We lost Hannah last night.......a beautiful,vivacious, intelligent, elegant young woman. Someone who had her struggles in life without the addition of a bowel cancer diagnosis.
I can't actually pin point the day that I first met her, it feels like I have always known her....she was kind and caring even in the midst of her own turmoil she would think of others. I found out tonight that whilst I was in hospital as she became sicker she asked after me, I shed some tears after that news, they have been pouring on and off all day, poor Zak my youngest keeps double taking me and wondering whats up? I only wish that I had had the time to talk to her again but by the time I left hospital she had become very poorly. Oh I did explain to Zak, he said it was very sad especially as he met her last year when we went to cheer Dafydd on when he carried the Olympic torch, he said she was really nice.
I will treasure a handwritten card (she had beautiful handwriting) that she sent me to say thankyou for a card and gift I had sent her, so thoughtful, so lovely.
I will remember your laughter, your fantastic smile your friendship....I am thankful that you found love before leaving, mark was there to the end, not quite two years but he was there when she needed him in her corner and isn't it better to have the experience of true love than never to have had it at all? I hope that gives him solace in the hard times ahead.
Hannah was only 30, all her life ahead of her and snatched away by a disease that if caught early can be cured........this isn't just about old people, the bowel cancer community are fuming this needs to be resolved so that no more parents have to lose their child and everyone gets to live the life that they were destined for.
Sunday, 28 April 2013
Thursday, 25 April 2013
Back to the room with a view
Around The middle of March I suddenly felt unwell. Something like a bug I thought, temperature, lethargy lack of appetite.......so just ride it through and take pain killers. So I rode for a week and another by this time I wasn't even getting out of bed, the boys were bringing me glasses of milk which was the only thing I fancied and copious amounts of orange squash as I felt so thirsty.
By week three I had enough and called the enhanced recovery nurse I was in contact with through the surgery I had at tommies in Jan. She spoke with my surgeon who suggested I turn up at his clinic at guys the following day.
Wednesday 3rd April and I haul myself out of bed, manage to find something to wear leggings and a sloppy jumper easy......wash my hair..hard and dry it.....harder. I realise I won't make the walk to the station so drive the car down, park it precariously on a double yellow and stick my disabled badge in the window hoping for a sympathetic traffic warden. Just as I am about to get out the phone rings, it's Stuart from beating bowel cancer asking if I can do an interview with sky later that day as the is piece running on he cancer drugs fund......I wish I had the energy and time but had to decline. This was to be the last time I used my lovely expensive phone, somehow I managed to lose it on the way to the hospital, I wasnt with it to be fair but it couldn't have gone at a most in opportune time as once Mr George w and examined me he decided I should be admitted.
The ward is in St Thomas's so they got me a cab and I managed to negotiate the interminable lift to get to the ward.
On arrival I met Sarah a lovely nurse who only just started working there a couple of days after I had my op in Jan, like meeting an old friend.
Again I ended up in the worst bed on the ward near the entrance in the far corner, luckily a couple of days later the bed with the view became vacant and they swopped me over to the view of the London, the Thames and Westminster bridge.
Oh dear somehow I have just lost the rest of the blog I just wrote, not in the mood to try again so I will cut to the chase......
A CT scan and MRI indicated a mass around my bladder, this was impeding the left ureter and
caused it to become restricted in turn causing the left kidney to swell. Urology were sent to look at it and discussed stents and drains into the kidney. The hope also being that whatever the mass was when removed would resolve the problem.
I ended up having another smaller op under GA where they discovered that the mass was a large abscess, no wonder I felt so bad....this was cleared and biopsies taken of other tissues which turned out to be a return of the tumour....this is quick in the scheme of things ESP as to date my tumours have meandered along slowly. It doesn't happen too often apparently but in my case it has.
There isn't anything left in the way of surgery really but my consultant pondered on whether brachiatherapy might be an option. Planting radio active seeds straight into the tumour....the MDT discuss me on Monday so I shall have to wait till then to see what they think.
Can't say it isn't a pain that I am back to square one with less options, but I don't feel it's over yet, chemo is still available though at this moment I am not up for it I just want a bit of time feeling normal again, I am still fighting with energy levels. I am not wailing or bemoaning, what's the point?
sooner I got my paracetamol the better I would feel. At handover at 8pm I told the nurses that I was
starting to feel rough and they assured me I would get my tablets once they had finished. I waited and waited, the night nurse I hadn't met before Janis, I watched her come and go until after two hours she sat by the opposite bed on her phone chatting to her family...when she finished I asked for my drugs. When she came to give them to me I asked if I could have a word, I said I asked for my mess at 8pm if I get them quickly I feel better but you left me for two hours feeling ill, and then you sat talking on your phone it made me feel neglected. She apologised and after that always looked after me if she was on the ward, we ended up getting on very well, I have promised a delivery of cakes for everyone once I feel up to it.
My new neighbour in the bed opposite was 75 year old Joan a proper south London gran and great gran. Quite a character and had been in the hospital since February being 'fattened' up for her surgery to repair a fistula. She had the surgery whilst I was there on April 15th, she was so fearful she wouldn't come back but it seemed to go ok. We had some good chats and had a similar perspective on things but she would f and blind which I found funny although her daughters whenever they visited would be saying mum stop it it's embarrassing. I do hope she gets home soon, I gave her my number so I hope she does let me know how she gets on.
I continued feeling rough, no pain just incredibly ill...... I was pleased I got sorted via the clinic I couldn't imagine walking into Lewisham hospital and telling them in A&E I felt ill and being looked after.
The morning after I arrived my blood results were in and my infection markers were hitting the roof indicating that I had some big infection somewhere. A few days later after a CT scan and MRI which showed a mass of some sort around the bladder which seemed to be constricting my left ureter causing my left kidney to swell I had an op under GA.
It turned out I had a large abscess this was the mass they had seen around the kidney, they cleared it and took biopsies of what they found in the pelvis.
I immediately started to feel better and my temperatures stopped I also had huge amounts of antibiotics. The histology results confirmed that the mets have returned to my pelvis which is a bit of a bugger, especially as they have appeared so quickly. Mr George wonders if brachiotherapy might be an option on the tumour where radioactive seeds are placed directly in the tumour, there is also
chemo too. Ironically my lungs are still not affecting me which was always my onco's major concern.
How do I feel about this news? Well I guess it's just more of the same, I don't feel too bad just lacking in energy but doing more than I was. I don't think having cancer will really get to me until I am suffering
By week three I had enough and called the enhanced recovery nurse I was in contact with through the surgery I had at tommies in Jan. She spoke with my surgeon who suggested I turn up at his clinic at guys the following day.
Wednesday 3rd April and I haul myself out of bed, manage to find something to wear leggings and a sloppy jumper easy......wash my hair..hard and dry it.....harder. I realise I won't make the walk to the station so drive the car down, park it precariously on a double yellow and stick my disabled badge in the window hoping for a sympathetic traffic warden. Just as I am about to get out the phone rings, it's Stuart from beating bowel cancer asking if I can do an interview with sky later that day as the is piece running on he cancer drugs fund......I wish I had the energy and time but had to decline. This was to be the last time I used my lovely expensive phone, somehow I managed to lose it on the way to the hospital, I wasnt with it to be fair but it couldn't have gone at a most in opportune time as once Mr George w and examined me he decided I should be admitted.
The ward is in St Thomas's so they got me a cab and I managed to negotiate the interminable lift to get to the ward.
On arrival I met Sarah a lovely nurse who only just started working there a couple of days after I had my op in Jan, like meeting an old friend.
Again I ended up in the worst bed on the ward near the entrance in the far corner, luckily a couple of days later the bed with the view became vacant and they swopped me over to the view of the London, the Thames and Westminster bridge.
Oh dear somehow I have just lost the rest of the blog I just wrote, not in the mood to try again so I will cut to the chase......
A CT scan and MRI indicated a mass around my bladder, this was impeding the left ureter and
caused it to become restricted in turn causing the left kidney to swell. Urology were sent to look at it and discussed stents and drains into the kidney. The hope also being that whatever the mass was when removed would resolve the problem.
I ended up having another smaller op under GA where they discovered that the mass was a large abscess, no wonder I felt so bad....this was cleared and biopsies taken of other tissues which turned out to be a return of the tumour....this is quick in the scheme of things ESP as to date my tumours have meandered along slowly. It doesn't happen too often apparently but in my case it has.
There isn't anything left in the way of surgery really but my consultant pondered on whether brachiatherapy might be an option. Planting radio active seeds straight into the tumour....the MDT discuss me on Monday so I shall have to wait till then to see what they think.
Can't say it isn't a pain that I am back to square one with less options, but I don't feel it's over yet, chemo is still available though at this moment I am not up for it I just want a bit of time feeling normal again, I am still fighting with energy levels. I am not wailing or bemoaning, what's the point?
sooner I got my paracetamol the better I would feel. At handover at 8pm I told the nurses that I was
starting to feel rough and they assured me I would get my tablets once they had finished. I waited and waited, the night nurse I hadn't met before Janis, I watched her come and go until after two hours she sat by the opposite bed on her phone chatting to her family...when she finished I asked for my drugs. When she came to give them to me I asked if I could have a word, I said I asked for my mess at 8pm if I get them quickly I feel better but you left me for two hours feeling ill, and then you sat talking on your phone it made me feel neglected. She apologised and after that always looked after me if she was on the ward, we ended up getting on very well, I have promised a delivery of cakes for everyone once I feel up to it.
My new neighbour in the bed opposite was 75 year old Joan a proper south London gran and great gran. Quite a character and had been in the hospital since February being 'fattened' up for her surgery to repair a fistula. She had the surgery whilst I was there on April 15th, she was so fearful she wouldn't come back but it seemed to go ok. We had some good chats and had a similar perspective on things but she would f and blind which I found funny although her daughters whenever they visited would be saying mum stop it it's embarrassing. I do hope she gets home soon, I gave her my number so I hope she does let me know how she gets on.
I continued feeling rough, no pain just incredibly ill...... I was pleased I got sorted via the clinic I couldn't imagine walking into Lewisham hospital and telling them in A&E I felt ill and being looked after.
The morning after I arrived my blood results were in and my infection markers were hitting the roof indicating that I had some big infection somewhere. A few days later after a CT scan and MRI which showed a mass of some sort around the bladder which seemed to be constricting my left ureter causing my left kidney to swell I had an op under GA.
It turned out I had a large abscess this was the mass they had seen around the kidney, they cleared it and took biopsies of what they found in the pelvis.
I immediately started to feel better and my temperatures stopped I also had huge amounts of antibiotics. The histology results confirmed that the mets have returned to my pelvis which is a bit of a bugger, especially as they have appeared so quickly. Mr George wonders if brachiotherapy might be an option on the tumour where radioactive seeds are placed directly in the tumour, there is also
chemo too. Ironically my lungs are still not affecting me which was always my onco's major concern.
How do I feel about this news? Well I guess it's just more of the same, I don't feel too bad just lacking in energy but doing more than I was. I don't think having cancer will really get to me until I am suffering
Saturday, 9 March 2013
Alison
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| Alison with Floella Benjamin in January 2013 after delivering her speech to the parliamentary reception. |
The trouble with getting involved with bowel cancer charities after diagnosis is that through these links we get to make friends often with people who have bowel cancer too at stage four. Mainly through the time I have spent on the beating bowel cancer forum I got to know Alison. We hit the forum right at the start and with out northern friend suze started to post to get it up and running. Alison was always good at advising newly diagnosed people, she showed her understanding of the turmoil that they must have been going through but tempered that with solid advice and lengthy responses to help reassure people but point them in the right direction to make sure that my symptoms were checked out.
I used to read her responses in awe of their depth, but followed her lead and did my best to emulate her responses when I came across someone new.
I also used to look forward to seeing her posts being placed, often we would just have some banter and as the forum grew and we had more regular posters it would be about catching up with each other and finding out how our days had gone.
Alison also used facebook and twitter and anyone who was involved with beating bowel cancer would be a friend. She was also tireless in her quest to ensure that bowel cancer shouldn't be the killer that it is through her work with beating bowel cancer in promoting awareness. Her final speech would be at the parliamentary reception at the Houses of Parliament in January, I was only a couple of weeks post op but so glad that I made the effort to be there as it would be the last time I would see her.
Her speech captured the audience as she talked bout her experience of care under the NHS and afterwards she came out for a drink. We hugged a goodbye, she was tired and limited to a wheelchair to get about more easily but her strength of character did not dwindle.
Who would know that only two months later this vibrant , ballsy, stoic woman would be gone.
The bowel cancer community miss her desperately, I miss her friendship and her care and our mutual understanding being in the same position.
This is my blog and with that in mind I have to touch on the fact that Alison's death has led me to contemplate my own mortality, she left us so quickly in the end, she was diagnosed after me and has gone before. I am so lucky to still be here and still well, but it gives me a sudden urgency to sort out my affairs, get that will signed, sort out the clutter, make sure things re in place for the boys. When will my time come? .......I can only hope that I leave even a tenth of the love behind me that Alison has, her just giving page is sailing towards two thousand pounds raised, the outpouring of love and messages from friends and acquaintances must be such a comfort to her family.
Rest easy Alison you did the best you could and now it's time for you to out your feet up and keep an eye on everyone from your new vantage point.....much love x x
Tuesday, 12 February 2013
Luxor hospitals private wing.
I have looked back over my posts and I can't see where I have written about my diagnosis......the discovery that I had bowel cancer, if I have then maybe it isn't such a bad thing to publish it twice for those who just happen upon my blog and don't know about bowel cancer.
The background to my diagnosis must be the fact that I suffered from IBS since I was a child. If I hadn't then I think I would have been more aware of changes in bowel habit, but I didn't even think twice about it.
I did have griping colicky pains and a sudden urge to use the loo on frequent occasions but I did nothing until I found myself awake through the night with terrible gut ache, so bad I phoned in sick and went to the gp. By then the pain had gone he checked my abdomen and decided it was a urine infection. I was quite happy to leave and forget about it.
A couple of weeks later I set off with the boys for a holiday in Luxor Egypt. We arrived in Gatwick with some time to spare and Adam said that he wanted to buy a wrestling magazine from wh smiths for the flight, I told him to be quick and meet us there. Joe got what he wanted and then Zak and then the most awful thing I heard our flight being announced as ready to go.....no Adam, joe ran around wh smith but he was no where to be found....then they called out for the family elkamouri really panicking now I went to information to get them to pita call out for him when suddenly I saw him meandering towards us from the other side of the airport, not being able to find his mag he went to the others shop.
We ran and we ran as they announced over the tannoy that our luggage was about to be removed if we didn't arrive at the departure lounge soon, the boys were way ahead of me jumping onto the next moving walkway, I was flagging finding it hard to keep up I just kept running and running when suddenly joe appeared behind me shouting this way !!!! Ii had run right past the departure gate.
We quickly went through with our tickets and passports only to arrive on the Tarmac faced with a bus full of passengers waiting for us..... We hadn't been on the bus more than two minutes before I announced to all that it was Adams fault, I couldn't deal with the shame.
We had a good flight and on arrival at the airport we got a cab to the hotel ibis. I made an arrangement with the cab driver to pick us up the following day with a guide to go and see the valley of the kings and queens and Hatshepsut temple.
The receptionist at the hotel was very nice and gave us a lovely room with a view over the Nile it was stunning. We unpacked and the boys changed and went down to the pool later we had a buffet meal, I only booked half board so we got breakfast and an evening meal and paid for our drinks, as I wasn't fussed about drinking this was a cheaper option.
The following morning the cab arrived to take us sight seeing. It was soooo hot baking, only a few tombs are open at any one time and out guide took us first into a small one and then to a couple of larger tombs, we weren't allowed to talk in the tombs but it was enough to see the ancient hieroglyphics. We had our picture taken next to. Tutankhamen s tomb which you can see somewhere else in the blog.
We saw the temple which was astonishing, it had been renovated over forty years back to its original splendour and was just amazing. Whilst we were there the most famous Egyptian historian was filming next to us, whenever you see anything on the news about Egypt he is there with his blue shirt and wide brimmed hat.
We spent the afternoon by the pool after I arranged with the cab to come back on wed morning to take us to the Karnak temple, then in the evening had something to eat.
Around 8pm I sat chatting to an English woman briefly in the reception area during which I started to feel a bit bloated. I headed back to the room and attempted to go to the loo to no avail. I felt really uncomfortable and just wanted to pass wind at least, but nothing.
The boys went to bed and I tried to settle but my stomach wasn't moving and now I was starting to have griping pains, these increased as the night went on and became more and more excruciating. I was desperate to pass a motion but however much I tried nothing would come, the pain came in waves rippling through my abdomen. I was curled up in bed, then on all fours, then sitting up, then lying down, then walking around, then back on all fours I had become a little bit out of control starting to moan and groan with the pain. As soon as it was morning I told Joe to phone the reception for a doctor.
A young Egyptian doctor came to see me, seif the receptionist came to the room too. The doctor gave me some tablets and said that if it wasn't better in an hour to call. It wasn't he came back tried to put a drip in put couldn't and then said you have to go to hospital.
Both he and seif went with me in a cab, the boys were in the pool by now and I didn't get a chance to tell them what was happening.
We arrived at the hospital and it was just a blur of people and me in the middle of it just in agony, I was vertically incoherent by now. No one gave me pain relief apparently it is policy. Seif and the doctor were talking to the hospital docs. I was taken to the private wing and had a room to myself, a basic room by uk standards but a haven for me none the less. The nurses were very sweet with their little English and my bit of Arabic we managed. They gave me an enema, my first ever! But i was beyond caring by now, put a drip in my arm and a tube down my nose into my stomach, a singular experience. I began to feel so much better and had a snooze.
I then was take to have an X-ray and also an ultrasound, the male nurse who carried this out did so whilst chatting me up!
I returned to my room and a while later the boys appeared!! They had gone back to the room at the hotel and found me gone! They went to reception and had been told I was at the hospital so they got a cab and here they were! It was good that by then I was virtually back to normal so they flopped out on the sofa in my room for a snooze. Later they got a cab back to the hotel after I made sure that they knew where my purse was in case they needed anything, as it was they had made friends with a few kids who got them drinks with their all inclusive bands and whose families took them under their wing.
I was never told by anyone at the hospital what the problem was just that I needed to sea doctor when I got home. The following day the boys arrived again but this time with the woman I had spoken to the night I was taken ill, she was still wet having jumped up when she saw the boys leaving not wanting them to travel alone again. It turned out that she lived in Lewisham too....small world the boys remained in contact with her children after the holiday.
By now I wanted to go one doctor wanted me to have a colonoscopy another said I had to stay, I became upset and the nurses indicated don't worry they would sort it, they talked to another more understanding doc and he let me go but said I had to come back on Friday the following day to have the colonoscopy.
I went back to the hotel and that night spent the night on my own in the hotel room whilst the boys went to sleepover with a friend in another part of the hotel!!
The next day I asked seif to go to the hospital with me, they had my passport and I needed to pay my bill to get it back, I withdrew 500 pounds in dollars from the cashpoints this was all I needed to pay. I got my passport and went to see the doctor in a busy clinic, he told me i didn't need to have the procedure just to seethe doc on return home, even though it was a colonoscopy I was going to have I made no link with bowel cancer, I didn't have any thought abut what it was I was just glad I felt better. I got a fit to fly certificate from the doc as advised by my insurance nurse and left.
I did not eat for the rest of the holiday or drink anything fizzy. I can't remember if I used the loo at all. That afternoon me and The boys went for a sail on the Nile on a felucca, the boys were not happy about this at first as they had things planned with other friends but it was a lovely thing to do peaceful and beautiful as the sun went down.
I booked a ride in a hot air balloon over the valley of the kings for the Sunday morning, we just spent the day around the pool on the Saturday. The boy who took the hot air balloon bookings chatted me up too and asked to remain in touch, he was quite tenacious. I sat with a couple of young British girls that evening on the terrace chatting and remarked on how full on the Egyptian men were.....they didn't know what I meant not having he my problem, I think I must have a look they like as I was constantly approached when I was outside the hotel, my limited Arabic does come in useful at times, imshi the most meaning go away!
We had to get up really early on this day morning and had them waiting for us already before we were all up, I got the boys to move as quick as they could and we landed bleary eyed in reception and were taken by minibus to the riverside picking up other travellers on the way.
we then got into boats with a covered area where breakfast was waiting for us, we sat with a middle aged couple from Australia and the wife's sister, they were very nice.
we arrived on the other side of the Nile and were taken to the launching site where there were at least ten or more balloons lying on their side with gas flares blowing them up. It was still dawn before the sunrise and they looked like huge lanterns, they gradually got bigger and bigger until they were all standing proud and we were told which baskets to get into and scrambled in.
I had never been in a hot air balloon before same as the boys an as i don't like heights i was a bit apprehensive about how this was going to go. One by one the balloons gently lifted off until there was a stream of them lighting up the sky, we rose higher and higher and i didn't mind at all it was lovely. Gradually the sun rose and we saw the pyramids basking in the glow, it was magical. We continued to travel and floated over other historical ruins, we ended up on the green side of the Nile and the pilot played with us as the date palms came towards us and it looked as though we were going to crash into the tops we would just skim them, you could have reached out and plucked yourself some dates. At one point passing over what looked like shells of houses i realised that it was the open roof of somebodies home and could make out the shape of two bodies under a cover fast asleep, right beneath us.
The flight lasted about an hour and we landed in the desert with children of eleven and twelve begging for money all around us they had been following the balloons on their last few meters.
We still got back to the hotel in time for breakfast and then spent the rest of the day again by the pool, the boys favourite pastime hooking up with all their new friends.
Our final day was Monday, i was sad to say goodbye to Seif as he had been so kind, he took my number and did keep in contact with me for a good few years by intermittently wishing me a happy new year or just asking how i was. this stopped about a year or so ago the number i had didn't work and then i lost it. I still have the same number but i doubt i will hear from him again.
In the morning Adam and Joe stayed by the pool and Zak and i went to the museum of mummification, where we saw mummies in various states and animals that had been mummified. Zak really enjoyed it and we got a horse and cart ride back to the hotel.
We flew that afternoon back to England and ended up in the same seats we had coming, i even had the same Asian couple sitting next to me.
About half an hour into the flight i started to feel queasy, just not right. I asked the flight attendant for some water as i had been avoiding fizz, but she bought me tonic as it is good for sickness. I started to feel very uncomfortable and ended up in the toilet to throw up which made me feel better for a while.
I noticed a spare chair right next to the door so moved into it leaving the boys a few rows behind. Whenever the loo was empty i would pop in.....heave and then return to my seat. I watched the clock ticking round a five hour flight, it was excruciating.... bearing in mind the fit to fly cert and the nurses warning about landing elsewhere if need be i kept going till i knew we were over the channel. I had already told the flight attendant that i had been in hospital, they said someone should have informed them but this hadn't happened.
Once i knew we would land in the UK i asked the flight attendant to get a paramedic on arrival, i had been sitting there working out if i could manage getting the luggage by now i was visibly shaking and just felt so bad just ill not in pain. I decided i couldn't, if the car had been parked at the airport i may well have found he strength to struggle on and drive home but as my friend Lu had it whilst we were away and was meeting us i just gave in.
The plane landed and then the captain announced that there was a sick passenger on board and would everyone mind remaining seated until the paramedics were on board.....i could see everyone looking around and felt like raising my hand in acknowledgement, yes for it is i holding you all up. In the end it wasn't too bad as i was at the back of the plane they let everyone in the front go. I told my tale to the ambulance man and he said that i needed to go to the hospital with him.
The ground crew took the boys passports from me and Lu's number who i had spoken to and told what was happening, she ended up having the boys for a week for me.
I walked off the plane into the ambulance and ended up at the east surrey and Sussex hospital. I was in a and e for a bit and Lu came there with the boys and my suitcase, we pulled some things out of it that i would need including my x ray! and then she left with the very tired boys.
I was taken onto a ward for the night, well actually a nice room to myself and after getting pain relief had the best sleep.
In the morning my room was suddenly filled with various nurses junior doctors, heads of department, registrars and my consultant. It was all a bit of a blur they had looked at my x ray luckily still having an old fashioned screen to use. My consultant introduced himself as mr Aslam and as quickly as they arrive they left. One of the nurses came in and said that although Mr Aslam could come across as abrupt he was very good and most nurses would be pleased to have him looking after them which was reassuring.
I remained in that room for a couple of days during which i had CT scans and then a colonoscopy, i truly had not considered what was causing my problem until then i felt well now and in my optimistic way just assumed everything would get sorted one way or another.
I was awake and watching the screen during the colonoscopy and saw the camera snake through my colon until it came across a huge donut like thing blocking its way, there was no way it was getting past that. Mr Aslam told me that it was a tumour and that this was the cause of my problems. I then was tided up and left in my bed in a little cubicle next door.
Mr Aslam then came to see me, he was very straightforward he said that they needed to send a piece of the tumour that he had got for a biopsy but that he had 25 years experience and that he felt that this tumour was malignant, did i know what he was saying?....yes i did. So that is what it is, ok we cut it out and carry on.
The bowel nurse came in then and was very sweet and kind and made me feel more upset than the doctor had.
I returned to my room until the next day when i was moved to the step down ward, where i would go after my op, there was a spare bed and they didn't want to lose it.
On Friday 30th August 2007 in the afternoon i was wheeled down to theatre. I had the epidural that i didn't want in the first place and then went to sleep.
I woke up on the step down ward, it was night time and in a bed in the corner i could here a young guy complaining of pain and heard the Doctor say his epidural hadn't worked. I was in a cold sweat and feeling very weird i couldn't work out why but when i heard this i realised i was in pain. I called the Doctor as he past and he said he would come back. He did and ran some ice over my legs could i feel it? yes i could!! mine hadn't worked either so they set me up with a morphine pump.
When the biopsy came back they found that i had one lymph node affected out of 24 and that chemo would be a probable option. Nothing had gone through the bowel and i think i was very lucky, later my oncologist would talk about two lesions on the lungs that they thought maybe chest infection scars.
The long and the short of it is i spent 12 days in the hospital after that. He managed to avoid fitting a colostomy bag for which i was grateful and once the bowels started to move a bit i was able to go.
The day before i left my wound was found to be infected and the sister asked if i would stay a bit longer but i wanted to go, i was lucky that the district nurse at my surgery was very good i called them to let them know i was home and she came to see me and got me registered onto the system although this should have already been done. I guess the problem of two authorities being in the mix.
One day she asked which way henryson rd was and i asked if she was going to see jenny a friend of mine who was nearing the end of her battle with breast cancer. She was so for he next few days we passed messages through her. When i was able to get out and about i went to see her, she was in bed and not responding at all, she had three boys like me the youngest carl was only 13 and crying in the lounge......Jenny died the following day 11th Oct 2007. I see the boys out and about the oldest two were in their late teens early twenties when she died....they are all doing ok. Jenny was the glue that held them together, but they are managing and getting on with their lives.
The background to my diagnosis must be the fact that I suffered from IBS since I was a child. If I hadn't then I think I would have been more aware of changes in bowel habit, but I didn't even think twice about it.
I did have griping colicky pains and a sudden urge to use the loo on frequent occasions but I did nothing until I found myself awake through the night with terrible gut ache, so bad I phoned in sick and went to the gp. By then the pain had gone he checked my abdomen and decided it was a urine infection. I was quite happy to leave and forget about it.
A couple of weeks later I set off with the boys for a holiday in Luxor Egypt. We arrived in Gatwick with some time to spare and Adam said that he wanted to buy a wrestling magazine from wh smiths for the flight, I told him to be quick and meet us there. Joe got what he wanted and then Zak and then the most awful thing I heard our flight being announced as ready to go.....no Adam, joe ran around wh smith but he was no where to be found....then they called out for the family elkamouri really panicking now I went to information to get them to pita call out for him when suddenly I saw him meandering towards us from the other side of the airport, not being able to find his mag he went to the others shop.
We ran and we ran as they announced over the tannoy that our luggage was about to be removed if we didn't arrive at the departure lounge soon, the boys were way ahead of me jumping onto the next moving walkway, I was flagging finding it hard to keep up I just kept running and running when suddenly joe appeared behind me shouting this way !!!! Ii had run right past the departure gate.
We quickly went through with our tickets and passports only to arrive on the Tarmac faced with a bus full of passengers waiting for us..... We hadn't been on the bus more than two minutes before I announced to all that it was Adams fault, I couldn't deal with the shame.
We had a good flight and on arrival at the airport we got a cab to the hotel ibis. I made an arrangement with the cab driver to pick us up the following day with a guide to go and see the valley of the kings and queens and Hatshepsut temple.
The receptionist at the hotel was very nice and gave us a lovely room with a view over the Nile it was stunning. We unpacked and the boys changed and went down to the pool later we had a buffet meal, I only booked half board so we got breakfast and an evening meal and paid for our drinks, as I wasn't fussed about drinking this was a cheaper option.
The following morning the cab arrived to take us sight seeing. It was soooo hot baking, only a few tombs are open at any one time and out guide took us first into a small one and then to a couple of larger tombs, we weren't allowed to talk in the tombs but it was enough to see the ancient hieroglyphics. We had our picture taken next to. Tutankhamen s tomb which you can see somewhere else in the blog.
We saw the temple which was astonishing, it had been renovated over forty years back to its original splendour and was just amazing. Whilst we were there the most famous Egyptian historian was filming next to us, whenever you see anything on the news about Egypt he is there with his blue shirt and wide brimmed hat.
We spent the afternoon by the pool after I arranged with the cab to come back on wed morning to take us to the Karnak temple, then in the evening had something to eat.
Around 8pm I sat chatting to an English woman briefly in the reception area during which I started to feel a bit bloated. I headed back to the room and attempted to go to the loo to no avail. I felt really uncomfortable and just wanted to pass wind at least, but nothing.
The boys went to bed and I tried to settle but my stomach wasn't moving and now I was starting to have griping pains, these increased as the night went on and became more and more excruciating. I was desperate to pass a motion but however much I tried nothing would come, the pain came in waves rippling through my abdomen. I was curled up in bed, then on all fours, then sitting up, then lying down, then walking around, then back on all fours I had become a little bit out of control starting to moan and groan with the pain. As soon as it was morning I told Joe to phone the reception for a doctor.
A young Egyptian doctor came to see me, seif the receptionist came to the room too. The doctor gave me some tablets and said that if it wasn't better in an hour to call. It wasn't he came back tried to put a drip in put couldn't and then said you have to go to hospital.
Both he and seif went with me in a cab, the boys were in the pool by now and I didn't get a chance to tell them what was happening.
We arrived at the hospital and it was just a blur of people and me in the middle of it just in agony, I was vertically incoherent by now. No one gave me pain relief apparently it is policy. Seif and the doctor were talking to the hospital docs. I was taken to the private wing and had a room to myself, a basic room by uk standards but a haven for me none the less. The nurses were very sweet with their little English and my bit of Arabic we managed. They gave me an enema, my first ever! But i was beyond caring by now, put a drip in my arm and a tube down my nose into my stomach, a singular experience. I began to feel so much better and had a snooze.
I then was take to have an X-ray and also an ultrasound, the male nurse who carried this out did so whilst chatting me up!
I returned to my room and a while later the boys appeared!! They had gone back to the room at the hotel and found me gone! They went to reception and had been told I was at the hospital so they got a cab and here they were! It was good that by then I was virtually back to normal so they flopped out on the sofa in my room for a snooze. Later they got a cab back to the hotel after I made sure that they knew where my purse was in case they needed anything, as it was they had made friends with a few kids who got them drinks with their all inclusive bands and whose families took them under their wing.
I was never told by anyone at the hospital what the problem was just that I needed to sea doctor when I got home. The following day the boys arrived again but this time with the woman I had spoken to the night I was taken ill, she was still wet having jumped up when she saw the boys leaving not wanting them to travel alone again. It turned out that she lived in Lewisham too....small world the boys remained in contact with her children after the holiday.
By now I wanted to go one doctor wanted me to have a colonoscopy another said I had to stay, I became upset and the nurses indicated don't worry they would sort it, they talked to another more understanding doc and he let me go but said I had to come back on Friday the following day to have the colonoscopy.
I went back to the hotel and that night spent the night on my own in the hotel room whilst the boys went to sleepover with a friend in another part of the hotel!!
The next day I asked seif to go to the hospital with me, they had my passport and I needed to pay my bill to get it back, I withdrew 500 pounds in dollars from the cashpoints this was all I needed to pay. I got my passport and went to see the doctor in a busy clinic, he told me i didn't need to have the procedure just to seethe doc on return home, even though it was a colonoscopy I was going to have I made no link with bowel cancer, I didn't have any thought abut what it was I was just glad I felt better. I got a fit to fly certificate from the doc as advised by my insurance nurse and left.
I did not eat for the rest of the holiday or drink anything fizzy. I can't remember if I used the loo at all. That afternoon me and The boys went for a sail on the Nile on a felucca, the boys were not happy about this at first as they had things planned with other friends but it was a lovely thing to do peaceful and beautiful as the sun went down.
I booked a ride in a hot air balloon over the valley of the kings for the Sunday morning, we just spent the day around the pool on the Saturday. The boy who took the hot air balloon bookings chatted me up too and asked to remain in touch, he was quite tenacious. I sat with a couple of young British girls that evening on the terrace chatting and remarked on how full on the Egyptian men were.....they didn't know what I meant not having he my problem, I think I must have a look they like as I was constantly approached when I was outside the hotel, my limited Arabic does come in useful at times, imshi the most meaning go away!
We had to get up really early on this day morning and had them waiting for us already before we were all up, I got the boys to move as quick as they could and we landed bleary eyed in reception and were taken by minibus to the riverside picking up other travellers on the way.
we then got into boats with a covered area where breakfast was waiting for us, we sat with a middle aged couple from Australia and the wife's sister, they were very nice.
we arrived on the other side of the Nile and were taken to the launching site where there were at least ten or more balloons lying on their side with gas flares blowing them up. It was still dawn before the sunrise and they looked like huge lanterns, they gradually got bigger and bigger until they were all standing proud and we were told which baskets to get into and scrambled in.
I had never been in a hot air balloon before same as the boys an as i don't like heights i was a bit apprehensive about how this was going to go. One by one the balloons gently lifted off until there was a stream of them lighting up the sky, we rose higher and higher and i didn't mind at all it was lovely. Gradually the sun rose and we saw the pyramids basking in the glow, it was magical. We continued to travel and floated over other historical ruins, we ended up on the green side of the Nile and the pilot played with us as the date palms came towards us and it looked as though we were going to crash into the tops we would just skim them, you could have reached out and plucked yourself some dates. At one point passing over what looked like shells of houses i realised that it was the open roof of somebodies home and could make out the shape of two bodies under a cover fast asleep, right beneath us.
The flight lasted about an hour and we landed in the desert with children of eleven and twelve begging for money all around us they had been following the balloons on their last few meters.
We still got back to the hotel in time for breakfast and then spent the rest of the day again by the pool, the boys favourite pastime hooking up with all their new friends.
Our final day was Monday, i was sad to say goodbye to Seif as he had been so kind, he took my number and did keep in contact with me for a good few years by intermittently wishing me a happy new year or just asking how i was. this stopped about a year or so ago the number i had didn't work and then i lost it. I still have the same number but i doubt i will hear from him again.
In the morning Adam and Joe stayed by the pool and Zak and i went to the museum of mummification, where we saw mummies in various states and animals that had been mummified. Zak really enjoyed it and we got a horse and cart ride back to the hotel.
We flew that afternoon back to England and ended up in the same seats we had coming, i even had the same Asian couple sitting next to me.
About half an hour into the flight i started to feel queasy, just not right. I asked the flight attendant for some water as i had been avoiding fizz, but she bought me tonic as it is good for sickness. I started to feel very uncomfortable and ended up in the toilet to throw up which made me feel better for a while.
I noticed a spare chair right next to the door so moved into it leaving the boys a few rows behind. Whenever the loo was empty i would pop in.....heave and then return to my seat. I watched the clock ticking round a five hour flight, it was excruciating.... bearing in mind the fit to fly cert and the nurses warning about landing elsewhere if need be i kept going till i knew we were over the channel. I had already told the flight attendant that i had been in hospital, they said someone should have informed them but this hadn't happened.
Once i knew we would land in the UK i asked the flight attendant to get a paramedic on arrival, i had been sitting there working out if i could manage getting the luggage by now i was visibly shaking and just felt so bad just ill not in pain. I decided i couldn't, if the car had been parked at the airport i may well have found he strength to struggle on and drive home but as my friend Lu had it whilst we were away and was meeting us i just gave in.
The plane landed and then the captain announced that there was a sick passenger on board and would everyone mind remaining seated until the paramedics were on board.....i could see everyone looking around and felt like raising my hand in acknowledgement, yes for it is i holding you all up. In the end it wasn't too bad as i was at the back of the plane they let everyone in the front go. I told my tale to the ambulance man and he said that i needed to go to the hospital with him.
The ground crew took the boys passports from me and Lu's number who i had spoken to and told what was happening, she ended up having the boys for a week for me.
I walked off the plane into the ambulance and ended up at the east surrey and Sussex hospital. I was in a and e for a bit and Lu came there with the boys and my suitcase, we pulled some things out of it that i would need including my x ray! and then she left with the very tired boys.
I was taken onto a ward for the night, well actually a nice room to myself and after getting pain relief had the best sleep.
In the morning my room was suddenly filled with various nurses junior doctors, heads of department, registrars and my consultant. It was all a bit of a blur they had looked at my x ray luckily still having an old fashioned screen to use. My consultant introduced himself as mr Aslam and as quickly as they arrive they left. One of the nurses came in and said that although Mr Aslam could come across as abrupt he was very good and most nurses would be pleased to have him looking after them which was reassuring.
I remained in that room for a couple of days during which i had CT scans and then a colonoscopy, i truly had not considered what was causing my problem until then i felt well now and in my optimistic way just assumed everything would get sorted one way or another.
I was awake and watching the screen during the colonoscopy and saw the camera snake through my colon until it came across a huge donut like thing blocking its way, there was no way it was getting past that. Mr Aslam told me that it was a tumour and that this was the cause of my problems. I then was tided up and left in my bed in a little cubicle next door.
Mr Aslam then came to see me, he was very straightforward he said that they needed to send a piece of the tumour that he had got for a biopsy but that he had 25 years experience and that he felt that this tumour was malignant, did i know what he was saying?....yes i did. So that is what it is, ok we cut it out and carry on.
The bowel nurse came in then and was very sweet and kind and made me feel more upset than the doctor had.
I returned to my room until the next day when i was moved to the step down ward, where i would go after my op, there was a spare bed and they didn't want to lose it.
On Friday 30th August 2007 in the afternoon i was wheeled down to theatre. I had the epidural that i didn't want in the first place and then went to sleep.
I woke up on the step down ward, it was night time and in a bed in the corner i could here a young guy complaining of pain and heard the Doctor say his epidural hadn't worked. I was in a cold sweat and feeling very weird i couldn't work out why but when i heard this i realised i was in pain. I called the Doctor as he past and he said he would come back. He did and ran some ice over my legs could i feel it? yes i could!! mine hadn't worked either so they set me up with a morphine pump.
When the biopsy came back they found that i had one lymph node affected out of 24 and that chemo would be a probable option. Nothing had gone through the bowel and i think i was very lucky, later my oncologist would talk about two lesions on the lungs that they thought maybe chest infection scars.
The long and the short of it is i spent 12 days in the hospital after that. He managed to avoid fitting a colostomy bag for which i was grateful and once the bowels started to move a bit i was able to go.
The day before i left my wound was found to be infected and the sister asked if i would stay a bit longer but i wanted to go, i was lucky that the district nurse at my surgery was very good i called them to let them know i was home and she came to see me and got me registered onto the system although this should have already been done. I guess the problem of two authorities being in the mix.
One day she asked which way henryson rd was and i asked if she was going to see jenny a friend of mine who was nearing the end of her battle with breast cancer. She was so for he next few days we passed messages through her. When i was able to get out and about i went to see her, she was in bed and not responding at all, she had three boys like me the youngest carl was only 13 and crying in the lounge......Jenny died the following day 11th Oct 2007. I see the boys out and about the oldest two were in their late teens early twenties when she died....they are all doing ok. Jenny was the glue that held them together, but they are managing and getting on with their lives.
Wednesday, 30 January 2013
Special K
Saturday morning after I returned to the ward I was quite sleepy, I wasn't aware of anything more than that but sue in the bed opposite said that they had been quite concerned about me and muttering about ketamine. I remember being woken by the nurse calling me and opened my eyes to see her looking at me quite intently, I had it seemed gone pinpoint and Jenny the nurse called the junior doctor to have a look at me. They decided to stop giving it to me and up the fentonil doses that I was getting. The hallucinations were still happening when my eyes were shut, the consultant anesthetisist came to see me and just before he arrived I told him that I had just seen people walking round but that they were drawn with a pencil, he said that this was a typical ketamine reaction and agreed I should come off it. Not sure why anyone would take it recreationally on the basis of my experience.
The night before sue in the opposite bed had realised that we had a mutual friend in suze from the beating bowel cancer forum so we became chatty very quickly. As we talked I could hear a voice from the end of the ward complaining about it is, later I could clearly hear her complaining to the nurse that she won't be bullied and she wanted to go home, she knows staff are busy but she needs them and she had enough and wanted to go, I realised that she was talking about me. The atmosphere became a little tense until Adam and Zak came to visit that afternoon, after they left pat suddenly exclaimed from her bed oh aren't your boys lovely, beautiful hair, lovely lovely boys. From that point I decided that it was better to work with her than against her.
The night before sue in the opposite bed had realised that we had a mutual friend in suze from the beating bowel cancer forum so we became chatty very quickly. As we talked I could hear a voice from the end of the ward complaining about it is, later I could clearly hear her complaining to the nurse that she won't be bullied and she wanted to go home, she knows staff are busy but she needs them and she had enough and wanted to go, I realised that she was talking about me. The atmosphere became a little tense until Adam and Zak came to visit that afternoon, after they left pat suddenly exclaimed from her bed oh aren't your boys lovely, beautiful hair, lovely lovely boys. From that point I decided that it was better to work with her than against her.
Monday, 28 January 2013
Post operative opera.
So I was wheeled down in the morning but later than expected as they had not taken bloods for cross matching so one of the doctors had to come down and take it before I went down. It turns out I have a particular antibody and they had to check that they had compatible blood in case I needed it, they thought that maybe I received it in a previous transfusion.
So finally head down around 10am and am wheeled into the pre op room. It was really cold in there, but I met with the aneasthetist again and her colleague both ladies and both lovely. I had to have the epidural again given awake sitting in the edge of the bed, not the best feeling but manageable. They were pleased with where it was sited. We chatted away whilst all this was being done and they answered any questions about the procedure including one about my allergy to chloramphenicol eye drops. I didn't think that this was particularly relevant in terms of my op but she y do said that actually it really was as during the op my eyes would not be blinking and can dry so they would inset eye drops and usually chloramphenicol to hydrate them.
So then then they do the knock out injection and as happened before the next thing I know I am waking up in recovery.
As I woke in my stupefied state I could hear people asking how I was and there seemed to be some concern, I remember feeling a strong urge to pass a motion which I knew I couldn't but there was this huge pressure down below and also that my stomach felt like it was covered in bee stings. I drifted in and out and then gradually woke up more fully, for the second time my epidural hadn't worked properly so they set my up with a pump with fentonil.
I had one to one nursing through the night and towards the early morning, two of the nurses were concerned about my pain relief, they still thought that the epidural was delivering some pain block to the abdomen, but they were not too sure now, I should have not been feeling anything but I was. They sprayed a cold spray onto my abdomen and I nearly went through the roof, on each spot the feeling was the same as the next. They mumbled to each other and said that someone needed to come and look at this.
I can't remember who came next but they did the same with the same result and they came to the conclusion that the epidural hadn't worked at all.
At handover in the morning a lovely nurse called Dora came to look after me, she usually worked in itu but they were short in recovery so she was working there for a bit to help out. She couldn't have been nicer and more professional. One of the staff nurses questioned my continued placement in recovery as the other patients had left and was told it was because that had to sort out my pain control.
Dora washed me, got me drink checked the dressing and removed the epidural. Did my observations and chatted through the day.
Someone came to see me from the pain relief team, they suggested that ketamine was a good pain reliever if I didn't have hallucinations.
After they gave it to me I felt fine whilst my eyes were open but when I closed them It would be like watching a movie screen, I saw ants marching in line down a rock and remarked to myself at how the
high definition, there were other little scenes all completely different to each other, but as I was fine when asleep or when my eyes were open I didn't worry.
I the afternoon my middle son Adam arrived to see me with a paper and my favourite Lindt chocolates, my appetite was quite gone and at that point they were not sure whether I could eat or not as a care plan hadn't been put together. So I asked the nurse to pass them round the recovery team, ther was no polite refusal they went within minutes with squeals of delight and 'oh just what I need!' It was quite satisfying. After staying for an hour or so Adam headed home and I waited further whilst they got me sorted.
Finally around 7pm I was ready to go up onto the ward, Dora came with me and I felt quite emotional saying goodbye to her after she had spent the day caring for me so well.
On arrival at the ward Leon and tash my two salsa friends were there in he corridor as they wheeled me in in my bed then Alyson a neighbour , Trevor who I used to work with and my cousin sue appeared. Alyson and sue had made friends in the day room whilst waiting. It was nice to have such a welcome.
They all remarked on how well I looked which I guess was true, for someone who had been through such major surgery I felt quite awake and with it, more so than I did last time, there was a mention that I might not be morphine tolerant which would explain why I was so out of it after my last op.
After a while equine left and I settled down for my second night on the ward. I was to be woken at around 3am by pat calling for the nurse, I told her they were busy and later asked why she didn't use her call button......this didn't go down too well as I was to find out later.
So finally head down around 10am and am wheeled into the pre op room. It was really cold in there, but I met with the aneasthetist again and her colleague both ladies and both lovely. I had to have the epidural again given awake sitting in the edge of the bed, not the best feeling but manageable. They were pleased with where it was sited. We chatted away whilst all this was being done and they answered any questions about the procedure including one about my allergy to chloramphenicol eye drops. I didn't think that this was particularly relevant in terms of my op but she y do said that actually it really was as during the op my eyes would not be blinking and can dry so they would inset eye drops and usually chloramphenicol to hydrate them.
So then then they do the knock out injection and as happened before the next thing I know I am waking up in recovery.
As I woke in my stupefied state I could hear people asking how I was and there seemed to be some concern, I remember feeling a strong urge to pass a motion which I knew I couldn't but there was this huge pressure down below and also that my stomach felt like it was covered in bee stings. I drifted in and out and then gradually woke up more fully, for the second time my epidural hadn't worked properly so they set my up with a pump with fentonil.
I had one to one nursing through the night and towards the early morning, two of the nurses were concerned about my pain relief, they still thought that the epidural was delivering some pain block to the abdomen, but they were not too sure now, I should have not been feeling anything but I was. They sprayed a cold spray onto my abdomen and I nearly went through the roof, on each spot the feeling was the same as the next. They mumbled to each other and said that someone needed to come and look at this.
I can't remember who came next but they did the same with the same result and they came to the conclusion that the epidural hadn't worked at all.
At handover in the morning a lovely nurse called Dora came to look after me, she usually worked in itu but they were short in recovery so she was working there for a bit to help out. She couldn't have been nicer and more professional. One of the staff nurses questioned my continued placement in recovery as the other patients had left and was told it was because that had to sort out my pain control.
Dora washed me, got me drink checked the dressing and removed the epidural. Did my observations and chatted through the day.
Someone came to see me from the pain relief team, they suggested that ketamine was a good pain reliever if I didn't have hallucinations.
After they gave it to me I felt fine whilst my eyes were open but when I closed them It would be like watching a movie screen, I saw ants marching in line down a rock and remarked to myself at how the
high definition, there were other little scenes all completely different to each other, but as I was fine when asleep or when my eyes were open I didn't worry.
I the afternoon my middle son Adam arrived to see me with a paper and my favourite Lindt chocolates, my appetite was quite gone and at that point they were not sure whether I could eat or not as a care plan hadn't been put together. So I asked the nurse to pass them round the recovery team, ther was no polite refusal they went within minutes with squeals of delight and 'oh just what I need!' It was quite satisfying. After staying for an hour or so Adam headed home and I waited further whilst they got me sorted.
Finally around 7pm I was ready to go up onto the ward, Dora came with me and I felt quite emotional saying goodbye to her after she had spent the day caring for me so well.
On arrival at the ward Leon and tash my two salsa friends were there in he corridor as they wheeled me in in my bed then Alyson a neighbour , Trevor who I used to work with and my cousin sue appeared. Alyson and sue had made friends in the day room whilst waiting. It was nice to have such a welcome.
They all remarked on how well I looked which I guess was true, for someone who had been through such major surgery I felt quite awake and with it, more so than I did last time, there was a mention that I might not be morphine tolerant which would explain why I was so out of it after my last op.
After a while equine left and I settled down for my second night on the ward. I was to be woken at around 3am by pat calling for the nurse, I told her they were busy and later asked why she didn't use her call button......this didn't go down too well as I was to find out later.
Wednesday, 9 January 2013
Admission day
So finally the admission date comes around. I had been told to wait until two pm and then someone would call to tell me what was happening. Three came and I decided to call, they still can't find a bed, at five they phone back and say you might as well come in to page ward although a bed still hasn't been found. I don't head in until 7 when I get there I am told that originally a bed was found on the other side of the hospital but that someone had just been discharged so I could stay he which is the digestive system ward.
I wait another couple of hours in the day room with a sweeping vista over Westminster and Big Ben and the London eye. Nurse comes in with a goody bag, two protein drinks, two pre op drinks and two sachets of picolax. Lovely!
I bolt down the picolax and then try one of the the fortisip drinks...tropical... Yuk!!!!! Unpalatable I don't make the black current either but they manage to find a caramel shake one, very nice.
Finally they lead me to the ward and the first thing that hits me is the stench!!!! I guess of people with wounds and no baths for a little while, it was truely awful. I immediately just wanted to go home, but instead I sat on the bed and unpacked. I ended up in tears I was hoping for something more like I experienced at Lewisham the wards there are fine but theses beds are too close together and as I said the smell!
I asked for the curtains to be drawn and after a while I was much better, managed to tether my I pad to my phone but it means that I will be constantly going over my data, I cannot believe that the hospital doesn't have wi fi access for the patients. They have one of those prepay tv,s over the bed but I will still to my I pad.
Lights went out at 11 and then this woman in the bed at the end started, nuuuurse eye please oh dear no nurseesss in a very winy woe is me tone. Constantly!!!! For an hour nuuuuurse, however much sympathy you have for someone who has had surgery it wears thin as does her voice.
I have another picolax and wait for the results nothing as yet, I have been given an undulating bed I assume for pressure sores and to keep me moving after the op, it's like being on a boat! So now I am going to try and catch a bit of sleep I am to be woken at 6am if the bowels don't get me first for my pre op drinks, and then the old me will depart and this new model will appear nuuuuuurssseeee!!!
I wait another couple of hours in the day room with a sweeping vista over Westminster and Big Ben and the London eye. Nurse comes in with a goody bag, two protein drinks, two pre op drinks and two sachets of picolax. Lovely!
I bolt down the picolax and then try one of the the fortisip drinks...tropical... Yuk!!!!! Unpalatable I don't make the black current either but they manage to find a caramel shake one, very nice.
Finally they lead me to the ward and the first thing that hits me is the stench!!!! I guess of people with wounds and no baths for a little while, it was truely awful. I immediately just wanted to go home, but instead I sat on the bed and unpacked. I ended up in tears I was hoping for something more like I experienced at Lewisham the wards there are fine but theses beds are too close together and as I said the smell!
I asked for the curtains to be drawn and after a while I was much better, managed to tether my I pad to my phone but it means that I will be constantly going over my data, I cannot believe that the hospital doesn't have wi fi access for the patients. They have one of those prepay tv,s over the bed but I will still to my I pad.
Lights went out at 11 and then this woman in the bed at the end started, nuuuurse eye please oh dear no nurseesss in a very winy woe is me tone. Constantly!!!! For an hour nuuuuurse, however much sympathy you have for someone who has had surgery it wears thin as does her voice.
I have another picolax and wait for the results nothing as yet, I have been given an undulating bed I assume for pressure sores and to keep me moving after the op, it's like being on a boat! So now I am going to try and catch a bit of sleep I am to be woken at 6am if the bowels don't get me first for my pre op drinks, and then the old me will depart and this new model will appear nuuuuuurssseeee!!!
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