I think I can safely say it has been the best of times and the worst of times. That’s a bit dramatic but in the context of all my ailments I think it’s a fair summary. After 4 scans and a visit to the colon surgeon in Leeds and a five hour round trip to Newcastle to meet ‘my’ prostate surgeon, the current situation is as follows.
Newcastle was disappointing. Yes he (the surgeon) thought I was an appropriate client for laser treatment. That’s good. However his waiting list was 9 months to a year. That’s bad. In the meantime I would have to continue with the catheter. That’s very bad. Or between now and then I could self-insert my catheter 4 or 5 times a day which is so bad as to barely constitute an option at all. So all in all a definite low point in this adventure.
Is there any way I can speed this operation up? Can I pay for private treatment (against my principles and very expensive); have the operation in Turkey as suggested by my neighbour; try another UK hospital; find a surgeon who will do the TURP (i.e. non-laser version) as a temporary relief in the meantime until the laser version becomes available. I have a telephone review this Thursday with the Harrogate consultant (not sure why this has been set up but will know shortly) perhaps I can run these options past this consultant. Hmm.
As for the scans… At least one of them (carried out for the colon surgery), showed the blood clots had gone away and so, subject to the Cardio-Pulmonary Exercise Test (CPEX) on April 26th, the colon op could go ahead sometime in May or June. The fourth scan (different type of scan – ECG -, different hospital) showed that the clots had not damaged my heart and so again, as far as this department was concerned, the colon cancer operation could proceed. Happy days, but not sure of the date for this op. At least it’s not a year away.
So that’s the serious part described. As for the having fun part which I described in my last blog, that’s been OK, not brilliant, but not bad. We took a trip up to the vineyard and lunch in our local and we’re hoping to take a trip down to the Derbyshire cottage shortly. Both important milestones in getting back to some kind of normality. Not so easy with the health challenges yet to come. We’ve been dining out at the pub and friends have visited, both on my original list of fun things to do.
So there we have it. I struggle on trying to think positively, look on the bright side, count my blessings and all that kind of clichéd clap trap. Watch this space for more adventures possibly in a National Health Service context and maybe not (junior doctors are not helping my case by being on strike but such is the world we live, or in some cases, die in). Time to call a halt I’m getting maudlin.