As some of you now know i was diagnosed with Testicular Cancer last July 2010. i just want the chance to explain to you all what has happened over the last 17 months in my life including the ups and downs.
so i will go back as far as January 2010 I started a new job within the Royal Navy working in the catering office ordering food stores for a period of up to 90 days then distributing them into the ships Galley daily accounting for all food stuffs whilst managing a team of 4 people who dont want to work for you.
February 2010: finally sorted out my team and they are working well the guys in the galley are being difficult and deliberately making life hard for me im now putting on over 115 hours a week of solid work.
March 2010: we start preperations for Operational sea training now on month 3 where i have not managed a weekend off, the ships company go on leave i stay on to get the store rooms ready for april's training, all fridges and freezers fail we have to completely de store all chilled and frozen foods from the ship into containers on the dockside im now working up to 130 hours PW.
April: we get the Fridges and Freezers working just in time to start sea training which started off badly with me being told off for things my juniors should be doing as second nature by now but they are getting tired from working 60 hours a week.
may: we complete sea training by this point i have been having dizzy spells and have collapsed twice in work the pressure is still on and im still putting 130 hours a week
June: now we are preparing to deploy i have just got into a relationship with a great guy but struggling to see him with work commitments, i notice my left testicle doubles in size and seek medical advice told it is a STI and given anti biotics, this causes problems within my home life as we both are accusing the other of not being safe.
July: the testicle is still swollen i see another doctor and am told the same and given more anti biotics after a week there was still no change, i went to the GU clinic and was immediately referred to have an Ultrasound, the Ship is 2 weeks away from deploying now and the store ship (that i am in charge of is in a weeks time) i have the Ultrasound scan and it confirmed my worst fear. i did have testicular cancer
immediately my world was turned upside down within 3 weeks i had an operation to remove the testicle (the right one which i thought was ok)
after the biopsy and a CT scan it transpired i have a Stage 3 seminoma (this is an advanced cancer that has spread all the way to my neck in the Lymph nodes)
Once i recovered from the operation i started Chemo this was 4 sessions of 5 nights in hospital hooked up to a drip 24 hours a day my hair fell out and my relationship broke down during this.
come december i had recovered from the chemo and my hair was growing back aroung xmas i started to have pains in my abdomen
January 2011 i see my GP who referrs me back to my consultant where a blood test confirms the cancer is back and is spreading extremely quickly. i get told that they are going to treat me with radiotherapy and if it fails i will die. (i go out and buy a 5.0 V8 Mercedes S Class) 2 weeks later the hospital change their tune and i start more chemo the end of february 2011
i completed the chemo in may and was having 2 weekly blood tests and a PET scan is booked before the pet scan date the tumor markers rise again August.
october i have Retropenial Lymph Node Dissection operation to remove the offending lymph node where the cancer remains. This was not a complete sucess by now the mercedes has gone as i was expecting to return to work i lost £3k on the merc.
and now im recovering from the above operation I find out on monday what the plan is for radiotherapy and its now that i think why not have another powerful car and fell in love with the legnums aggressive looks. so here we are Plan D? i think lol.
Personally i have done my best to remain positive and it can be hard at times. i would not wish this on anyone.
feel free to comment as you feel necessary and gents please check your testicles this cancer can be a killer and is common in men between the age of 15-30 however men in their 40's and 50's can still get this cancer.