Tuesday 27 November 2012

The Following Days

Hot flushes. Bloody hell. Instant menopause, fabulous. Luckily Mr Devaja prescribed HRT right away. I was glad as there had been a possibility because of the history of Breast Cancer in my family that I wouldn't be allowed it.
I feel different somehow. Don't know how to describe it. In my mind there is just a space where my womb used to be. I will never produce any eggs, never have a period again. Some people said "Oh lucky you, no periods ever again", but periods in a woman show you your body is working properly and that you are "normal".

The doctors told me they had got all the tumour and surrounding tissue, but I had to wait to get the results of the lymph nodes they removed.

I started to move around a bit more and even managed a bath. By now all the tubes were out of my neck and belly and the catheter had been removed. I still had a couple of lines in my arm for different medications. pain relief wise I was taking Paracetamol and Oramorph, which tastes absolutely foul.
On the Monday I started to feel very ill. I felt like I was coming down with a really bad dose of flu. I had a temperature, was shivering uncontrollably and was in a lot of pain on my left side in my pelvis. The nurses bleeped the drs as my temp was so high I was hallucinating. Mr Devaja came and booked me in for an immediate CT scan. I had more bloods taken and they called Dylan in.
I went for the scan and it revealed I had a collection of fluid sitting in my pelvis, which appeared to be infected. They needed to aspirate it as soon as possible so straight away I went down to ultrasound. The Consultant met me there and explained what he was going to do. He was going to use the ultrasound to guide him while he inserted a long needle into my vagina and through the wall to where the fluid was sitting. This needed to be done immediately and I would have to have it done with no anaesthetic. Lovely.
Dylan stood behind me and held both my hands. The pain was absolutely unbearable, probably the worst pain I have ever experienced. I swore at the top of my voice. The poor patients sitting outside waiting for their painless ultrasounds must of wondered what the hell was going on! The procedure took 10 minutes and was hell. But afterwards apart from the pain from the procedure my temperature had gone and I felt 80% better. The nurses gave me a sticker which read "I've been brave!" LOL.

We went back to the ward and had a visit from our good friend Darren. He is an ambulance technician and was at the hospital working. Thank God he visited then and not 40 minutes earlier as I wouldn't have even known him!

The nurses gave me some morphine IV and I slept peacefully for the first time in ages!

A few more days went by and I had visits from my Mum & Dad in-law, brother in-law, brother, Aunty, Nan and Sam & Jo from work. One night my in-laws and I planned our ideal dinner party choosing people like Grace Kelly and Stephen Fry to attend! It was good not to think of what was to come for a while.
The ward was very busy and there was a very noisy woman opposite me. She had come in with a urine infection. She had her husband and kids to visit during the day and her boyfriend at night! That gave us all something to gossip about.

On the Thursday a week after my operation I was allowed home. Dylan came to collect me and the first thing I did was have a bath.
I spent the next few days in agony as I was very constipated and the pain was awful. That thankfully passed and I began to get a little more mobile.

I just have the wait now for the lymph node results.

No comments:

Post a Comment