Derek Adair – My Journey
I was diagnosed with mesothelioma in August 2009 at the age of 71, I am a widow and have been for the past 15 years after losing my dear wife to cancer. I have a new partner now who I dearly love and with who I thought I would spend a long and happy retirement with. After I was given this second chance of happiness things could not have been better, then I got the devastating news I had mesothelioma.
I was given a course of chemotherapy, happily with no real side effects, this I was told had restricted the growth, but the pain was getting worse. The medical team upped my morphine dosage to combat this. Very quickly I became toxic and overdosed on the morphine drugs I was taking and any thing else they tried.
On two occassions now I have been admitted to a palliative care hospice to try and sort and control the effects of the drugs, but honestly I think those times made me worse, I came out a broken, confused man and two stone lighter. This also caused me to be in a continual state of drowsiness combined with hallucinations.
This was not what I wanted for the rest of my life, struggling through the pain and confusion every day brought. The quality of my life had dropped to zero. By chance I heard mention of a man called Dr Paul Cook and cordotomy through my support group, The Mick Knighton Mesothelioma Research Fund.
After six months of trying various forms of pain killing drugs, the medical team looking after me agreed to give me a referal to see Dr Cook at Oldham Royal Hospital and have the cordotomy.
If you have not heard of the procedure before it is very basically killing off the nerves in the area of pain, this is done while the patient is awake, and the effect if successful is immediate. It was all arranged within two weeks, I had mixed emotions, worries and even fears about what was going to happen, but I was basically living a life of hell with no quality at all. Knowing my partner and family were struggling through an emotional roller coaster as wellmade mind up for me, I had no other option but to have the procedure.
On the 7th of July 2011 I started on my way. It was a long long journey, but when I arrived the staff of the hospital were most welcoming, kind and understanding to both myself my partner and family who had travelled down with me. Dr Paul Cook, a real gentleman, kind and considerate explained in detail, the good bits and the possible not so good bits of the procedure.
On the 8th 0f July 2011 I went down for the cordotomy, still full of anticipation and worries, this was to be unnecessary as when I returned from theatre the pain had gone, and it had gone because of what had seemed such simple and pain free procedure. I am now back home pain free, my family and friends can’t believe I awake each morning pain free, I can’t believe I awake each morning pain free.
Sorry if I have used the words pain free a lot, but I am so happy I am “pain free” I still have a bit to do to get back my life, I am weaker in both my legs and arms from the time spent doing nothing in state of confusion for last 6 months but hopefully with help, exercise and physio I should again belong to the human race.
My final thoughts and words are all for a man I met a few days ago, who changed my life and that of my partner and family. Dr Paul Cook a marvellous man and a true gent. “THANK YOU”
http://www.mesotheliomamatters.com/
A procedure called a Percutaneous Spinal Cordotomy may help relieve pain that has not responded to conventional pain medicines. The procedure involves heating some of the pain nerves in the spinal cord that transmit pain information to the brain. It involves placing an electrode (about the size of a blood test needle) into these pain carrying pathways, using special x-ray guidance. It is done under a local anesthetic; the patient is awake so that they can communicate any sensations felt during the procedure. Patients who have been treated with this procedure can gain long term pain relief (months to years). Sometimes the procedure can be unsuccessful because the pain nerves cannot be identified safely. Any risk should be discussed with the doctor. There are currently four centres offering a Percutaneous Cordotomy service to patients – these cover the South, North, North-West and Midlands. They have all agreed to have their details circulated.
Drs Mike Williams or Nick Campkin, The Pain Clinic, Level D, Queen Alexandra Hospital, Cosham, Portsmouth PO6 3LY
Tel: 02392 283271 Fax: 02392 286888
Dr Paul Cook (Consultant in Palliative Care & Anaesthesia), Room 21, Central Offices, Pennine Square, Royal Oldham Hospital, Rochdale Road, Oldham, OL1 2JH
Tel: 0161 656 1912 Fax: 0161 656 1929 E-mail: paul.cook@pat.nhs.uk
Dr Hugh Antrobus, Pain Clinic, Warwick Hospital, Warwick, CB34 5BW
Tel: 01926 495321 ext. 4738 Fax: 01926 482613 E-mail: hugh.antrobus@swh.nhs.uk
Dr Mahohar Sharma, Consultant in Pain Management, The Walton Centre for Neurology and Neurosurgery NHS Trust, Lower Lane, Liverpool, L9 7LJ
Tel: 0151 5298294 (Pain Clinic) or 0151 5292098 (Aintree Palliative Care Service)
Patients should discuss the appropriateness of this procedure with the doctor or hospital team who are currently caring for them
