Thursday 12th May 2016
Year-On Follow-Up Appointment with my Surgeon
Today I saw Mr. Pullan’s registrar, to see how I was getting on a year after my surgery. He was very pleased to see how well I was looking, and pleased at my report of feeling much better. He asked how I was managing the stoma and I told him that Kermit had had his first birthday and I’d made him a cake with a stoma on top! He and the nurses laughed a lot at this. I told him my hubby thought it was gross but that the cake stoma was Kermit’s cake, which he enjoyed eating, but I had to eat it first. I did not allow him to blow out his candle or he might have set the house on fire! I showed them the little stoma cake from our Allerton Three tea party that I’d brought in for Mr. Pullan, who he said was in another room and would pop in to see me before we left, which he did, and I gave him the cake, much to his amusement! He was also very pleased at my progress.
They confirmed once again that they were sure they had got all the cancer out with the surgery. They will continue to keep a good eye on me, and want me to have another CT scan at the end of the year. I told them I was seeing Dr. Lo, the oncologist, in June.
So all seems to be well! As I told them, I am feeling better now than I have felt for years. The registrar said that I was bound to be feeling better because I no longer suffered from ulcerative colitis, which would have been dragging me down. I said that even if it were possible to have a reversal, I would not do it, because life is so much better with Kermit. For the first time for many years, I am now in control of my bodily functions and it is a liberating experience. I am managing so well with it all.
I told them that I thought my small intestine had adapted well to the removal of the colon, because Kermit’s output was generally on the thick side and I seemed to be absorbing water well from my food. He agreed that this does happen. I said that a lot of the time the output was a bit too thick, and that on the forum there were plenty of suggestions for thickening runny output which seems to be the commonest problem, but not a lot about making it more runny! He asked how many times a day I was emptying the bag, and when I said that it was four times a day on average, he was pleased with that, and said that if it had been less, they might have prescribed something to keep things moving, but this was unnecessary.
They all seem very pleased with my progress.
Friday 27th May 2016
Bloods at GP’s Surgery
Following the instructions at my last oncology appointment, I made an appointment last week to go to the GP’s surgery to have bloods taken in advance of the appointment. I had to find the letter they gave me at the hospital and was terrified in case I’d lost it after all this time, but it was in my hospital folder. Nothing earth-shattering to report – just the usual taking of blood from the vein in my arm, and we were off home again.
