I wanted to get this off my chest. It saddens me how many people I have either known or know of,  that have had to suffer through cancer. Dying of old age or whilst doing something insanely dangerous are measures that I can accept, but the frequency of cancer occurring in people is sadly increasing and although millions..billions worldwide are spent on seeking a cure, it is yet to be found.

I just wanted to say the following....

If you smoke..STOP. 

If you're out in the sun for long periods...USE SUNSCREEN.

Try to EXERCISE 3 days a week, the benefits are untold.

Finally, eat VEGES at least 4 days a week and try to minimise your consumption of PROCESSED FOODS.  

Essentially, look after yourself and your body will thank you.

Cheers, Sly

My first race back on the bike!

My first race back on the bike. Kanangra Classic 2011 - 50km Mountain Bike Event.
(I'm wearing the yellow jersey)

Great fun and it felt fantastic to roll across the finish line.

My result was 10/28 in my category and 24/68 overall. Pleased with that result!

A big thanks to all my riding buddies who have helped me along the way with my comeback, although one day soon,  I hope to have them eating my dust instead of the other way around as the case may be for now  :)

In the tone of Professor Farnsworth "Good News Everyone!"

Today I had met with my Oncologist who inserted a camera up my nasal passage and navigated his way through to where my cancerous tumor was. WAS!! It's gone!! No more!! Nada!! I've been given the all clear and have an appointment in three months time to do another PET scan and ensure that it's gone.

I'm BACK baby! I left Nepean Cancer Clinic walking on a cushion of air !!

It's been a long and difficult journey but I truly believe that a having had a fit body and positive nature certainly helped me conquer this nasty beast. I have one more month left to regain my weight and strength then it's back to the workforce on September 2.

Thank you everyone, all the support I received along the way helped me hopscotch my way through  the last 8 months. It's time to PARTY!!

Ciao ........ !!!!!

p.s.  (sorry for all the exclamation marks)

PET Scan Preliminary Update

Hi All,

My appointment for today was postponed until the 1st of August. This was done to allow me time to flush my sinuses twice a day beforehand, which will hopefully reduce the swelling in my nasal passages so the doctors can slide a camera up there. They had attempted this a few weeks ago but it wasn't successful and hurt me a bit. My question to them is, why didnt they suggest the sinus flushing before todays appointment? Anyhow.....

I did receive a "premliminary" analysis from the PET scan where I was informed that the cancer is mostly gone and there are only small residual amounts remaining which they said was normal and should slowly disappear soon.  The camera up the nose procedure will allow them to provide me with a better diagnosis of my condition and what / if anything, lies ahead. I should add that the previous camera examination wasn't able to see my left nostril region due to my blocked sinuses there.

So, fantastic news thus far and I'll provide another update on the 1st of August. For those that are curious, my weight this morning was 53.2kgs...I'm still a featherweight. None of my other issues have improved as yet except that my hair is slowly returning at the back of my head.

PET Scan update

The procedure went surprisingly well , even the canula didnt pose any issue. Drank the 5 cups of glow juice then tried to stay awake as I was going for a ride back and forth on the motorised bed whilst being scanned. I only just made it, the eyelids were becoming very heavy!

The results may not be known until my next appointment on the 18th, but if I'm told anything beforehand, I'll throw it up on the blog.  Time to rest and eat for the remainder of the day...Ciao!

The PET scan has been scheduled...

I'll be in hospital Thursday morning (7/7) bright and early at 7am to have yet another cannula shoved into my arm. I'm so looking forward to that! They'll fill me with glucose and if there's any cancer left, it'll greedily swallow it which will then show up on the PET scans. The scanning takes about 3 hours to complete and I should have the results by Friday.

So, I'm crossing everything that can be crossed and praying for an excellent result. I'll post the result up here on the blog the same day I receive it.

1st Examination result

A quick update regarding my first checkup last Monday (27th June).

My Oncologist doctors have now passed me along to two new doctors who will continue to conduct the examinations and track my progress. These two basically reassured me that although I've shown no signs of improvement with my symptoms, that in time, "most" of the issues that I have will disappear and that I'm recovering well.

"I'm still not allowed to drink a beer or bourbon so how is that progress?" I asked. All I got from them was a smile and they moved on to the next question. Next time, we're stopping for an approximate date of return answer as I think I deserve a beer!

After spraying a numbing agent up my nose and down my throat, which I will say did nothing to numb either of these regions, a camera tube was shoved up my nostril and threaded down all the way down to my throat. The end result of all of this was that they could not find any of the cancer that had been residing there.  FANTASTIC NEWS...BUT...not a conclusive test to determine whether or not the cancer is gone.  That will be determined by a PET scan which I'm to have sometime next week.

It will take a day or two to receive the results but you can be assured that I will post the result up here on the blog immediately. So far, so good...fingers crossed...and I hope to post some great news in the next week or so.

"Monthly" Update!!

Wow, I didn't realise until typing this latest post that it's been 5 weeks since I'd completed my last chemotherapy treatment. My how time flies by!

Not much has changed since my departure from Hotel Nepean.  Here's a quick recap of where I'm at 5 weeks on....

• My taste buds are still AWOL and nowhere to be seen. 
• Tenderness in the mouth is still present and thus, I have to be careful what I eat. No mouth ulcers to contend with thankfully
• No appetite
• Weight has yet to begin increasing, tipping the scales today at 54kgs
• Body demands a lot of sleep still, averaging between 9-11 hours
• Saliva glands haven't returned and are 99% most likely to never return. I'm learning to cope with sipping water whilst I eat to lubricate my mouth and throat. I also have a constant companion in that a water bottle is always nearby.
• My sinuses are still completely blocked.  Can you imagine not being able to breath through your nose for over 9 weeks? I look like one of those carnival clowns when I sleep with my mouth wide open.
• My veins are still hard, sore and look like a road map due to the chemotherapy drugs,  although they have improved slightly.
• Hair at the base / back of my head hasn't started to grow as yet
• Circulation is not as good as it should be.  My fingers are constantly cold and thermal wear is part of my daily uniform
• The stomach feeding tube was removed two weeks after I had finished the chemotherapy treatments, which is testimony to my stubbornness to persevere with eating via the mouth.
• I still have tinnitus in my ears, so that constant ringing sound has been going on for over 2 months now. ACDC wrote a song about this condition years ago.......Hells Bells  :)

I have managed to get out and ride my bike now on 3 occasions which was wonderful. Oh how I've missed exercising and riding in  the mountains. I struggle along on the rides and certainly don't have the legs that I used to but hopefully within a few months,  they'll start to feel somewhat normal again.
After each ride, I surprisingly manage to record my massive sleep times of 11+ hours. Not sure why that is but it is an amazing amount of time to sleep considering that prior to cancer, I'd struggle to sleep more that 7 hours a day no matter what I did.

So, I'm still travelling on the road to recovery, a journey which has quite a few kilometres yet to go before I reach my destination of being back to full strength / health / fitness. Don't get me wrong, I'm thankful that I'm on the road littered with potholes and not stuck in some ditch although I wish that I was travelling in a Bugatti Veyron, reaching my destination in record time. But, the mini Minor will get me there, slow and steady will win the race.

Ciao for now....

The end isn't near......it's here!!

It's 6am, the ward is eerily quiet, I'm wide awake, and my countdown to freedom has begun. The machine that administers my chemotherapy says that I have 9 hours and 5 minutes remaining with 454ml to go. I'd "almost" drink the remainder of the 5FU drug just to escape the confides of Hotel Nepean.

The last cycle of treatment has been the most difficult to endure on many levels. The complete loss of appetite has been hard to deal with,  which isn't made any easier by the meals produced here at the hotel. The kitchen staff would never win a challenge on Masterchef. I've been completely exhausted by this round of chemotherapy which has had me sleeping between 16-20 hours each day. I've not slept this much since I was in nappies (that was 45 years ago just in case someone decided to make a smart alec comment) Finally, realising that this is the last round and feeling constantly sick from the treatment, my only thought was that I  just want it to be all over. Somewhat foolishly, I debated over and over that the treatment could end a day or two earlier but thankfully to the love and support of my family and friends, I've managed to see it through.

So, this afternoon I'll return home a free man, no more treatments left to complete, and begin the next step of my journey to recovery.  The finish line is still a long way away but hopefully it won't take me too many months to regain my weight, strength and fitness. The doctors are giving me a month to rest before subjecting me to another PET scan, camera scan, and ultrasound test, which will determine how the cancer has reacted to the treatment and hopefully, then declaring me devoid of the devil inside.

I'd like to thank so many people individually here on the blog, but you all know who you are and what you've done to help me through this difficult challenge in my life. From the bottom of my heart, Thank You,  for the cards,  gifts,  visits,  calls,  emails,  SMS messages, support and assistance that I've received along the way.

And to my beautiful and loving family, the 3 most important girls in my life, thank you for the love, support and happiness that you've showered upon me.

Mid-way thru cycle 2 ...

Hi everyone,

As you can imagine due to my lack of posts, the last few weeks were a struggle up until the last few days prior to commencing cycle 2.  Now I'm sitting here in my hospital bed and we're doing it all again, only the doctors have decided to fast track my treatment schedule this time and are slam dunking the Cisplatin and 5FU drugs into me much more rapidly than in cycle one, meaning that I'll be out on the morning of day 5 (saturday) rather than day 6.  I guess they thought I didn't suffer enough after cycle 1 so they decided to up the ante. Absolutely Fabulous!

Dealing with the normal loss of appetite and uneasy stomach is more difficult this time around and I've really had to push myself to eat. I had managed to get my weight back up to 57kgs prior to commencing cycle 2 thankfully, as I can foresee that I'll lose a couple of kg's by the time I walk out of here.

Not much else to add for the moment so I'll leave it there and I promise to update the blog whilst I'm resting after this cycle is completed.