I went to the Queen Elizabeth hospital for my pre-operation physical.
It was a strange experience, that’s for sure.
Kind of like ‘Please work out infront of all of these people while you’re hooked up to every machine possible.’
It turns out, cycling a lot actually helps. So does being young, I can’t imagine what it would be like to be elderly, or even what I was like 4 months ago.
What they basically want is for you to keep a cadence of about 60 RPM throughout the different ‘difficulties’ (I personally didn’t notice them changing the resistance up at all really)
Straight away, I said that I cycle a lot and could they put the seat up to a correct position for me, Yes… Even with my short legs I still up the seat a lot.
As you can imagine, I didn’t have any issues. They said I was ready for the operation….
<sarcasm>Greeeeeeeeat!</sarcasm>
I then had a few people come and speak to me about pre-operation and post-operation care. How long I would be in, how long most people take to recover. It turns out I have a 0.X% chance of complications during the operation but a 25% chance of complications after the surgery.
I got a whole bunch of protein drinks for the day before and morning of the operation. It was at this point I got to explain that I was asking the Christie and my Oncology clinic for second opinions.
I went to see the Nurses from MacMillan after the assessment and asked for some help with the PIP forms as from what I was reading, I wasn’t going to qualify. Another Uch! moment. I already loaded the costs onto a credit card for my Care Oncology Clinic study. I was kind of relying on that. (That’s my fault)
This is my plan and I guess the short version goes like this:-
If I don’t have the operation, I am screwed I won’t be entitled to a penny. I am well enough to go back to work for now. Then I will cross the bridge of operations down the road.
If I do go ahead with the operation, I am going to qualify for the PIP and I am going to need a month recovery time, then get myself back to work as soon as I am well enough, then cross the bridge with further chemotherapy as and when.
I really need some second opinions. Which is good because….
When I returned home from the hospital, had a bit more cry about the whole ordeal. I did explain to Kerry that I had the chance to speak to some of the people about the way my previous appointment had gone. Raised some concerns but it was my job as a matter of urgency to get in contact with the private healthcare and with the Care Oncology Clinic. I put emails to the respective secretaries to the Doctors/Consultants to request further care.
First to come back was the Care Oncology Clinic’s secretary got back to me telling me that Dr Kuhan would be able to give me a ring that day and we spent a good 10-15 minutes with him on speaker phone and Kerry and myself just discussing the whole aggressive surgery and them taking mostly everything.
Dr Kuhan’s manor is the same it has always been, from 3 months ago, the update meeting a couple of weeks ago and this meeting.
Calming, constantly asking me questions and putting my mind at ease.
What he reaffirmed in me was that this was always the plan, get me well enough for the cancer to be removed. I think I just wanted to hear that all along if I am honest.
Sadly, the Christie have been able to be as helpful, yet again. No matter how many times I have requested it, the Christie are not receiving emails or are not being copied into email. Therefore they for some reason, waited two days to tell me this and after I contacted them today chasing I got a reply of “I don’t have any requests to send the details onwards”
Kerry will back me up here. I request it every single meeting I have.
Well, 11 days away from surgery. I have had one second opinion. It would be nice to have Omar Aziz of the Christie in Manchester say the same thing. I guess I could rest up.
I haven’t been rounding off the emails with my mood, pain level, appetite etc for a bit. I am sure you can tell from the content in the blog that my mood is shot for the most of the time. I have managed to increase my weight by eating regularly and all thanks to the cannabis resin stuff.
However the pain bit is odd. I have not been taking anywhere near the amount of tramadol I had been taking, I have stopped the paracetamol completely.
The reason behind this was that I wasn’t feeling pain at all, I spoke to some doctor friends and they suggested a slow wean off the drugs.
What I have noticed is that without any pain killers at all. I think I had one tramadol yesterday is that the pain does come back downstairs. Only slightly, perhaps a 3 or 4 out of 10 but so much that I think I only need one or two tramadol a day now. So that’s fine.
I have managed to get some sleep of recent, it’s coming in dribs and drabs. If I spend a lot of time dwelling on the operation or it’s aftermath then I end up with a bout of insomnia that I can’t kick for days.
Lastly:
I have been experiencing some pain in the lower lumbar or slightly higher, around the kidneys or a bit lower. I sleep on my sides and it’s super painful and it wakes me up, I have found that curling up on the couch in the weirdest positions seems to allow me to sleep. Laying in bed… painful.
I don’t know how long I have been experiencing this pain, I know at least a good six months but I guess a lot more.
How long has the tramadol been masking the pain of recent that I had forgotten about it. It’s like when I had the issues following the kidney stone extraction like 8 years ago.
Mentioned it to my surgeon, mentioned it to the people in the meetings on Monday. No one suggested anything.
So, as soon as the Christie get back to me. I really only want Omar Aziz to agree with Paul O’Loughlin and I will happily go ahead. So that’s where we are at.
-Cam
An honest blog about a guy's journey through cancer and chemotherapy 