Life After Cancer

Well over the past few days the tubes were slowly removed and I was allowed to move about, boy was moving very difficult and VERY painful, but the day had come to go home - They gave me a kit to remove the staples this was to be given to the district nurse when she came to my home to care for me and the wound.

The journey home was HELL I had never felt pain like it being jostled around in the back of a Black Cab was NOT what I needed at all.. Any way I got home and got into my favourite reclining chair.

I got very tired from all of this, they told me that after the operation and only having on Kidney that I would tire very easy for a few months whilst my body adjusted, so I went up stairs to get into bed, this was a very big mistake the pain was out of this world, I all but passed out, so back down the stairs and in to the reclining chair, I then spent the next 6 to 8 weeks both day and night sleeping in the chair!! It was comfortable and almost pain free.

Click for photo of me in chair with Spud my cat (Now Deceased)

Today the nurse came and removed the epidural from my spine, and put me onto tablet form pain killers now as I was eating and drinking A OK now. Then she said for me to put me dressing gown on and she brought a wheel chair and took me to the bath room, where she run a nice hot bath, I was lowered into the bath on a special seat, she helped me wash all the bits I could not reach.

Boy did I smell, she said the smell is a result of all the drugs they have pumped me full of the antibiotics and the stuff in the epidural.. Oh well who cares.

She said later she would take me for a wander to the front door to get some fresh air.

About 1500hrs she came back and she escorted me to the front door, this was the first time I had moved in quite a while and it was very difficult and VERY painful, she said I had to do the walk we were doing at least 5 times every day now, dragging my catheter bag with me!!

When I got to the front door, Oh God the smell was bad it made me heave my guts up, it was the smell of people smoking, something I had not done for 8 days now, and in fact some thing I had not even given a thought to in 8 days!! Hay have I kicked the habit?!?!

Nurse approached me with a handful of bits and pieces and a silver bowel - She said it was time to remove the dressing and leave the wound open to dry out, she slowly pulled the sticky tape off that was holding the dressings on, I felt nothing due to the epidural completely numbing that area.

I almost passed out with shock and horror when I saw what was under the dressings, not a nice little 3-4 inch scar but a 15 inch incision going from just under the sternum down to the left middle of my left hand side hip! it had 34 staples holding this wound together, I must be honest though there was no blood on the dressing and the wound was sealed together very very well indeed.

I was dreading the staples coming out I thought this is going to hurt.

Click here for a picture of the wound with all the Staples - Be warned this picture will be to some of a VERY GRAPHIC NATURE!

My idea of sleeping in the chair worked a treat I slept very well despite the hourly checks the nurses made on me taking blood and checking my stats (Pulse, blood sugars, blood Oxygen levels) etc,

I still had all the tubes in me the large one in my neck, the catheter, the drain tube in my Tummy, but today they took the tube out of my nose, and I was allowed to wet my lips and tongue with a strange sponge on a stick, you dipped it in water and then just wiped it round your lips and gums, but I was still not allowed to swallow any liquids or solids. The food lady asked me every morning if I wanted to order food for the next day but I had to say NO!! Funny thing though I did NOT feel hungry in the slightest.

I was in some pain around and below the incision area, other than that I was fighting fit and wanted to go home.

late in the after noon one of the lovely nurses came in holding a very large bouquet of flowers, thinking she was showing of what some one had given her, it turned out that they were for me, they were from my employer. A very nice gesture.