Days 332 and 333

The waether has taken a turn for the worse. For the back end of March temperatures of 4degrees is a bit much. That took the shine a little bit from another excellent guest on Angel Radio. Nigel Montague is orgamising an International Film Festival in Ryde during September. It's nice when you have a guest filled with enthusiasm. I wish him well.

Today has been about my latestr visit to Hospital. Even though the appointment wasn't until 1.30 we still had to be on our way by 1030 so it was a long day. I had to have nothing to eat or drink after 7.00 this morning which meant an early breakfast. I was given some sedation as the procedure was a bit tricky. The Consultant disagreed with the Oncologist. He thought that the trouble was caused by my stomach being unable to digest the food properly due to the operation. He chose to stretch the bottom of the stomach the hope being that that will cure the acid and coughing problems as well as making it easier to swallow. I've to go back to a day clinic in a month's time to see if the procedure has worked. If it has not they will give me some medication.

I feel greatly releved and at the same time impressed with the quality of service. Within 7 days I have had my CT Scan, told I don't have returning cancer and remedial action taken re the acid.

Now I hope fully to enjoy Easter. We are off to North Wales for the weekend so I am not sure when my next post will be.

A Happy Easter to all.

Days 329 to 331

Well events have moved swiftly on.Afetr a weekend one of whose highlights was playing hide and seek in a Bembridge Church Car Park(don't ask), we went and saw the good Dr. Cave today.

To confirm, a baggy Osophegus was what showed up on the chest x ray as an abnormality. This is neither life threatening nor serious according to the Doc. but she thinks this is producing uneeded acid which in turn produces the cough, sore throat and occasional stomach pain.

She told us that she was asking the surgical team at Southampton General to review my case this week and offer any advice. That was at 915. At Lunc Time we got a call from Southampton asking me to go as an out patient on Wednesday. Evidently there had been a cancellation. As a result they want to see me as an in patient on Wednesday. One of the head honchos will stick a camera down the back of the throat and work out what if anything can be done. There are three possible options. One is to leave well alone(or rather not so well). Two is to take corrective action on Wednesday and the third is to say it will need an operation. I shall let you all know in my next blog on Wednesday.

You have to hand it to the NHS locally. It really is a first class service.

Day 328

After yesterday's excitement it's been a mercifully quiet day today. The excitement of the day was a visit to a Chiropodist. The bloke is quite a character. His passion is horse racing and he owns some racehorses which ahve had some success. He has agreed to come on my show in May. Trust me to look for guests in the most unlikely places.

I have from time to time made reference to how lucky I am. An old school friend of mine has contacted me to say that his wife has died. She had had several sessions of chemotherapy which can do wonders but can also break down the body's immune system. My sympathies to Bob on his loss.

Just seen the weather forecast and guess what with Easter on its way? Yes snow showers are forecast.

We are going to be away from home tomorrow so next blog entry will be on Sunday.

Day 327

I got a very welcome surprise today.

I was just about to leave the house for Angel Radio, when Gill the new Upper GI Nurse Specialist rang. She had the results of yesterday's scan. She said we should still go and see Dr. Cave on Monday because there were some things she would wish to discuss with us. However the main headline was no tumors and no secondaries. Bless Gill she thought it only right to tell me so I wouldn't spend the weekend fretting. This really is the NHS with the human touch.

I was a little short of things to say but I must admit to saying yahoo when I put the phone down. Gill did say as well that she had read the entire contents of this blog last Friday. She must be a glutton for punishment. However she did say she found the contents useful as it gave a different perspective on how someone with one of these cancers feels.

Whether it was because of the good news or not I approached today's interview with Simon and Sally from Ventnor Blog with a good feeling. They were both marvellous and very much in keeping with the show's thread of presenting positive things about the Isle of Wight. Next Tuesday I shall be talking to a film maker.

Outside it's raining and do you know I couldn't care less.

Day 326

I navigated my way successfully through the CT Scan today as I suspected I would.

The procedure is relatively straightforward. You are given an appointment time but asked to report an hour beforehand. The reason for that is because you are asked to drink the equivalent of 3 litres of water in that period. You can have nothing to eat and only water to drink from 4 hours before the appointment time.

When you are called you go in to the CT Scan room. It's a bit like an airport scanner in that you have to remove all metal objects and loosen your belt. You then lie on a bed which moves under the scanner. Oh sorry I nearly forgot. Before that they give you an injection of fluid into your arm. My veins seem to shrink at the sight of the needle. In the meantime they tell you to hold your breath for 14 seconds. They did two of these. It wasn't uncomfortable at all apart from a hot flush. When they have finished they leave the Cannula in your arm for about 15 minutes. After that they suggest you go and have a cup of tea and something to eat. If after 45 minutes or so you are okay you can go home and so it came to pass.

One thing I learned from my past visit. The staff who run the scan are not permitted to discuss the results with the patient. That is the responsibility of the person requesting the scan, in my case Dr. Cave. All roads lead to my appointment on Monday Morning. I am delighted to report that my cough and rattling chest have gone so let us be optimistic.

Tomorrow I am interviewing the owners of an alternative news source here on the Island Ventnor Blog. It should be both interesting and challenging.

Days 321 to 325

It's been a busy few days. On Friday we learned that after a long illness my Aunt Babs died at the age of 92. She was a truly remarkable woman who cared passionately about life and was always willing to learn new things. Even though we knew that the end was near when the time came it was still very sad.

Better news has come on my health front. Not only has the cough more or less disappeared but so has the wheezing chest. I am due to have my CT Scan tomorrow. There is no way I am going to know the result until we see the Oncologist tomorrow. In the meantime our lives are to some extent on hold. I refuse to be downhearted however and I remain confident I shall cope with what ever I am told on Monday. I would have posted a blog yesterday but I was very tired coming back from an evening out. Today I did my Tuesday programme on Angel Radio. Fortunately my guest was Ian Campbell who was great value. He was one of those guests who only needs a few prompts to entertain and inform his audience.

We had the weekend in North Wales looking after Harry whilst his parents had a weekend in London. I like to think we all acquitted ourselves well. Holt the small town where thery live is a lovely part of the world. We all enjoyed ourselves thoroughly and look forward to being back for Easter.

I promise to do another post tomorrow after my scan.

Day 320

It was another not pleasant night again. I had taken the linctus for the first time. I went to sleep quickly enough but within 2 hours I wa s awake with a mouthful of acid and being unable to breathe. Fortunately I was able to cough it all up but the whole process was very unnerving. On the bright side I did go back to sleep and managed nearly 5 hours before getting up at 7.

Today has been okay though. I did my Hospital Radio show and discovered that we had some listening figures. We finished in second place behind Isle of Wight Radio but ahead of Radio 2.

This will be my last blog before Monday as we are heading to North Wales to look after Harry for the weekend.

Day 319

We get word today that the CT Scan will be on 24 March. This will give the Oncologist time to look at the results and let us know what's on offer on 29 March. This is going to be a long two weeks but all we can do is to continue to lead our lives as best we can.

Today has been one of those days made for Grumpy Old Men. First a communication breakdown at Wight Cable saw me wondering where my guest was and the receptionist was waiting for me to come and collect her. As a result I lost 25% of my planned show and had to wing it somewhat.

On the way home I called to collect my prescription which the Hospital assured me would be ready. Hey ho they had reallocated it to someone else thinking my date of birth was in June 1964(I wish). It took some 20 minutes to sort. I then went to book some passenger tickets for a ferry crossing on Thursday. The Jobs Worth kept telling me I could save 70 pence by buying them on the date of sailing. By this time I really wanted to go home so gave up. What this means is turning up 10 minutes earlier than necessary to allow time to join the queue and walk to the booking office. Then a classic of Island Drivers not knowing how to use a roundabout caused everything to stop.

Tomorrow has got to be better. Bah humbug.

Day 318

Well we went to see the Oncologist today and frankly the news could be better.

Dr.Cave is something of an open book. This is meant as a complement. It is in fact one of her greatest qualities. It's not only what she says but her body language.

I duly reported on the cough getting worse and the absence of sleep. She examined me and sent me for a chest x ray. This was duly done and I went back to see her. She told us that an abnormality had shown up in the lung area. Before seeing us she had shown the plate to a Radiologist. They both agreed that a CT Scan was in order because that would identify the problem. The Scan is likely to be done in the next few days and we are going back to see Dr. cave on 29 March. To describe this as a blow to the solar plexus is an understatement. Of course it is pointless to speculate until we see her again but her parting shot was to say "I'm sorry."

All we can do is to carry on as normal until such times that somebody says no you can't. In the meantime I have been prescribed some linctus to ease the coughing problem.

I have to say I was impressed with the NHS today. My appointment was at 850. We went in to see Dr. Cave at 840. We were sent for a chest x ray, came back to see her again, handed in the prescription and had a coffee......and we were out by 945. The NHS has many problems but that was as good a service as I think I would have had anywhere.

With apologies for bearing such not good news but please spare thoughts for Ev. She has been brilliant throughout and she is there with me again. I'll go back to daily bulletins promise.

Days 315 to 317

The fact that I am typing this at 7.00AM(or thereabouts) will tell you that the acid and cough are not getting any better. If I also tell you that last night was one of the better ones in recent days that illustrates the problem.

There is something of a pattern here. I go to bed around midnight. Maybe I manage 2 or 3 hours sleep before the cough and/or the acid reflux wakes me up. I go downstairs and sit in a reclining chair. This has the effect of stopping the coughing and I end up dozing for 2 or 3 hours, Partly as a result of that by 8PM I am normally very tired and sleep for maybe one or two hours and then the cycle starats all over again.

I try very hard not to moan here but I have to say this is very dispiriting in that I thought I had left all this far behind. On the plus side I continue with my eating pattern and I have not lost anymore weight in the last week or so. It would though be nice to have a decent night's sleep.

Friday was Ev's Birthday. A combination of poor weather plus a leisurely start to the day meant we didn't go out for Lunch. Ev was most delighted to hear Harry on the telephone wishing his Grandma a happy birthday. Later in the day she spoke to both Jack and Lucy. We did have a celebration tea at Martin and Andrea's. Martin's parents came along as well. It was all in all a nice quiet day.

As I look out of the window, spring is definitely looking on the way. The sun is shining and we are threatened with temperatures of 10 to 12 degrees and about time to.

My next blog entry will be on Monday when hopefully the Oncologist will have suggested some remedy for this wretched cough.

Days 312 to 314

I am afraid the night time acid has returned with something of a vengeance. Once again it does not seem to follow any discernable pattern. Whether I eat early or late does not appear to make any difference. With the acid has come the continuous coughing that I experienced when I first came home from Hospital. As before the only cure is to get up and sit in a reclining chair downstairs. When I am doing this I usually manage some sleep but it does make for rather an erratic night's rest. We are due to see the Oncologist on Monday so we shall see whether she can be of any help.

Angel Radio is now back on FM after much delay due to the difficulty of obtaining a suitable mast. A lot of our regulars are pleased to see us back which is comforting.

On the Island the big story is about the Council Leader who used unfortunate language in the car park after a charity ball. Various allegations continue to swirl around. Not wishing to attract a libel suit all I shall say is that some information is in the Rotten Boroughs section of this week's Private Eye. As long as the Leader has the backing of his fellow Conservative Councillors his position remains intact.

Tomorrow is Ev's Birthday and we are expecting friends from Teesside to visit us.

Days 309 to 311

What a weekend. First of all I have put on 2 pounds in weight. Cheered up, we sset off for Clare's wedding which turned out to be all you could hope for plus.

Thanks to the wonders of Sat Nav, we arrived at the venue Newick Park Country Hotel in good order at about 1030. Normally check in at the Hotel is 2.00 but fortunately nobody had stayed in our room over the previous night so we could make ourselves comfortable. In awarding marks, at work I used to be called Norway(nul points). I have to say that I could do no other than award 10 out of 10. The room was comfortable and clean. The Staff combined pleasantness with professional competence. The food was excellent and all other facilities were of the highest standard. The venue was set in magnificent Sussex countryside.

As I have mentioned before, after my illness last year I was always going to be grateful that I could attend. Many relatives and friends hadn't seen me for a while and all remarked how well I looked. Complements of this nature are always welcome. It was nice to see members of family enjoying each other's company. Clare and Shaun looked really happy together. It was particularly good to see Cousin Peter and his wife Terri who had flown in from Ottawa for a few days.

Alas the day flew by very quickly but what wonderful memories for everybody. On Sunday we stopped in Brighton on our way home. Sunny it may well have been but boy was there a keen penetrating wind off the sea. Today, we calmed down a lot but our hectic lives gather pace again from tomorrow.

I have also to report that I for the last few days have eaten well. In short the past 72 hours have been great.

Days 303 to 308

Here's a question for you. When you hear that a cancer patient has an appointment for a 3 or 6 month check up what do you think happens? This came up at a meeting today(Friday) with the Island Patients' support group. We were listening to a talk by the Cancer Nurse Manager a nice chap called Peter.

The meeting was called partly to introduce Joya's successor a woman called Gill Jones. The message was that Joya put a prodigous number of hours into the job. Peter remarked that he could not employ someone on a 37 hour week and expect her or him to work 50 hours with no extra payment. This was a roundabout way of saying that Gill was not going to support the group as Joya did and that we should think of merging with a group of bowel cancer patients and carers. This body calls itself semi colon. Who said Islanders had no sense of humour?

Anyway to return to the theme of my first paragraph. Peter made no bones(the puns continue)that cuts are coming to the NHS. One thing that is being looked at is the system of review appointments. This took me back to what happened when we went to Southampton at considerable expense last September. The Consultant asked how I was and I said okay. He then said I looked properly nourished and err that was about that. If this is all that happens at a review is this in fact a waste of clinical as well as my time. Peter put it slightly differently by posing the question are we classifying some as patients when in fact they are restored to health.

All of which comes back to my good(well I hope so)self. My weight seems to have stablised, which is no bad thing. As I have endlessly on here recorded my eating pattern has changed for good and I have started to get used to as new food regime. In short am I a patient or an ex patient?

I do not wish to be critical of any member of the medical profession. People like Judith Cave are wonderful. It would be interesting though to find out what tests are made during and following any appointments and how any recurrance would be detected.

What I have mentioned is likely to be debated in the future of the NHS in this new age of auterity.

To more pleasnt topics. In the morning we are off to celebrate Clare and Shaun's wedding. The forecast is good in that it will be sunny if a little bit on the chilly side. My next blog will contain a report. I have been kind of cataloging my CD selection in a more coherent manner which is keeping me busy.

I promise not to keep as long a gap in future unless of course I am away.