Post by Banjo on Jul 16, 2014 6:40:24 GMT 7
Into ‘unknown territory’
In his last months, Kim Lee asked his wife to take notes.
“Write it all down, darling, in case my story can help others,” he said.
Less than a year earlier, he had been a fit and healthy 55-year-old, exercising regularly and diligent about having annual health checks.
Neither he nor his wife, Christine, could process what had happened. How did he suddenly land up with bowel cancer that had spread through his abdomen?
He had no family history of the disease, he didn’t smoke, he didn’t eat junk and only occasionally would he have a few beers with his mates.
As he lay in hospital, Kim worried about his family’s financial security. Would he have enough super to clear the mortgage? How would his wife and three children manage when he was gone?
For the 16 years he worked as a chef for Qantas, he had few worries. Christine ran a family daycare centre from their home in Aspley, Brisbane and with two incomes they were secure.
When Qantas offered redundancies, Kim shot up his hand and put the lovely lump sum directly into the mortgage.
There was no shortage of contract work for established chefs and he thought it would be interesting to do that for a while.
Early signs
And he did one short contract. But by the second, he was finding it hard going. While the odd hours and the late nights didn’t worry him, his energy levels did.
Energy had never been a problem before. He’d always worked extremely hard without feeling the impact of it.
Now he was crawling home to bed and, for the first time in his life, requesting reduced hours.
Besides the exhaustion, there appeared to be nothing wrong with him and so he pushed on.
Kim had long suffered from an irritable bowel and had attributed it to the odd hours he kept and the fact he ate at irregular times. But he lived with the condition without complaint and expected that one day when his routine normalised, it would, too.
Then he noticed a new pattern in his bowel habit and sensibly reported it to his doctor. From almost daily motions, he was going two or three times a week and was uncomfortable.
The doctor suggested he purchase an off-the-shelf product to relieve constipation.
He drank bucketfuls of it and when it didn’t help, he went to another doctor, who referred him for a colonoscopy . He was so blocked, it couldn’t be performed.
Awful realisation
One Sunday morning in May 2012, Christine woke and looked at him.
The pieces fell into place. He was obviously terribly ill. His bowels hadn’t moved for ages and whatever she tried to give him, he threw up. Extremely worried, she took him to hospital.
He stayed overnight and the next day called with the words: “It’s 85 per cent certain it’s bowel cancer.”
It turned out to be a cancer the size of his fist that was not only obstructing his bowel, but had broken through the bowel wall. But the Lees celebrated because the surgeon said he’d got it all and no colostomy bag was necessary.
He just needed chemotherapy for three months and he’d likely be okay.
He wasn’t. Halfway through the chemotherapy the pain returned.
While the oncology team assured him it was not the cancer, Lee insisted it was the same pain as before.
Terrible news
Investigations revealed the cancer had spread throughout his abdomen.
It was inoperable.
“The doctor gave him 2½ years but he only lasted 11 months,” Christine says. “And it was 11 months of absolute hell, in and out of hospital with obstructions, terrible pain and having to call ambulances in the middle of the night.”
Then there was the financial strain. “We were in unknown territory because he was effectively between jobs. He had another contract lined up. We didn’t know where to turn.
“Centrelink gave us a difficult time. Kim was given Newstart Allowance and was expected to go for job interviews, but he was just too ill.”
“I found Centrelink so uncooperative that I rang the office of my local MP, Wayne Swan. The woman there was a lifesaver. She contacted Centrelink and told them Kim was dying.“
“The problem, however, was that to get a pension a person had to have less than two years to live and Kim’s doctors had predicted he’d live a little longer,” Christine says.
“It was a dreadful time and eventually the doctor revised his prediction and Centrelink put Kim on a pension of $150 a week.”
The family, which had already tightened its belt, pulled it in further. They made radical cuts. Kim’s elderly mother in England sent a little money when she could and Christine’s mother also tried to help.
Kim’s former colleagues at Qantas passed around a hat and more than once, visited with an envelope containing $1000.
The family was advised not to access Kim’s super because while he was alive it was growing and there were other benefits to be gained by waiting.
After he died in May 2013, his super cleared the mortgage, completely.
For more information go to
www.bowelcanceraustralia.org
www.afr.com/p/lifestyle/mens_health/into_unknown_territory_4XFqu7wtnwmaGyf92lIDOJ
In his last months, Kim Lee asked his wife to take notes.
“Write it all down, darling, in case my story can help others,” he said.
Less than a year earlier, he had been a fit and healthy 55-year-old, exercising regularly and diligent about having annual health checks.
Neither he nor his wife, Christine, could process what had happened. How did he suddenly land up with bowel cancer that had spread through his abdomen?
He had no family history of the disease, he didn’t smoke, he didn’t eat junk and only occasionally would he have a few beers with his mates.
As he lay in hospital, Kim worried about his family’s financial security. Would he have enough super to clear the mortgage? How would his wife and three children manage when he was gone?
For the 16 years he worked as a chef for Qantas, he had few worries. Christine ran a family daycare centre from their home in Aspley, Brisbane and with two incomes they were secure.
When Qantas offered redundancies, Kim shot up his hand and put the lovely lump sum directly into the mortgage.
There was no shortage of contract work for established chefs and he thought it would be interesting to do that for a while.
Early signs
And he did one short contract. But by the second, he was finding it hard going. While the odd hours and the late nights didn’t worry him, his energy levels did.
Energy had never been a problem before. He’d always worked extremely hard without feeling the impact of it.
Now he was crawling home to bed and, for the first time in his life, requesting reduced hours.
Besides the exhaustion, there appeared to be nothing wrong with him and so he pushed on.
Kim had long suffered from an irritable bowel and had attributed it to the odd hours he kept and the fact he ate at irregular times. But he lived with the condition without complaint and expected that one day when his routine normalised, it would, too.
Then he noticed a new pattern in his bowel habit and sensibly reported it to his doctor. From almost daily motions, he was going two or three times a week and was uncomfortable.
The doctor suggested he purchase an off-the-shelf product to relieve constipation.
He drank bucketfuls of it and when it didn’t help, he went to another doctor, who referred him for a colonoscopy . He was so blocked, it couldn’t be performed.
Awful realisation
One Sunday morning in May 2012, Christine woke and looked at him.
The pieces fell into place. He was obviously terribly ill. His bowels hadn’t moved for ages and whatever she tried to give him, he threw up. Extremely worried, she took him to hospital.
He stayed overnight and the next day called with the words: “It’s 85 per cent certain it’s bowel cancer.”
It turned out to be a cancer the size of his fist that was not only obstructing his bowel, but had broken through the bowel wall. But the Lees celebrated because the surgeon said he’d got it all and no colostomy bag was necessary.
He just needed chemotherapy for three months and he’d likely be okay.
He wasn’t. Halfway through the chemotherapy the pain returned.
While the oncology team assured him it was not the cancer, Lee insisted it was the same pain as before.
Terrible news
Investigations revealed the cancer had spread throughout his abdomen.
It was inoperable.
“The doctor gave him 2½ years but he only lasted 11 months,” Christine says. “And it was 11 months of absolute hell, in and out of hospital with obstructions, terrible pain and having to call ambulances in the middle of the night.”
Then there was the financial strain. “We were in unknown territory because he was effectively between jobs. He had another contract lined up. We didn’t know where to turn.
“Centrelink gave us a difficult time. Kim was given Newstart Allowance and was expected to go for job interviews, but he was just too ill.”
“I found Centrelink so uncooperative that I rang the office of my local MP, Wayne Swan. The woman there was a lifesaver. She contacted Centrelink and told them Kim was dying.“
“The problem, however, was that to get a pension a person had to have less than two years to live and Kim’s doctors had predicted he’d live a little longer,” Christine says.
“It was a dreadful time and eventually the doctor revised his prediction and Centrelink put Kim on a pension of $150 a week.”
The family, which had already tightened its belt, pulled it in further. They made radical cuts. Kim’s elderly mother in England sent a little money when she could and Christine’s mother also tried to help.
Kim’s former colleagues at Qantas passed around a hat and more than once, visited with an envelope containing $1000.
The family was advised not to access Kim’s super because while he was alive it was growing and there were other benefits to be gained by waiting.
After he died in May 2013, his super cleared the mortgage, completely.
For more information go to
www.bowelcanceraustralia.org
www.afr.com/p/lifestyle/mens_health/into_unknown_territory_4XFqu7wtnwmaGyf92lIDOJ
