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Back to see the consultant today. Made the choice for surgery but now I have to choose stoma or orthotopic bladder. I had thought stoma, but he made the bladder substitute sound more appealing than I'd thought.However, if I want the latter, I need to have another biopsy, this time of the bladder/urethra area to check it's healthy.
A long chat with the consultant, followed by a session with a specialist nurse. I've come home with a goodie bag of samples & leaflets.
Whichever I choose...
After having her grade 3 Anaplastic Astrocytoma debulked again in January my beautiful daughter stevie had a stroke. After rehab she was able to walk and talk again, but unfortunately the poor wee soul caught pnuemonia and has spent the last 3 months in hospital. Before going into a rehabilitation unit we were told that she had swelling on her brain, that was 4 weeks ago and we are waiting for an appointment to start her Chemo. Stevie is coming home next weekend as they cant do anymore for her, she...
Well, all those who've told me about Macmillans these past few weeks have been right on the ball!
I emailed them yesterday as they have a support centre inside Southampton Hospital itself. Within about fifteen minutes a response came back which was out of this world! I have been welcomed with open arms and the mail sounded wonderfully sincere. I've been offered all kinds of support and help and can't believe it after the koos-och-tech breast care(?) nurses here (apologies to anyone that...
Well folks, time to finish the packing (done in the mornings when I'm relatively pain free) and closing up shop here in Ireland after being a resident for 17 and a half years. It'll feel sad to leave, and even more scary to be living alone for chemo - but I already have some support lined up......unlike Ireland support is there in the UK - and I hope there are not any nurses like in the breast cancer unit in Cork - otherwise it'll be out of the frying pan and into the fire !
Macmillan...
Just taken painkillers and hope to be active in about half an hour. Sadly, it seems my life has to be arranged around the few pain free hours I have every morning. Now down to packing, clearing up a little (amazing how much one gathers in just a few short weeks) - most of it papers, papers, papers.....bonfire time!
Thankfully nothing has to be packed perfectly; I've got a few boxes which have been here for some time - that we sent over from India and some that I left here with books etc...in. It...
Took painkiller just prior to leaving the house this morning and by the time we got to the hospital I was anesthetized and wavering along the corridors like a soton student on a Friday night :-) MRI was uneventful as the nice man doing them was wonderful. We talked about the idle PET scanner which I found out was close to his heart, and the fact that it had been installed 3 and a half years back and the hospital kept saying no to employing ......three administrators...talk about criminal, as there...
Well, it's finally warming up in Ireland....though they say it's been warm for a few days - up here on the mountain you wouldn't know ... go down to the valley and it's hotter. Loads of rain and wind from 7 o clock last night, thrashing the TV ariel around and making viewing almost impossible...snow storm and noise time, all night!
Gawd knows what it'll be like on chemo, but I tell you something, I've already had a rotten ulcerated mouth and last night....well, I won't spoil your...
To just get a couple of messages from people that you love and people that love you, helps me to get this fight off the ground again. I've had so many messages here and by email and when I feel bad, I re-read them. Sometimes they only help me to remember that someone really does care, or at other times, they help me to get up off this fat ass and try harder.
To have people that you love dearly, is the most wonderful thing on earth. Some of these friendships are only a couple of weeks old and...
Nothing in life ever goes to plan really, does it? Now, having been looking at and chasing up a place to live from Estate Agents websites for Eastleigh area or Southampton itself, I am at a loss. Housing rent allowance will only be 460 for me - my son will never count as far as what they will allow me to have rent allowance for of course, so I can only go for a 1 bedroomed place, or a two if I can find another 200-250 a month from out of the sky, to pay for the rent each month.
Guess I've been...
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