I have decided to create this blog as much to make sense of things for my sense as to get it out there in the chance it may help others, or you may even have similar experiences that we can share!
It all started in August 2010 when I went to visit my GP because I 'just wasn't right'. I had no pain but had gone off my food - only cornettos had any appeal! I had slight discomfort in my left side which I put down to constipation (I am no stranger to this anyway). As a teacher i was used to feeling wiped out at the end of term but this felt different - I was so lethargic I just couldn't motivate myself to do anything.
So on Wednesday 4th August i trotted off to see my GP who was horrified to see how yellow I had become and queried how long I had been that way. I had spent the whole weekend previous and the days up to then on my own virtually so hadn't actually noticed my new Marge Simpson look-alike!
He examined me and dispatched me post haste to my local hospital for immediate blood tests, explaining that it could be a problem with my gall bladder or liver - didn't even think to be concerned, even when the doctor at the hospital examined me and decided that I should be admitted for 'observation'.
There followed a whole month in an orthopedic ward (no beds on a surgical ward - with a drain in my liver to get the biliruben levels down and every scan known to establish what was wrong. I was also playing the National Health 'Stay where you are or you'll loose your place in the bed queue'! I needed to be transferred to another hospital for the Whipple procedure required to remove the tumour which they were sure was lurking at the bottom of my bile duct. The word cancer was not part of the dialogue.
I met my new consultant on 1st September who filled me in with his diagnosis and treatment - I was to go home to be admitted to The Royal London on Sunday 5th September for the Whipple operation on the 6th - and here was me thinking it would be another long wait. I went home feeling very institutionalised, carrying my drain into the liver and with enormous reservations.
