Wish me luck ...

[Joan]

I've been very naughty and not coming in to the BP forum to catch up.  Just been a bit too busy, which is good, but I see you've all been very busy posting, so will have to go through them all.

The good news is that I had my final dose of Herceptin a couple of weeks ago.  Was given a rousing send off by the nurses and told I wasn't allowed to come back unless it was just to visit.  Will still be taking the Arimidex for another 4 and a half years and going to see the oncologists, etc every few months this year at least.

One of the reasons I haven't been here is because I've been rushing around getting things done before I go in today to have an op.  Not directly related to the BC and very straightforward.  Let's just say I'm having things tidied up.  Means I won't be able to do anything strenuous for a month or so, though, so have been trying to get things in order before I go.  Should be in until Wednesday or Thursday, after which I will have plenty of time to catch up online!

Hopefully, once this is out of the way, I will only be inside the hospital to visit the doctors every now and again and not on a regular basis.

Feeling really good - if a little hot.  Going to get very warm here this week, so that's one advantage of being in the hospital, as long as their ac doesn't break down.  I'm not taking the laptop this time, so will be in complete internet withdrawal by the time I get home.

Take care, everybody,
Joan xo

[Bilthehut]

All the best, Joan.

[Diane CBPFC]

Yes Joan, hope this op goes well and you heal up fast. Poor you. 

[Max]

Hope it all goes well Joan and your up and about quickly-ish. 

I'm due to go in for an endoscopy soon, but knowing my local hospital that could be months. 


Cheers!

[lucy]

All the best Joan, god bless 

[The Peepmaster]

Tell me more about these nurses...

[Bilthehut]

Don't mention Barium E.......

[Fyodor]

Joan, I can but doff my cap to you.

[Roger Kettle]

Me too.
It's been a really unpleasant time for both our Aussie/Scots friends but I know that the rest of 2011 is going to be on an upward curve. I have decided!

[Joan]

Thanks everyone, and Roger, I hope that nature and who/whatever else decides these thiings is listening to you and it shall be so!

Well, the ops over with and so far, so good. I got home yesterday and am doing very well, been looked after very well, as usual, both in hospital and here, so I can't fail to improve!  Glad to see the back of that particular hospital, although I have to say that this time the care was very good.  It's just that I had my breast surgery there, two of my specialists have their rooms there, I had some of my scans there and picked up my Herceptin from the pharmacist there.

The op went very well and results are aok.  I think the sister's comment on my discharge form under "nursing care summary" of "uneventful recovery" says it all.  Now that I'm home, I just have to rest up for a few days and I'll gradually be able to do things again.  I certainly feel about 100 times better than this time last year when I was in the middle of having chemo!

I spent most of Wednesday watching events unfold in Northern Queensland and feeling grateful that I was where I was, cocooned in my air conditioned room.  It was also extremely hot in Sydney and still is.  Should cool down on Monday.

Speaking of nurses, Peeps, I was impressed with the ones I had looking after me.  I got on very well with the young Irish sister who was on shift for my discharge.  I hadn't seen a male nurse on the ward for the three days I'd been there. What do you know?  Emma told me to buzz when I'd finished my shower and she'd change my dressings.  You know how blase I've become about being examined in a state of deshabille in a medical situation.  However, I got a bit of a shock after I'd buzzed when this young, good looking male head popped round the door to see what I wanted!  He was very good and looked straight at my face while I stuttered that Emma said she'd change my dressings.  Said Emma appeared quickly, rolling her eyes and although she was very professional, she was also very Irish with a quick sense of humour and I ended up having to hold my sides, I was laughing so much by the time we'd finished.  Laughter the best medicine once again. 

[Tarquin Thunderthighs lll]

Just caught up with this thread. Thanks for keeping us updated, Joan - it's great to hear all the positive advances. Long may that continue.

Your shower scene reminded me of my own a few years back at the Maelor Hospital in Wrexham, when, after the best part of ten days bedridden without one, I jumped at the suggestion that I was now able to take a shower if I wanted. Bliss! However, as I stepped out of the shower, I somehow caught the cannula needle that was still attached to my forearm on the shower curtain rail, whipping it out (the cannula) in the process. With all the drugs I'd been on over the previous ten days to thin my blood, it proceeded to pulse out of the needle hole with impressive force, bringing to mind the infamous Black Knight scene from Monty Python's Holy Grail. There then followed several seconds during which I simultaneously (and only half successfully) attempted to stem the blood flow, pull the buzzer chord, and reach the sink to contain the mess, whilst only partially managing to cover my modesty with a towel. Moments later I was surrounded by female staff surveying the scene as if it was an audition for a remake of 'Psycho', with me playing Janet Leigh's character.  The lovely white tiles of the ward shower room making an excellent canvas for my Jackson Pollockesque 'artwork (pardon the numerous mixed metaphors).

Laugh? Well, I can now.

[Roger Kettle]

What you'll do to get naked with women.

[Bilthehut]

If only CCTV was around then...

[The Peepmaster]

At least he'd "covered his modesty" so there was one thing less for them to laugh at.