So, no diary yesterday as I was in the hospital having the PEG feeding tube done in preparation for treatments starting next week. I have spoken before about how I wasn't looking forward to it, nothing much changed my mind before I went in. Unfortunately it took 5 or 6 attempts to get a bloody cannula in me to give the sedative (at this point I thought it was going to be full general anesthetic). After about the fourth attempt I was ready to walk - in fact it was only my wife being there that stopped me from doing exactly that. Fortunately one of the doctors from the team doing the procedure was at hand and managed to get the thing in on the first attempt.
They explained the procedure (camera down the throat to the stomach, inflate stomach, local anesthetic and then a wire is pushed through the abdominal wall into the stomach and the feeding tube is pulled back through) and why they wanted to do it. I was the wheeled off (well, after another wait) to the procedure room and given the sedative. Fortunately I realised too late that I wasn't being put to sleep (I dreaded the thought of being awake) but the sedative kicked in so fast I never really got a chance to worry. Duly away with the fairies (to coin a phrase) they then proceeded to push the camera down my throat. This was a odd feeling - especially when I had to swallow it - but to be honest I was too engrossed at the picture on the screen from the camera to really notice. It was one of those things I think you have to be sedated and properly relaxed to appreciate, but there was something fascinating about see the inside of your own stomach. Either way I didn't really notice the wire and tube pulling part, as by this point I was virtually asleep.
But I made it through it, removal is as simple as removing some saline from the end of the tube and it being simply pulled out - apparently the hole in the stomach only takes half an hour to fill back in. Thats another worry gone then.
Post procedure the worst part was getting the gas they pump you with out - you feel incredibly bloated (and a bit sore) and rather sick. In the end I had to get up and walk around the ward and adjoining corridors to encourage it out - I'm sure the other patients enjoyed my gastric melodys :-)
I slept rather poorly, I never sleep well on the first night in a new place - it takes me a while to get used to a new bed anyway - but a hospital ward is never an easy place to sleep I find. I got a few hours, but thats about it, I am paying the price today. I've not felt like eating much either - I still feel bloated and sore and just nor hungry. I will have to have a couple of supplement drinks to fill the gaps.
It was good to talk to some fellow cancer suffers too, there were a couple of very friendly guys in the ward who had either been through or were going through the same things I am. It was a mixed bag to share the experiences, one was good, one was not (being terminal now) but both were full of humour and laughter despite what they were going through. This always gives me a lift, I think it shows just how human people can be, it shows the best of us I think that we can face such adversity and smile still.
