Osteosarcoma p4

                  PART 4

Christmas held mixed emotions for me, on one hand I was able to spend time with my family, the other, I was still feeling pretty unwell even though the infection had cleared.

Watching the grandkids open their presents with the aroma of roasted turkey in the air was worth a million quid. New year came and went far too quickly and it was time to think about Round 2 of Chemo, waiting by the phone yet again felt like I was waiting to go to prison. 15th January came and I was back on the ward, I felt a little dejected knowing what I was about to endure.

17th January came “D-Day” in goes the Chemotherapy, I knew what was coming in a few days and oh boy did it come, I couldn't stop throwing up no matter how much anti-sickness they gave me, something felt wrong this time, my stomach felt really horrible. I had been telling the nurses for hours before the inevitable happened, I needed the Commode and I needed it pretty quickly, I kept pressing for assistance then eventually a Commode appeared, I hardly had chance to get on it when my bowels decided to dispose of its contents, that happened every 30 minutes for around 5 hours, i was absolutely knackered.

The Dr came to see me the next day and advised that a sample had been sent off for culture, it's where the lab grow germs and find out if there is any infection. Just my luck the day later the Dr came and advised me I had Gastroenteritis, yet another infection I had contracted whilst in hospital. Staff put me on a course of antibiotics and a drip to rehydrate, a few days later I felt a little better and even managed some soup 🍲. The next few days I spent focusing on trying to eat more and get around the ward in my wheelchair, I was lucky I had a side ward and a view onto the helipad, the football pitch was also visible to the side, others had no view to speak of, they simply looked out at other wards facing.

Home time came again and this time I was looking forwards to tasting my wife's Chilli Con carne, I know that sounds a little sad but I really was, I arrived home and before I even got in the door I could smell it! Yet again the wife was there waiting, I had a mouthful of the chilli and oh boy, it burnt my mouth so bad, it would seem my taste buds had suffered at the hands of Chemotherapy. Still I was not going to surrender to Cancer.

I spent quite a good period at home this time, being with the wife was simply amazing, she took care of me in every way, washing, cooking and making me know how much she loved me.

I had an appointment with the professor at the royal orthopaedic 16th February, this was to talk about the next course of action he and my oncologist would be taking, the options were pretty obvious, amputation or prosthesis.

I got called back to the ROH on the 24th to see Mr Abudu, it was good news he could save my leg, the bad news was, the chemo had only contained the tumour not shrunk it however, the operation could go ahead. More bad news was a part had to be made to measure and would take about 6 weeks to manufacture, in the meantime I would have another round of Chemotherapy just to contain any further development. He gave me a preliminary date for the operation of first week in April, my sights were firmly set on this date, I had to be strong enough or it would not happen.

Mid March I was back in the QE Birmingham having my PICC line fitted for another round of chemotherapy, this time they struggled to get the line in but persevered after about an hour.

2 hours later and the bleeding still hadn't stopped.

Finally after about 6 dressings the bleeding stopped, and chemo could be administered, a nurse came in and advised me I was being moved to a side ward, I asked why but never got an answer, once i had been moved to the side ward a nurse came and advised me i had tested positive for COVID yet again! A few days in and I noticed my leg and foot had swollen (left), I mentioned this to the Dr who arranged for a doppler scan, the scan confirmed what I had suspected myself, I had a DVT, what else can the world throw at me I thought. I sure hope this wouldn't affect my operation first week in April, Doctors reassured me that it wouldn't affect my operation.

With that in mind I just rode out the effects of chemo and started on blood thinners. Dr Sherriff came to see me the day after and told me that Mr Abudu wanted me to have IVC filter fitted.

IVC filter explained- An inferior vena cava (IVC) filter is a small device that can stop blood clots from going up into the lungs. The inferior vena cava is a large vein in the middle of your body. The device is put in during a short surgery. 

I was able to go home for a week before I was going to be admitted to the ROH for my operation, again the wife was an angel, looking after my every need, at times I simply do not know what I would do without her by my side.

Part 5 to follow.

Osteosarcoma p3

                 Part 3

The day arrived when I could go home, due to COVID rules I had not seen my family for 6 weeks, to say I was elated would be an underestimate.

Being home was great and seeing the Grandkids was wonderful, lots of questions I had to answer too, the weather had turned and it was getting chilly outside. Waiting for the histology report was killing me inside, then I got the call from the oncology department at the ROH, expecting to hear them say “the biopsy hadn't shown anything sinister” I put the phone on loud speaker so my wife could hear. The lady on the phone explained who she was, then read out the histology report, unfortunately cancer cells were present and the diagnosis was I had Osteosarcoma, a rare type of bone cancer in people of my age. Everything went fuzzy and I felt sick in the pit of my stomach, Nicola (my wife) broke down in tears on the settee, I asked what would happen next, and was told I would get an appointment within 2 weeks to see an oncologist at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham (QE here on in), obviously I had many questions that couldn't be answered at this time, so I wrote them all down.

Appointment day came and myself and the wife visited the QE as scheduled, Dr Sherriff my Oncologist was very understanding and patient, it was determined I had stage 3 Osteosarcoma in the left distal femur, I would be scheduled to have 3 cycles of chemotherapy then an operation, at this stage it couldn't be established whether I would lose my leg. Having to operate again so quickly would in itself be difficult. If there was any good news to be taken away from this meeting, it was the fact treatment was with a view "to cure". We went home waiting every day for the phone to ring to say they had a bed, 16th November the call came in, a bed was ready and could I be there at 09.00 the next day to have my PICC line fitted, this is the tube that chemo would be administered through. Packing my case, both myself and Nicola talked about how I would have to go through this on my own, due again to COVID regulations.

PICC line fitted I was transferred to the ward and booked in by a nurse, I introduced myself to the other patients and unpacked my case.

The ward doctor came to see me later that afternoon and told me what regime of chemo I had, also the type of chemo. I was having Doxorubicin and Cisplatin, the former had earned the nickname "Red devil" due to its colour and side effects. Sounds pretty horrible doesn't it. That afternoon two nurses came to my bedside, one of which was a trained Chemo nurse, “it's time to start your chemotherapy” she said. The two of them cross checked specifics and hooked me up to the Bag of chemo, Red devil first over 30 mins, then a flush and Cisplatin for 1.5 hours, followed by another flush for 4 hours.

The same regime was repeated at day two.

All was well for a few days later, then I felt like I had been hit by a runaway train, I felt sick, couldn't eat and was running a temperature, due to go home on Friday that week, the Dr informed me that I wouldn't be going until my symptoms calmed down somewhat. The following day I felt even worse so the doctor came and took some bloods to send off to the lab, I really did feel unwell, I couldn't face food and could just about manage to keep water down, because of this I was put on intravenous fluids, each bag lastin 8 hours.

The guy in the next bed was incredibly kind (John), he kept me sane, we chatted all the time about different things, he really did keep my mind busy, a man I will never forget.

A few days later the Dr came and advised me that I had unfortunately contracted Neutropenic sepsis.

This was serious, but how on earth did I get an infection on the ward? The nurses explained that being in hospital, patients more at risk than if they were to be at home, I got that to be perfectly honest.

I just wanted to be home for Christmas, although there were people on ward to talk to I felt lonely, my wife and I had always been at each others side, it was affecting her too, not being able to visit. Due to me not eating I had now lost an incredible 3 stones in weight, Chemo tongue has kicked in overnight out of nowhere, a painful blistering of the tongue, a reaction to Doxorubicin.

21st of December came and Dr's told me my infection has cleared and I could go home, I was so looking forward to seeing my wife and family.

Part 4 to follow.

Osteosarcoma p2

                  PART 2

After several weeks of agony and frustration, a doctor came and informed me that I would be taken to the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital in Birmingham (ROH from herein) for a biopsy, “for a biopsy of what” I asked, “of your Femur” he replied, the team had reviewed your X-rays and think your bone was weakened with a cist, this is why it broke so easily, it would also rule out anything else that would have caused the break.

The next day I was shuttled to the ROH, the day after I went to surgery for the biopsy and shuttled back to the manor hospital (my local). I spent the next few days asking questions and talking to other patients on the ward about their experiences, although I had a broken femur, I felt so lucky looking and hearing the stories about other patients.

7 days passed and finally the doctor came to give me the results, “Mr Birch” he's said softly, the results have come back and unfortunately they are inconclusive, as I understood what that meant I simply asked him what happens now then? “well we have been in contact with Professor Abudu at the ROH” he said, he and his team think it's a benign cist that weakened the bone, because you have been laying in pain for 5 weeks he is going to operate, this would be a plate fixation to hold the two fractured bones together, usually with around 12 screws. All I wanted at this point was for it to be dealt with, I had already lost over 2st in weight.

October 3rd 2021 came around and I was transported to the ROH, I met with the professor who was kind and compassionate to my case, the operation would take place tomorrow 4th. Believe me I was so ready for this to be over.

Nurses and a porter took me to theatre around 10.45 am that morning, I woke up in recovery at 15.20pm, not being able to feel my leg or any pain, I took a quick glance under the blanket to see my leg heavily bandaged, with wires and tubes coming out of it.

Later that day Mr Abudu as promised came to my bedside and said “we have fixed your femur with a plate and screws,” “we have also scraped out the bone and sent it for biopsy.” the team at this point think that indeed it does look like a benign cist, “focus yourself on recovery and the pathology will call you to give you the results in around 14 days.” taking on board what he had said and that he must have seen this hundreds of times, i trusted his comment and did exactly that.

The next day the dreaded Physio team entered my room, “its time to sit out in your chair David” he said, “remember you are non weight bearing,” I managed to get out and sit in the chair for about 30 minutes before the pain kicked in.

As you can see by this time I'm starting to look like grizzly Adams!

Day 21 came (post op) along and it's the dreaded removal of the staple

Trust me when I say it was pretty darn uncomfortable to say the least. Doctors had suggested I could go home in a few days and sent occupational therapy to see me, they asked me if I had arranged everything at home, a downstairs bed as I wouldn't be climbing stairs for some time, a downstairs toilet, a resting chair and somewhere to wash. My wife had arranged all this whilst I was in hospital, even though she has health problems of her own she came good AGAIN! There had been a gofundme set up for me that really helped with the cost incurred doing all the above, the kindness of others is overwhelming at times, and I can't thank each and every donor enough for making my life so much easier, as you can imagine, my savings had gone, and I had to sell my car to make ends meet, I had not planned to spend my savings on equipment, travel and other necessities, but as you all well know life doesn't always play out as we want it to.

Part 3 to follow. 

Osteosarcoma Part 1

        Hello and welcome 

Some of you by experience will have heard about a bone cancer called Osteosarcoma, a type of cancer that can affect any bone in your body, in my case it was found in my left femur (Distal femur).

Here is my story.

It all started back in August of 2021, the family had been on a trip to west midlands safari park the previous day, I was complaining of leg pain all the way round the walk through, I put it down to stopping and starting whilst on the safari itself. The following day I had been cleaning my car in the afternoon, when finished, I headed into the house to see the grandkids playing. I stumbled on one of the toys, hit the floor like a brick and heard a loud snapping noise, I knew at that very second I had broken my femur bone just above the knee.

After what felt like an eternity, medical staff arrived and knocked me straight out with ketamine, they then whisked me off to my local hospital.

The Doctors there were baffled how a fall in the living room could break a bone that commonly would take a major accident to do. They took a series of x-rays,

 I was in so much pain and could barely bring myself to eat, I kept asking and asking the staff what's going on? Why isn't anything being done to fix my leg? Every time the answer came back “ were still trying to work out the best possible approach”.

Continued on part 2.