I’d been having regular checks of the flap (the new roof of my mouth made from shoulder) – they would look at it, feel it for temperature, then use a ‘Doppler’ machine on it, which would amplify the sound of its pulse. Somewhere over the course of Thursday night the Doppler machine got misplaced. When…
Tag: cancer
A few of the amazing nurses on my first trip to ICU
The first thing was to work out a way to communicate with people. How else would I make friends? The first notebook Dad got for me said on the front ‘Be your own kind of beautiful’. Seemed fitting, since I would definitely be challenging the normal ideas of ‘beautiful’ for some time (someone did just…
The wonders of anaesthetic
Anaesthesia isn’t for me. Though I’m not sure 16 hours of it is really for anyone. But to be fair, I had a fun time going in to it. But I’ll rewind a little. I had stayed in the ward on the Sunday night before my surgery. They had taken out my PICC line a…
Woah hey look, she lives!
I can only apologise for my radio silence. I know none of you would blame me for a moment, but I’m sure you have all been concerned, intrigued, interested… Some combination of all of the above, maybe some other things too. I have not been up to writing at all, and I’m still not. But…
Last minute thoughts on this surgery
I’m not like… Worrying about this surgery. I mean… I know the risks. I know it’s huge. I know it could end up being even bigger than they expect. I know things could go wrong. But I’m not lying awake at night worrying. There’s no good in me worrying about it. It’s not like a…
SURGERY MONDAY IS GO!
I always really liked the receptionist in the oncology clinic, but I haven’t been back there in a while. Yesterday I went to surgery clinic and she was there. ‘Jen!’ She called out happily and asked me take a seat That made me smile. I had some meetings with the Speech therapist (Lucy) and the…
A note to you all
To all my sarcoma friends who have found their way here, it seriously means so much that you’re reading. You’re all fantastic and inspiring and even if the most we’ve done is smiled and said hi as we’ve passed in the corridor, you’re my family and we’re in this together! I think the world of…
CPET issues and successes
So I went in on Friday for a CPET. Basically, it’s a fitness test. I cycle on a bike, they see if my heart can withstand surgery. Sounds simple enough. I went in and they checked my haemoglobin and it was too low to do the test. Wait, let’s backtrack a bit. I’m missing important…
Surgeon meeting take 2
So I met with the surgeon today. We’re aiming for surgery on the 5th of March. That’s soon. When will I find out if that’s going ahead? Hopefully Tuesday. 5 days before I would be going to hospital. Plenty of time for my parents to book tickets to come over, right? Found out I’ll be…
When PET scans turn into surprise MRIs…
I’ve had PET Scans before, all good. They’re not a problem except that it’s always freezing. I had one today, so I went in and they injected me with the radioactive substance and I had to sit there for an hour without using my phone or doing anything really. I listened to an audio book….
The Cancer Chronicles 