Surgery went well. It’s gone – thanks to the wonderful Mr Shackcloth.
Thanks for all your support. Love to each and every one you xxx
Category: Surgery
18 days of mayhem and discombobulation #Sarcoma
18 days ago I arrived at Broadgreen Hospital, excited but scared for the day ahead. 27th March 2014 is a date that will be forever etched into my memory. This was the date of my first operation to remove sarcoma from my lungs. As I was sat being poked, prodded and being drawn on, I received the devastating news that Johns dad had passed away at 08:30 that morning. I went ahead with the planned surgery as I knew we had a tough few weeks ahead. I woke up groggy but relieved to have got through the surgery and I was ecstatic to learn that the surgeon had successfully completed a middle lobectomy. I spent a day in HDU being monitored and the following day my surgeon visited me three times. He was so pleased with my progress that he agreed to perform the second surgery, on my left lung two weeks later……YES – TWO weeks! I was booked in for 11th April.
Last week I received the awesome news that the tumour that was removed was dead….it was obliterated by the chemo. At this stage I decided to proceed with the second operation on 11th, as I didn’t want any remnants of tumours left in my body. I wanted it gone.
So I had a busy week of signing consent forms, check ups, stitches out, organising, packing and not forgetting the most important event – John Mccloskey’s funeral (before you panic, John had the same name as his dad!)
On Friday I returned to the private suite at Broadgreen ready for round two. I didn’t cry all morning and was really good….until I got into the pre anaesthetic room 🙂
Post operative discombobulation
So what do you do when you wake up after an op? Cry, ask questions, want a drink? No, Not me. I woke up and vaguely remember telling my surgeon I loved him….*Groans* It haunts me just like a vodka fuelled night of partying….one that I would like to forget!
Best Birthday Gift….ever FACT
So after quickly erasing the declaration of love for my surgeon from my memory, I returned to my bed. The realisation hit me, I was cancer free….and what better present could anyone give to their parent? Yep, it was my dad’s birthday and after he’d spent the day working, being at the hospital with me and watching warrington Wolves lose (again) I think it’s safe to say that this was the best present he’d had.
Rest
So I’ve been resting and I plan to do more of the same for the next few days. I’m getting stronger each day and I know that this will soon be a distant memory and all the paid will have been worth it.
Goodnight everyone xx
P.s here’s the gorgeous card Jorja Clarke made for me 🙂 I particularly love my green ‘sick’ face
Standing up to Cancer… #Sarcoma
It’s been 13 days since I had the surgery on my lungs. Whilst I am in a little pain, I am doing really well and am pleased with my progress.
My wonderful surgeon has just called me to confirm that they have analysed the tumour that was removed and……the cancer cells were completely destroyed. This is fantastic news and means that the chemo did a brilliant job!
I still have one very small tumour on my left lung and I have decided to continue with the next operation to remove it. It’s more psychological but I do not want to leave a single tumour in my body that could come back to life. So on that note, I will be back in the suite at Broadgreen on Friday!
Thinking of friends
Whilst I have had success with my cancer treatment, not everyone has been that lucky. There are a few people who are having it rough and I just want to say don’t give up! There are lots of treatments available and sometimes you have to try a few to find the one that suits you.
Take care and I’ll update soon xx
One week on…. #Sarcoma
Well it’s been a week since I woke up dazed, confused and high on morphine after having a middle lobectomy. I didn’t like the morphine and the fact it gave me bizarre hallucinations – I felt like I’d had a bad space cake!
It’s been a hard week. I have felt extremely tired and haven’t been out of the house much. I’m in constant pain which is managed with over 28 tablets a day…. My discharge information states I should do nothing for the first week, I mean how is that possible? I need to cook, clean and eat etc.
The pain is getting easier so I’m hoping to be on track for op number two next week.
Not much else to report so I’m signing off now. I’ll do a post in a few days to update on the Sarcoma Big Conversation event that I attended last week.
Night x
Through the keyhole… #Sarcoma #Cancer
Hello everyone,
Today I met the man who will, in a short while, be saving my life – my wonderful surgeon. He’s explained that he will be doing two operations on me, the first being on my right lung. The tumour is close to my chest wall but as I have no pain at all he is confident that it’s a straightforward procedure which will see him remove the middle lobe of my lung. This will be achieved via keyhole surgery. In the unlikely event that he can’t do this he will slice me open good and proper, move my ribs (ouch!!) and get to the little bugger that way. He said that 1/20 surgeries like this can’t be achieved with keyhole. In the even unliklier event that the tumour is attached to the chest wall then he may remove a rib or two (bigger ouch) Either way I don’t care as long as it’s out of me.
The second surgery will be to remove the one met that remains in my left lung. Yes you did read that correctly. One has gone!!!!! He said that the one that’s left could be the dregs of one tumour or may even be scar tissue. I was so pleased with this as I thought I still had two there. The second surgery will be taken once I’ve recovered from the first one.
Private Healthcare
I am not having the surgery on the NHS as going private will get me an earlier date. Hopefully the surgeon will call me in the morning to confirm a date, apparently Theatre is quite quiet at the moment!
Thinking of Friends
On a final note, I’m genuinely shocked by the amount of friends/family that have been diagnosed with cancer recently. You are all in my thoughts and keep fighting
Night from hell….?
I thought I would share the story of the surreal night with cat lady
Let me explain who we all are;
Cat lady – admitted yesterday
Ellen – is me!
Evelyn, Ivy, Elsie, Helen – is actually Ellen….
15:00 nurse appears and said she needs to clarify her (Cat lady’s) details before her surgery. Within 5 minutes cat woman had shared her story about her Gym (get off the number 81 opposite Morrisons and theres our gym) now at this stage i am quietly playing on the iPad minding my own business when I hear her telling the nurse about Zumba and the other classes. I then heard a bit of a shuffling sound so I couldn’t resist a peak…lo and behold, she was up showing the nurse her Zumba Gold moves. I honestly can’t do this scene justice with words so you will just have to trust me when I say that it was the funniest thing I have ever seen….
17.45 “do you know Speke?” Me “no” carry on reading, John “Yes” I had no sympathy for him when she waffled on for 15 minutes about Morrisons, the gym and the number 81….
18.15 me and John are snuggling up and she came over and thrust cordial in our face “do you like cordial”, us “No”, “have you seen my baby?” To which she went and got a picture of her cat “she loves getting in my bed she does….(more waffling which we are not listening to)….and my pussy licked my nose” at this point she caught our attention but we just stared at her in disbelief. Our Mikes face was a picture when we shared this story…
19.30 to John “hey Ron….”
20:00 “your leg looks funny” gee thanks cat lady, your bowl cut looks funny but I’m far politer than you….
21:00 – cat lady’s daughter was insistent on tucking my feet in to keep me warm. Surprised she didn’t get in for a snuggle….
22:00 – cat lady “Ellen, Evelyn Can I close the curtains? I can’t sleep with them open, my partner sleeps in a separate room beca….” Me “just close the curtains, it’s fine”
23:00 – “Ellen, how’s your leg” before I could answer she continued with rumblings about my swelling and how it compared with her shoulder….my thought ‘Shoot me now!!’
23:40 – “my cat is the boss, we call him furball or fish face….” Erm ok, leave me to go to sleep and stop talking shit.
01:00 – I attempted to sneak for a wee but she heard me-even over her thunderous snoring “hey Ellen, where you going” oh how I wanted to respond to say “I’m off pole dancing” or “hiking get the number 81 to Speke” I know every single stop on the route of the number 81 by the way….
06:00 I was soundly asleep when I heard “El, you know, I suffer from incontinence, they gave me these tiddy nappies” (clearly displayed with hand gestures) “but I brought me own” one of which was immediately thrust into my face. She then proceeded to try to find the name of the brand on the crotch of her ‘nappy thing’ but couldn’t. I told her to go and put the bleeder on before turning over in disbelief. Woman, do I look like I know brands of incontinence pads? No, I’m twenty bloody nine…
08:15 CW “hey El, is that leg brace your own or from the hospital?”
ME “It’s mine, I didn’t exactly plan this”
CW “So what ‘ave you ‘ad done?”
ME “Cancer in my leg”
CW “I know how you feel, I have a frozen leg….”
09:00 “my doctors asked why I slept with so many pillows so I told him that I can’t sleep flat”. I spat my water out at this one as I just couldn’t stop laughing, she should seriously be on stage…
09:15 “my wee smells of fish”
Ellen better get out of the shower now because I can not cope another second with this woman…
I’m sure you will all agree that last night has been one hell of an experience and I think I am due an award from the queen…
****update****
I was just checking this post when a nurse came in and spoke to cat woman. When you will hear this you will understand why I am considering making a complaint to the NHS…
Nurse “after your op we will transfer you to the day ward as you will be going home tonight”
CW “Why? I thought I was in ’til 23rd”
Nurse “we put that date on your board as you are a day case but you came in a day early and we didn’t now why you came in”
CW “What do you mean?”
Nurse “you should have only come in this morning and you will be going home tonight”
Last day in hospital?
Had a bad night last night with chest pains. The doctors came out and did various tests on me, his conclusion was that I had pulled a muscle using the crutches 😦
Needless to say I didn’t get a lot of sleep so was a tad grumpy this morning. Was soon laughing at the lovely nurses here in Broadgreen. There was only me and Ellen in the ward last night. Ellen is a 79 year old who has just had a new knee and she is lovely, funny and has a soft spot for my John…! 🙂
Our world was shattered at the arrival of a crazy lady today. I think my ears are going to fall off…..she keeps calling Ellen Helen, keeps calling me Ellen, calling John Ron and keeps slipping Elsie in amongst these. You have to laugh but good Lord, I’m shutting the curtains tonight! Even putting my ear phones in to watch the X Factor Results didn’t prevent her from talking to me…!
Had a lovely visit from my sister Sue and my gorgeous nephews, Dan and Adam this afternoon, they ate all the Thornton chocolates that Bev Hope bought me 😉
John took me on a date to the cafe 🙂 we had tea and it was far nicer than the hospital food. We then snuggled on the sofa and…..I snoozed on him. 🙂 he truly has been amazing throughout this nightmare.
Our Mike then turned up and I made them both stay til the end of visiting to endure the crazy lady and her daughter as I felt it was cruel to leave me alone with them!
My leg is really swollen so I am hoping that they can get a stocking long enough for me (I can’t be the tallest person they have ever had in here can I?!) so that I can go home tomorrow.
Well wish me luck for getting through the night with crazy cat lady….
Goodnight
War wounds
Battered and bruised after all my injections and cannulas..
Physio…
Well, I mastered the stairs this morning!!! As far as physio are concerned they will discharge me, just need a stocking to help reduce my swelling. If the stocking only comes on Monday then I may only be released then.
Fingers crossed its today!
Stand up to Cancer…
standing up to cancer
Have had my new leg brace fitted which I will need to wear for at least 8 weeks…need to think of a christening outfit to match now 🙂
Today is Stand up to Cancer day, thanks to everyone who is sharing my blog. This cancer is rare and when I was diagnosed I just wanted to hear from real life people who had experienced it, so if I can help just one person then I will be happy.
Night all
Chapter 2 