I haven't written about this before, because it's not myeloma related. But maybe it is, in a rather indirect way. Read on...
Back in September 2025 or thereabouts, I developed a chesty cough. My wife thinks it came after a mild cold. It didn't go away. Towards the end of 2025 I reported it to the chemo nurses,they summoned a doctor from Haematology. He had a listen and ordered a chest X-Ray and some blood tests. As far as I know those all came back clear and normal. But the cough didn't go away.
Into the New Year and it still didn't go away. So I reported it to my GP. His first move was to recommend a steroid nasal spray (Beconase). That cost me £14 and did absolutely nothing. Next move was antibiotics (Doxycycline) which had the same result. No effect at all. So now I've told him my smoking history (clean for a bit more than thirty years now) and also mentioned that my sister has a persistent cough and is diagnosed with sarcoidosis. This, like myeloma (there you are!) isn't directly inherited but there is a genetic predisposition towards developing it and it does tend to appear in family clusters. So now (today) he's ordered another chest X-Ray ("it is quite a while since the last one") and if that comes up with nothing (which I suppose means no sign of developing lung cancer) he will move on to a CT scan looking for evidence of sarcoidosis. Well, from the smoking / lung cancer side, I suppose there may be a price to pay for all the pleasure I got from it. I hope not, but...
Anyway NHS admin excelled itself this time. Dr. Singh said I would be getting a letter about an X-Ray appointment. But just an hour later a text arrived with a link to a choice of three hospitals, all offering appointments within a week or so. He said it would be an "urgent" request, but we know what that usually means. I've booked a slot in Braintree on the 22nd, a week today. All credit to the NHS for once. Now we'll see how long the results take to come through...
And of course the cough still hasn't gone away.
