Patient Stories – Andy
At 33 I never imagined calling an ambulance for myself; what could be giving so much pain? I had woken at 5am as if someone had shot me. I’d been experiencing a dull ache in my stomach for a week or two and now, thinking back, I’d had an ongoing problem with my digestion and movements, but I’m 33 I thought to myself.
I would like to make a point at this time, one that now has become one of my new principles, don’t be too stubborn to admit you need help.
For too long I’d ignored the warnings my body was giving me. Family and friends commented on my loss of weight and lack of appetite, I however dismissed their concern and carried on with my own demise. Analysing it now, my problems had started over a year ago.
Diarrhoea, no appetite, weight loss, worn-out, I wasn’t the upbeat bloke everybody knew. In the emergency department of St Mary’s Hospital Paddington the game of diagnosis began.
Initially the doctors agreed with my own gut feeling, that I had
appendicitis. So without further ado I was shaved and gowned. Lying
there with the pre-med warming my blood, I could never have
imagined what was waiting on the other side.
I was told that I had had a section of my bowel removed that had
perforated. It wasn’t for 3 days that I was told that I had a
neuroendocrine tumour which was metastatic. With this news my life changed forever.
“I have cancer” I thought to myself over and over again. How and why were the two questions that constantly went round my head. Now I know the questions to ask yourself should be 1, how do we beat this? and 2, what do I need to do to beat this?
The ‘how’ is easy, leave it the professionals. I met Dr Martyn Caplin with mum and dad one Friday in December and a frank discussion took place. A number of options are open to someone with a neuroendocrine tumour as the disease is rare and many of the cancer treatments for this disease are still in trial form so this allows more options. I was told that my best chance lay with a somatostatin analogue called Octreotide in conjunction with Interferon. I won’t bore you with the science but suffice to say this is the best first option FOR ME.
The ‘what’ was easy too. Give up everything I had been doing
previous to my diagnosis and start listening to every piece of
guidance. Stop smoking, drinking, eating over cooked food, the usual things that make life pleasant. Funny as it sounds I have enjoyed reevaluating my situation. It has given me a chance to understand that as much as we hope we are, we are not invincible. I have started exercising and eating the foods that are good for me rather that taste good to me. I won’t go on with this point, but I will say that you should listen to all the advice given to you and try to put in place a schedule that you can stick to.
I am now in treatment and my weekly trips to the Royal Free to see the lovely Cathy and Janelle are underway. These girls know what they are on about so listen to them and don’t be afraid to ask their advice whenever you are not sure about anything. I refer you back to the beginning of this piece; don’t be too proud to ask for help. We are all in our own way fighters but this is something that takes not only your own mental strength but the combined strengths of family and friends, doctors and nurses, Holland and Barrett and Holmes Place, to name just a few.
When you think about it, what other choice is there but to hope? We have two options, medically and emotionally: give up, or Fight Like Hell.
