RE: Third anniversary3 Aug 2023 16:31
Today I went to the Royal Stoke to hear the result of the approximately ten biopsies that were done on the 20th July, and unfortunately once again they were inconclusive so I need to attend another CT guided lung biopsy on the 11th August - a week tomorrow. The medics will not treat cancer until they are satisfied that it exists and they know exactly what it is. The biopsy procedure involves my lying face downwards on the CT bed with my arms cradled around my head; I am given a local anaesthetic; and the surgeon then creates a small hole near the top of my back, inserts a needle, and cuts out a very thin slice of the growth. He says "breathe in, breathe out, hold your breath, breathe normally", and it is my responsibility to try to ensure that the quick breath in and quick breath out are carried out in exactly the same way each time. I guess that the small slice is extracted during the five second or so "hold your breath" periods, and I estimate that this happened about ten times, so ten biopsies were taken but none proved to have extracted cancerous cells. It is rather like trying to find a needle in a haystack, but this time the surgeon's needle didn't find the "needle" he was looking for.
If the second series of biopsies doesn't find any cancerous cells the medics say that they will probably recommend 20 days of radiotherapy in order to reduce the size of the growth. Under no circumstances will they try to extract the growth by surgery because it is too close to some main blood vessels. They still maintain that the growth looks suspiciously like cancer. Apparently Atypical adenomatous hyperplasia was noted, but I haven't yet got round to seeing what that means.
It looks as though nothing can be done about my cough - the air flow around the windpipe is being affected by the growth, and the cough is a natural result.
This has been an unusual week. I was about to go to my doctor's surgery on Monday morning for my first ever Annual Review when I suddenly felt light-headed, so I asked my wife to drive me there just in case I felt light-headed whilst driving. At the surgery my forehead was clammy and it was found that my blood pressure was too low and my pulse was twice its normal level. I was told to go to the Royal Stoke Accident and Emergency Department immediately, and they found that my blood pressure when I was sitting down, lying down, and standing up varied considerably, so I was admitted to the hospital and for 16 hours a solution was dripped into me and that regularised my blood pressure and pulse. On Tuesday morning they told me that I was a little dehydrated and must drink a lot of water throughout the rest of the day, and yesterday morning they said that my kidneys were working well and my dehydration had gone. I was discharged at 5.30pm.
I will report back in about three weeks' time. Please don't clutter up this board by replying to this post.
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