Back home

I am back home.

Thanks for all the cards, emails and e-Greetings.

I suppose a quick re-cap is in order.

Monday 6th - went into hospital. The surgeon had said breezily, I would be fixed up to a scale, which would take care of my blood sugars. It was a pretty neat machine, which fed me sugars by saline and insulin - but required me to measure my blood sugars every hour throughout the night. It also meant a disturbed night for Lan who chose to stay overnight, to see me off in the morning.

Tuesday 7th - went off to surgery at 08:30. I was under a general anaesthetic so I knew nothing until that afternoon. I was aware it was not my room and that Lan and my parents were there. It seemed a lot of effort to acknowledge they were there, but I thought I had moved enough to show awareness. Apparently, all I did was flicker my eyes a bit. By evening I was more alert and could hear the drama in the adjacent bed. The poor woman was confused, was fighting to get out of bed and was calling for the police.

Wednesday 8th - I was visited by the surgeon. He explained that he had found the growth significantly bigger than when he had last seen. (That has been my concern for sometime.) He found the growth was going down my leg, so he had a job disentangling my nerve, rather than just cut through it. Having removed the growth, he felt it necessary to replace some skin and muscle, so he grafted what they call a 'flap' from my chest. So I have a scar up my chest, and an eye-shaped graft at the top of my leg. The graft is still a bit swollen from the surgery, so I cam into a hospital with a lump and have left with an even larger lump, but I presume I will regain a more natural shape.
As the surgery had been more than expected, I had been placed in in the High Dependency Unit for 24 hours. In the afternoon, I was moved to an NHS ward, because I was still considered to need better attention than could be given me on the private ward.

Thursday 9th - I moved back to the private ward. I got a lot of good attention. I think the difference is, the private ward had a lot of nurses, mostly students. The NHS ward had a highly over-worked senior nurse, tending to everyone on the ward, but highly experienced.

Friday-Tuesday, 10th-14th - not a great deal to report. It was a nice room, but the routine of meals and TV gets boring. Then twice a day, I would walk the length of the corridor to strengthen my legs. Various cards and e-greeting were a welcome diversion.

Wednesday, 15th - the surgeon declared the wound, 10 out of 10. (I don't know whether I earned those marks, or he was rewarding himself. So he told me I could go home. I go back to outpatients next Wednesday for the wound to be checked, with luck the biopsy will be ready by then and I will learn more about the lump.