Craig celebrates 10 years cancer-free with visit to Radiotherapy team
Former patient Craig Bibby paid a visit to the Radiotherapy team at Derriford Hospital to celebrate a decade since his all-clear, following treatment after a tumour was discovered on his tonsil.
Craig, who recently retired from his role as Medical Devices Strategic Investment Manager after working for University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust (UHP) for 50 years, chose to mark the occasion by paying a visit to the Radiotherapy team.
“It felt important to celebrate,” explains Craig. “My radiotherapy treatment was amazing - top quality. The whole Oncology department were really supportive and I’m still very grateful to this day.”
Back in December 2015, Craig was experiencing a sore throat on one side which spread up to the side of his head. His GP referred him to Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) and he had his tonsil removed. Unfortunately, the biopsy result showed a tumour.
“I’d always been very fit and healthy. I never needed to go to the GP about anything. So to be told I had cancer was quite a shock,” said Craig. “Even though the tumour had been removed with the tonsil, they were very belt and braces with their approach. Radiotherapy is one of the key weapons in the army to treat cancer, and they wanted to make sure that there wasn’t any microscopic spread.
“I saw the Oncologist the same day that I had the diagnosis and almost immediately began a six-week intensive course of radiotherapy. I had a plan printed out of every single one of my appointments, with five days of treatments per week. I had a mask made to keep me completely still for the treatment, as it’s really important that you are in exactly the same position each time you have it. That way the machine targets the treatment to the exact location it needs to, and it makes sure it doesn’t deliver any unnecessary doses to areas you don’t need it to.
“At first I didn’t really notice any side effects, but after a couple of weeks it felt like my throat was burning and I had issues with my salivary glands, which made my mouth really dry and destroyed my taste buds. The only thing I could actually taste during Christmas dinner was the sprouts! It was so very bizarre. So because of this, it was very easy for me to not bother to eat, and I did lose quite a bit of weight.
“I feel so very fortunate however as I’ve recovered and mostly returned to normal since the treatment. I do get little reminders occasionally when my throat starts to contract, but it’s so much better than it could have been. Overall, the ENT team were fantastic, and my radiotherapy treatment has proven effective so far at keeping the cancer at bay.”
Nikki Blacker, Lead Dosimetrist at UHP, said: “It was lovely to welcome Craig back to the Plymouth Oncology Centre, to mark ten years since he completed his treatment. We’ve kept in touch over the years, and I’m glad that Craig is doing so well.”
Next week the Plymouth Oncology Centre will officially open an £18.5 million extension, which includes a new decant bunker housing a state-of-the-art linear accelerator (LINAC) to deliver external radiotherapy, as well as a dedicated High Dose Rate (HDR) Brachytherapy facility, to deliver internal radiotherapy.
Craig adds: “I understand the new technology in the extension is going to make treatment times shorter and more efficient, which will ultimately be of benefit to everyone. These may seem like small developments at the time, but from the patient point of view, they will make things much better. I’m not an expert but if the new machine can make treatment even more accurate too, and reduce the peripheral damage to healthy tissue, that can only be a good thing. It’s brilliant that there’s these sorts of things that will improve people’s experience of cancer.”
