31 October 2023

A comfy, state of the art adjustable bed, a shower so powerful that a small tidalwave made a bid for freedom half way down the corridor, lovely people waiting on me hand and foot with drugs, food and drink… yup, I’m back in the Hotel Lister.

You know when you are blowing up a balloon and probably should stop when it gets to a sensible size but you decide to see just how much bigger you can inflate it? Well my abdomen has had the same idea over the last few days. And the accompanying pain has reached new highs (or should that be lows?), reducing me to invalid status and meaning that I can’t even sit up without help – and squeals of agony. Not cool. So when a fever also joined the party in my body yesterday my friendly team of colorectal nurses said that the only option was ‘A and E: The Sequel’. Except that it was basically a repeat of last week’s episode: writhing with pain on the blue plastic chairs with 100 other people until the nurse took pity on me and upgraded me to the squishy recliners and peaceful setting of Majors, seeing the gynae doc in the middle of the night ( ‘Ah, you again! I knew you’d be back!’ Thanks…), waiting until almost morning to be transferred to a ward. But this time I found myself wheeled into a private room, with walls and a door and everything. Pure joy.

And further positivity: a more sustainable plan for pain relief was suggested (anything had to be better than ‘keep her high on random double doses of morphine’), plus they have decided that my case should be discussed not just in the colorectal MDT tomorrow morning but in the gynae one tomorrow afternoon, thus considering the full picture and fully acknowledging the havoc that the secondary ovarian baddie is wreaking. I’m going to be kept in until a full plan is made and tomorrow evening’s private hospital appointment with the oncologist will happen by video link. Genius.

‘The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; He will save, He will rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in His love, He will joy over thee with singing.’ Zephaniah 3:17

28 OCTOBER 2023