5 years on…….

[lawrieleslie]

Finally got the "all clear" from Derriford Hospital after 5 years of treatment and scans following duodenal cancer surgery and 6 months of chemotherapy in 2019. The staff from surgeons, oncologists, nurse specialists & Macmillan have been exemplary. Anybody going through post cancer care please please take care of yourself, stay as active as possible, eat & drink sensibly and pester your GP if you get anything that makes you anxious that cancer has returned. If you, like I was, are on a 5 years annual CT scan and review process then don’t be afraid to pester them for your results. After my first scan in May 2020 I had to wait over 3 months for a review of the results. I vowed to not let this happen again and they must have clocked me because the final review came just 4 weeks after CT scan. Best wishes to anyone going through what I have over last 5 years.

[redstriper]

Jun 22, 2024 11:14:17 GMT lawrieleslie said:

Finally got the "all clear" from Derriford Hospital after 5 years of treatment and scans following duodenal cancer surgery and 6 months of chemotherapy in 2019. The staff from surgeons, oncologists, nurse specialists & Macmillan have been exemplary. Anybody going through post cancer care please please take care of yourself, stay as active as possible, eat & drink sensibly and pester your GP if you get anything that makes you anxious that cancer has returned. If you, like I was, are on a 5 years annual CT scan and review process then don’t be afraid to pester them for your results. After my first scan in May 2020 I had to wait over 3 months for a review of the results. I vowed to not let this happen again and they must have clocked me because the final review came just 4 weeks after CT scan. Best wishes to anyone going through what I have over last 5 years.

Great news to hear that your treatment was effective and that you have made a full recovery. It would be good to hear how you stayed positive during the dark times ?

[thehartshillbadger]

Jun 22, 2024 11:14:17 GMT lawrieleslie said:

Finally got the "all clear" from Derriford Hospital after 5 years of treatment and scans following duodenal cancer surgery and 6 months of chemotherapy in 2019. The staff from surgeons, oncologists, nurse specialists & Macmillan have been exemplary. Anybody going through post cancer care please please take care of yourself, stay as active as possible, eat & drink sensibly and pester your GP if you get anything that makes you anxious that cancer has returned. If you, like I was, are on a 5 years annual CT scan and review process then don’t be afraid to pester them for your results. After my first scan in May 2020 I had to wait over 3 months for a review of the results. I vowed to not let this happen again and they must have clocked me because the final review came just 4 weeks after CT scan. Best wishes to anyone going through what I have over last 5 years.

Fantastic news, well done👍🏻

[cdf]

fantastic news

[deeside2]

Really pleased to hear this news Lawrie. So pleased for you, very well done. 👏👍

[prestwichpotter]

Great news. All the best fella.....

[Davef]

All the best to you. Stay healthy. 😊

[Dutchpeter]

BZ Shippers.

[salopstick]

Jun 22, 2024 11:14:17 GMT lawrieleslie said:

Finally got the "all clear" from Derriford Hospital after 5 years of treatment and scans following duodenal cancer surgery and 6 months of chemotherapy in 2019. The staff from surgeons, oncologists, nurse specialists & Macmillan have been exemplary. Anybody going through post cancer care please please take care of yourself, stay as active as possible, eat & drink sensibly and pester your GP if you get anything that makes you anxious that cancer has returned. If you, like I was, are on a 5 years annual CT scan and review process then don’t be afraid to pester them for your results. After my first scan in May 2020 I had to wait over 3 months for a review of the results. I vowed to not let this happen again and they must have clocked me because the final review came just 4 weeks after CT scan. Best wishes to anyone going through what I have over last 5 years.

Great news les

[Orbs]

Brilliant news LL - well chuffed for you 👍🏽👍🏽

[chuffedstokie]

Brilliant news, stay well 👍

[liathroid]

stay healthy

[alsagerstokie]

Fantastic stay well

[iancransonsknees]

Awesome news, makes the usual drivel on here (usually posted by me) pale into insignificance.

Hussar!

[middleoftheboothen]

Jun 22, 2024 11:14:17 GMT lawrieleslie said:

Finally got the "all clear" from Derriford Hospital after 5 years of treatment and scans following duodenal cancer surgery and 6 months of chemotherapy in 2019. The staff from surgeons, oncologists, nurse specialists & Macmillan have been exemplary. Anybody going through post cancer care please please take care of yourself, stay as active as possible, eat & drink sensibly and pester your GP if you get anything that makes you anxious that cancer has returned. If you, like I was, are on a 5 years annual CT scan and review process then don’t be afraid to pester them for your results. After my first scan in May 2020 I had to wait over 3 months for a review of the results. I vowed to not let this happen again and they must have clocked me because the final review came just 4 weeks after CT scan. Best wishes to anyone going through what I have over last 5 years.

Get in mate! Well done.

[mrcoke]

Congratulations. 

Keep healthy and safe. 

[gawa]

Great news Leslie. Very happy for you. Well done for giving cancer a big fuck you

[elystokie]

Nice one LL 👍

We need an Oatcake meet-up so you can 'ring the bell' 😉

[lawrieleslie]

Jun 22, 2024 11:21:17 GMT redstriper said:

Jun 22, 2024 11:14:17 GMT lawrieleslie said:

Finally got the "all clear" from Derriford Hospital after 5 years of treatment and scans following duodenal cancer surgery and 6 months of chemotherapy in 2019. The staff from surgeons, oncologists, nurse specialists & Macmillan have been exemplary. Anybody going through post cancer care please please take care of yourself, stay as active as possible, eat & drink sensibly and pester your GP if you get anything that makes you anxious that cancer has returned. If you, like I was, are on a 5 years annual CT scan and review process then don’t be afraid to pester them for your results. After my first scan in May 2020 I had to wait over 3 months for a review of the results. I vowed to not let this happen again and they must have clocked me because the final review came just 4 weeks after CT scan. Best wishes to anyone going through what I have over last 5 years.

Great news to hear that your treatment was effective and that you have made a full recovery. It would be good to hear how you stayed positive during the dark times ?

Thanks for the well wishes from you and likes from everybody. Staying positive was hard in the early days so many ups and downs. To start with the surgeon thought I had full pancreatic cancer and I was prepared for a whipple procedure which could, at worse, have left me diabetic and taking Creon enzyme tablets forevermore. But luckily the diagnosis was wrong and when the surgeon got amongst my intestines he found the tumour was lower down in the duodenum so that part was removed. That was a very positive outcome for longevity. However there were many ups and downs during hospitalisation with leaks from the internal stitches twice giving me peritonitis. That was a difficult few weeks until everything stabilised. I remember waking up one night in hospital and my pulse was 180 bpm because of dehydration, so I was put in intensive care for 24 hrs and given intravenous rehydration. Honestly I was like fucking Michelin man for a few days but it worked. During the op the surgeon found 10 lymph nodes around the tumour site of which 3 were malignant. At Derriford oncology say that 30% of malignant lymph nodes triggers chemotherapy. So the next phase was 6 months and 8 cycles of chemo. I’m not going to say it was hard because it was horrendous and staying positive was only possible by looking at the reason for having it. Out of the 8 cycles, which involved 1 day in hospital for intravenous chemo which turned my right arm veins almost black over 6 hours. Following this it was 3 days of steroids which knocked me flat then 2 weeks of capecitabine tablets which were dreadful and became a psychological barrier towards the end of the cycle because of the side effects. This was followed by a week respite phew boy did I need it. I managed 7 cycles, just before the 8th cycle I hadn’t fully recovered from the previous one so the oncologist said they wouldn’t have expected me to endure more than 5 maybe 6 cycles ….yeh cheers for that. That 1st CT scan after chemo was nerve wracking until I was told it had all gone but would need 5 years of surveillance. After each scan I became more and more positive that I might beat this. I became very anxious after my last scan in May because results had previously taken 8-10 weeks but this year I got a letter for a consultation after just 3 weeks which put me in the doldrums because I could only think that they must have found something sinister to contact me so soon. But it was good news. I’m lucky to have my family close by to give me the encouragement and sometimes kick up the arse to look on the bright side. The only legacy is neuropathy of my toes and ring piece from the chemo. When I now need a shit I have to go immediately as there’s no holding back with little feeling down there

[ihaveadream]

Jun 22, 2024 11:14:17 GMT lawrieleslie said:

Finally got the "all clear" from Derriford Hospital after 5 years of treatment and scans following duodenal cancer surgery and 6 months of chemotherapy in 2019. The staff from surgeons, oncologists, nurse specialists & Macmillan have been exemplary. Anybody going through post cancer care please please take care of yourself, stay as active as possible, eat & drink sensibly and pester your GP if you get anything that makes you anxious that cancer has returned. If you, like I was, are on a 5 years annual CT scan and review process then don’t be afraid to pester them for your results. After my first scan in May 2020 I had to wait over 3 months for a review of the results. I vowed to not let this happen again and they must have clocked me because the final review came just 4 weeks after CT scan. Best wishes to anyone going through what I have over last 5 years.

Brilliant news x

[redstriper]

Jun 23, 2024 18:46:32 GMT lawrieleslie said:

Jun 22, 2024 11:21:17 GMT redstriper said:

Great news to hear that your treatment was effective and that you have made a full recovery. It would be good to hear how you stayed positive during the dark times ?

Thanks for the well wishes from you and likes from everybody. Staying positive was hard in the early days so many ups and downs. To start with the surgeon thought I had full pancreatic cancer and I was prepared for a whipple procedure which could, at worse, have left me diabetic and taking Creon enzyme tablets forevermore. But luckily the diagnosis was wrong and when the surgeon got amongst my intestines he found the tumour was lower down in the duodenum so that part was removed. That was a very positive outcome for longevity. However there were many ups and downs during hospitalisation with leaks from the internal stitches twice giving me peritonitis. That was a difficult few weeks until everything stabilised. I remember waking up one night in hospital and my pulse was 180 bpm because of dehydration, so I was put in intensive care for 24 hrs and given intravenous rehydration. Honestly I was like fucking Michelin man for a few days but it worked. During the op the surgeon found 10 lymph nodes around the tumour site of which 3 were malignant. At Derriford oncology say that 30% of malignant lymph nodes triggers chemotherapy. So the next phase was 6 months and 8 cycles of chemo. I’m not going to say it was hard because it was horrendous and staying positive was only possible by looking at the reason for having it. Out of the 8 cycles, which involved 1 day in hospital for intravenous chemo which turned my right arm veins almost black over 6 hours. Following this it was 3 days of steroids which knocked me flat then 2 weeks of capecitabine tablets which were dreadful and became a psychological barrier towards the end of the cycle because of the side effects. This was followed by a week respite phew boy did I need it. I managed 7 cycles, just before the 8th cycle I hadn’t fully recovered from the previous one so the oncologist said they wouldn’t have expected me to endure more than 5 maybe 6 cycles ….yeh cheers for that. That 1st CT scan after chemo was nerve wracking until I was told it had all gone but would need 5 years of surveillance. After each scan I became more and more positive that I might beat this. I became very anxious after my last scan in May because results had previously taken 8-10 weeks but this year I got a letter for a consultation after just 3 weeks which put me in the doldrums because I could only think that they must have found something sinister to contact me so soon. But it was good news. I’m lucky to have my family close by to give me the encouragement and sometimes kick up the arse to look on the bright side. The only legacy is neuropathy of my toes and ring piece from the chemo. When I now need a shit I have to go immediately as there’s no holding back with little feeling down there

That sounds really gruelling, great to hear you're through to the other side.

Be careful with the timing of those family kicks up the arse given your ring piece situation, it could get messy