iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

My Cancer Blog @cancerblog.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

One year on since final treatment bsky.app/profile/canc... It was obviously great to get the all-clear as far as the cancer itself was concerned but, oh boy, the side effects are something to be reckoned with ... impaired taste, no appetite, much-reduced saliva, dry mouth

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My Cancer Blog @cancerblog.bsky.social · 06/11/2025

Doctor from ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat) just called ... my PET-CT Scan showed complete metabolic response meaning I am cancer-free !!

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My Cancer Blog @cancerblog.bsky.social · 23/10/2025

I've been suffering from tinnitus and some hearing loss so the appointment with Audiology happened today Something of a shock to learn that she believes both may be permanent so it looks like hearing aid(s) for me Not at all what I wanted to hear but way better than the isolation which was already

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My Cancer Blog @cancerblog.bsky.social · 10/09/2025

Had my first follow-up appointment with Ear, Nose and Throat consultant today. He who took my tonsil out in fact. He stuck the camera up my nose to have a look at operated site, lymph node and soft palate. Took him all of 15secs to pronounce himself happy with progress 1/

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My Cancer Blog @cancerblog.bsky.social · 29/08/2025

Clean-shaven for the first time in 50 years !! The new skin on my neck is still as smooth as a baby's bum but facial hair has started growing again Very patchy though so I decided clean-shaven was better than looking like Frank Zappa on a bad day

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My Cancer Blog @cancerblog.bsky.social · 28/08/2025

On the afternoon of 27-Aug, yes yesterday, I bade farewell to a dear friend who had been with me since 3-Jun A dear friend who had sustained me through the darkest period of my treatment Latterly though, I had tired of their company and so, it has to be said, that I rejoice in the parting ...

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My Cancer Blog @cancerblog.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

Rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated ... I am still here and apologise profusely for the lack of posts It has been a very mixed time & I promise I'll get around to summarising for you Thanks for checking in on me

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My Cancer Blog @cancerblog.bsky.social · 03/08/2025

Week 15 starts in the same way that Wk14 finished ... frustrated that swallowing is now more painful that at any other time I have to take paracetamol prior to eating so the "little and often" mantra on eating just doesn't work I've put myself back onto 1000ml NGT in order to maintain weight GRRR

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My Cancer Blog @cancerblog.bsky.social · 27/07/2025

Goal for Week 14 remains to increase food taken orally. Sore mouth remains the biggest hurdle. Gastric problems seem to be lessening. If this sounds boring and repetitive, it is !! I am really scunnered with it now.

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My Cancer Blog @cancerblog.bsky.social · 20/07/2025

Goal for Week 13 remains to increase food taken orally. Sore mouth and gastric problems remain the biggest hurdle

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My Cancer Blog @cancerblog.bsky.social · 13/07/2025

Week 12 More problems with sore mouth, especially my tongue which has a patchwork of white blotches on it. ANP prescribed a mouthwash which I should get on Tuesday. Neither of us thinks it is oral thrush but could be oral lichen planus

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My Cancer Blog @cancerblog.bsky.social · 06/07/2025

Week 11 started with a (small) fried breakfast. Black pudding, beef sausages, fried egg and a slice of toast. A distinct rarity but I thought I'd go for it while the focus is gaining weight Definitely regaining an interest in food but swallowing gets harder with larger meals

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My Cancer Blog @cancerblog.bsky.social · 29/06/2025

So Week 10 starts with the simple goal of eating more food orally Eating is definitely getting easier but is still giving downstream problems - stomach cramps, trapped gas (who knew how sore that can be), and diarrhoea Weight is pretty stable though - perhaps dropping only slightly

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My Cancer Blog @cancerblog.bsky.social · 22/06/2025

Week 9 starts with two main goals. I want to lose the fentanyl patch without going back onto morphine This for obvious risk of addiction but, more immediately, it would also let me drive again Patch comes off tonight

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My Cancer Blog @cancerblog.bsky.social · 14/06/2025

So week 8 starts in a little over an hour I am feeling optimistic that things are going to get better from here on in (yeah, I've had my hopes dashed before but that's how I'm feeling tonight)

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My Cancer Blog @cancerblog.bsky.social · 08/06/2025

I didn't expect a new wireless router to be included in the treatment!! New password is "peristalsis" 🤣😆😉 So this router routes close to 2litres of special food through a tube directly into my stomach, every day It takes around 18hrs to do so. Management is straightforward

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My Cancer Blog @cancerblog.bsky.social · 07/06/2025

I know its only Saturday but Week 7 starts here as it is all change I am at home with superb care team of Brenda and the dogs No planned hospital appts for 4 - 6 weeks ... hallelujah !! Naso-gastric tube in place with the capability of providing 100% of my nutritional needs and fluid intake

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My Cancer Blog @cancerblog.bsky.social · 01/06/2025

Still struggling to eat or drink today. I think I'm too wary of the extreme retching which accompanied attempts to clear phlegm. Not pleasant. The good news is that I slept loads, had some nystatin to take & generally see chemo in rearview mirror

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My Cancer Blog @cancerblog.bsky.social · 29/05/2025

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dougal_... Our Dougal was always Dougal Dhu ... the second Dhu being somewhat redundant but emphasising his jet black coat I only have a vote in what we do with his ashes but I prefer "scatter" to bury. He loved water; unusual for the breed

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My Cancer Blog @cancerblog.bsky.social · 25/05/2025

And so we head into Week 5 feeling miles better than expected and with an extremely positive frame of mind I'm even happy that chemo is going ahead tomorrow as it will give peace of mind to have completed the full treatment

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My Cancer Blog @cancerblog.bsky.social · 18/05/2025

I'm going to change things a little for week 4 as clearing the gunk out of mouth and throat is just too difficult Plan is to mouthwash (not gargle) and spit anything from mouth itself This got me to the first (rather painful) swallow and let me get some soluble paracetamol on the scene

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My Cancer Blog @cancerblog.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

I am remembering the early 1980's when my now-wife and I were a new "unit" I would collect her after her shift at the very hospital I am now getting my treatment I remember being shocked to learn that I earned in a week what she earned in a month

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My Cancer Blog @cancerblog.bsky.social · 12/05/2025

It is now fairly clear that this course of treatment is designed to kill little bits of me to keep the rest of me alive Saturday and especially Sunday and Monday mornings have meant wakening up with precisely NO saliva at all. A tongue as dry as a budgie's tongue in mouth that felt like elbow skin

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My Cancer Blog @cancerblog.bsky.social · 08/05/2025

The scat thread ... sorry but fairly inevitable on a medical blog I guess I'll be using this thread for any posts about body waste Bluesky account holders can use the wee menu to mute this thread AND hide this post if you'd rather not hear about it

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My Cancer Blog @cancerblog.bsky.social · 07/05/2025

Sad news today that a friend from the allotments has died of cancer Sandy kept half of it going until last year when I looked after the other half for him I thought about telling him about my own treatment but didn't as I thought it'd just upset him

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My Cancer Blog @cancerblog.bsky.social · 07/05/2025

Remiss of me not to have made more mention of a very special part of my support package - my wife 🥰 I've abdicated responsibility for virtually all other aspects of my life. She just sorts things ... meals, dog walking, bus times, side effects of treatment, drinking aids, logistics ... everything!

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My Cancer Blog @cancerblog.bsky.social · 05/05/2025

Week 2 starts very very well. I felt pretty good when I woke so have just spent 45mins on the allotment planting out courgettes and beans. Let's hope the frosts are over with Radiotherapy appt is later today so I made good use of my morning off M-F radiotherapy, no chemo this week 👋

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My Cancer Blog @cancerblog.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

Well, well - that was a bit of an eye-opener for the first week Chemo on day 1 took my taste buds, gave me horrendous acid reflux and a 4-day brain fog. Even the hiccups were frequent enough to be a nuisance (apparently almost exclusively a problem in male chemo patients btw)

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My Cancer Blog @cancerblog.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

Apologies for the delayed updates. It has been a week of discovery so I will definitely be posting I've simply lacked the time and energy to make anything readable from my rough notes The travelling is harder than the treatment at the moment

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My Cancer Blog @cancerblog.bsky.social · 28/04/2025

I had intended to keep the location anonymous out of respect for SNHS staff However, that would prevent me from praising other facilities which are proving massively important. A 🧵

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My Cancer Blog @cancerblog.bsky.social · 28/04/2025

Today I toast the memory of Marie Curie. Without her genius and bravery, we might not have radiotherapy 1st woman to win Nobel Prize 1st person to win a second ONLY person to win two in different disciplines

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My Cancer Blog @cancerblog.bsky.social · 28/04/2025

Day 1 is here : chemo + radiotherapy I got 6hrs of quality sleep but I think that's me awake now Already started the hydration process with homemade water kefir and cups of tea

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My Cancer Blog @cancerblog.bsky.social · 27/04/2025

It all feels very imminent this morning as I leave home this evening for 2 nights With Monday being a LONG day (08:30 to 18:00), we decided that nearly 3 hours round trip by bus was not needed on top of that

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My Cancer Blog @cancerblog.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

The pre-assessment for chemotherapy was done by phone so it saved me one long round-trip. I'll list some of the things which struck me as being notable or non-intuitive.

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My Cancer Blog @cancerblog.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

One to watch bsky.app/profile/john...

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My Cancer Blog @cancerblog.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

Blood test today to check counts before first (and hopefully penultimate) chemo on Monday Kudos to my wife for knowing this would be needed & organising it. It wasn't at all clear from the letters. A slight - and so far only - miscommunication from SNHS

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My Cancer Blog @cancerblog.bsky.social · 21/04/2025

Exactly one week to go before treatment starts. Plenty of time to get wound-up about the canulla going in. I hate them.

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My Cancer Blog @cancerblog.bsky.social · 18/04/2025

"Put on some weight" is the surprise advice when heretofore I'd been trying to lose 5kg Reason is that the radiotherapy is going to make swallowing painful. It'll change the way food tastes and there is the distinct possibility of a nasogastric tube being needed

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My Cancer Blog @cancerblog.bsky.social · 17/04/2025

Incredibly sad news today that there is another cancer in the extended family. A 1 year old - that's right ONE year old 😪😪😪 Suspected neuroblastoma Our hearts are sair despite the prognosis of 95% chance of recovery

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My Cancer Blog @cancerblog.bsky.social · 17/04/2025

Today I am off to transplant cabbage, broccoli etc which I can harvest when all this cancer cr4p is behind me 🤞

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My Cancer Blog @cancerblog.bsky.social · 16/04/2025

Exactly a week, to the hour, since I got the phone call on the biopsy And what a week! We now enter the interregnum as I have no more appts (that I know of) until radio/chemo therapy regime starts on 28th I have nothing but fulsome praise for the system thus far. Awesome and so *kind* with it

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My Cancer Blog @cancerblog.bsky.social · 15/04/2025

𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 This thread (which is locked) will be a sort of timeline of my experience. I very much hope that it will help anyone else who draws life's short straw to get this disease It comprises brief notes and a series of links into the other threads which can get a little hard to read

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My Cancer Blog @cancerblog.bsky.social · 14/04/2025

Tooth extractions tomorrow </pales> They do all anticipated dental work before treatment as the bone's ability to heal is impaired by the radiotherapy The chemotherapy also reduces white blood cell counts and so increases risk of infections

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My Cancer Blog @cancerblog.bsky.social · 13/04/2025

This weekend is blissful. Weds, Thurs, Fri all involved 2.5 hours round-trip travel to keep hospital appts. Sat / Sun are a chance to re-plan projects to more manageable levels. The treatment is going to make me ill. Perhaps very ill.

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My Cancer Blog @cancerblog.bsky.social · 10/04/2025

The story so far; sore throat over Christmas, had a look after relatives went home and saw a wee lump on tonsil GP prescribed antibiotics (they didn't help) but also referred me to Prof to ensure a short wait. Prof wasn't sure what it was so decided to whip it out for biopsy.

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