The Story so Far

When we were out in Florida I caught pneumonia and when I had a blood test as part of the diagnosis it emerged that I was anaemic. The American doctor recommended that I follow this matter up with my GP on my return to the UK. My GP referred me to a specialist who decided to undertake a colonoscopy on me (a camera on a tube up my back passage - oooo - ouch!!) This showed that I have a tumour on the vertical part of my colon on my right hand side. I then had a CT scan and last week had a meeting with my consultant, Mr Miller who said that I needed an operation to cut out the tumour which is planned for Thursday 28 May.

Cancer of the colon is very common in men and the operation is a very straightforward bit of plumbing. Cut me open, cut out the length and stitch together the loose ends and sew me up again. I will be in hospital for about 5 days in order to allow time for my bowel to start working again. I will then be allowed home but it may take up to 2 months for me to fully recover my stamina.

When they cut out the tumour they will examine it and determine how far the cancer had spread. If it has spread then I will have to have chemotherapy as a precaution. I will not know whether I will need chemo until about 2 weeks after the operation.

So hopefully I will be back playing golf and earning some money some time in July/August.