3rd trip to the NHNN in London.
Hey all, hope everyone following had a good Christmas period.
Mine was pretty good even with upcoming surgery hanging over me. Met a few old
friends and had plenty of time with the family. Unfortunately Rene has a cold
so im not allowed to see her pre-op. Having the question ‘so what are you up to
now?’ asked over and over again became a bit much to answer. I think because
the way I cope with cancer day to day is to not think about it, pretend it’s
not really happening. But telling people and seeing their reaction brings it
back. My new therapist seems to think putting it all to the back of my mind and
pretending it’s not really happening apart from important times such as medical
appointments is the best way of coping so I’ll carry on like that, haven’t done
any reading or research about it for a couple weeks.
8th of January, one week away from my craniotomy I
went back up to London for the pre-op assessment. 5:50am train and got home at
11pm. These day trips to London aren’t the easiest. I had an hours sleep that
night and the muggy head made it hard to concentrate throughout the day in the
meetings.
I had a general health check, lifestyle questions, more ECG’s, blood pressure tests, blood tests for CRP, kidney function, donor status and some other stuff such as neurological exams. The nurse said my CRP is probably high because of my IBS. Good news is my cardiologist gave me the all clear for surgery.
I had a general health check, lifestyle questions, more ECG’s, blood pressure tests, blood tests for CRP, kidney function, donor status and some other stuff such as neurological exams. The nurse said my CRP is probably high because of my IBS. Good news is my cardiologist gave me the all clear for surgery.
I was then met by one of the neurosurgery team to discuss
all the risks and expected side effects of surgery in order to sign a consent
form. The risks ranged from infection to strokes of course all pretty low
probability. The expected side effects are varying temporary neurological
deficits, motor control, speech, memory etc that will take time to recover
from. High risk of more seizures due to air touching brain apparently and then
the definite effect of wound pain and headaches that last a few weeks. Not really
any surprises there though. I feel quite trapped with this coming so fast with
no way of escaping it. I’m not looking forward to the few weeks of struggling
after or going back on the steroids.
On the upside I had an incredible surprise when a friend of
mine from the hospital I was on placement at visited me with a card and cheque
for a ridiculous amount of money that the department had raised in order for me
to on my bucket list holiday to the northern lights in Norway after I have
recovered from treatment. The kindness people are showing me is more than I could
imagine.
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