Saturday 17 January 2009

One year and still clear!

On Friday I popped back to the Royal Marsden for a 2-month check-up which primarily relies on checking the AFP levels (a tumor marker which is used as an early indicator of cancerous activity in the case of my cancer-type) in my blood and which were again normal. There is always that awkward few seconds when you realise that the consultant hasn't actually checked you results before he comes into the room, and you can see him scanning down the paperwork to check the latest results. Thankfully they were normal, else his whole demeanour would have to change in an instant.

It was a bit of a milestone since it is now just over a year since my last operation - the longest time I've been cancer-free for 4 years (previously I've re-lapsed at 6 months, both times). Whilst I feel lucky, a visit to the RM is always rather sobering, particularly when I feel so fit and well and yet looking around you are instantly reminded what an insidious disease cancer is, affecting anyone and everyone, each all fighting their own battles, some winning and some not...

My check-ups are moving to quarterly from bi-monthly which means an extra month between having to worry about the results each time - there is a always a tiny bit of you which thinks 'what if'...but so far so good, and that's good enough for me!!

2 comments:

Martin Rye said...

Good news indeed and long may it continue.

Nigel Gray said...

Thanks Martin. Your blog in particular has inspired me to get out and do the things I enjoy. It's also forced me to think about the direction of my current blog. Rather than take my cancer blog off in a different direction I've decided to create a separate one with an outdoor focus, which will hopefully provide me the added incentive to make the most of 2009. Watch this space!