A Far Far Better Thing....

Mum at Cliff Richard Concert
Originally uploaded by Menage a Moi.

Well - I did it. I actually went to a Cliff Richard Concert with my mum! Of course it was fine - not really my thing but a very professional show and enjoyable for that. It was nice to be out with her too of course.

G went to see the new James Bond...

I was pretty much OK healthwise ( a bit sore but nothing too bad ) but it took it out of mum and her leg was really playing up by the time we got home. It's still rather sore this morning.

Drove the car for the first time earlier today - just a short trip but it was fine.

Confession

A bit of an uncomfortable night last night - an upset tummy and generally restless. But the wound seems to be sorting itself.

Anyway - the confession. For Christmas last year I bought my mum two tickets for a concert in Newcastle by one of her favourite performers. Since then, I've obviously not been well and she has been ill herself and on a number of occasions it's looked like we might not be able to go.

But we're both a lot better now and the concert is tomorrow night. She and G are coming up this afternoon for a few days.

I shall be wearing a paper bag over my head...

Chelsea Hotel

A better day today. The wound is still playing up a bit but I'm really just leaving ito its own devices. A nice visit from D who was on her way back to Kent from some mutual friends' late wedding party. I'd been invited but didn't feel up to it.

And a lovely evening last night with J and her daughter D who came over and cooked my dinner which was great. We also began planning for the trip to New York I'd promised myself for when I was better. J,B,D and me! Brilliant! Hopefully we'll go in mid-February for my birthday which will coincide with D's 21st. I'm just beginning to check out flights and accommodation - but I really want to stay at The Chelsea Hotel!

Saturday

Feeling a little bit low today. Somehow I've picked up a cold so I'm snuffling all over the place and my wound isn't healing as quickly as I'd hoped - it's still seeping a bit, in spite of having the stitches out yesterday. If it's not sorted by Monday, I'll go back to the hospital and ask them to have a look at it. The nurse at the surgery yesterday wasn't concerned so I'm sure it's nothing.

On the positive side, my tummy seems to be settling a bit. The beans yeterday don't seem to have had any adverse effect.

I hope to be blogging about jollier stuff soon!

Light Blue Toiletpaper...

Stitches out this morning. About a dozen I think. All very straightforward.

The improvement continues - I'm still up a lot in the night which is irritating and having to pop off to the toilet about 10 times a day but I feel I'm getting sorted.

Decided to risk my first beans on toast for ten months for lunch today.

Time will tell...

Going Commando....

Up early this morning for the taxi to the hospital for my liver scan. Nothing to worry about - this is part of the ongoing monitoring process - the secondaries from bowel cancer usually appear in the liver. Basically just an ultrasound scan - the doctor said it looked fine to him, but he'd do the report for Mr B my consultant for when I see him in about six weeks.

Then another taxi to do some shopping ( I'm obsessing over haddock chowder at the moment!) and home an hour ago. Feesl like I've done a full day already!

A good night's sleep and I must have er... lost some wind in the night becasue I can get my trousers on now. Other stuff a bit more regular now - so much so that I took the chance and went nappyless out in to the world this morning. No problems - it's really a matter of getting my confidence back.

The operation site is still quite sore - to be expected I suppose. I have the stitches out on Friday morning.

Home

I got home yesterday afternoon at about 4.00pm. A few catch up calls with family and a lovely lovely bath and J came over at about 6.00. It was so nice to sleep in my own bed last night!

A fairly good night ( up may be four times) and a long lie in after J left this morning.

Overall, I feel so much better then I did on coming out of hospital last time. But I know that that means I have to be even more careful and take things really slowly.

My tummy is still puffed out with wind, which is er...dissipating slowly - lord knows what trouser size I am at the moment. I certainly can't do up any waist bands! Things are also very irregular and I'm still wearing the nappy at night ( much to J's amusement) but I've had no accidents so far. I'm really only eating soup and yoghurt at the moment, although later I mght try one of the mince pies that J left yesterday. I still can't say I'm that hungry though. Funny when I've got such a big tum!

Thank you so much for all your good wishes and messages. I'll catch up on individual emails during the week.

Today, I'm taking it VERY easy...

Touch Wood...

..I should be home later today. My bags are packed - just waiting for The Word.

Feeling good.

Hospital - Day 6

Still feeling a bit sore and my tummy is still all over the place but am definitely on the mend. Originally they said I might go home yesterday but I had really bad stomach cramps so they kept me in. Today they say that my temperature's a bit high..

No point fretting about it.

One hint for others going through a reconnection - don't eat to much too soon - no matter how hungry you feel. Trapped wind is no joke at all!

A Patient's Lot is (not a) Nappy One

Day Three. Felt really uncomfortable when I went to bed last night but actually slept very well and woke feeling good this morning.I'll spare you the gory details of how I am postop. Suffice to say, nothing has settled yet...

Thanks for all your good wishes.

Day Two

I think I did a bit too much this morning - although that really only comprised a shower. As a result I've spent most of the rest of the day sleeping. But if I was able to look back through this blog to last time, I know that I'd see that I was just the same then. My temperature is up a bit but that also happened last time. Feeling OK overall.

Bedblog

Had the operation this afternoon. Am feeling very sore but otherwise 0K.

Mr November

I just got the call from the hospital. There'll be a bed ready for me at 2.00pm.

Last bag changed this morning - no real sense of ceremony, just glad it's ending.

This is it then - I've waited nine months for this.

Closure.

In Neutral

It's official - I now wear glasses for reading! After two years of denial ( and a pair of cheap off the shelf glasses) I had an eye test yesterday which confirmed what I've known for a while. So I put in an order for some real prescription reading glasses which'll be ready by the time I come out of hospital.

A lovely evening with J yesterday. She's been suffering with a tooth abscess which is really painful but it was so good to see her. We played around editing videoclips to go with a piece she's written ( until the software complained - you know how it just goes flaky through overuse? Fine again this morning) and then went out for a nice pub meal.

The stoma has been playing up a bit - sore and achy. The nurse a few days ago thought that it may have herniated a bit which would probably explain things. But its days are numbered...

Today has been quiet (S suggested that it might be like being "In Neutral" - a good description) with calls/emails to friends and family and thinking about what to pack for hospital. (All those trousers I'll be able to wear again afterwards!)

I have to call the hospital at lunchtime tomorrow to find out about my bed so I'll blog in tomorrow morning before I go.

But I'm feeling good.

One Small Step

Not so much a comment on tomorrow as an idea for a video/poem that I've been working on for a while:

Now We Are 5000

While I was away, I passed 5000 hits on the blog! Thanks everybody!

So. Home again. The last weekend with The Bag. (I may have changed it for the last time this morning but it's been playing up so much that I'm keeping quiet about that for the time being...)

A nice evening out last night at my old company's reunion Good to see people - and even though I'm not really a reunions sort of person I'll probably go if they hold another one. Everyone said how well I was looking...

I was going to have my usual counselling session with JF this evening but she has a bit of flu and we agreed that it would probably be better if we didn't meet up. I couldn't bear to be refused the op because of not being well enough! Still, it was a shame not to see her.

It's very cold here tonight so I think I'll have a cosy night in. Maybe just venture out for some Fish and Chips!

Reading the Leaves

Rupert Clamp's tea leaf landscape sculpture
Originally uploaded by grewlike.

Topsy says that these tea leaves augur well for next week. Thanks!

Reporting In from London

On Monday night, for the second night running the bag leaked. Is it trying to tell me something - or am I just getting inadvertently careless?

Two hard days at work in London. My suit has felt tight and uncomfortable, the bag sore. SUCH a relief to finally get back to the hotel and shower each night.

But oh the restorative power of a good Greek meal on Tuesday and an evening at the theatre with friend D last night! Not such a bad life really!

But I'll be glad to be home tomorrow.

A Week Today!

It's suddenly getting very close now - and so an inevitable level of apprehension ( as well as excitement) is creeping in. (As if to make it's own comment on the situation the bag made itself known in the night in not a nice way! Typical eh?)

Anyway - I went for my Pre Op Assessment this morning. The usual tests. Everything's fine. The nurse said I was very healthy! She also said that she thought I'd only be in hospital for about three days as it's essentially just a hernia repair that they're doing.

I'm also going to be in Ward 13 again, which I'm pleased about as that's where I was last time. I'm sure that some of the staff will be the same…

London for the next three days. My head is definitely not focussed on work at the moment.

Catching Up

A quiet day at home on Saturday - a chat with my mum on the phone in the morning and then shopping. But I got very low in the afternoon. Bored and lonely. Not sure what that was about.

In the evening I went out for a meal with my friends C & M ( C is my former boss and M a former work colleague) and some friends of theirs. The chat was great but I'm afraid the meal and the service were a bit disappointing. Ah well.

Today, catching up on stuff at home and a nice call to my friend S in Greece. ( You remember- they were over in the summer?)

A blowy autumnal day here so (other) friend S ( I know, it's confusing - not sure why I started this convention of not naming my friends on here) and I went for a walk around Durham and chatted over cups of tea at her place as it grew dark.

Funny, I was emailing another friend earlier and she said that because she's returning to the States after 30 odd years here, she's got a kind of " last chance to do this before I go .." feeling about things. I've got something similar with my feelings pre op - a weird mixture of "My last chance to do X for a few weeks " - and " When I next do this/talk to this person, I'll be really on the road to recovery!"

Bliss!

Up to Newcastle for my sixweekly haircut and facial last night - bliss! Funny to think that the next time I go up there will be just before Christmas and I should be all sorted!

After that I went down to J's for a late supper and the usual mad happiness. Bit too much wine but who's counting? She's going to see her mum and her uncle this weekend - both of whom are not well at the moment.

And today, a steady day working at home and gearing myself up for next week when I'm away for the whole ( last) week from Tuesday. But it's not all work - I've got a few treats with friends lined up while I'm down there too!

Vanity

Work had a set pictures done of all of the Directors. I don't usually like photos of me, but I was quite pleased with this one.

Would you buy a national evaluation from this man?

No Escape!

Back home again after another trip away and very tired tonight.

I'm still not dealing with the normal stresses of work very well - my train down to Coventry yesterday morning was late and that made me late and anxious about a meeting. Just the usual sort of stuff but somehow harder at the moment.

But a lovely supper with J's daughter D in Leeds last night. I'm always so chuffed that her bright beautiful daughters are OK about spending time with me.

And so the countdown to hospital continues. I'm glad to see that the moblog worked - you won't be able to escape me even from my hospital bed!