Ok....The questions and Answers.

I would like to say that the staff at Newcross hospital in the Deansley centre were fabulous!

I really pressed the Oncologist to give me the following information.
I would like to say that the following answers are professional opinions based on reasearch and experience, and nothing is carved in stone or written in blood!!!!!

Q. Will I have Chemo and Radiotherapy together?
A. No
     First you will have chemotherapy. 3x3 weekly cycles. You will be have 2 types of Chemo at the same time. Etoposide and Cisplatin. (EP/PE). These will be administered by drip and orally. This will take place over 3 days each week.
The serious or frequently occuring risks are:-
Nausea
Vomitting
Diarrhoea
Constipation with painful bowel movement.
Lethary/fatigue
Aemia
Bruising
Bleeding
Damaged kidneys
Damage to hearing
Damage to nerves to the ends of fingers and toes causing numbness.
Hair loss
Lower resistance to infection.
Sore mouth and ulcers with unpleasant substances.
It will effect all fast growing cells in the body, not only the cancerous ones causing high risk to infection.
Taste changes.
Skin changes.
Allergic reations.
Blood clots.
Some of the above may be fatal.
May cause a second cancer to erupt in later life, usually a type of leukaemia, although this is rare.
See
macmillan.org.uk
for further information.

Q Is there more than a 50% chance that the treatment will prolong my life?
A 30% - 70% chance.

Q Can I get trasnsport to and from the hospital?
A Yes.

Q What would my life expectancy be without treatment?
A The type of cancer that you have is rare. Even in these rare cases, the cancer has been found in the lungs, not the vagina. I can only comment on the prognosis if it was in the lungs. This would be 12 - 24 months.

Q When would the radiotherapy commence?
A When the chemo is finished, you will start radiotherapy. This will be daily for 28 days.
This has a whole new set of risks and side effects that we will discuss when the time comes.

There will be reguar MRI scans to follow progress.

Q If you couldn't see anything on the CT scan, how will you know if there has been an improvement?
A Any cancer has to have a minimum of 10,00000000 cells to be picked up on the scans. The scan will monitor differences in the images.

I would like to say that getting all of the side effects is unlikey but possible.

My interpretation of all of the above is:-

If I have the treatment
There is a 50% chance that I will die within 24 months after spending 6 months being quite poorly.
By default, there is a 50% chance that I will live a normal life after 6 months of being quite poorly.
The question is...do I want to spend a minimum of 25% of the rest of my life being quite poorly.
If I don't have the treartment
There doesn't seem to be much difference to me. My head is spinning, I can't think any more. I'll have to sleep on it........

Your comments and views would be gratfully received!

Ooooo, I almost forgot.
I have to take my tempreature twic daily staring now to find what my usual tempreature is, the when the chemo starts, I have to continue. If there is a raise in my temp. I have to alert the hospital immediately as this is most likely the first sign of infection.
I also have to alert the hospital if I notice any lumps, bumps which are painful which may be blood clots.

And yes, you guessed, it is still snowing, and seems to be settling.