Previously mail

Hi Dear Friends,

I am mailing this to you on behalf of Bruce who fully intended do it. Unfortunately he has found himself in hospital with an infection in the leg he had the biopsy on so has been parted from his computer for the next few days. Hope this makes sense because the last 30 odd hours have not contained much sleep which does not bode well for my cognitive activities! I stood in a lift about 2.30am this morning for a while before I realized I had pressed the button for the floor I was on rather than the one I was going too = actually on reflection I think I may have slept standing up! You will all be pleased to know that I am off the road and not going to drive until I have had sleep.

A quick round up of the week just gone: He had the biopsy late Monday afternoon and all went well. He spent Tuesday and Wednesday with his leg up and on Thursday and Friday worked two full days. Saturday found him less mobile and by Saturday night his leg had swelled considerably so at the time all normal people were heading to bed we were hopping in the car to visit Ascot A& E and then journeyed on to Auckland Hospital. The plus for visiting Ascot first was that he was able to go straight to the assessment ward and skip the A & E for which I am truly grateful – worth the $75! (I have seen way too much of that part of the hospital over the last two and a half years with family). I am so over trying to sleep up right in their horrid blue chairs (though I am grateful they have chairs) and last night fought the desire to make Bruce move over so I could lie down too! Gotta laugh really. I am very much looking forward to a full nights sleep tonight horizontal in my own bed! There were laughs in the night like the doctor who could have stepped right out of a war ‘film set’ somewhere in Russia – unbelievable lack of every day manners let alone the bedside one’s – we just laughed when she left she was so surreal. Go Auckland Hospital management – you know how to pick em!

Where to from hre: Hopefully there will be an ultra scan tomorrow. Once the swelling is down, the bloods look normal and his temp is normal he will be on his way home and back to work but on antibiotics for a while – we are praying for sooner rather than later. On the 9^th May at 5pm we are to meet with the specialist re the results from the biopsy at his surgery but with this infection he may see Bruce at Auckland Hospital on Tuesday when he comes in to see other patients. It is all looking like Lymphoma and we will be surprise if it is not.

Bruce began Vitamin C treatment intravenously last week which acts like a natural chemo and has had good results according to studies. If you are interested we can refer you to web sites that have heaps of studies etc on them – or just google ‘Vitamin C cancer’.

Okey Dokey – need to go and video Top Gear for BB as it is his favorite programme because he won’t probably get to see it in hospital.

Thank you for your prayers and offers of help – you are such a blessing!

Talk soon

Love

Jeanette

April 17^th

Hi,

Apologies for the ‘general newsletter’ format of this message, but I think the logic will become self evident. This method is a simple and time-efficient way to communicate to a wide range of friends, family, church family, associates, neighbours, etc.

Most will be unaware of the events and medical developments I (Bruce) have encountered in the last two weeks. A couple of weeks ago I went to my GP for a general check-up, but primarily for a bit on input on a niggle in my right knee which I’ve been aware of for the last few months, and had finally started wondering why it wasn’t getting better or responding to either Voltarin emugel rub, or AntiFlam rub. He said the centre of the pain (feels more like a nagging bad bruise rather than a sharp pain) was below the knee joint. He sent me off for an X-ray which I had the next morning.

The report back from the lab expressed concern about a dark area at the top of my tibia bone. They thought it might be indicative of Myeloma cancer. Phil (my GP) immediately had me off for a bunch of tests which would give some more clues.

The results proved negative as far as Myeloma was concerned. The problem was still there in there tibia and it was necessary to find out what was going on. So it was off to an Orthopedic Specialist for further consultation and to initiate further tests.

Yesterday, (there’s got to be a song in there somewhere!) I had what felt like an all-day pass at a theme park when I went for a CT scan, chest X-ray and body scan and an MRI scan. Late this afternoon we went back to the specialist with the big envelopes containing all the scan film/info to see what was going on. The scans confirmed and gave more detail on the problem in the tibia and fibula bones and also showed some small irregularities in the lungs which apparently are not necessarily significant (or that unusual) along with enlarged nodes in the bowel area which were of more concern to him. There are also other lumps on my arm, neck/shoulder and top of the leg which could be significant.

At this stage indications could be either cancer of the sarcoma type or of the lymphoma type. Next diagnostic step is a biopsy (Monday 28^th) on the bone and a the arm lump which will hopefully give us a much better idea of what is going on and therefore what sort of treatment will be required.

We’re both doing OK and are very conscious of the ‘everlasting arms’ supporting us each step of the way. The crisp pacing of the steps thus far has been very heartening too.

Again, apologies for the newsletter format! We’ll try and keep you updated as we go.

Bruce & Jeanette