And so begins a pivotal week, the most important week, in our married life. We enjoyed our Easter break but now it is back to reality. We remain positive but little slips of the tongue –Val using the past tense – show where our thoughts are taking us. I would describe my mind set as hoping for the best but anticipating the worst. As enjoyable as our Easter was, seeing family and friends, it was difficult to banish the thought “will this be the last time that…” How can I talk about that to Val or family members? The upside is there can be no doubt that we both have the love and support of our family and friends which is priceless and a source of strength.
Today, April 18th, we are back on the hospital trail as Val has to go to Redditch Hospital for a blood test. This blood test will be used for ensuring there is an accurate match for any blood she may need during the operation.
Wednesday April 19th, the day before the operation. Today is all about preparing to take Val to the hospital for her admission at 6.00pm. I can’t imagine how I will feel saying goodbye to her. A strange day that we managed to fill with busyness but how quickly the hours passed. Jason our eldest son called in and then James our youngest son arrived mid-afternoon . He had brought some ready meals prepared by our daughter-in-law Jane and some presents for Val.
We arrived at the hospital in good time and sat in as the staff nurse completed the paperwork. He confirmed that Val was first on the list and was almost certainly going to be in Intensive care after the operation. It was suggested at 12.00 to find out whether Val was out of theatre and that we should plan to be at the hospital for the start of visiting at 3.00.
Thursday April 20th the day of the operation. Can time pass so slowly? Val’s biggest fear was that she would wake up after the operation to be told that the surgeon had not been able to do anything.
Six long hours later the operation was over and the Beast was vanquished. The surgeon had done everything that he had set out to do. The tumour, and Val’s bladder, had been removed and the tumour had been scraped off her pelvic bone and sterilised by use of a laser. Lymph nodes have been removed and effectively a hysterectomy performed.
We know that she is not out of the woods yet and there will inevitably be some bumps along the road as that’s life, but she is the right side of the operation with the outcome that we all wanted.
When I saw her in ITU she had a temperature and was shivering which the nurse said was usual after such a long operation. Over the course of the next two hours her condition noticeably improved and she was laughing and talking and seemed to have rediscovered her mojo. At one point I leant over her and told her that the operation had been a success but she shook her head and said no it hadn’t. I repeated that the operation had been a success and put my thumb up and was rewarded by a huge smile that lit up her face, We all now have something to build on.
