It ain't that kind #1 (23 Sep 2012)
It ain't that kind: 18 months on (20 Mar 2014)
It ain't that kind: two years on (31 Aug 2014)
... things are, I'm afraid, starting to get complicated. As I mentioned in the previous updates (linked above), surgery was never an option. But I had very good response to first-line chemo with cisplatin/docetaxel, and a later second-line chemo with 'GemCarbo' (gemcitabine-carboplatin), and was in pretty well complete remission until autumn 2014.
Since then there's been some lymph node progression (I had successful neck radiotherapy in November) and - the onset probably masked by a nasty viral bug I had around that time - since the beginning of 2015, I've been troubled by a cough and serious hoarseness . I sound like the Mouse in Samuel R Delany's Nova ...
His voice sounded like wool with sand, grinding.... and I can do effortless impressions of Papa Lazarou from League of Gentlemen. The problem seems to be pressure on the left recurrent laryngeal nerve from chest lymph nodes, and I had radiotherapy in that area in February, trouble-free, but without notable improvement to my voice.
I'm still OK in myself; the cough at least is helped by a low dose of Oramorph (which feels very decadent, though it no longer comes in a fluted blue bottle à la Uncle Silas). But it's a depressing development. For instance, I can't sing (which impacts on musical performances) or speak very comfortably. There are some further treatment options, such as the possibility of giving third-line chemo a go - the oncologist said a few taxane-based drugs could be worth trying - and there may be more 'spot-welding' radiotherapy. The major options are exhausted, though, and it seems that my treatment has reached a 'whack-a-mole' stage with no palpable hits guaranteed. That's rather a milestone, and not in a good way.
If all goes well with no further surprises, I have another scan and review scheduled for mid-April.
- Ray