Brendan’s story

Over Christmas – New Year of 2022 I decided to donate blood.

Went through the pre-screening and got told I couldn’t donate because I was very anaemic, and to either go straight to the hospital or doctors.

I went to the doctors that afternoon, had blood tests, CT scan, and was told I have cancer markers in my bowel, liver and lung, cancer marker of 56.

I was then referred to surgical at hospital where I had a PET scan. This confirmed bowel cancer. Stage 4, inoperable, incurable.

Definitely a shock since leading up to everything I was basically symptom free.

Chemo started on the 27th of March, 12 cycles every 2 weeks.

The first week of chemo is where you need to listen to your body, day 4, 5 and 6 I was very tired, slept most of that time. Thankfully I did not have any other side effects, apart from a little nausea. Every day after that I have improved day by day, getting ready for my next round of chemo.

After 9 rounds of chemo, with some hiccups along the way, I had lost over 20kgs in that time, I genuinely looked like a cancer patient on the verge of death. The main ongoing side effect from the Oxy was neuropathy in my fingers and from my knees down to my feet, I have good days and bad days with my feet mainly.

My PET scan at this time was extremely positive, I had no cancer in my liver and only spots in my lung, and a cancer marker of 2. To say I was relieved is an understatement, with that good news I was put on a maintenance schedule of chemo where I gradually put on weight and started feeling better physically and mentally.

At the start of 2024 I was experiencing vomiting at night, not every night, but enough to be a concern. After one night of nonstop vomiting, I was off to hospital where they found an obstruction in my bowel. So, I had 2 stents put in which was successful. A bit of a reality check was when I saw my surgical doctor from my initial diagnosis and he was surprised to see me, he said to me that he didn’t expect me to survive 2023. I was shocked by his honesty, but also grateful for his honesty.

August 2024, I had another PET scan where unfortunately my bowel cancer had increased again, so taken off maintenance schedule and back on some hard chemo. This one hit me hard straight away, where I didn’t fully recover in the 2 weeks. I got sick and was put in hospital for a week to fight an infection, after my recovery they reduced my dose to 80% which is more manageable for me.

November is here I’m suffering with the scan anxiety. Physically I feel fine but have definitely struggled with the mental side of it. Asking questions in my head about if my cancer decreased or has it increased. Another thing I’ve been thinking about is at what stage in your cancer journey do you know that this is the end, where the chemo stops working.

I think the not knowing is the worst thing, you can’t plan long term because I don’t know if I will be here. I don’t live my life waiting to die, I live my life in month blocks, and I make the most of everyday, whether that’s just doing gardening or chores around the yard to starting to play golf and going to the gym.

I haven’t let my cancer rule me, I want to live like I don’t have the worry of cancer, I don’t want to make excuses because I have cancer.

So, in late November I received my results for my latest PET scan, these results were not that good. It had progressed to my liver again and a bit more into my lung.

I tried to keep positive and hoping for a good result, but it hit me quite hard of the set back. So, it looks like I will be going back to Oxy, which was the chemo treatment I started on last year. I know what it will do to me but I’m okay with that. If it keeps me alive, then that’s what I have to go through. If I chose no treatment my life expectancy would only be a handful of months.

That’s not an option.

That’s my journey so far, a bit of a roller coaster but this is what me and thousands of other cancer patients go through every day.

My on piece of advice: listen to your body, if you need rest, do it. If you feel okay, live your life.