Modern technology

So we went up to Manchester on Tuesday for the MRI. I drove up. It took 5 hours, due to rubbish weather and traffic, giving Quentin the opportunity to study the instruction manual for the sat nav in detail. And then to read aloud to me from the Frequently Asked Questions page. ("Love is..."). I listened intently, waiting for THE most frequently asked question: "How do I get my husband to follow my instructions as religiously as the sat nav?". But it never came - which just goes to show that whoever wrote that booklet was a man.

We arrived late (we obviously hadn't allowed enough time for the football traffic), but the Christie staff were as lovely as ever. Within half an hour we were back on the road (aren't these machines clever?) and the next day we saw Oakley, who had made this lovely card for Quent. It shows Quent going through the donut (scanner) - complete with sprinkles!

Prof is on holiday this week, so we'll probably get the scan results sometime next week.

Meanwhile if anyone wants to know how to do a split screen, vari-scale view of the sat nav, with warnings of forthcoming speed cameras, just ask.

Manchester Revisited, Innit?

... Or MRI for short.

Today we have Quent's MRI scan at the Christie. It's at 6pm which means a late night for us and a sleepover for Oakley.

Ideal result would be a adenoma (benign lump) so train your thoughts on that one, please.  Apparently the whole of Manchester will be hoping for a great result tonight - which is nice, although I gather most of them will be hoping either City thrash United, or vice versa.

Bad news, good timing

We drove up to Manchester yesterday for Quent's scan, expecting the five year all clear.

Unfortunately it was not to be. They have found a nodule (lump) on his adrenal gland. There is a small chance it might be a (benign) adenoma, although it seems to be growing too fast for this. An MRI scan might be able to show if it's an adenoma. 

There is a chance it is a new cancer, but Prof thinks the most likely is that it's a metastasis from the kidney cancer; present since the IL2 treatment, but only now becoming large enough to be spotted. Apparently it's common for adrenal glands not to respond as well as lungs to IL2.

The preferred course of action would be to do an MRI and, assuming it's malignant, to then remove the adrenal gland, situated next to Sidney the remaining kidney. Quent would then have to take hydrocortisone tablets 3 times a day to compensate for not having any adrenal glands. (They removed the other one when the left kidney came out in 2006). Easy.

Or maybe not. The adrenal gland produces cortisol and adrenalin - crucial for keeping your blood pressure up. The hydrocortisone tablets would give Quent 'normal' levels, but his body would not be able to produce extra amounts in cases of extreme stress.... such as the anaphalysis he suffered in September (reaction to wasp allergy).

The Prof says that whereas Quent would be taking 20 / 10 / 5 units of hydrocortisol, in the event of an anaphylactic reaction, he'd probably be needing 50 - 100.  We need Quent desensitised fast!

The good news:
1. That they found this just in time, before giving Quent the 5 year 'all clear'. Quent will now be back onto 3 monthly scans, which is not great, but is better than not knowing.
2. That they didn't find it last time and remove the adrenal gland before September. If that had happened, Quent's wasp sting would probably have been fatal, as he had no epipen and his body would not have been able to cope.
3. That he had the wasp sting in September, so we know what we're dealing with and he now has an epipen. (a shot of adrenalin).

We now need to understand what the best course of action is, in terms of desensitising vs. operation to remove the gland (and even if the Royal Brompton will be willing to desensitise, now they know the cancer is back). We will keep you posted.