Doug’s Diary

Ten days ago I had another CT scan as a baseline for the new round of chemotherapy.

The good news was that the scan showed no new metastases in the liver, the lung or any other organ.

The bad news is that the nine metastases in the liver and the one in the lung have all continued to grow and are about 70% larger on average. (so much for all the nutrients, supplements, etc that I’ve been taking!!)

But further good news is that none of them are as large as the ones I was initially diagnosed with back in September 2008 when the liver was greatly enlarged and there was more cancer  than functioning liver.

Further bad news though was that my surgeon’s liver specialist friend was not able to offer any suggestions of viable alternative interventions.

Further good news is that the Radiologist in Dunedin whom I discovered through St George’s Radiology in Christchurch has contacted my Oncologist here in Nelson and he may be able to insert another lot of radio-active spheres into my liver depending on how the metastases respond to this next round of chemo.

Further bad news is that I will have to pay for those insertions as a private patient.

Further good news is that the same Radiologist believes he may also be able to blast the tumour in the lung with RFA under the public health system at the same time as he repeats the SIRTs treatment in the liver.

Further bad news is that all these options hinge on the outcome of the imminent three courses of chemotherapy, each three weeks apart.

Further good news is that chemo starts this Wednesday, 10th March.

The best news is that God is still on my case and not fazed at all by the machinations of medicos and other mortals.

On Tuesday Bronwen and I flew to Christchurch to attend the Concert at Westpac Stadium featuring Cliff Richard and the Shadows. It was great. I would love to think I have as much energy as Cliff if I make it to 70! Hank Marvin was still the cool dude I liked when I was a teenager.

It was noticeable that 95% of the audience all had grey hair and 70% were women, perhaps still hopeful of catching the Bachelor Boy. One of the good things about going to these sorts of concerts is that the audience aren’t gyrating in their seats and in the aisles obstructing views. Most of them would be worried about ‘popping their hips’! And it doesn’t matter about the noise because they can turn their hearing aids down. I was amused that all around me I could hear people discussing their health issues.

We stayed overnight with friends in Rangiora and caught the plane home the next day. It was full of satisfied concert goers, many of whom we knew.

Well, we made it and had a great time. Weather and health were both excellent.

Phoebe was a bit disappointed at the prospect of missing out so I ended up taking her as well and the three of us slept very comfortably in our little tent. There were about 15 other homeschooling families and we all camped in the same area of Quinney’s Bush.

We played in the river, on flying foxes (or zip-lines for our USA friends!), huge tyre swings, water slides, cooked our own camp food, sat around a camp fire in the evenings and toasted marshmellows. We studied the stars before retiring for bed and marvelled at the wonder of God, His creation and His love for us. It was a great memory-making weekend.

On the first night Phoebe needed to clarify what all the sounds were as she lay down to sleep: for instance it was the river she could hear and not rain. Before drifting into sleep she declared, “God is strong. He can kill foxes and wolves and monsters. He looks after us … and His angels”. Having satisfied herself with this statement, she was asleep in one minute.

Following are some photos of the three of us  with our tent, eating our evening meal, and Abe and Phoebe checking on Grandad.

Last weekend Bronwen and I drove down to Hanmer Springs for the induction of two new elders in the church we used to pastor. It is the furthest I’ve driven for months and we were surprised at how well we felt after the 4 hour trip. We spent Saturday visiting friends and then drove back to Nelson on the Sunday afternoon.

This weekend, weather and health permitting, Abraham and I are going camping. The Christian Homeschoolers Support Group are having a family camp at Quinney’s Bush, about 45 minutes from Nelson. We will be spending 2 nights under canvas and return home on Sunday. I’m praying my strength will hold up and that Abe will have a lot of fun with the other campers. Watch for photos next week if we manage to last the distance.

Yesterday we kept our appointment with the Nelson Oncologist. She was the most negative of all the practitioners and specialists we’ve seen, forcing us once again to realise that the keys of death and life only in the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ.

As I say, ‘another faith-building day’. Such days are not always ones where positive news abounds. Conversations such as we had with our oncologist make one realise Who one’s hope is in. We keep coming back to that all the time. My only hope is in direct divine intervention.

In the meantime, I am to have another scan next week to ascertain the spread of the metastases, then will have 3 courses of 2nd-line chemotherapy (3 weeks apart). I will then have another scan to learn how things are progressing inside and then look at further specialist treatment such as re-insertion of radioactive spheres, or RFA. The oncologist believes an attack with 2nd line chemo will hit all cancer cells wherever they are in my body, prior to the more specific treatments these other specialties may provide.

It is impossible to personally thank all those who are upholding Bronwen and I in prayer. Some of the churches we have attended in recent months have made a point of laying hands on us in their services as they prayed. We know many other churches and individuals who also uphold us. Every so often I get emails or messages from people telling me they attended a church that we have never heard of and that we had been included in their intercessory prayers. It is a great comfort in the hard times to know the prayerful support of God’s people.

Last week I received a most unusual parcel in the post. It was so heavy, at first I thought it was a bomb. It was a huge white rock and it had polystyrene packaging around it so that it could not be damaged. There was no note, card, or postmark showing the originating post office so whoever sent it wants to remain anonymous.

On closer examination we found some very fine writing along a crack on one side of the rock. It read, “He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock and covers me there with His hand.”

On the other side of the rock, in beautiful fine lettering, were the words of one of my poems, Light in my long night, posted on my blog some time ago. The words fit a beautiful cello solo and should be read while listening to the tune. You can access the poem and tune on my blog

A very lovely and thoughtful gift, but I’m not sure what the postman thought when he was delivering it!

Saw the surgeon today with Bronwen and we were blown away by his optimism!

He inspected his handiwork and professed a wish that all his patients had as good a recovery as I have had, especially after radiation therapy. He expressed amazement at how well I’ve healed.

He also expressed shock at the recent CT scan results but encouraged me to seek further options for treatment of the new metastases. He said that if I was not in such good physical condition he would not recommend such action. He reckons that because of the way my body has recovered from each of the processes I’ve been through so far, all options are worth considering. I told him about Dr Gabriel Lau (Dunedin) being prepared to treat me again with radio active spheres. While he acknowledged that as an option, my surgeon mentioned another new process (RFA) where needles are inserted through the chest into each metastases and a high radio-frequency is passed into them to blow them away. He knows it can be done in Auckland and possibly Christchurch. He also has a friend who is a liver specialist in Christchurch and plans to talk with him about my case. He said that if anyone knows of what treatments, old or new are available, publicly or privately, this specialist will. He hopes to have a reply from him for my Oncology visit next Tuesday.

I was blessed to find a surgeon who was interested beyond his own area of expertise and who spoke so positively about my situation.

Another faith-building day.

Just to show that we are weathering the storms of life well, here is the latest pic of the two of us. This weekend we celebrated the 43rd anniversary of our engagement.

Over this past weekend we have enjoyed our annual siblings reunion. Once again, because of my health, it had to be held near us so the two brothers from Auckland with their wives, and the two sisters from Wellington with their husbands descended on Nelson. And what a great choice of city. Wellington had fog one day and rained the rest of the weekend: Auckland had wind and showers while Nelson basked in brilliant weather for the four days of the reunion.

One thing that is synonymous with Duncan reunions is food and laughter. Here are a couple of photos of the get-together