Cancer of the gullet – a personal blog

It’s now 28 hours since the doctor told me I have cancer.

He’s put me on fast track analysis of the biopsies and for a scan. I should hear tomorrow or Monday. After that a panel will discuss the best treatment.

So we went home. My wife contacted our friends and I emailed my clients.

I was at the Royal Infirmary this morning, and the doctor has just informed me of a prior contractual committment that will impair my ability to fulfill other work for clients including yourself.
I have been in some pain for a few weeks now, this was found to be caused by a cancerous ulcer in my gullet.
I have been referred for a priority scan, and assessment.  More I do not know yet.
I deeply regret this situation, and apologise for the inconvinience this will cause.  I suggest that we should discuss ways to reduce the effect on your projects.

Then I went to bed for a couple of hours, because I’d had enough.  I didn’t sleep, but it did give me a chance to think hard.  An early decision was to start a blog of what happens.

Looking back it started around Christmas. I thoroughly enjoyed Christmas dinner (Wild Boar, Venison, Roast Ham, and mose vegetables than I could count), but found I felt full surprisingly fast.  I’d had a bad cold, so I just thought this was a hangover from the cold.

Then I got pain swallowing – but I also had bronchitis, so I assumed it was nothing.  It still did not go away and the GP diagnosed inflamed gullet and prescribed antacid stuff, but that did nothing either.

So last Friday I went back to the GP and she booked me in for a camera down my throat, with an urgent qualification on the form.

I got the phone call Tuesday and the appointment 8:45 Wednesday. They gave me the option of local anaethestic or sedation. I chose the local. That turned out to be a bad choice. The local anaesthetic only numbs the top of the throat. The cancer sticks out into the gullet and the camera caught on it. The pain was bad, very bad. That’s why I went to bed.

So now I wait for the phone to ring, and tell me when to come for the scan.

Meanwhile I’m closing down my work, hopefully only temporally. While I can, I’ll get on with my writing, and we’ll see what happens.

Weight today 91Kg