What happened at Southampton General Hospital on Tuesday 25th was rather more than a biopsy, because a bladder cancer tumour was removed. The process was very smooth and didn’t last more than an hour. Care and attention during several hours recovery time involved a nurse beside my side full time monitoring progress. I was in fact kept in for two nights which was most apposite because a very painful blood clot developed and was dealt with immediately by attendant urologists. For the next two days care was irreproachable, given by teams of knowledgable professionals from all over the world. This made me realise that the NHS really could not function without its immigrants. Apart from the occasional difficulties with accents communication with me and with each other was very clear and patient.
It was, of course, very difficult to sleep in such a noisy environment when we were constantly woken for checks – but that is life in hospital.
The next stage is to be a discussion of the team with the pathologist to establish how far and how deep the tumour had extended and what else, if anything needs to be done. I will be given another appointment in 3-4 weeks.
Ian joined us this afternoon when we all continued a mixture of each doing our own things and enjoying convivial conversation.
This evening we all dined on Jackie’s wholesome cottage pie; very tasty Brussels sprouts; crunchy carrots; firm broccoli and cauliflower.
