Is it Tuesday?

I never ever want to go through the pain I have been experiencing over the last 6 days, it has been a waking nightmare. I was almost carried into hospital yesterday afternoon the pain was so intense. Anyway the short story is, drugs numbed the pain a bit, enough for me to go through an x ray, which seemed to suggest I did have a bowel obstruction, maybe there was a kink or it had looped over during surgery , the surgeons needed a ct scan to be more precise, so they could pinpoint where exactly they needed to operate.... However when the scan came back ( 10:30pm) they discovered that actually there was NO obstruction and it was clear! Plan B, they would put a drain in and take away some fluid, hoping that would ease things, and sure enough by midnight they had drained off three litres of lymphatic fluid, that had been putting such pressure on all of my other organs, bowel included. ( KG reckons there is probably still another five litres in there....

I limped back down the ward and sat down on the bed , first time I have been able to sit without pain for days . Such was the relief of not having pain that I lay in bed for an hour relishing that very fact. Despite having a drip etc I still managed to get two good chunks of much needed sleep, and felt like a different person this morning ( still with very enlarged abdomen however!)

Bowel doctor visited this morning to see me, explain scans were clear, and I could eat... However took until 3 pm until I was able to eat a piece of toast, first proper food in five days.

KG has been in contact with the Marsden to find out my next course of action, they are leaving the drain in for another 12 hours, as they may have to drain a little more fluid tomorrow, but although they could take it all out, it would work against me. The fact is the lymph channel has been disrupted, and the only way to stem the cut as it were is to apply pressure, hence the fluid is doing just that, take it away and it will fill up again quickly. The knack is to ensure the bowel/bladder etc can function and not be too compromised. You can see why we thought it was a bowel problem, but every organ was under such pressure nothing was really working, and caused such pain.

I need to have a high protein low fat diet, and a dietician is coming to see me so we can come up with a game plan that is also dairy free. The lymph fluid is full of protein, and it's protein I need to help my own body naturally disperse it back into my system . ( compression stockings worn for six months to prevent lymphoedema ) I really don't need to get that as an extra complication, that would really mess up my life.

I may be able to come out of hospital tomorrow, but could possibly have to come back every other day and get ( syringed), I have appointment with oncology on Thursday about when to start chemo..... Happy days :-(

But I know unless I can get protein levels up, there is no chance of that starting soon....

End

.....right, Steve here now. Returned from hospital with the blog to upload (no wifi in the hospital that we can access apparently.....so much for digital jersey !) and taking the opportunity to add a few thoughts of my own....would be rude not to grab the chance, especially as it won't be happening very often anytime soon.

Jill's epistle above has it pretty much summed up....a tough week, and an even tougher last couple of days...but my tough wife is a toughie....maybe she should do this politics lark and let me play tennis and netball? She knows I would happily swop....and I don't mean the politics and tennis. As she says, we could have done without this setback as she needs to get fit again as soon as possible....we did have to laugh when we read the letter from the hospital reminding us that she is due an appointment in oncology on Thursday....if she stays in her hospital bed until Thursday then maybe the oncology nurse will come to Jill rather than the other way around! However, the thought of chemo is very much NOT the priority at the moment....we have to crack this fluid issue first...then we can think about the next step.....and the title goes, one day at a time.

Not that anyone wants to know, but it was my first day back "in the saddle that is politics" today. It does make me wonder why I have decided to put myself forward for a second term....but I know that, once Jill's over this next course of chemo, if I stay at home then she'll be fed up with me under her feet all the time....

Can I sign off tonight by saying a really heartfelt thank you to all those who have been providing sustenance for the family in our absence, and since our return......it seems that every day a new fairy godmother invisibly appears (???...you know what I mean!) with food for the family....we are truly blessed to have so many good friends. My boys are made up...never before in the field of family cooking has so much been provided by so many for so few. Also, we have a house full of beautiful flowers...again, many thanks for those....they'll still be here when Jill gets back, hopefully on Thursday....she certainly didn't get to appreciate them over the weekend.

My last job this evening is to post this...and put this iPad on charge ready for tomorrow....no doubt it will be her ladyship that gets to give you tomorrow's latest news....our reader will be so relieved.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad