Tag Archives: Cancer

That’s me in the wheelchair with my flag.

21 Thursday Feb 2013

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wheelchair

Let me start by saying that it’s good to be back and feeling more normal and thanks to those who stepped in for me last week to enable my blog to go out.  I’ve a long way to go now to get rid of the clots on the lungs, daily injections in the stomach for up to five months while monitoring the tumour – the clots being the priority now and not to form any more.  I am on oxygen at home at the moment to stop breathlessness and I’m awaiting a wheelchair to be delivered.

So once again I was admitted to Addenbrooks at short notice, not really being sure what was up exactly.  Arrived…taken to Oncology short stay…blood tests…chest Xray…MRI scan and when the results came back it amounted to blood clots on the lungs. They wanted me to stay in for monitoring and so they had to find a bed for me which they did at 10 O’clock at night.

It wasn’t until the staff handover the next morning that I got the technical term for my condition.  As the doctor and night team were handing over, they were going through the other patients.

“This is Mr So and so, bowel cancer.  This is Mr Blah Blah, bone and hip cancer.  This is Mr X, cancer in the femur   and this is Mr Smith, admitted late last night with….constipation!!”

I looked up at them.  “What?”

They were giggling.  I said, “Excuse me.  I’m terminally ill here.  It’s a brain tumour, not constipation!”

Well, thank you all again for your donations and for your messages of support. I try to thank you individually but my computer is as slow as me these days!  I am going back to the hospital again on Friday for more tests, scans and to check on the fecking clots!  A new magazine/publication recently launched by a friend of ours,  Ms Katy Ryan, “In-Spire”,  ran a Headcase article this week and my story  featured under the headline “Six Months Survivor and Counting”  You can find it at  www.in-spirelsmagazine.co.uk.

My two Chelsea auctions have ended this week of my personal collections of programs and ticket stubs. The proceeds will be deposited direct to the Headcase charity once the money has gone to my PayPal account and all the fees (EBay charges, postage, PayPal fees)  have been deducted.

I would like to wish a speedy recovery to our Ironman, Tony, who underwent a more invasive operation on his shoulder than he first thought. My heartfelt message is,  “Get over it and get back training!” I understand that he is on holiday next week to recuperate.

We have encouraged young Bootsy to dust down his cycling equipment in case he is needed to step in as a replacement for Tony on the off chance he doesn’t recover and get fit in time. We’ve also negotiated with the organisers to have a separate competitor to do the running part of the Ironman which Nick has agreed to do. We are frantically trying to locate enough Lycra to custom – make a leotard for him!

Finally, I would like to welcome into the family my latest grandchild, Francesca, who arrived on the night of Wednesday 20th of February weighing in at 9lb 1oz.

 

 

 

Bootsie turns from Career to Competitor……

17 Sunday Feb 2013

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Little BritainIt has been reported that whilst Colin is being treated in order to return to full duty, Bootsie, his lead career on match days, has been spotted on his bike.

Following surgery on one of the IMHeadcase team, Bootsie has stepped in and has begun training for the event……

Commenting Bootsie said ” It has to be done, we are all wishing Colin well and thinking of him constantly, but the show must go on ” he continued ” if I have to do it all then so be it ………but to be honest I have a long way to go and I am getting strange looks with these stabilisers on” Great effort Bootsie.

Our own Fiorenzo Magni?

16 Saturday Feb 2013

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One half of Team IMHeadcase is out of Surgery, not just a keyhole, a more invasive procedure due to the discovery that the  damage was greater than expected. The code reads L sh ASD, E\O ACjt Cuffrepair- subscap, supraspin LHB tenddesis, for those in the know!  for those of us mere mortals it is replacing ligament into shoulder blade, two rotator cuff tear repairs, shaved collarbone where chipped and whilst in there shaved off a bit of arthritis. But what will it mean going forward?

Firstly tying shoelaces is to be challenging. Pre tied ties hanging on the door and slip on shoes, sleeping sitting up and no driving. Of course the latest fashion accessory – a fetching blue sling with accompanying stabilising pad for 6 weeks.

However the training must go on at some kind of level – so a sneaky 12k the day after and stepped up to 20k the day after although no use of the arm makes for the legs taking the strain and being a little lopsided.

FiorenzoMagni-tmbTaking some inspirational thought from Fiorenzo Magni, cyclist of the 50’s who broke his clavical in the 1956 Giro d’Italia, but with the help of a bicycle inner tube strapped around the handle bar and held in his teeth he fought through a snow storm, and went on to complete the race and finish 2nd.

So 6 weeks of sling wearing, and gentle cycling is the order of the day, assuming getting dressed can be mastered first!

Then gloves are off and the slog to build up the long lack of swimming and running to prepare to complete the course within the allotted time.

The severity of the operation makes the race seem a log way off.

None of this is a jot on the landscape compared to Colin’s situation, but his wishes are to raise the money and that means the journey continues but with him in our thoughts with every pedal strike.

This was always going to be a rocky ride!

16 Saturday Feb 2013

Posted by in Blog, Colin's Blog, Editor's Posts

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I have been asked to write on Colin’s behalf this week as he is unable to post a blog update himself. Alas this is because he is currently in hospital, his condition has taken a sudden turn for the worse with a diagnosis of multiple bilateral pulmonary embolisms ! (blood clots on both lungs) he is having treatment for this and at the moment this condition is serious.

Colin feels that posting his developments like this will help people realise how this terrible disease can so rapidly escalate! He has made sure there has been a wonderful element of humour in this blog to encourage people to relate to the person as well as the disease. We have all read some moving and wonderful postings from Colin’s friends and family and we are delighted to have been privileged in helping providing the forum for everyone to express their support and feelings towards Colin and his family.

However we also need to impart just how catastrophic this cancer is and how fast matters go from concerning to serious. For those who take a serious view on wanting to understand what happens, from a more medical perspective you may want to read: http://www.hindawi.com/crim/medicine/2010/862028/ it is from the USA, but it is one of many case studies available for review.

Gender of people who have glioblastoma multiforme and experienced Pulmonary embolism:
Female – 29.7%
Male      -70.2%

Age of people who have glioblastoma multiforme and experienced Pulmonary embolism:
40-49 – 15.14%
50-59 – 24.29%
60+    -58.04%

Our prayers and best wishes are with you Colin.

Letter from Headcase Cancer Trust

10 Sunday Feb 2013

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Headcase thank you
Dear Tony and Dan

Ironman – Nice 2013

I write on behalf of us all at Headcase to thank you both for your magnificent support by aiming to raise £30,000 for our Research Projects.

I was very moved when I read your story about your friend and know how difficult a time you are all going through. I am sure that making good things happen will go a long way to helping to ease the pain.

We are absolutely delighted with the support we have been receiving from all over the U.K and because of donations from people such as yourselves, we have not only set our first researcher in place at Portsmouth University’s Neuro-oncology Department but are on the point of taking a second researcher on board, also for a three-year term as well as providing the laboratory with some vital equipment which will assist them in their work.

Please be assured that everything which is raised by you will be spent on G.B.M Research and that your efforts, and those of all your friends and colleagues who are supporting us through you, are greatly appreciated and not taken for granted

I wish you the very best and will watch your progress with great interest.

Yours sincerely

Andy Johnson (Honorary Treasurer and Founding Trustee)

 

DFS – Donna’s Furniture Store

10 Sunday Feb 2013

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Shabby-Chic-Painted-Furniture-3-Colors-to-Stick-To-689

My whole family have known Colin and Helen for as long as I can remember. Mainly from being neighbours either from Norton Crescent or Hopewell Road where I and Colin and Helen live now.

We wanted to do something to help raise money for Headcase, those of you that know Colin or Helen, can understand why.

We need pre owned, pre loved, pre-used, old, antique or (just plain old junk ) small pieces of furniture that we can paint and sell on. Please check your sheds and lofts and email me donna.foster11@ntlworld.com if you think you might have something. I will let you know if its what we are looking for or not.

At the moment I have had a few donations to keep me going but this will be an ongoing idea until June. My husband calls me DFS… Donnas Furniture Store and I call him MFI Mike Fosters Irritation lol as he is tripping over pieces of furniture haha – maybe I shouldn’t have left that chair on the stairs!!!  #lifeinsurance

We hope to raise over £100.00 if you can help in any way please get in contact.

Weekly Diary – Bucket List

09 Saturday Feb 2013

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imagesHello everybody,

Let me start by apologising for the quality of last week’s  blog, I seemed to be all over the place, and when this was pointed out to me I was stubborn and in denial. So, from now on, if the blog reads well, is humorous and makes sense it is from me. If not then it’s probably from Helen and her sister meeting a deadline, ha ha.

Last Friday night I ventured out in Baldock town centre with Helen, Bootsy and his lovely wife, Jan. We had a couple of drinks at The Rose and Crown and a beautiful curry at The Chilli Lounge. I used the sympathy vote to persuade the waiter to upgrade from a couple of After Eight mints at the end of the meal for the ladies, to beautiful boxes of chocolates using the squirm factor! We had so many well-wishers and saw so many friendly faces, it was really quite humbling, people I hadn’t seen for years were making the effort to come up and speak to me.  It was a good evening.

I was back in hospital last Tuesday for blood tests and all was fine. There was an increase in steroids and back on chemo – 5 days on and 23 off- my God the tablets are getting bigger and bigger! To be honest, I haven’t been that well this last week. Sleeping a lot, feeling nauseous and being a bit confused. But hey, I’m now a seven month survivor and was told that if I stay stable I will be able to fly to Nice for the Grand Event in June. So that is the next target on my “bucket list” after the birth of our ninth grandchild which is imminent (nearly the other night!) but is due on Feb 26th.

Well, no football for me this week but up and coming events

Fund raiser: Organising a disco at The Crown- date and time to be arranged Chelsea auction of my personal collection memorabilia, part one and two finishing on next Saturday 16th.

Finally, I would like to thank Becks for a great big effort in the cake-a-thon. It turned out to be a cake-a-gone!!  After leaving Liam’s grandfather in charge of Beck’s baby Liam, Becks was horrified when she came in from her errand and could see a rather large man sitting in the corner finishing off the last cake! Yes, it was her Dad, Nick, whose only explanation was “It is red nose day and I’ve put 50p in the tin, Cock!” Don’t worry Becks, he did the same to us on the way to Munich when he ransacked the mini bus, eating all the cake that Stella had made for everybody!

Let me end by offering my continued support and thanks to Tony and Dan. Good luck to Tony on his fingernail repair on Thursday and his shoulder operation which is on the same day. I am away on Saturday night for a break in Leicester with my brother and sister-in-law, Pat and Peter, to meet a couple of old friends from Bradford.

Until next week…..TTFN.

First Tri under the belt

08 Friday Feb 2013

Posted by in Blog, Dan

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Tri_Yas_2013_Certificate (2)

So the first event of the year is complete and under my belt and overall I’m pretty pleased with how things went. Slightly nervous at the start of the swim. I jumped into Yas marina without a wetsuit (yes that’s right) and positioned myself in the middle of the wave as I usually do. I hadn’t actually done any swimming for 2 and half months until today so that was playing on my mind a bit but I was confident I had enough fitness in the tank to complete it in a reasonable time.

The count down started and off we went. I felt comfortable throughout the swim and after a bit of kicking and punching I got into a rhythm. It was clear that I hadn’t done much swim training but I got to the finish line mid pack and off out into T1.

The bike course was very smooth as you would expect for an F1 course! It was 22.5 km rather than the usual 20 and very windy with some sneaky inclines. I was keen to push myself on the bike as that’s what I’ve been working on the most recently. I didn’t post an amazing time but I definitely noticed an improvement from previous events and definitely some positives to take from it.

The run was where I made up the time and I felt really good from start to finish. It was probably the best I’ve ever felt on a final run leg and I didn’t get over taken once! (sorry, had to drop that in there). Again like the bike it was a slightly longer distance of 5.55km rather than the usual 5km but I was extremely happy with my overall time and even happier to cross the finish line!

59th out of 361 and a good day all round. Next stop Abu Dhabi International Triathlon but until then, a lot of hard work in the gym, road and pool to get that endurance level up!

Keep donating, keep spreading the word and thank you all again for your effort so far!

Update

07 Thursday Feb 2013

Posted by in Blog, Dan

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WEB ONLY_DO NOT PRINT_HEADCASE FINAL DESIGN (2)

While everyone reading this has at least some basic knowledge of computers and the internet, there are still a number of people that have not yet made the leap towards this new age form of communication and as result, won’t of had the privilege of reading the truly inspirational stories and comments that have been posted since this blog was set up. If ever I needed some motivation to get in that gym I know I don’t have to look any further than this site that’s for sure!

So, for those that haven’t quite mastered the art of mouse clicking and keyboard typing we’ve made a poster that people can put beside collection jars explaining the story and what we are trying to achieve. We are also hoping they will help to spread the word further a field by being put up in offices, at schools or anywhere people think will be beneficial to help collect donations.

We should have these printed by the end of next week and we will let you know asap once they are ready to be sent out to whoever would like some.