Posts from — October 2009

It’s been quite a while since my last update on Mumma K’s progress. The last update in April was the relatively good news that the radiotherapy had helped shrink the tumour in the affected lung. However it was known that the cancer had already spread quite a bit. One of the things with lung cancer is most people don’t know they’ve got it because the symptoms are undetectable. It was the lump in the neck that spurred on an x-ray which confirmed the worst fears.

There are 4 stages of lung cancer and sadly Mumma K was diagnosed as Stage 3. This late detection being the main reason for the spread. What makes things worse is that 2 years prior to all this Mumma K had issues with her throat, yet even though doctors knew of her smoking, no chest x-ray was done. It’s all too easy to say ‘what if’ but who knows if this was an early sign of problems.

In August Mumma K was started on a relatively new chemotherapy drug called Erlotinib. Tarceva (it’s brand name) is a advanced non small cell lung cancer treatment for people who have already had chemotherapy which is no longer working. It comes with range of side effects, as most chemo treatments do, and it was noticeable after a week or so that the treatment appeared to make Mumma K’s breathing difficult. It was in the last few months that Mumma K was deteriorating substantially with even short walks becoming a struggle. In September we went on a family trip to Whipsnade zoo, which wouldn’t been possible without a wheelchairs and lifts.

A check-up yesterday confirmed our fears and Mumma K was given 3 months to live. Since diagnosis of the cancer back in December 2008 we’ve always remained staunchly positive around her and never allowed her to get down. The only good thing to come out of this news is that she’ll see one more Christmas. So we’re hoping to make this special and also we’re aiming to get her to London Zoo as soon as possible to see her much loved gorillas. Hopefully she’ll be well enough to make the trip as currently her back is in a lot of pain – which means that she’s doped out on Morphine.

I added a Facebook status last night aimed at my friends that smoke. “If you’re a smoker, give up now. If not for yourself, then do it for the people that care about you because they’re the ones that you will hurt most when you’re dying from it”. It’s a harsh statement. I know giving up smoking is a hard thing but if out of all this one person changes their life by giving up(or even giving it damn good shot) i’ll be a happy man.