Update and Next Steps 28/11/2020

Yesterday was my the date for my Sigmoidoscopy at the Nuffield in Newcastle.

I got a quick phone call from them about midday asking if I could attend a little earlier so I was to now get there for 15:00. As my anxiety was at its highest so a little earlier suited me fine, get it over and done with quicker was my thinking.
Kerry and I set off from home at about 14:30 and got there about a quarter hour early, we just sat in the car with her reassuring me it was going to be okay. Since COVID-19, you aren’t allowed to be in a hospital unless you are the one having the operation/procedure. I know it’s for safety’s sake but jesus it’s truly not fair to take away people’s support like that. It SUCKS! but hey ho.
I get to reception and in typical fashion, they couldn’t, then could, then couldn’t find me on the system and then found it again, I had to de-mask, sanitise and then put on a fresh mask from their stocks. I was given a folder with my name on it and asked to go to the second floor.

When the lift doors opened onto the ward, I was greeted by the nursing staff and taken to my room. (Yeah baby private care) and just told to sit down and relax a bit.

I took the time to fill in some paperwork and my mind went completely blank on the first question. Consultant’s name and could I bollocks remember his name. I filled in the rest with hope someone would say his name and I could slyly fill it in.
Thankfully someone did. Dr Hainsworth, Dr Hainsworth COMMIT TO MEMORY FFS CAM!
Anyways, I was given some scrubs to change into and the most hilarious pair of shorts, these thankfully came with instructions that were contrary to my thinking,
‘hole goes at the back.’ Oh yeah. That IS why I am in here.

I get changed and comfy on my bed. I’m just relaxing texting with Kerry and I then have a myriad of visitors to my room, starting with my consultant welcoming me, reassuring me and running me through the procedure.
I then met nurses that will care for me in the evening, then the anesthetist came in next and when you’re having any sort of procedure under a general they need to go through any medication you’re on with a fine tooth comb, one would assume that this is to prevent accidentally killing you.
For this reason they called in a diabetic carer in because of the medical study drugs I am on, when I had explained that I have 2000mg of Metformin a day, it’s a large shock to them, most diabetics don’t take that much, a quarter of that is my understanding, they just wanted to see that my blood sugars are normal before putting me under. It’s taken a while to get me to the maximum dosage of metformin, like probably 6-9 months when I think about it.
Anyhoo, the test did come out normally and after texting Kerry for a bit more and letting the family know in the WhatsApp group I get the call that we are going to the operating theatre.

I do my usual trick of laughing and joking with the theatre staff, it’s my way of dealing with stuff when I am stressed out, just like when having the port installed and laughing through the pain, it may put people on the back foot a little but it’s my coping mechanism.

Needless to say, I can remember much more other than coming round in recovery and getting a little good news.
I had to have a tube down my throat and I couldn’t really speak to the staff but I did my best to say my thank yous and I was wheeled back to the ward.

I grab my phone and let Kerry know I was awake and sore but alive. I just flicked on the TV for some background noise and dozed off a little bit.
I then got a visit about an hour later from the consultant Dr Hainsworth and he and I discussed what had happened during the procedure.

They found fissures just as they predicted and dealt with them there and then, cleaned them out they then packed them and they expect them to heal normally. They are going to follow up in 6 weeks and if there are any further problems, I also have to call them in the interim if there are issues. Nice to have contingency in there.

So that’s the good news. Now onto the fucking great news.

Dr Hainsworth told me that he found no evidence of any cancer in my bowel. Scar tissue sure, but no signs whatsoever.

This pleases me. It’s like the best Birthday and Christmas present a guy could ask for.
At this time of blogging, I haven’t heard from Dr Pedley (My oncologist) on the results of my recent CT Scan. It’s the weekend now. I will text him on Monday if I haven’t heard from him and usually replies or calls me pretty rapidly.
It would have been nice to be able to have given the results of this but I have always lived by the ‘No news is good news’ adage.
I’ll blog the results when I get them.

I’ve got antibiotics for the next 5 days. I am to isolate for the next couple of weeks. I mean… No great hassle as I was shielding anyways so no great change there.
It’s nice to hear some good news. I hope to get some good news from Dr Pedley that I’ve incubated my lung cancers enough to treat them with SABR and we can get these fucking freeloaders out of my body for good.

Perhaps it’s going to be a good christmas after all.

Anyways, that’s enough for now. I’m a little battered and bruised. I’m not in pain per se, I’m just sore. Time will tell and heal with a bit of hope.

I’ll keep you posted.

– C