21st to 24th August 2024.
My cystoscopy on 21st revealed that there was a little more of the tumour left from last time. This has been removed and sent for analysis, the result of which will appear in about ten days time. There is now a possibility that BCG vaccination will not be the best course of further treatment.
This procedure had required general anaesthetic. There are several possible after effects of this: wooziness, difficulty of concentration, loss of appetite, constipation, and projectile vomiting. I experienced them all. The concentration problem in addition to the constant distractions going on around me meant that although I did manage to pass my eyes over the words – sometimes repeatedly – of the Dover Thrift Edition of collected Stories of Rudyard Kipling I will not be reviewing it.
The story of one night will illustrate the last two symptoms. Two carers helped me to the Patient Toilet and left me in hope (not in vain) for twenty minutes. During the interval they remade my bed with fresh linen. With catheter attached they helped me back to bed and began to tuck me in. Suddenly all I had been persuaded to eat that day was projected all over me and the bed, which they proceeded to remake.
I seem prone to blood clots blocking the passing of urine and its contents. This continued to be a painful problem until, the morning before the above event, my catheter was removed. Later it was replaced and I was told I would need to stay in another day. On the final morning the urologists said I could go home with a catheter, which I did. The day was a Saturday.
Now, at the weekends, only essential procedures are carried out and non-medical staff are at a bare minimum. Because my legs had spent these nights pressed to the end of my too short bed, my replacement knees had been kept so bent that I couldn’t walk without help. I would therefore need a wheelchair. These are normally available for hire with a £5 deposit at the hospital entrance. Today they were all locked up and there were no porters. Neither was there anyone at the closed reception to ask for information. When Jackie arrived on the ward I suggested she asked the nurse on duty to find one. She did find one that functioned like the dodgy supermarket trolley which cannot be steered. Jackie was told that after she had struggled to negotiate this, containing all my 15 stone and my bag, along the corridors, into the lift and along the paths outside to the car, she must return it to the ward.
I can assure you I will not let that happen again.
It was good to be home.
Wow, I am glad that you are home, Derrick. Get well soon. 🙏🏻😎
Sounds like yesterday was a total nightmare for you AND Jackie!! Try to rest over the next few days. Sending lots of love ❤️ X
Thank you so much, Jessie. Worse for Jackie, I think XX
Get well soon, Derrick! I didn’t know your health issues were so serious.. Stay positive and rest.
Thank you very much, Ilze
Well wishes and prayers from Arizona to you and Jackie and family. Take special care, – trusting you are in the best of hands. So appreciate your postings and beautiful photos and the love and joy that cross the ocean to so many places in our world thirsty for the beauty you share. Thank you!
Much appreciated, Susan
Glad to hear you’re home now Derrick. Get well soon!
Thank you very much, Luisa
I couldn’t “Like” this one. I’m so sorry that you’ve experience this, and that you and Jackie were burdened even further. I know you’re tall, but they must have other tall patients, and what total *** with the wheelchair! I hope you’re feeling better soon.
Thank you so much, Merril
What an ordeal! I am glad you are home now, where you can recover in peace under Jackie’s care.
Thank you very much, Lavinia
I’m so sorry you are going through this. Such an ordeal with the wheelchair. I hope you can be more comfortable now that you are home.
Thank you very much, Holly. Definitely more comfortable
Oh dear, Derrick, that is a poor show. They should have wheelchairs available even over weekends. I hope you are doing okay. Hugs.
Thank you very much, Robbie XX
Glad you are home. Rest well and be kind to Jackie (not that you would do otherwise). Get well soon.
Unrelated aside: Have you read the Flashman series? I did so back in the ’70s, but am now going through them again, enjoying them more than ever. Just thought I’d mention… 🙂
~Ed.
Thank you very much, Ed
Quite the adventure. Get well sooner than soon 🙂
Thank you very much, Donna
The past few days sound pretty grim, Derrick. I’m glad you’re home again. Peace and quiet, a comfortable bed and Jackie’s care must be so welcome. Look after yourself 🙂
Thank you so much, Sandra
Oh, my gosh! What a time you have had. Hugs from Maine.
Thank you very much, Laurie
Oh dear, what a time you’ve been having. I really hope you’ll get better soon. Best wishes
Thank you so much, Marina
Crikey, what an unsettling time you have had. I had an experience of a wheelchair like that when Mrs T was in hospital earlier this year. They are a nightmare so Jackie did well to get you out of the hospital at all.
I hope that you have a really good store of patience to hand as it sounds as though you will need it. (Jackie too.)
Thank you so much fom each of us, Tootlepedal
Oh, goodness! What an ordeal you have been through. (insert sad face)
I am so so SO glad you are home! I don’t know anyone who doesn’t feel better being at home. We are always more comfortable in our own home.
Please take it one day at a time. Your job now is to rest, to heal, and to be a patient patient for Jackie. 🙂
(((HUGS))) to both of you!! ❤️❤️
Thank you very much from each of us, Carolyn XX
Prayers for your swift recovery and for Jackie’s sanity and perseverance. Strength to both of you. 🙏🙏🙏😇😇😇
What an ordeal, Derrick! And it’s not over since there’s more treatment in store for you 🙁 An undersized bed. No wheelchair. It sounds like health care in the UK is just as broken as ours. Sending best wishes that you get through this <3
Thank you so much, Rosaliene. The medical staff are so much more exemplary X
That makes all the difference, Derrick.
Oh dear, hope it all calms down.
Thank you very much, Peggy
Hugs and prayers sent. Isn’t it annoying when your brain won’t absorb the words you’re reading when other things are occupying your mind. Your projectoring description was a bit vivid. 🙂 Well done Jackie! I pray your back and knees don’t suffer from pushing that weight around. Glad to hear you’re back home.
Thank you very much from us both, Chrissy
My thoughts are with both of you Derrick. This must be a worrying time for Jackie
Thank you very much from us both, Kim
When I was young, and had never experienced, I thought a hospital stay was something romantic … actually yours belongs in the horror genre. Hope you are recovering. Catheters are not nice.
Thank you so much, Gwen
So many things to sideline you, but I’m so glad you’ve persevered, Derrick.
Thank you so much, Barbara
Hope you are doing well, Derrick 🙂
Thanks very much, Barbara
I’m sorry you had all those aftereffects followed by the wheelchair “adventure.” I would have been tempted to leave that wheelchair wherever it was convenient. Rest well and get better soon!
Jackie had the same thought about dumping the chair. Thank you so much, JoAnna
Oh Derrick! I am so sorry you had to go through all that awfulness. The wheelchair situation is truly curse-inducing, to boot. Sending you many healing vibes.
Thank you so much, Dale
Welcome back home Derrick. Sorry about all the inconveniences you are experiencing… But I guess it is necessary. Is your house all ground floor? I can’t remember the few pictures I might have seen… Are you supposed to get up a bit? With help perhaps? I guess it should be useful to take even a few steps…
My very best wishes my dear friend. You’ll get over this one… 👍🏻
Glad your home Derrick, and on the mend. Hospital is rarely a pleasant experience and there always seems to be at least one aspect of the visit that is an ordeal, in this visit it, it was the wheel chair saga, it could probably have been a lot worse.
I am glad for you both that you are at home. The wheelchair saga sounds horrendous!
I am gobsmacked about the undersized bed, lack of porters, and lack of wheelchairs. I’m not a complainer, but this deserves a complaint; it’s unacceptable.
I hope you’re feeling a little better and more comfortable.
Thank you so much, Sue. You are right.
I’m not all that happy about your care.
Thanks very much, GP. Any repeats will be confronted.
Oh, my, what a stressful time for you and Jackie! I am glad you’re home and sending virtual hugs and blessings to both you and Jackie.
Thank you very much from both of us, Eugi
You are welcome, Derrick and Jackie.
I am glad you are home. I am so sorry to read about all the discomfort you experienced. Fingers crossed it’s all behind you.
Thank you so much, Bridget
I don’t like the way they treated you Derrick. And what’s more, while I was reading all the comments I boiled some pasta dry. And you think you’ve got problems.
Thanks very much, John. Actually I have just made a verbal complaint and been directed PALS which is the appropriate channel. My message was don’t discharge anyone on a Saturday when the required services are not in place. Sorry about your pasta
Glad you are home. Hope your tests come back good.
Thank you very much, Andy
You’re welcome.
You know what I think. It says a lot about the world they nowhere is health CARE prioritized. If it was but one case but it isn’t. And the resulting horror is unacceptable. You sound determined. I believe they determination is the only thing to get us through these things. The remaining portion of tumor I hope they can surgically remove rather than anything else. I also hope you are then still a candidate for that treatment because it has good legs. The most important thing is knowing you have support which I know you do but as you say, Jackie should not have to do those things. Would they we were a smaller population where health CARE was still as it may once have been. You are in my thoughts every single day multiple times my dearest friend 💜
Thank you so much, Candy XX
Your health adventures seem to get more intense each day. I am glad you made it back home again.
Thank you very much, Dwight
What a nightmare!
Yep. Thanks very much, Sheree
Hoping for only good news.
Thank you very much, Leslie
It might not have been the best of experiences but I am so glad that you are back home and recovering. Pray you get back to your original in jo time dear Derrick.
Thank you very much, Geeta
Hospital is never a good experience but unfortunately sometimes we have no choice! I’m glad you’re home Derrick! Wish you a speedy recovery!
Thanks very much, Riba
Sorry to hear you’ve had such a bad time, Derrick, but very pleased to hear you’re home now. Sadly, for all the brilliant aspects to the NHS, my own experience is that some bits of it simply don’t work. This is probably not a popular view, but in contrast to the mostly simply wonderful clinical staff (particularly the nurses and junior doctors in my experience) some of these problems seem to be the fault of nonsensical bureaucracy aided by people who really shouldn’t be there.
That is certainly my experience too, Mike. Thank you very much
Oh my. Derrick.
Sorry you had to go through all that. Glad you are home and doing okay
Thank you very much, Mimi
I’m so sorry you had to go through that.
Thanks very much, Liz
You’re welcome, Derrick.