2009-03-12 — Tumour news: two steps forward, one back...

Dear All

It's been a long time since I last wrote one of these newsletters. I have improved so much since the end of the chemo-therapy and was planning to announce this week after spending Monday to Wednesday in hospital for a whole set of what were expected to be routine tests and scans … so much for the "best laid plans of mice and men" (* see note at the bottom of this email)…

Unfortunately, although most of the tests proved fine, they found a new thing on my lung. Quite small but definitely new. My oncologist wasn't able to decide whether it was malignant or not and wanted me to go to my original lung surgeon. I was able to get an appointment with the surgeon last night and he said another operation is the only sensible option. Having established that it would be very unwise to wait the 8 weeks until I'd taught my Webster classes we settled for next week. Might as well get it over.

So I'm in the Confraternität hospital (I might write a 'Patient's Guide to Vienna's Hospitals' with 'bedpan' ratings instead of stars — am certainly getting to know them all) on Monday and will operated on Tuesday. If it is anything like last time I'll be in hospital about a week. Maybe 10 days. Operation-wise it's not a big deal if I remember rightly from last time. I know I spent quite a lot of time in their garden and didn't feel too bad.

Still at least I've got my weight up a bit and am feeling good physically right now so I should be able to handle the thing well. I was (and still am) more upset about letting down Webster and the students than I am about the bad news itself — this is what you get from missionary parents I think — but there is no alternative. I contacted the head of faculty last night and he has already a plan in place to replace me. So that is working out as well as it can under the circumstances.

Apart from the news above I'd managed to add a new problem — a delayed reaction to the chemo-therapy — this new thing is called polyneuropathy — it's a sort of pins-and-needles tingling in my toes and now in my finger tips. Makes doing up shirt buttons difficult but otherwise is just a little uncomfortable — not painful. But they are treating that now and I'm on a course of medication.

Anyway, I'm still in good spirits and once again am grateful that this thing, like the other things that have been detected, was found while it is small and not when it had a chance to grow (actually it might not be malignant but they don't want to chance that). Luckily all the chemo side-effects (apart from the tingly toes thing) are well in the past and so I'm expecting a quick recovery.

Best wishes to you all

David

* do mice really plan things? Or is that the point? Apparently the real quote is "The best laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft a-gley" which doesn't clarify things much.