Science Friction

More news

Not all good I'm afraid. I'm still in hospital but I am getting the occasional afternoon out. It's great to get out of the hospital environment but it takes a lot out of me.

I was supposed to get a PEJ tube put in last week. This is a tube that goes through the stomach wal and then into the duodenum. Instead they put in a nasal gastric tube. This ended up making me sicker. Fortunately it's gone now. I hope to find out what they have planned next shortly.

Weekend release

They let me out for a whole weekend from Friday until Sunday. As I write this I'm due to go back in in  a few hours. Unfortunately the Botox injections were not as successful as we might have hoped. I'm still vomiting. Next week they will explore other options.
It was a fairly pleasant weekend. I bought some new - smaller - trousers in M&S and paid a visit to Haagen Daz.

Home soon

There's talk of discharging me this coming Wednesday. Meanwhile, I have had a procedure to inject Botox into my stomach  which was intended to curb my vomiting. Overall it has been a success and I've started eating food again although I'm taking it easy at first. I'm supposed to have another procedure tomorrow to replace my porta-cath.

Almost time to head back to the hospital. I'll post again when I'm finally out.

Sorry for the long silence

Sorry for the lack of updates but I've been back in hospital for the last few weeks. I'm out for a few hours this afternoon but I have to be back by 6pm.

I'm out - but it's not all good news

I was finally released on Tuesday night at 8.30pm after being told at 8am that I was to be going home. A 12 hour wait!
I was able to set up the feeding pump and the feed without too much hassle and I got through the first night without too much trouble. The second night was also trouble free. However my tube is now blocked and unless I can get it unblocked I will have to have a new one put in.
Meanwhile, my first session of chemotherapy is still scheduled for 9am tomorrow.
I'll post later about visitors.

Developments

I'm still in hospital, but am being allowed out regularly. However it now looks like I'll be discharged later this week or early next week. I will then start a new cycle of chemotherapy with surgery to take place later in the year. The chemo will be once every three weeks but this time will involve drugs that cause hair loss. I'm also going to be put on a new drug which up to now has only been approved for bowel cancer but has recently been licensed for other types. It's a monoclonal antibody which restricts blood flow to the tumour. There will be four sessions of chemo followed by a rest period of about six weeks meaning surgery will probably take place in November or December.<P>
In the meantime I will still need to be fed by nasal tube and the hospital is giving me a feeding pump and drip stand and showing me how to use it. The feed is available from my local pharmacy. It sounds daunting but I'm sure I'll rise to the occasion.

Still waiting

I'm still in hopsital but no surgery yet. The Surgeon feels that I'm too weak to survive the surgery. I'm being fed through a tube throuh my nose and stomach direcctly into the duodenum. The hope is that I will build up enough protein  reserves to allow me to heal after surgery. It's going to be a long while yet.

Hospital and other stories

Well, hospital stories anyway. I went in as planned on Thursday the 18th only to be told that my weakened condition due to my stomach problem was a worry and that they had decided not to operate after all. That, as you can imagine came as a blow. So they've kept me in - I'm currently out on temporary release for a few hours - and are feeding me up using something called Total Parental Nutrition which is given intraveneously. I've now been told they are going to operate on Friday June 9th and all being well this will go ahead.

Good to go

The Hospital rang. There's a bed for me. I'm to be there before 4pm so I'll be going in shortly. I'm not ashamed to admit I'm scared. Not just of the operation but the aftermath. It's going to be a long hard slog and I just hope I'm up to it. Please keep me in your thoughts and those of you who pray, say a prayer for me. I'm not a religious man but I won't turn down help from any quarter.

No bed yet. Still hoping.

I rang St Vincents Hospital at 9am this morning. As of then, there was no bed available but they were hoping to have a better picture by noon. All being well, they'll squeeze me in somewhere.