All went well - sort of!

Wednesday was the day of my admission to hospital. As you know they send you a letter telling you date and time of admission and when you can last have anything to eat or drink.
In my case I was not allowed to eat or drink after 3am on Wednesday morning which in real life turned out to be about 9 on Tuesday evening. I also had to ring the hospital at 7 in the morning to find out if a bed was available--guess what there was not one! They did promise to ring me back when one became available which they did at 1.30! When I got to the hospital I still had to wait until 5 before a bed was found.
Went to theatre at 5.45 and was back in the ward wide awake at 7.15, they could not understand why I felt so dry- maybe nearly 24 hours without a drink had some part in it.
As the biopsies were done by laparoscopy I have 5 inciscions on my stomach which are sore rather than painful. I have to wait until February 10th for the results though but I am cautiously optomistic.

Listening to the weather forecast I see winter is due to return with the possibility of snow next week-think I will hibernate until Easter.

Take Care

Andy

At the moment its not raining!

For a change its not raining here in Kent. Aparently South East England has had double the normal amount of rain for January and the ground is certainly waterlogged.

Workwise our office is located at Gravesend and if I go into the office my journeytakes me up the valley of the River Medway and than across the marshes to Gravesend. At the moment the Medway is at the highest level thyat I have seen it for many years. Where it passes through Maidstone town centre it is already over the towpath and is lapping against the Archbishops Palace and All Saints. It is certainly fast flowing and very muddy indicating the amount of top soil that has been washed of the land. They have even had to move the river bus to a safer mooring. On the marshes the land is so waterlogged that the lifestock that graze there are huddled on to dry pieces of land. I really must remember to take my camera and take some pictures and post them here, this is something i have been intending to do since I started my A O Hell blog ages ago. Aparently there is going to be a frost tonight- what a lovely thought wet roads freezing.

Any one who knows me will know that I am a great fan of the music of Gwyneth Herbert and I understand that she is releasing a new cd in the not to distant future. If you have never heard her I would heartily recomend that you check her out. Other artists I enjoy are Karrin Allyson, Jane Monheidt, Liz Wright,Alison Krausse, Alison Crowe, Alice Russell, Fiona Apple, Luther Van Dross, Michael Buble, Candy Dulfer and Diana Krall. Now what makes you think I like female jazz vocalists!

On a personal basis I have received my date for the surgical procedure-its next Wednesday the 28th at 8.00am but in true NHS style I have to ring at 07.30 to check that a bed is available. If there is I dont know how they expect me to get there by 8 bearing in mind the normal flow of traffic in Maidstone at any time of day. Thought I was speeding the other day-I overtook a pedestrian!

Good and Bad News?

I saw the oncology consultant at Maidstone Hospital yesterday for the result of my biopsy and guess what? They had not taken a good enough sample to make a full diagnosis! Instead they now want me to have a sample taken using a surgical procedure which will mean being in hospital for 3 or 4 days and is likely to be either next week or the week after-always assuming that there is a bed available!

The good news is that with chemotherapy and a possible bone marrow transplant the chances of remission are very good. Aparently I can not have the same chemo as I had before (CHOP & PMITCEBO) as the body can only take so much treatment of this type. However since than treatment has moved on and other chemo is available and now they also give you antibodies which has improved treatment.

I am still managing to stay optomistic about things though, it seems pointless to be otherwise. As my late Mother used to say, if you worry about it you would never get out of bed in the morning-you would just turn over and suffocate on your own pillow. She had a large range of sayings such as that. It also helps that we are particularly busy at work-we have been working on a case since New Year and think we have finally cracked it.

However the most important thing that has helped me stay positive is all your kind messages of support on here I feel privileged to know so many caring people even if its just through a message on a computer.

Thank You

Andy

A quick update

Just to let you know that the biopsy went OK.

Had to ring Maidstone Hospital at 8 last Tuesday morning to see if a bed was available and of course in true NHS style there was not one. They rang me back at 9.30 and asked if I could get there in 10 minutes, sadly as I have not managed to conquer time travel it took me an hour to get there.

The actual procedure took all of 8 minutes and I than had to rest for 4 hours in case of any complications! During this time I managed to re read one of my favourite books, Raise The Titanic by Clive Cussler. I must of read it about 6 times by now but its still as good as ever.

I will find out the biopsy result next Tuesday and even though I am determined to stay positive I must admit to a certain amount of aprehension.

Work wise I am extremely busy which helps keeps my mind occupied.

Andy

Thank you

Those two words seem so little to say back to you all for your kind words and support. I am just happy to be amongst such wonderful people that words can not express how I feel.

As well as those of you who have left comments on the blog I would like to say a special thanks to a couple of people who have contacted me directly your messages meant a lot to me especially over Christmas and New Year.

I have the kidney biopsy this Tuesday at Maidstone Hospital on Tuesday as a day case but wont get the result until the following week. The reason treatment can not start any earlier is that they have to be certain exactly what they are treating and give the appropriate treatment.

Again thank you all from the bottom of my heart you are friends in a million.

Andy

Christmas, New Year and the big 'C'

Well its all done and dusted for another year.
However this year it has left me with a legacy. Ten years ago I was diagnosed with Non Hodgkins Lymphoma which is a form of cancer for which I went through a two lots of chemotherapy which dealt with the issue and after five years I was told that it could not return. However as I said in my last entry I was very poorly before Christmas and a kidney function test revealed a creatinine level of 157 as opposed to the 'normal' level of 110. Creatinine is the measure of how effective the kidney disposes of waste. As a result I had a CT scan at Maidstone Hospital which has revealed another tumour on the kidney and I am waiting for a kidney biopsy to identify the type of tumour and possible treatment. However there was some good news, a subsequent blood test has revealed that the creatinine level has dropped to 120 and they are satisfied with the result.
Obviously this has left rather a dampner on Christmas and New Year but I refuse to let it get me down and when I get the result of the biopsy and have treatment will try and stay positive but I am expecting some 'black' days but I am sure I will be able to cope and will look forward to having a bit more time to read and comment on all your blogs-you have been warned!

I cant say I like this cold snap much, there is still snow on the ground here in Kent and walking and driving conditions are dangerous away from the main routes, indeed have ended up slipping over a couple of times fortunately without any harm other than to my pride!

Anyway I hope you are all enjoying good health and managing to keep warm, they are forecasting freezing fog for tonight!

Take care

Andy