... well, we met the Uroligist in Liverpool and he was a very nice man. Our plane from our tiny island to Liverpool was 4 hours delayed due to fog in Liverpool - bad luck or what? We arrived at the clinic in Liverpool and the surgeon had actually waited - he and us were the only people there! He spent quite alot of time with us too explaining exactly what the options were and that whatever we decided it needed to be done quickly and he was willing to alter his schedule to accommodate - really nice man, we were both willing it to work. Andrew has, right from the beginning, wanted the 'neo bladder' option. (For friends and family who are not familiar with this, it means building a new bladder from a length of the small intestine). The surgeon openly told us that he was more familiar with the 'ileal conduit', which is a bag worn on the outside of the body) and had only performed 4 of the neo bladder ops this year. Andrew asked him 'what would you do if you were me'? He said he woud opt for the bag as it meant less complications and quicker recovery. We asked him for 3 days to think it over. We left the hospital and flew to Fuerteventura - great sunshine, wonderful friends and a great big decision greeted us. What to choose? NHS and just a 25 minute flight from home or Mayo Clinic in USA - 24 hour journey by the time you add the 2 flights and commute. The surgeon at the Mayo is well praticed at neo-bladder surgery and has kept in touch with us via email & texts since the biopsy in June. We emailed him and asked him the same question 'what would you do? He replied (even though he was on holiday) Neo Bladder!
Andrew had enough info to make the big decision - it was to be the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, USA and the op will take place on Oct 2nd.
We arrived home from our short but wonderful holiday in Fuerteventura today and we leave for USA in just 4 days time - just enough time for me to get our stuff turned around - say hi and bye to our good friends and neighbours and cut Jordie's nails (the cat)... who is not happy with us at all and try and sort out life for my 90 year old dad who lives with us.
I have not had much time to sit and ponder - I know we are in for a long slog - but I am very positive and I feel we are doing the right thing even though it is not the most convenient.
I will write again as soon as we get ourselves sorted in Rochester, USA. A million thanks to you all for every bit of love and support.
T
x
