Can you believe it? After having had the partial new jaw construction, and living a good life for a few years, I went through a bad patch of heartburn and ended up going for an endoscopy which revealed that the cancer was back in May of this year. I was devastated, and had really not expected the cancer to return after all these years. But it was back. And I was ordered to undergo 31 sessions of radiation, plus a weekly sessions of Chemo.
I think at the outset I thought I was going to be OK. There was a bit of denial still floating around, but I was well into the treatments and could feel my taste starting to disappear. It was difficult to swallow, so I know things were happening. But on a Sunday morning in July I woke up and started bleeding. Not a nosebleed or vomit. About one and a half litres of fresh red blood from the tumour in my throat. I did not know if I was going to bleed out or survive it, but I still here, so you know how that went.
It was the middle of COVID, so the emergency services of my local hospital would not admit me. They treated me superficially to stop the bleeding, but did not balance electrolytes, restore saline or take care of other possible damage. I lay there until my COVID test cleared six hours later. During that time I had a stroke. My left neck carotid artery became completely occluded. Bit this would not come to light fir another week or two, when 'floaters' started showing up in my vision and I felt weakness on the left side of my body.
I eventually got transferred to Wits Donald Gordon medical Centre (WDGMC) and they gave me good care and platelets and washed the blood off me that I had been lying in for almost an entire day. What I describe to you now in hindsight was not known to me at the time. I felt strange but had no idea what had happened or how it would change the very core of my life.
Over the next five weeks I stayed at hospital, had tests, treatments, and thought I was getting better. Initially I was treated for aspiration pneumonia. I resumed and finished my radiation and chemo treatments while in hospital to minimize the possibility of another bleed. Had physio therapy, had many scans and discovered that I had had mild thrombosis. I learned that I had suffered some physiological change from radiation / episode which caused me to aspirate my food. Permanently. I was given a feeding tube up my nose which would later be replaced by a series of PEGs, none of which ever seemed to be the right shape, fit or type to accommodate me. I never ate again. The adjustment I was going through was intense.
My husband had been home packing up the house as we had just sold our house and were supposed to move to France - my long term plan for 'retirement'. He found it hard to cope. He had to pack up the house, wrap up the sale and move our possessions to France, where we have a small house. I could no help him pack as I was in hospital. I still have no idea what to expect when the container is opened one day - it will be interesting. Our pets were in distress and I lost my favourite cat because my husband overlooked serious symptoms of ill health in her. We later lost a dog. After five weeks I was sent home. My Peg was not comfortable. Over the week I spent at home the Peg started leaking and I went back to hospital to have it fixed. While in hospital various little problems cropped up. I slowly started losing my voice. My husband went to France. I stayed in hospital and a friend offered to put me up when I can out. She also took care of my three cats and a dog.
I was frail and the hospital did not know if they could let me go because of the problem with blood thinning. In the en they let me go home. Two days layer I had another bleed at my friends house and went back to hospital for five weeks. They ended up deciding not to give me blood thinners again as this would possibly cause another bleed. By now I was thoroughly sick of hospitals, but still hopeful that with time I might be able to swallow again. However I ended up with aspiration pneumonia again and it became clear - no swallowing.
When I came out of hospital after another five weeks, my friend was overwhelmed by my fragility and immediately asked me to find alternate accommodation. I have been exploring options and thinks something else is now lined up for the next time I attempt to leave hospital - a step-down facility. The hospital say I have been treated for that which I had been admitted. But I have picked up a few complications along the line. I got TB - presumably from my weakened immune situation. Six months of treatment to look forward to.
A week ago a spontaneous stoma opened in my neck. Just a big hole. I was very near panic. I have since learned that it may be able to operate the stoma, but success rates are not high. One of the oncologists have arranged hyperbaric treatment for me to generally get well - and hopefully stop the rate of growth of the stoma. This all starts tomorrow.
I think you have caught up with me now. I will post here and let you travel my path with me for a while. If you want to comment. please go ahead.
