SPIROS KOTSIALOS

I’m writing this update mid-flight on my way to Greece, heading into a month of rest and time with family after a tense few weeks of health updates.

I was hoping for clear answers on 25 June, when I received the results of both my biopsy and PET scan. The biopsy brought the best possible news:...

June marked my 49th birthday—one I felt deeply grateful to celebrate. True to form, the path wasn’t exactly smooth. I spent the day recovering from an unexpected surgery the day before, but in spite of it all, I was still glad to be here and was able to make the most of it.

Although I’d...

Its been a while since I have posted, no reason in particular just that I have not been as disciplined as I let life catch-up with me and have been a bit busy. I am more sorry to myself about that than anything as life has got busy and my goal is to stop that...

February was a relatively straightforward month health-wise. After undergoing immunotherapy and colitis treatment on January 30th, I recovered reasonably well, though I had to manage some stomach cramps, reflux, and lingering lethargy.

On February 20th, I had another round of immunotherapy—this time without the colitis treatment. The recovery process was much quicker; however, the colitis...

January was a rollercoaster of highs and lows. It began on a high note with fantastic New Year celebrations in New Zealand, but things took a downturn as the month progressed. After struggling significantly following my treatment on the 9th, I found myself battling COVID-19. This led to a rough period, including a...

December was really a month of trying to focus on the glass half full as opposed to half empty 🙂

Obviously, being diagnosed with cancer again, having an operation that took a bit more to recover from than I expected, and then both immunotherapy and colitis infusions, it was all a bit to process.

The overwhelming...

Putting together my treatment plan involved the coordination of my ENT surgeon, Oncologist, IBS doctors, and the St Vincent’s Ambulatory care team. It’s a powerful reminder of how incredibly fortunate I am to have such an amazing team supporting me in my challenge with cancer. Their expertise and the way they work as...

Apart from the Colitis I have been feeling well, but things started to feel a bit weird mid month. On 20 November I spat up some blood which caused me concern and then on 26 November my surgeon confirmed there was something unusual.

As a result of this my PET...

Not much to report. Colitis has continued to be an issue with a few scans, tests, and infusions. As I write this, it is under control. I am still on 12mg of steroids a day and remain off immunotherapy. On the positive front, I had a successful check-up with my surgeon and have generally...