:-))

The happy face says it all!  


This morning's X-ray at the hospital did not show any discernible change in Steve's mesothelioma. The cancer continues to be stable (no change in almost nine months, now) and we don't have to go back for another three months, unless Steve develops a problem in the meantime.    


The other good news is that Jack's Half Marathon run in Bath on Sunday raised £569.30 (via his just giving page, cheques and cash).  When Gift Aid is added on, that will be worth around £700.  And we have yet to donate :-)  A big thank you to Jack for your efforts, and to all who sponsored him - we really do appreciate your support


So....plenty to celebrate tonight!


The only fly in the ointment was not being able to have a good long discussion about treatment options.  The consultant wasn't there today. The registrar is new, so not familiar with Steve's case. She couldn't tell us what drug trials were in the pipeline, in Oxford or elsewhere. She wasn't able to give a detailed explanation as to why he wasn't considered suitable for surgery, only that the surgeons were present at the multi-disciplinary case conference and would have suggested that option if they thought it would help. 


However, she thought that as the one affected lung would have been "soaked" in the cancer cells which were present in the pleural cavity fluid last year, this would have made it difficult to remove all cancerous material. Indeed, an operation might have stirred things up, making it worse rather than better. That seems to make sense, although as diffuse mesothelioma is just that - diffuse -  I still find it difficult to understand why patients with the same disease are routinely operated on elsewhere in this country, and abroad.  


Had we been keen to follow up this option, I think we would need to talk to someone else to get a better understanding of the pros and cons of surgery.  However, neither of us find the idea of Steve's lung (and other bits) being removed very appealing.  I think we'll let sleeping dogs (or Leo in the case) lie, for the time being at least.  


One other interesting thing came out of this morning...Nicky (Steve's MacMillan nurse) mentioned the name of a doctor in Reading who had been diagnosed with mesothelioma a few years back and had written some interesting articles about his experiences on the Times online.  I have added a link top right....


So, here we are again - the anxiety levels that had built up as this morning approached are now going down, and we can begin to look ahead again just a little.  We have even bought some Sports Relief socks in anticipation of just possibly taking part in the Sports Relief mile on 21 March (always assuming the weather is set fair and we can squeeze into our running kit that was abandoned last spring!)