The new voyage is a very nasty one – a voyage that I would not wish on anyone. This new voyage is a autoimmune disorder of major proportions called dermatomyositis, or DM for short.
Some pertinent facts as background on previous voyages that I have taken:
– 2003: In January, I had a serious, invasive melanoma removed from my inner right thigh. It was the same day that Princess Margaret Hospital shut down their operating rooms for infection from SARS CoV-2. No metastasis – no problem for me.
– 2019: In January, I had serious colon cancer. It was surgically removed in Stratford. No metastasis – no problems for me.
– 2021: This year I had another colonoscopy with no sign of cancer. Checked colon only.
– 2021: In December, while in hospital, a full body CT scan was performed and they found a melanoma in a lymph node near my left armpit. A biopsy was done and the oncologists were called in. It must be removed. Surgery will be done next Friday, Dec. 10.
The question for the doctors was where did the melanoma come from and did it cause my current problem (why I am here) with DM? The DM resulted in my very painful six months for me, but it was brought to a head when I could no longer swallow and coughed endlessly.
So, I have been in the London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) hospital for the last two weeks while they try to solve this problem. They take a team approach and have great leadership. A great group!
I love being a special human being. Well, now I am one. LHSC has made me one. They had never run across my particular problem (DM) before. I have gone through a dozen tests from the largest, best team of nurses, students and specialists of every description that you could imagine. They all treat me as a special person. What a delight for me in a very scary position. Yes, death does go in and out of my mind.
All the tests and more have been done on me since entering LHSC on Nov. 16. The worst test was the discovery of melanoma on a lymph node. Cancer was not previously considered as a trigger for DM.
So here I am, writing my column for the Wingham Advance-Times. Now, lying, sitting, etc. on my bed in a hospital is not exactly stimulating for me. Creative words do not flow easily. My editor suggests that I inject some humour and interesting stories, but this is surgery to remove cancer, so like all printers, “I will just PRESS on.”
My Voyage with Dementia started as an attempt to illustrate that dementia is not the end of life and, with care, can support life. But there is no cure to date. The story of my dementia is written over four years every other week and is written fresh, as I am doing now. I hear that 42 people follow my blog. Yes, I have a blog that is maintained by the Alzheimer’s Society of Huron County (ASHC). As a matter of fact, the ASHC first suggested that I write my experiences with dementia out for readers to personally follow one real live person. And it started and is continuing for the ASHC e-newsletter every month.
The blog can be found at https://myvoyage553264702.wordpress.com.
An easier way is to google “My Voyage with Dementia” or to Google “Bob Murray” and follow to blog.
This way, you can read my personal story for the last four years.
My bottom line is that my medical team is prepping me for cancer surgery to get rid of the trigger (melanoma) for my DM. My hope is that I am home Tuesday, Dec. 14 for recuperation from the cancer surgery. Of course, this is up to the Team Oncologist. When I am home I will continue to be fed through a tube in my stomach while I learn to swallow again and direct food to my stomach and not to my lungs as I was doing before hospitalization. This could take several months. If you see me and my walking poles walking the streets, trying to be getting back in shape, please, if you are fully vaccinated, stop and say hello. I really miss my adopted family in The Bridges of Seaforth.
My next column, in two weeks, describes my Christmas with my blood families at the Nottasawaga Inn.
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Bob Murray has lived in Seaforth since 2015. Murray was diagnosed with Dementia in 2013 and works hard to stop the progress of the disease to AD. He shares his experiences in his column entitled “My Voyage with Dementia.” Follow him on his blog entitled Voyage with Dementia – https://myvoyage553264702.wordpress.com.
