some potentially better news

N had a bad night on Tuesday so I put my foot down and said I’d ring the hospital and speak to the consultant’s secretary (we haven’t seen the consultant yet but his secretary is very helpful!)

I got throught to her straight away and she looked on her computer and said that N  had an appointment that afternoon! No-one had told us! We duly went for the appointment and saw a Dr who seemed to need us to lead him by the nose. he started talking about a “sore tummy”, we had to tell him several times that N is a Dr and would like to know the score exactly without any flannel.

Apparently the tumour marker blood tests which were done on Tuesday showed abnormalities in the bowel rather than pancreas which is good although of course the liver and lungs are still afffected. So we asked for chest and back xrays and painkillers.

The next step is a colonoscopy which is going to be arranged for today , tomorrow or Saturday so we’re waiting to hear about that. Trouble is, the patient has to drink gallons of goo to clear out the bowel and N is finding it hard enough to drink a pot of tea although he is feeling a bit better today.

Yesterday he was a bit snappy and so was I because I was feeling got at and I kept thinking it was only two weeks since my hip replacement and I’m driving and walking without crutches and I’m doing my best etc. Stil I went out for a drink with a couple of “horsey friends” and feel better today.

Our new furniture has arrived (should have come yesterday) and it’s nice so that’s good too.

Thanks you to all well wishers x

Wobbly

Had a bit of a wobbly this am, needed to get out of the house and frustrated by not being allowed to drive (although I think I’m just going to do it  as the risk of hip dislocation is small.) Better after a visit to the yard to see my friend and my pony. Consuming large amounts of chocolate. Put my foot in it yesterday by asking my brother – in -law if he would give the girls away if ever they get married, I wanted continuity, him standing in for his big brother, then it really hit home for my poor husband as he realised he wouldn’t see his daughters get married. They were not best pleased with me. Still, in a way, maybe these things get said and aired. Just need to get some help with his pain and get him well enough to go out a bit and enjoy things.

Been watching DVDs of Morse, nostalgic and therapeutic. Have ordered some new furniture so my husband has a comfy supportive chair at last. Ordered it on Saturday from John Lewis, will be delivered on Wednesday, you get what you pay for in the long run. Girls demolished old armchair and found just how shoddy it was, so much for DFS.

New hip and bad news- short report

I’ve  had my hip sorted out. The consultant told me that I’d been walking around on a broken leg which would account for the pain!  The upside of this is that I’ve made a splendid recovery and I can walk around the house without crutches. I was discharged 48hours after the operation.

The bad news? My husband’s CT scan show secondaries in liver and lungs and probable cancer of the pancreas, he says this means 6-8 weeks, not in the mood to write much at the moment. We found out yesterday and today’s his 57th birthday.

So far so good

He’s had his gastroscopy and it showed gastritis and gastric erosions. He’s got some pills and he’s to have a blood test and a CT scan of his abdomen so at the moment it’s looking quite good but not sure yet !!

Update

The latest in the saga of our health is that we are getting more nervous as the gastroscopy is the day after tomorrow!

I went to the orthopaedic clinic on Tuesday and saw a Doctor I hadn’t met before and I thought he was going to say I should put up with it and wait for my operation. He started talking about me having a scan and my husband kindly spoke up and asked him to speak to the Consultant (who was next door). He went in  to see him and then came back and said that they had a “cunning plan”. I’m going to a different hospital to have my operation next Wednesday as a trauma case. Apparently the avascular necrosis is like a fracture so they’re getting around the waiting list police and taking me off the list at the cold case hospital which is great. So I’m to go to hospital 1 on Tuesday to keep my appointment for pre-op and then in to  hospital 2 for the surgery, provided the ward doesn’t fill up with accident cases. In the old days,  Consultants  had control over their operating lists.

Strangely having the operation so soon is giving me the chance to think about something other than Saturday.

This week has been quite stressful as my friend’s funeral was on Monday and then I heard that another of my friends has got breast cancer. She is being wonderfully positive .

Ada Lovelace Day

I had never heard of Ada Lovelace until Suw Charman Anderson started this campaign. I’m not much of a blogger aand know little about tech, except what I learn from Twitter and people like Suw and Stephanie Booth. I wouldn’t know who to commend but I would like to mention someone from the past and that’s Delia Derbyshire . She shares the same christian name as me. I heard a programme about her and it seemed she suffered from being unsung due to being female so I thought she deserved a mention here.
Congratulations to Suw for thinking of this.

Tests

Gastroscopy booked for 28th March at least that should give us a better idea of what’s going on.

First Dr’s Visit

We went to the surgery and it was busy, they were running late. When we went in the doctor (who is an old friend) just thought we’d come for blood test results but then he found the scan report. He kept telling us not to worry because scans can look bad when there isn’t that much wrong etc etc. We pointed out that the symptoms lead us to believe there was something sinister going on. He’d agreed to refer to a gastroenterologist and we asked if that could be by the cancer protocol so that we’ll get an appointment within 2 weeks. I don’t know if he was behaving a bit oddly because N is an old friend or what, just seemed strange to both of us. So now we wait and see. N is putting a brave face on it at the moment, what else can you do?

Bad News

My husband has been unwell for a while with symptoms of nausea, constipation and epigastric pain. He went for a scan today to see if it was a problem with his gallbladder (although the symptoms weren’t really typical of gallstones). He asked for a scan of his whole abdomen and they found lesions on his liver, not cystic, in other words most probably cancer. He wasn’t told that ,but as a retired GP he knows what’s what. He was told to make a Dr’s appointment asap so we’ve got one for 5.30pm today.

I knew that the scan was taking rather a long time and when I asked him what he’d been told he siad that his gallbladder was ok and he’d tell me the rest in the car. (At the moment I’m having alot of difficulty walking and I’m on crutches so that was a slow walk.)

So now it begins. I would imagine he’ll be referred to a gastroenterologist for further tests to establish if it’s cancer and whether it’s primary (in liver alone) or secondary (from somewhere else), either way , once it’s in your liver it’s bad news. He suspects bowel because of the constipation although he had that before and a colonoscopy was normal, a while ago though. He’s also got pain in a floating rib so that could indicate bony secondaries. He smokes a pipe but hasn’t been coughing more than  usual. He’s lost weight but hasn’t been eating much at all.

Strange how it takes something like this to make me write! I suppose it’s because I do have something to report after all. I think I may find it helpful too as this is not going to be easy is it?

Tweets for Today

• 18:13 @Suw could that be the to do list? #
• 18:34 @sockington you’ll have to spend a lot of time washing after all that dust! #
• 18:39 @Suw what a lovely cat picture, i have a kitten sitting behind me at the mo she’s visiting again #
• 21:27 @willcarling yes it’s gooooood! #
• 21:27 @willcarling Ihope Freddie hasn’t knackered his hip too much #
• 11:19 Story140 – The Vote is On! – Stories – Restless Voices: Ten Second Stories from Nick Warren tinyurl.com/aptlym via @ShareThis #
• 11:35 @elinoroberts mmm science? Giaia ? Well that’s the one I voted for! Bet you can’t guess mine! #
• 12:44 @elinoroberts that one was my second choice , mine’s not much good really but fun doing it #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter