I have not written about my health situation of late because nothing had been settled.
When I last wrote I said that I was on a six monthly cycle of checkups with March 2026 being the point where they would decide if I should move onto annual checks instead.
March 2006 arrived and I had the usual round of bloods, MRI and CT scan.
Though for some reason I was sent to a previously unknown basement for my MRI where they demanded more blood before they would load me into the machine and summon the clonk.
I saw a consultant a fortnight later. Everything looked ok but one of the proteins in my blood had unexpectedly spiked. That could be a sign of a problem or it could just be normal bear wear and tear. So I was sent to give more bloods and a PET-CT was arranged.
A PET-CT is where you injected with radioactive dye which increases the body’s natural emission of positrons. It’s not painful but you do have to stay away from pregnant women and electrons for 8 hours afterwards 🙂
And they also arranged for me to have a colonoscopy. Which is one of those things more uncomfortable than painful.
I got the PET-CT results last Friday and they came out clear. My bloods also showed that the protein level had fallen by half and was heading back to normal.
It all came down now to the colonoscopy.
The doctor who carried out the procedure was great, very patient and explained everything as he went along. After a long and detailed inspection the only thing he found was a benign polyp which they will surgically remove at some point but there is no immediate rush.
So I am now in remission. I do not seem to have any cancer left in my body. Just biscuits.
I shall write more later once I have er digested the news but thank you to everyone for your kind thoughts and I am always here to chat with people about my experience and offer what help I can to others riding this train 🙂
Mark O'Neill 