Science Friction

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.