In the photos, the inverted L incision with the staples visible, as well as photos in hospital and after discharge.

Miracles, healing

**Hullo Readers, this is a slightly modified post which I recently shared on my Facebook regarding my treatment. My apologies for not sharing anything lately on the blog for reasons beyond my control but the account below pretty much gives an update of what has been going on. I felt it was important to share it on the blog as I look forward to start writing regularly.

Thank you
Edmund

For sometime now, I have not posted an update about my treatment for a number of reasons - first there were alot of changes in the treatment plan, some of which were not only surprising but miraculous so to speak. Then came the surgery itself and the time required to heal, all of which didn't give me time to post something. As you might have been aware, previously I had travelled to India to seek treatment for the fast advancing liver cancer. 

It was then agreed by the team of Doctors at the time that the best treatment for me would be a liver transplant, given the state of my liver then (October & November 2015). Since I required a living donor, I travelled back home December 2015 and the process to identify a donor began. It was a rigorous process but as you might have followed, eventually my Sister Doreen was picked as my match. 

In January 2016, along with my wife Linda, we headed back to Bangalore to begin on the process that would lead to the transplant. In India, we embarked on dozens of other tests as well as the legal processes that one has to go through before a transplant is granted. We appeared before the government committee and answered all questions and got the clearance. The date for the procedure was already set. 

Basically what was remaining was the surgery. But as it was, there was a team of two senior doctors who work with the same hospital but in Chennai who would come to Bangalore to lead the surgery. So we met one of them, Dr Sanjay Govil, a very amiable man, who went ahead to ask me for the new scans i had done since I arrived. After looking at them thoroughly, he began asking questions, to me & the resident doctors. 

As we fumbled with answers, he quickly interrupted and said "from what I see, there is no reason to transplant this liver. It looks good, it appears you had good response to previous treatment which was done in October and November". We were in shock, my sister and wife looked at me in confusion. The resident Dr's similarly looked on in awe, having prepared us for the transplant all this time. 

Dr Sanjay apologised and informed us that it could have been an oversight (or it might have not been) on the side of the previous team to decide on transplantation, but it could also be that my liver has since improved and transplanting it was no longer viable but instead a resection would deliver the best results. 

He also went on to explain the advantages & disadvantages of both and indeed a liver resection seemed more plausible. However to be sure of the resectability of my liver, he ordered new scans to specifically check the volumes of the liver in terms of what would be cut off given the size of the cancerous tumour and what would remain. 

The scan indeed showed that I would remain with sufficient liver but just to be sure, a procedure called Portal vein embolisation was done to grow the normal part of the liver - the left lobe, and the same time shrink the right lobe which would be removed. At this point it was concluded that there will be no transplant. Doreen had survived the knife, which until this time, she had gracefully waited for. 

Like Isaac, she literally reached the sacrificial table and God intervened on the last minute. I will write a separate post about her. Fast foward, on the morning of March 4, I was wheeled into the theatre for resection. It's equally a major surgery. I would lose about 65 percent of my entire liver. 8 and a half hours later, I was wheeled out of the theatre to the ICU. 

Everything had gone well, as I peacefully slept. The deadly tumour, at 12.6cm, the size of a big mango, was removed. As Dr Sanjay would tell my wife Linda and my Sister Doreen, my liver looked even better on the inside. 7 days later I was discharged, On March 17, the stitches were removed and on March 18 the drain tube was also taken out. 

I am undergoing what the Doctors describe as an "excellent recovery". We will forever be thankful to the Government of Rwanda and everyone else that has supported us thus far. Our employers and respective families have been forever supportive. 

Our thanks to all the Doctors at BGS Global Hospital led by Dr Sanjay, Dr Suresh, Dr Raghavendra and Dr Uthappa to mention but a few. To be honest it was a coordination between different teams. Our sincere thanks also go to the previous team led by Dr Sonal Asthana. We will forever be grateful to all of you,

Our thanks to the nurses who ensured regular care on a daily basis. We would also like to extend our thanks to the Dr's back home at King Faisal Hospital-including Dr Pacific Mugenzi, Dr Emmanuel Rudakemwa and Dr Etienne Amendezo as well as senior doctors who sit on the Medical Referral Board. Our thanks to Dr Segni Mekonnen who was the first to spot the tumour.

Above all, God has manifested Himself throughout this process. At this rate, in a matter of days we will be back home with Leona and Laura. The fight remains on with a number of follow ups needed but all in all we thank God the Almighty

Back to blogging

Me, my Sister & Donor Doreen (Middle) and my Wife Linda at Kigali International Airport on Monday, January 18,2016 on our way to Bangalore, India. https://www.facebook.com/edmund.kagire

So here I'am, once again attempting my life on blogging but only this time, I promise to be more consistent, simple and straight to the point.

Well, the reason I have set up this blog is not only to chronicle my journey fighting cancer but also to share my story with you out there, and perhaps try to demystify the whole 'fear' around the deadly disease cancer is. Today it is me, tomorrow it could be you or a loved one. 

Through this blog I hope to encourage other people out there facing the same fate and also 'push' myself to pull through this tough period.

The decision to start this blog has been a tough one. See, I had promised myself to detail every step of this journey in what would later metamorphose into a book.  But along the way, I, after a few pages on the computer and several scribbled papers, gave up on the whole project.

"What if I don't make it through?" the dreaded question that always haunted me every time I tried to add a paragraph or two. The same question led to many more questions. "Do I even need to write my story? Or should I cross the bridge when I get there? Is anyone interested in my story anyway?". These and many more questions popped up in my head.

In the course of pondering if I should carry on with the writing or not, I underwent two procedures medically known as TACE-Trans Arterial Chemo-embolisation, that was in October and November 2015. The operations left me in too much pain and I was totally disenchanted. There was nothing to life.

I temporarily dropped the project. I could not sit on the computer and later on be able to tell what I was going through at the time. The pain was excruciating, my appetite was terribly low and my weight was spiraling at a rate I could not comprehend. As the tumour on the liver underwent Necrosis, the pain became much more unbearable.

There was no need to write down anything, later on feel the courage to do anything-you know that bad feeling that chemotherapy gives you. You probably don't have the guts to do anything. All you want is that feeling to go away, regain your appetite and be able to lead a normal life, which at the moment feels like a dream.

To cut the whole story short, I could not carry on then with writing. Even as I tried to recompose my now seemingly miserable life, the news of the transplant came in and I needed to get a donor as soon as possible. 

It also meant that I temporarily return home to begin the donor identification process. Basically things were moving at a pace that did not allow me to put pen to paper. I was kind of overwhelmed.

A lot happened in between-we returned home in December, reunited with Leona & Laura, enjoyed the festive season with our families and I started the donor process. Suddenly life was coming back to normal and the earlier procedures had effectively controlled the tumour and the cancer.

My sisters, Doreen, Fiona, Phyllis Enid and baby cousin sister Pamela turned up for the screening process. Amazing! Even the Doctors told me. I was not going to die soon with all these people willing to give me part of their livers. As it was, Doreen (See pic above) was singled out to be the one to save my life.

In no time we pursued the documents, got all of them and got the blessings from family. On Monday, January 18, 2016, we set off for Bangalore, India to begin the process that will lead up to the life saving liver transplantation. My sister Doreen will part with one third of her liver which will be given to me (mine will be removed) and my wife Linda is here to take care of the two of us.

Its from here that I hope to be telling the story as it unfolds if God permits. Every day, or two, or a week, I will be able to sit on the computer to write something. Some posts are likely to be ridiculous or completely empty but I promise you everything will be nothing but the experience in this long journey to beat liver cancer. Some pictures will be shared too.

By setting up this blog, I am more than convinced that this journey will be a successful one. I am absolutely convinced that this disease will be defeated--I have seen the signs. There is no turning back. Through this blog, me and you will be able to share the experiences and from here we will build a network and synergies to conquer cancer in our country, region and eventually our world.

So, from this day on, I will be sharing with you, with the hope that you will read and share as much as you can. With my little tech knowledge, I will try to link the blog to my Twitter and Facebook so that it can have a wider reach. You can also be sharing using your own social media accounts.

I welcome your ideas and advice on how best we can do this. Together we can defeat cancer.

Regards from Bangalore

Edmund
@kagire