Heres a wee bit of advice for any of you guys who suffer a bit of pain here and there but just dismiss it as “getting old”.
About 18 months ago I started getting a bit of pain in my back and left hip, over the next year it developed a bit into numbness in the calf and foot but I ignored it and put it down to a bit of sciatica and growing old also the fact I drive a scania not helping either. So just after Christmas this year after a noticeable increase in pain I finally decided to get checked out.
After a few doctors appointments I finally got an MRI last week and thats where things started to go wrong, I should have known it wasn’t a good sign when at 9 o’clock the morning after the scan the hospital were on the phone wanting me back straight away for more tests and now after a meeting with the consultant the news aint great.
I have a tumor in my spinal canal which has now started to impact on the nerves and cord and that is where the pain and numbness is coming from,it’s a big bugger stretching down over about 3 discs and at the moment they cannot tell what kind of tumor it is or whither it is attached to the spinal cord but either way the consultant does not believe that he will be able to remove it.
Now as if that isn’t bad enough he then delivers another kick to the balls when he say’s that this is a DVLA notifiable condition and as my spinal canal is badly compromised he believes I am no longer fit to drive so in his opinion I must stop driving right away. He did say that after DVLA assess the situation I might retain my ordinary licence but he thinks I will struggle to keep my HGV.
So any advice dealing with the DVLA would be appreciated. 
Fortunately I work for a small family firm who have been fantastic and whatever happens I will have a job although god knows how i’m going to get on driving a desk but at least I can spend my time concentrating on fighting this thing growing in me rather than worrying about paying the bills.
So there you have it, I don’t know if the outlook would have been better if I had gone to the doctors earlier and I’ll never know now but if telling this wee story can prompt one of you guys into getting something that’s been bothering you checked out then great that was the aim.
My mate had a tumour growing in the back of his head, needed major surgery to sort it out. He got his regular car license back in 6 months provided he had no blackouts. It is do-able, good luck friend!
That’s ■■■■ news.
All the best for the future
Mate that ■■■■■. I wish you a speedy recovery and the strength to fight this affliction. Good luck.
the maoster:
Mate that ■■■■■. I wish you a speedy recovery and the strength to fight this affliction. Good luck.
+1. Kick it’s arse mate.
Jesus ■■■■ mate that ■■■■■■■ ■■■■■. kick it’s arse mate and hurry back, best of luck.
eagerbeaver:
the maoster:
Mate that ■■■■■. I wish you a speedy recovery and the strength to fight this affliction. Good luck.+1. Kick it’s arse mate.
+2
Stay positive ,It might be benign .fingers crossed its treatable &best of luck fella
Try to keep positive. My brother in law had a tumour on his spine, it got to the point where he could hardly walk and would lose control of his legs before they removed it. He was only in his early 20’s at the time and within 6 months went from being very fit as he used to do MMA training 4 nights a week to being a virtual ■■■■■■■. They did remove the tumour successfully though and he is now fine and has since taken and passed his class 1 & 2 tests. So it is possible you will be back in the driving seat again.
Wishing you all the best, hope things work out for you.
■■■■ sake alfa man. Thats a bit of a kicking. I never really know what to say to people with things like this. Just concentrate on beating the tumor first and foremost. You’ve got a company that’s going to stick by you by the sounds of it so that’s one weight off your mind. 100% agree about getting something checked right away. Better finding out its nothing than leaving it to develop. I went to the opticians as soon as I felt something wrong with my eye. Found out I had a detached retina as you know. But I got it dealt with before it was too late.
Hope all goes well for you mate. Just worry about your recovery first then worry about the DVLA.
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Men are notorious for not seeing a doctor enough throughout their life.
I recently went to get my hearing tested for tinnitus, only for them to send me for an MRI to check the minute bones in my ears. The bones where fine but they discovered signs of cerebral eschemia, which is the furring up of the blood vessels in my brain, similar to what happens to your heart, which causes heart attacks. But in this case could cause a stroke, dementia and a couple of other things inc death. Along with the MRI they did blood tests and discovered I’m anaemic, the cause of that was an ulcer (healed) but that was only discovered because they shoved a camera in me from both directions 
when they did that they discovered I have divicular disease which is very common in western society due to diet, and probably more so in truck drivers due to high fat, and protein diets (fry ups)
Stay healthy, leave the belly buster breakfasts alone and go see your Doctor more often
Thanks for all the good wishes guy’s
It certainly came as a shock, I was expecting a bulging disc or a bit of arthritis not a bloody tumor, but if I’m honest and it might seem a bit strange, I was more upset about not being able to drive.
I got my licence 2 weeks after my 17th birthday going on 35 years ago so to be told with no warning at all to stop Driving, completely messed up my head.
Going back into hospital next week so hopefully the docs will have some sort of plan of attack and hopefully with a bit of luck be able to give me a bit of good news.
That’s ■■■■. Hope all works out for you. Best wishes.
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You’re a strong man Alfa, you’ll kick the stuffing out of it. Take it one piece at a time, it’ll drop into place. You’re in one of the best countries in the world for it. They’ll sort you out, they know what they’re doing those boys and there’s more than one way to skin a cat. It’ll be a road to go down, but they’ll get get you sorted. All on here with you in thought chief.
alll the best m8 gd luck
Man that is a nasty story.
In 2005 I had a similar series of events back pain, wobbly legs, stumbling. I was back and forth to my GP, chiropractor, eventually going sick and less than 2 weeks later woke in the night and couldn’t move my legs at all. I was blue lighted into hospital and later that day was assessed and started a programme of radiotherapy to shrink a tumour that had compressed my spinal cord at T3-6 (that’s thoracic vertebrae 3 to 6).
I was able to start using crutches to walk after 5 days though that was very unstable and spent another 2 weeks in hospital having more radio therapy. After discharge home I had to have some extra supports put in my home and had a series of chemotherapy treatments as well as a stem cell harvest and transplant back into my body after a very heavy duty chemo regime.
I had to tell the DVLA and they suspended my vocational entitlement while I underwent treatment. I did however get back to work just shy of 2 years later. I was on annual medicals for a while but have now reverted to 5 yearly. I didn’t have surgery to remove the tumour though did to facilitate the treatment of some of the complications that came my way.
I wouldn’t dream of telling you how your case will proceed but offer mine only to show that it is possible to retain a vocational license. You will have some challenges ahead and I hope you get the same sort of outcome that I have had.
Good luck to you and all your family.
Best of luck…
Not much to add. You may be entitled to PIP (DLA replacement) and also if you’re still working and you get tax credits, the disability component of that regardless of whether a PIP claim is successful as your condition puts you at a massive disadvantage to getting a job and how much you can work.
So sorry to hear your news. Im glad that you work for that miracle of miracles, a decent firm. I hope your health issues get properly resolved.
Good luck Alfa man hope all works out for you.