Mary ARCHER is not alone!

Mary ARCHER is not alone!

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Mary Archer on her battle with bladder cancer

Mary Archer, the wife of Jeffrey Archer, the novelist, has disclosed that she has overcome a potentially terminal form of bladder cancer.

Lord Archer is greeted by his wife, Lady Archer  Photo: PA

By Andy Bloxham

11:54PM BST 19 Aug 2011

Dr Archer, 66, an energy scientist, had the diseased organ removed and a new one fashioned from part of her small intestine.

She said that, despite her husband’s turbulent past – including extra-marital affairs, three political resignations and jail term for perjury – she turned to him for valuable support and is due to return to work within days.

Dr Archer said in an interview with the Daily Mail: “It is a highly sophisticated plumbing job. I had to wait for the joins to heal and they then tested it for leaks.

“It is a formidable operation for the surgeon, let alone the patient.”

The cancer was discovered last November, when Dr Archer found blood in her urine and the tests came back showing she had an aggressive form of the disease.

However, it had been caught at an early stage and she was offered a choice of either exhausting chemotherapy with a risk of the cancer returning or the more advanced operation to replace the bladder.

Lord Archer said: “I thought about it for 60 seconds, panicked and said: “You must have it tomorrow. Immediately.” But Mary, calm as ever, was not rushing into it.” 

The couple initially decided not to go public with news of the seven-hour operation, which was carried out in April. 

Their adult sons William and James were told just weeks before the operation but were also determined that their mother should have the surgery. 

The couple have now decided to describe their ordeal to inspire other sufferers of the disease and improve awareness of the condition, which is much more normally seen in men. 

She said: “I have no known risk factors. I’m not male, I don’t smoke, or drink a lot of alcohol.”

The operation was carried out at Addenbrooke’s hospital in Cambridge where 2ins of her intestine were removed and made into a pouch which was sewn back into the hole from which her bladder had been removed. 

She said: “I found it difficult to come to terms with the fact that, although I felt healthy and never went to the doctor from one year to the next, I had been diagnosed with a potentially dangerous condition. 

“It’s not easy to face losing your bladder. However, having discussed the options with Jeffrey and the boys, it was a no-brainer. They were bricks throughout.” 

Dr Archer is perhaps best known for the description of her in a 1987 libel trial against the Daily Star, which had alleged her husband had paid a prostitute for sex. 

Mr Justice Caulfield said: “Remember Mary Archer in the witness box. Your vision of her probably will never disappear. Has she elegance? Has she fragrance? Would she have, without the strain of this trial, radiance? Has she had a happy married life? Has she been able to enjoy, rather than endure, her husband Jeffrey?”

Yesterday, she admitted: “He has had a roller-coaster life and so I have learned to cope with crises and ups-and-downs, but I do love Jeffrey very much indeed. 

“I don’t stand by him because of a sense of duty. I do it because I want to.”

To view the original article CLICK HERE 
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I Have Been Fighting Cancer since 1997 & I'M STILL HERE!

I Have Cancer, Cancer Does NOT Have Me

I just want to say sorry for copping out at times and leaving Lee and friends to cope!

Any help and support YOU can give her will be hugely welcome.

I do make a lousy patient!

.
If YOU want to follow my fight against Cancer from when it started and I first presented with symptoms see The TAB just below the Header of this Blog. called >DIARY of Cancer< just click and it will give you a long list of the main events in chronological order.
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Thoughts and comments will be in chronological order in the main blog and can be tracked in the >ARCHIVE< in the Right Sidebar. You may find the TABS >MEDICAL LINKS< and also >CANCER LINKS< of help.
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YOU are welcome to call me if you believe I can help in ANY way. .

Posted by: Greg Lance-Watkins

tel: 01291 - 62 65 62

of: Greg_L-W@BTconnect.com

on: http://GregLanceWatkins.Blogspot.com  
TWITTER: Greg_LW  
Health/Cancer Blog: http://GregLW.blogspot.com  

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A ROUNDUP + Velindre - appt.: Dr. Lester re.: MRI Results - 12-Aug-2011 - 15:15

A ROUNDUP + Velindre - appt.: Dr. Lester re.: MRI Results - 12-Aug-2011 - 15:15

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Hi,

well a whole week since my last Radio Therapy and I still seem OK!

I was on time for a change so not driving hell for leather.

As I thought Jason Lester is still on holiday and was right so I saw his Registrar Rachel Micalles - I am pleased to say the MRI scan has for certain shown up no signs of mets. in the spine anywhere nor in the sacrum or seemingly the pelvis so that is the good news!

The not so good news is that I do have fairly notable degenerative disease in the spine - I offered the explanation this might be as a result of a degenerate life but seems not!

They are not sure what causes it but in the main, in my case, put it down to being the result of wear and tear damage - well I guess I've earned that diagnosis!

I gather that being more specific about diagnosis is not really worth the effort at this stage as the likelihood it will be some form of arthritic condition seems certain and clearly I am shrinking!

I have in fact lost about 3 inches in height largely as a result of the disease, though scoliosis and being cut in half do little to help!

SO BACK TO CANCER!:

It seems I have survived remarkably well to date! I am told that the Chemo. did indeed shrink the tumour and seems to have killed off the cancer in the lymph system - SEEMS is an important word here as it is, at this stage hard to tell!

Then having had, as described in this blog, very little side effects from the belting with chemo. it was on to Radio Therapy and 20 rides of around 57 seconds on the Linear Accelerator being cooked with accelerated electrons!

To date I have also survived this well - I was reliably informed that I would most likely be far too unwell to drive myself to treatment every day but fortunately I drove myself on every occasion and apart from around an hour in the evening when I felt very tired I have had virtually no side effects of consequence.

At the moment I am told there is little point in scans or a 'flexi' as the full effects have not completed adequately to conclusively show up and apparently the inside of the bladder is likely to be fragile and inflamed AND very prone to the introduction of infection so leave well alone.

Next appointment is now Mid October - which beats even the original 6 month prognosis at best!

SIDE EFFECTS:

It is not strictly true to say ZERO side effects but for sure they have so far been inconsequential.

At one stage for a day or two I had perifferal vision flashes which were a bit odd and I guess must have been an effect on the optic nerve of the blood supply due to cancer (maybe not!).

Fortunately I have not felt sick at any stage and my appetite has been fairly good - largely due to the efforts of Lee in pandering to it! Also to be fair thanks to Nairn in the early stages for the constant supply of relevant mouth washes such as 'Difflam' which controlled the problems of mouth tongue and upper throat ulcers, which only really featured in the early days of Chemo.

There have been periods of mild diarrhea but of little consequence and with the hernia to my nephrectomy wound I have got used to this!

Several of the other patients have said their diarrhea has been quite a problem at times - fortunately mine has been only occasional and no problem.

There is no doubt they have been playing merry hell with my bladder! Particularly during Radio Therapy and I am urinating far too often for convenience! Particularly at night where I rarely get more than around 2.1/2 hours of continuous sleep without a visit to the toilet!

To be fair I do consume a fairly high level of fluid with around 2 pints of fruit juice a day minimum and at least 4 pints of milky strong coffee.

I also consume not less than a pint of yoghurt a day in one form or another - I FEEL that since the system is being bombarded and the gut flora seriously damaged or at best irritated it is worth helping with a replacement together with a consequential amount of fruit relative to normal.

Well if the treatment is working and these are the worst symptoms so far I would call this a very good trade off - though we will not know just how successful the treatment has been for a few months. That said the very fact that I am still here is very much down to the treatment as in April I well recal Jason Lester's prognosis that without treatment I had a probable 3 months at best 6. Well I'm still here and feeling OK - of course not 100% energy wise but beyond that I can hardly complain and this is after all 13 years after I first presented with 'frank haematuria' (I miss spelled that and MS correction was 'crematoria' Ha Ha!) as the first symptoms of all the fun to come since!!

Haematuria:

A passing tip for those who are too scared to go to their Doctor if they think they may have blood in the urine the obvious diagnosis is 'stupidity'!

Blood in the urine is a SYMPTOM only go see your Doctor as soon as possible - most causes can be dealt with simply the others WILL KILL YOU if you let them get hold undiagnosed!

A simple test if you are in doubt is to pass ALL urine into a glass (clean) coffee jar and leave it to stand until naturally cooled blood in the urine is likely to settle out as a distinct band but just because it doesn't does NOT mean you should avoid seeing your Doctor.

Blood in the urine is also an early sign of possible diabetes and minded that The EU is threatening to withdraw driving licences from those with diabetes who let it reach the stage of injectable Insulin perhaps an early check is well advised!
.

 Please Be Sure To

Tweet My Blogs

To Spread The Facts World Wide To Give Others HOPE

I Have Been Fighting Cancer since 1997 & I'M STILL HERE!

I Have Cancer, Cancer Does NOT Have Me

I just want to say sorry for copping out at times and leaving Lee and friends to cope!

Any help and support YOU can give her will be hugely welcome.

I do make a lousy patient!

.
If YOU want to follow my fight against Cancer from when it started and I first presented with symptoms see The TAB just below the Header of this Blog. called >DIARY of Cancer< just click and it will give you a long list of the main events in chronological order.
.
Thoughts and comments will be in chronological order in the main blog and can be tracked in the >ARCHIVE< in the Right Sidebar.

You may find the TABS >MEDICAL LINKS< and also >CANCER LINKS< of help.
.
YOU are welcome to call me if you believe I can help in ANY way.
.

Posted by: Greg Lance-Watkins

tel: 01291 - 62 65 62

of: Greg_L-W@BTconnect.com

on: http://GregLanceWatkins.Blogspot.com  
TWITTER: Greg_LW  
Health/Cancer Blog: http://GregLW.blogspot.com  

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EXERCISE After Cancer

EXERCISE After Cancer 09-Aug-2011 .

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August 9, 2011, 8:00 am

The Benefits of Exercise After Cancer

By ANAHAD O'CONNOR

 

Joe Fornabaio for The New York TimesLight workouts may help after cancer.

 

Many people who have had cancer may be inclined to rest and take it easy after treatment, but a new report by a leading British cancer charity is strongly urging some patients to increase, not reduce, their levels of physical activity.

The report, called Move More, reviewed the findings of 60 studies on the effects of exercise on cancer and reached some conclusions that may seem contrary to the conventional wisdom that prevailed only a decade or two ago, when recovering cancer patients were often given mixed advice on physical activity or outright warned against it. Saying some patients should view light exercise almost as a form of treatment itself, the report noted that two and a half hours of exercise a week could lower a breast cancer patient’s risk of dying or cancer recurrence by 40 percent, and could reduce a prostate cancer patient’s risk of dying from the disease by about 30 percent.
The group that published the report, Macmillan Cancer Support, one of the largest British charities, provides health care and financial support to cancer survivors and works in partnership with the  National Cancer Research Institute in Britain.

As part of its report, the group questioned more than 400 doctors and nurses in Britain and found that more than half knew “little or nothing about the benefits of activity in preventing or managing long-term effects” of cancer, and that one in 10 believed it was important to encourage cancer patients to “rest up” rather than attempt any physical activity at all. Cancer experts in the United States have also sought in recent years to spread the word among oncologists that light exercise, in many cases, should be encouraged.

Just last year, the American College of Sports Medicine convened a panel of cancer and exercise researchers, which developed a set of guidelines on physical activity for people who are undergoing or have recently completed treatment. The panel recommended adaptations for exercise in people based on their specific cancers and the side effects of their treatment, like strength-building routines for patients who have lost muscle mass and shoulder-stabilizing exercises in breast cancer survivors who have had operations that debilitate the joints in their shoulders.

But the panel also noted that some patients will at times be just too sick to exercise — particularly at the height of their treatment — and said that in those cases there was nothing wrong with waiting a few days before attempting activity. The American Cancer Society also promotes moderate exercise but encourages patients to discuss their exercise plans with their oncologists first, and lists on its Web site a set of precautions. Among them: avoiding exercise if you have anemia, and steering clear of heavy weights or strenuous exercise if you have developed osteoporosis, nerve damage or cancer that has spread to the bone.

For those who can handle it, though, a light or moderate exercise regimen could help reduce some side effects of treatment, the new report stated. Studies have shown, for example, that arm extensions and other range-of-motion exercises can help relieve lymphedema, a painful swelling of the arm stemming from breast cancer surgery. It can also help patients who gained weight during treatment slim down and regain some physical function, and combat some of the exhaustion stemming from chemotherapy.

“The evidence review shows that physical exercise does not increase fatigue during treatment, and can in fact boost energy after treatment,” the report stated.

For patients looking for help with starting a new regimen, the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Cancer Society introduced a program that educates and certifies trainers to work specifically with cancer patients, so they understand their goals and limitations. The college’s Web site explains how patients can find a certified cancer exercise trainer in their area.

To view the original article CLICK HERE
 .

 Please Be Sure To

Tweet My Blogs

To Spread The Facts World Wide To Give Others HOPE

I Have Been Fighting Cancer since 1997 & I'M STILL HERE!

I Have Cancer, Cancer Does NOT Have Me

I just want to say sorry for copping out at times and leaving Lee and friends to cope!

Any help and support YOU can give her will be hugely welcome.

I do make a lousy patient!

. If YOU want to follow my fight against Cancer from when it started and I first presented with symptoms see The TAB just below the Header of this Blog. called >DIARY of Cancer< just click and it will give you a long list of the main events in chronological order. . Thoughts and comments will be in chronological order in the main blog and can be tracked in the >ARCHIVE< in the Right Sidebar. You may find the TABS >MEDICAL LINKS< and also >CANCER LINKS< of help. . YOU are welcome to call me if you believe I can help in ANY way. .

Posted by: Greg Lance-Watkins

tel: 01291 - 62 65 62

of: Greg_L-W@BTconnect.com

on: http://GregLanceWatkins.Blogspot.com TWITTER: Greg_LW Health/Cancer Blog: http://GregLW.blogspot.com  

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