Hello all,
It’s been a while since my last update but regular readers will know I’ve been suffering with serious health problems since September of this year. To be honest I hadn’t written much for over a year before that but it’s great to finally have a legitimate excuse for slow updates. There are some developments to share at last and I won’t rehash the things I’ve already written about. If you want the full story then you can read the following:
Previously on Dan…
So, when we last left the story I was waiting for some kind of diagnosis from The Christie in Manchester and news of any possible treatment. I was called for more CT scans and blood tests a couple of weeks ago and then I met the consultant there earlier this week.
The big news is they think they finally have a proper diagnosis. (Drum roll please) I have a condition called Pseudomyxoma peritonei (that’ll get you a good score in Scrabble). I won’t go into extended detail here because it’s not pleasant and those who want to know more can easily look it up. Basically it means I have tumours in my abdomen and probably on my appendix. They produce this mucus fluid that builds up and can cause great pressure internally. It would explain many of the symptoms I’ve experienced for years and the doctor even admitted I might have had it quite a while.
There’s good news though. It is operable and given my age and fitness there’s a 75% chance of a complete cure. It involves major surgery and it won’t be easy. I will also be given chemotherapy via a pump while still unconscious, this should kill any cells they can’t see or cut out directly. It just ensures everything is taken care of. They remove some organs you can live without too. All in all the operation takes 12 hours and obviously I’ll need months to recover afterwards but the big thing to remember here is I could end up fitter than I’ve been in years.
So my basic plan for now is to enjoy Christmas & New Year, get as fit as I can and then undergo surgery in January. Probably the middle to end of Jan. I don’t have a date yet.
It’s a relief to finally know what’s wrong with me and also that it’s treatable because I’ve been in limbo so long. The wheel of fortune was spinning and I may not have won a caravan or a holiday in Tenerife (look up the reference younger readers), but I have won a chance to beat this and get fully fit again. That’s what I shall be doing in 2016. I considered calling this post “the wheel of misfortune” but I honestly don’t feel like that. It’s going to be a long road but I’ve never backed out of a fight in my life and I’m ready to hit this head on. The Christie is the absolute best place in the country to do this, if not the world, they have an amazing record.
So now you’re all up to date. I hope to see many of you over the holiday season and I hope you all have a good time. I will be. Any more details I will let you know.
Ciao for now,
Dan
Great to have an update Dan. It must be a relief to finally know what on earth is going on. Hope the op and treatment go well. The complete cure stats are amazing, so here’s hoping you get it sorted once and for. You’ll certainly be in my thoughts. Good luck and send this thing to /dev/null!
Thanks Gregory, great recovery stats yes. That’s very good news.
Great news to be out of limbo and have a plan of attack. I wish you all the best and a speedy recovery, a merry Christmas and a happy new year also
Thanks Baz, much appreciated. Hope you enjoy a sunny Christmas down under as well 🙂
Sorry to hear if your ongoing illness, but glad you know what you’re up against now. I’ll be over here rooting for you!
Best of luck Dan, I’ll been thinking of you.
Thanks Mick, good to hear from you. Been a long time, hope all is good down under. No that’s not a medical enquiry 😀 Tame care
Ah, good news, not easy to diagnose either. Have a fan Christmas and take it easy xxx
Our very best wishes to you for a full recovery. (From Laura’s parents)
Eileen & Brian – Thanks to you both, of course I know who you are don’t worry. You’ve been to almost as many OggCamps as I have! Hope you’re well. Enjoy a good Xmas and New Year 🙂
Dan, you’re one of life’s greats. I know you squeeze the most from every second and I know you’ve got an infinite number of ’em ahead. So enjoy to the fullest the festive season (get over the Everyman for the rock n roll panto), get Neil under the mistletoe, and then take some you time next year to be the badass Dan we all love.
Wishing you every happiness, mein Lynch.
Thanks Dave, I haven’t been to a panto for a long time but I have some friends who work in the Everyman from my old theatre tech days. I might nip over and see them. Good idea. Have a good Xmas yourself.
I know I’ll get in trouble with my security officer but stay strong comrade. You too will survive. I’m glad to hear this is treatable. You’ll be in fighting trim by the time I may well go on walkabout after all.
Good to hear you have a positive prognosis, all the best mate.
Glad to see there’s a path to better health! Sounds like everything is coming up Milhouse as they say on the simpsons. Good luck!
Thanks for letting us know whats going on!
I’ll keep my fingers crossed for January!
Best of luck!
Kai
I’ve enjoyed you on FLOSS Weekly and LO for years and I am really hoping you pull through.
Best of luck Dan, I hope you have a quick and full recovery.
Hope to hear you soon on one of your podcasts.
Dan, Best of luck — I will keep my fingers crossed frequently in January, until you are all healthy and back with us in full power!
Hopefully only for good, not for worse, here is a little gift: https://github.com/datalad/ratholeradio-archive — a git-annex archive of all Rathole Radio episodes with .cue sheets (for easy grep’ing and seeking) as I have scraped them from the show’s web pages and pointing to their .mp3 and .ogg files from the RR website.
I will keep it up to date whenever you come back to the RR and share more music with us.
Good luck and Merry Christmas
@Yaroslav – Wow, this is great thanks! It must have taken some time to do, even just writing the scripts. I’m sure people will appreciate it. I fully intend to get back to doing Rathole Radio but it may be a few months with the surgery and all. I’m going to record a message to go into the feed and let people know what’s happening before I have the operation. So I will include details of this there 🙂
Wishing you the best Dan. It’s good to hear you have received a proper diagnosis, that has to provide some relief anyway.
Wishing you a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and a speedy recovery Dan.
Thank you for the updates.
@Eric – Thanks. It certainly is a relief to have a diagnosis for sure, even if it’s not the nicest of things. I’m hopeful the surgery will keep me free of it for many years to come. The chances are good and I just have to remain positive. I hope you have a great Christmas and New Year too! Best wishes.
Whoa, Theru was just cluing me in to all this. Oo I wish you all the best, pal.
You’ll be back on your feet in no time! Hang in there, man.