Goatee Phil's Beer Blog

 Another day, another scan, another beer Outside the Royal Sussex Hospital My last blog entry was many months ago, and it was written not long after I had been diagnosed with cancer. At that time I had no idea how treatment would affect my ability, or inclination, to drink beer but it seemed highly likely that there would be an impact. Little did I know how quickly that would happen, and also why. Alcohol is liable to interfere with the effects of many medications, but it wasn’t that that stopped me drinking. Once I began treatment, I just didn’t fancy beer, or anything at all, food included. That loss of appetite was the worst side effect of the drug that was prescribed for me – Osimertinib, if you want to look it up. Paradoxically, the other major side effects eventually worked in my favour. After two months of the drug, I suddenly noticed a significant increase in breathlessness, and I reported it to my GP. Twenty four hours later, a chest X-ray and MRI scan revealed an inflammati