Another One Bites the Dust!

[speedbird591]

Perhaps an old Rolls Royce might fit the frame?

Well done, Peter! Somebody had to take it too far! I have to admit having a quick search on Autotrader but old Rolls Royces still don't make much financial sense, thankfully.

Thanks to Tony about the Jaguar info. It's interesting that you did more or less what I'm thinking of doing and for the same reason and it worked out for you. My concern is that, even with a lot of careful financial planning to get the right car there is still a gamble over reliability that could make it all go pop. But I wouldn't have a second chance and would leave Karen with a mess.

I might just retreat to Japanese reliability and settle for something less luxurious but less of a worry. CRV probably.

*** End of car buying thread ***

*** Restart of Medical Thread ***

So - I'm moving on from that decision now and I'll look at it again in few weeks.

I had an appointment with my consultant today which took the edge off choosing a car and helped me focus on where we are going next. The latest x-ray shows a very gradual thickening of the pleural sheath and growth of tumours - pretty much what I can feel as it grows and clamps around my right lung and restricts the breathing a bit more.

What was interesting was that up until now all the doctors and consultants have accepted my decision to forego treatment for my cancer and have said that it is for me to decide but none will advise me whether they think it's a good idea or not! I reiterated today that I had re-read the chemo info package and I still didn't want to go through it but today the consultant said 'I totally agree with you and you have my full support. If I were in your position I wouldn't do it either. You would gain maybe two months extra life but the side effects would make it poor quality.'

I know they aren't supposed to give that sort of advice but it's really appreciated that she did let me know. Thanks, Doc.

Taking that further she also says that as quality of life is now my major concern then the painkilling philosophy should change. I should now be aiming for zero pain and to hell with the side effects. Specifically she wants me on morphine based opiates. As she says - what if you do develop dependency? You won't be going off them again anyway.

I'll speak to my GP this week and hopefully get those prescribed soon and see what happens. It would be lovely to be pain free again. Tell you what, though - it might make some interesting car buying decisions

Ian

[speepig]

What about a Jag XK? They look good, are reliable and are great for Boys Overseas After Crumpet. Regarding pain relief I'm sure they'll find something suitable in the M5 kit

[petermcleland]

What about a Jag XK? They look good, are reliable and are great for Boys Overseas After Crumpet. Regarding pain relief I'm sure they'll find something suitable in the M5 kit

No...The Jag XKs have manual rack and pinion steering with no servo assistance and are heavy to steer at low speeds in traffic...Perfect steering if you cruise it at 110 mph like I did with mine, but that was before they brought in the 70 mph limit on motorways...Believe me the XK steering is not suitable for Ian

[cstorey]

Peter : he's talking about a current post 1997 style XK !

[petermcleland]

Peter : he's talking about a current post 1997 style XK !

Oh!...OK, not a real XK then! I expect those modern ones have servo assisted steering...Sorry

[airboatr]

Oh!...OK, not a real XK then!

Indeed.

[speepig]

Thanks Peter. I feel young now. Old enough to have travelled Cunard, BOAC, CP Air and Wardair but young enough to tink of modern XK rather than the steam powered variety. Though I did fly on coal burners.

[Motormouse]

S class Mercedes maybe?

Ttfn

Pete

[speedbird591]

For those that are still following the progress of my disease, the problems that crop up and how we deal with them.

Last week I had my second scheduled appointment with my oncology consultant at Bath's Royal United Hospital (RUH). If you remember, the first involved an x-ray to check the progress of the disease and an introduction and invitation to a chemotherapy regime that she thought might help. I initially declined the chemo as the side effects and the demands on one's time looked awful.

So six weeks later and after a lot more thought, I still didn't want to do the chemo but still had no idea of whether or not I was doing the right thing. All the doctors will say is that they support your decision and nobody will make you do anything you don't want. This time the x-ray showed the disease had progressed but not very much. I told the consultant that I'd spent more time considering the chemo but I still didn't want to do it. This time I got a more helpful response as she could see that I was sticking with my decision. This time she said that it was what she would do if she was in my position and she also said that taking chemo would buy me maybe two months time but with probably a poor quality of life. So having agreed that we were going to go with nature we also agreed that quality of life now has priority and that means aiming for zero pain without taking too much consideration of side effects.

This meant moving away from co-codamol and stepping up to morphine. She has recommended this to my GP and he has agreed to start me on a trial which I've been on for a few days and I see him next week for a review. The idea is that I take a basic platform of Zomorph which is a time release tablet that releases morphine throughout the day and then have a backup bottle of Oramorph, a liquid morphine which gives a higher dose very quickly if you need it. There is a limit of 6 teaspoon sized doses a day. If you start taking close to the limit then they increase the Zomorph so that that deals with your basic pain control and you can back off with the Oramorph. The dosage of Zomorph can be increased a huge amount from my starter level of 10mg to take up the slack so there's a long way I can go.

Sometimes the pain comes at night and sometimes in the day but it's not predictable unfortunately. Sometimes I'll sleep through the night and sometimes I'll have no discomfort in the day time. Some days I'll take 3 doses of Oramorph and sometimes 6. So I expect the GP will increase the Zomorph so I can decrease the swigs of Oramorph.

At the moment I'm not sure if I feel up to my First Class rail trip to Scotland on the 9th so I'll wait until I've seen the Doc and decide after that.

So that's the latest situation which is better than before as the pain is now more controllable - even if I haven't yet got to the stage of controlling it! It'll take a while yet and it will be a constantly changing challenge I think. I'm settling down to watch MotoGP now but I'll need to take some Oramorph before I feel up to mowing the lawn afterwards but that may well make me too drowsy and I may sleep instead!

Ian

[DaveB]

Thanks for the update Ian

'I think' I'm in full agreement with you over not going for chemo. I have to say 'I think' as though it's the logical thing to do.. it's difficult to say exactly what I'd do in the same situation.. if that makes sense. I see little point in grasping a month or two more knowing I was going to feel worse for longer. I don't 'do' illness in any shape or form and the thought of prolonging it would freak me out

Have you decided on getting a 'flash' motor or still undecided?

ATB
Dave