The war is on against the invisible and quiet monster

I am sorry to take so long to update my story. It took 6 weeks for Cross Cancer to make treatment decisions, along with an intervention from my family doctor in Inuvik. Then on Thursday December 15 some phone calls confirmed that I would have a consult for radiation on Wednesday the 20th and radiation treatments of modest radiation strength on Dec 21 and 22, and then again after Xmas on Dec 27,28 and 29. So Sandra and I flew to Edmonton from Inuvik on Dec 17, to allow time to rest up before the radiation ordeal.

As I believe I have mentioned before, metastatic renal carcinoma does not respond well to chemotherapy, and surgery is not a good option I found after discussions with the surgeon, because of the position of the new tumours very near the L1 lumbar and theS2&S3 sacrum vertebrae with very close proximity to the spinal chord. So now I have had two radiation treatments on Dec 21 and 22, which left me woozy, tired and somewhat achy.

I also have had a new diagnostic CT Scan in my neck and head area, because of a suspicion I have about some new headaches and neck pains that should not be there. It may be my spinal cord further down telling me about things not being well down there, or it may be evidence of another tumour at the top of my spine. We shall find out this week when I talk to the oncologist at Cross Cancer again. 

Stage 4 renal carcinoma is more deadly than I originally thought. The survival rate of 8% at 5 years is for people that have had a cancerous kidney removed but with little or no metastatic growth of tumours at the time of the operation. When the cancer is at Stage 4 with metastatic growths everywhere at the time of the kidney removal the survival is usually only a few months, according to the medical information that I have been able to find. The fact that I have reached more than 2 years is still a miracle.

We came to Saskatoon the other day in our rented car to spend Christmas with Lynn and Derrick, and Sandra's sister Janice and family in North Battleford, and will wend our way back to Edmonton by tomorrow Boxing Day. The warm weather has taken a break and the temperature has dropped to -29C this morning in Saskatoon.

So my determination as 2017 draws to a close is a quotation from Winston Churchill during the dark hours of WWII:

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."

And I continue to meditate on the importance of joy. There is a short 6-verse chapter in the book of Isaiah in the Bible, chapter 12, that I really love. It tells me how important are strength, singing, the process of becoming, and joy to bring salvation. Wishing you all comfort and joy this holiday season.