When I awoke on Friday after a few hours it was still early and as I gathered my wits the immediate reaction is to feel the arm: Mr Smith had said there would be no bolts outside the skin: as my had hit the top of my right arm i could feel this inanimate lump "shit, there's a bloody great bold there" I thought. The arm was bandaged so i couldn't see anything, and at that moment the day staff nurse Sue came in. "There's a bloody bolt there" I said. "No there isn't, that's your arm but you can't feel it because of the nerve block!"
I suddenly remembered the last words the anaesthetist had said: he was going to give me a nerve block injection to numb the whole arm to stop the pain, and that's what it was, my arm but totally numb. The blocks last anything up to 12 or so hours.
Visits then ensued from the orthopaedic consultant who gave the all clear to go home, the anaesthetist did the same and the only concern is keeping the potassium up. Mr Smith has called in a physician and he is on the case: we see him Monday and he will sort that we hope, through changing my diuretics etc.
We will also start second cycle of chemo next week and have a review with the oncology team. One down, five to go!
The sudden realisation that you have cancer hits you like a sledgehammer. On 9th February after 2 months of tests and all sorts thats what they told me. In more ways than one it's a life-changing moment and your mind goes into overdrive thinking all kinds of worst case scenarios.
No comments:
Post a Comment