On Friday 21 March, met up with Doctor Kumar at UCLH who is conducting research on the muscles of the rectum in different situations. My contribution is 'before' and 'after' radiotherapy. My R/T starts on Wednesday 26 March, so this was the 'before' stage.
Finally got to my appointment 5 minutes late and he whisked me straight in. First, the consent form: did I know why he was doing the research…
On 6 March, had my scan and 2nd pre RT planning meeting at UCLH. A 10.30 appointment, and I was seen within 10 minutes. A young lady nursing assistant asked me if I’d done my ‘bowel prep’. I hadn’t but had a couple of micro enemas to hand. Ten minutes later, I was good to go and then went, emptying my rectum. Having tidied me up, the next stage was having my photo taken, presumably so I could be identified easily.…
Up at the crack of 7.00 am, on February 25th, to travel UCLH in Euston Square, for my first pre RT appointment. It was timed at 10.00am and I was seen almost immediately by Nurse Beata (I think). Had I been told the potential side effects such as diarrhoea? Yes, but I should pay close attention as she was going to explain how to minimise the risks. Did I know how to self-administer an enema? Well, she was going to tell…
My follow up with the consultant involved regular blood tests to monitor the PSA level. My initial appointment in August 2005, showed the reading was <0.1, too small to register. Every six months, a blood test confirmed the reading, until 2012, when a reading of 0.1 showed that there was some sort of activity. The next two readings stayed at 0.1 then it rose to 0.2. The consultants started to talk about radio therapy…
The surgeon had closed the operation scar in my tummy with metal clips (there were also metal clips inside me but I didn’t learn about those until later). I booked an appointment with my GP nurse, about six weeks later. When I turned up, she asked if I had any medical pliers, which I should have been given by the hospital. Well, I didn’t so had to go back to the ward where I’d recovered from the operation. The nurse was…
