What lead to this next hospital stay on February 8th was that I woke up feeling very uncomfortable in my stomach area, feeling stabbing pains and that I didn’t really want to eat. I managed to get an emergency doctor’s appointment in Bracknell, where after being checked out, he arranged to send me to Frimley again to attend the SAU ward. So my wife quickly took me home, again packed a bag quickly and she took me in to Frimley.
Once I arrived I was checked in with the usual blood test results and had a covid swab to be tested (this would determine where I actually got a bed, depending on if I was negative or positive). I also went off for another CT scan with contrast. This CT scan showed that there was an increased inflammatory change around the tumour but it did not involve the biliary tree. I was given antibiotics whilst on the ward (and upon discharge some to take at home) and another iron infusion to once again boost my haemoglobin levels.
I was discharged on February 10th, with the plan to come back the following day to Frimley Park to have a colonoscopy in the afternoon (thankfully I could do the bowel prep at home rather than in hospital). Also that Royal Surrey Hospital in Guildford would be in touch to arrange a PET scan with me for further investigations.
The colonoscopy results came back to diagnose me with a malignant colonic tumour (subject to histology tests being completed) with 6 biopsies being taken. If you are squeamish I would definitely recommend that you make sure you close your eyes when having a colonoscopy or take off your glasses, as in the room where I was there were 2 screens linked to the camera on the probing device, therefore I could see my insides, thankfully without my glasses on, it wasn’t clear. I would also recommend taking the sedatives offered, as those made everything feel a lot more comfortable than I think it would have otherwise have been.
I then had the PET scan (with a radioactive contrast, being advised not to go near pregnant women or young children for a few hours, that was an odd feeling thinking I was radioactive) at Guildford on February 18th (results showed that the cancer had not spread) and I was referred to Royal Berkshire Hospital to meet with an oncologist.
