I must apologize for not posting here for a while. No sinister reasons at all, in fact rather the opposite: I’ve been very well and rather distracted by normal life!
It’s seven years, three months and almost a week since my final ‘we cannot cure you’ diagnosis. I just had the results back from my now-annual contrast-enhanced MRI scan. The verdict is, yet again, “completely clear, no sign of any cancer anywhere.”
My consultant said, as we were approaching the five-year mark, that he could sign me off as cured and cancer free, but out of interest and with my agreement he wanted to keep running annual checks until I got to the ten-year point. Seemed like a good idea, so here we are again.
So, what’s it like to cheat death? To be honest I don’t really think of it much these days. Oh sure, it is unarguably amazing, and I am obviously delighted, but at the same time it is just part of my overall story. I still take oil every night, although generally just three or four drops rather than the ~15 that I had reached when I was in the thick of it. THC tolerance is a curious thing; back then when I was consuming such large amounts that I’d have barely felt just a few drops, but now this smaller amount is just as effective in ‘head feel’ terms.
I still have the peripheral neuropathy that the chemo caused. The balls of my feet feel an odd blend of numb and sensitive and my fingertips are also affected a very tiny amount, but I rarely think about it. My tinnitus is more annoying; the effect is very much like I was at an extremely loud gig the night before and my ears are still ringing, but it’s permanent and continuous and sometimes it kicks up a level for a bit. I’ve tried hearing aids, but they’re uncomfortable and I’m normally able to hear clearly enough not to need them. That may change at some point but so far it’s not really altered much since this first happened.
So it’s really just a case of the beat goes on!