Friday 29 May. It is the evening when Mr P calls. Good news and not so good news he says. Of the six additional lymph nodes one more is definitely involved by tumour and another is suspect but the rest are clear. He will see me in a week’s time at the hospital to discuss next steps. This time I do succumb to tears – just for a while. My partner is there to just hold me. When will we start to get the good news?
Sunday 31 May. We reach the 40 ml mark and the district nurse takes out the drain. Freedom at last. I feel like dancing around the house.
Friday 5 June. We see Mr P. Good news for a change. The second lymph node that was suspect is clear. There were only 2 baddies in all. Mr P is satisfied that from a surgical point of view he has got all the primary cancer. A nurse removes the dressing, checks the wound and makes an appointment for me to see Mr P in four months.
But…and it is a big ‘but’, once a cancer is invasive and has metastasised to the lymph nodes, it is highly likely that cells have moved into the bloodstream and lodged in other parts of the body. These can develop into further metastases – secondary cancers in the bones, liver, lungs, or brain. The only way these can be bought to book is through chemotherapy. Mr P arranges for me to see Dr S the following week– a very good oncologist at another private hospital.
My partner and I go out to lunch on the way home at a lovely Elizabethan Manor. There is one thing about all this….I have been eating very well.
When we get home I get a call from Dr S’s secretary. Can I see him next Wednesday? Of course. It is wonderful to get appointments so quickly.
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