valjee

Hi Kris, such good news!

That’s a fantastic package of care & enjoy your pool visits.

I hope your cats are pleased to see you – my big cat used to sit & turn his back on me to show his displeasure that I’d dared to leave him! It didn’t last too long though.

I bet Hans is thrilled to have you at home at last – enjoy it all of you!
x

Hi Betsy!

Drinking? Alcohol? YAY! You enjoy!

Thanks for the hair info, I’ll look up Nioxin & have a read.

My appointment went fine on Friday thanks. I actually saw The Big Man (my surgeon, who is around 6’5” tall!). that worried me for a moment, as I’m used to seeing the lower ranks, but no, they haven’t discovered anything sinister.
He did say that a recurrence as the cause can’t be entirely ruled out but it’s not looking that likely. PHEW!
I know he didn’t find any evidence of tumour recurrence during the July operation so there couldn’t have been anything showing on the drain change cholangiogram either. More PHEW!
Because, we all know that thought is always in the back of our minds…..

He was rather concerned that I was jaundiced again, although it’s hardly bad in terms of where I’ve been over the last few months, but obviously can’t be allowed to continue long term.
The drain was flushed & poo has returned to a more normal colour already so can but hope it was just gunk in the drain.
I’ll be getting an appointment for another drain change in the next few weeks. Oh good, that’s something to look forward to!

I asked him about the hair loss – he thought my hair looked fine to him! But he’s a man & bald, so it probably would! I’m sure my GP will have a different view, as she’s a woman.
Sorry chaps, I know it’s no fun for you either when this happens, it’s just a little more cosmetically acceptable! To us women anyway. Hope I’m not being sexist there.

As for the wind, I’m not surprised it’s been echoing round Pheonix & Cleveland… Things have subsided now, thank goodness, in my case I do get more wind since all the surgery but it gets to this pitch when I’m jaundiced and it’s a improper digestion thing. Horrible, but very funny in a six year old child kind of way!

Good luck for your appointment on the 19th & enjooy your wine until then!

Val x

Hi Betsy!

I have my outpatients appointment with the surgeons tomorrow so will see what they have to say.
I’m ok ta, just fed up with still feeling below par all the time, I think my bilirubin may have gone up again, I certainly have appaling wind…. can you hear it in Cleveland? I may be jet propelled to the hospital tomorrow at this rate!
One thing for general debate, has anyone else suffered from hair loss after jaundice? It happened last time I had it & my hair had just about recovered by the time of this bout but I’m shedding loads – just as well I had plenty to begin with.
I have looked this up on the web& it seems likely it’s the after effects of lack of nutrition during the juandice period. I just hope it stops soon!
But enough of the whinging & whining, compared to so many on here I have little to complain about.
How are things with you?
Val x

Oh Lainey, you certainly know how to keep life interesting….. hope you get your hand sorted ok tomorrow!

So pleased you all had a good time on Teddy’s birthday – I’m sure he deserves even more communications than the Pope!
Good that the oxygen is helping too, keep on keeping on, lots of love Val xxx

Hi Dianne,
I think here the gradings go from 0 to 4, 4 being stage IV as often described on here. To the best of my knowledge T2 in my case meant the tumour was still very localised, there was nerve involvement & spread only into the body of the duct but no spread anywhere else, hence the N0 bit.

We all have GP’s here who look after you on a day to day basis, do regular blood tests etc & are (usually) kept informed by the hospital docs.

Mutlidisiplinary teams from any related discipline are the thing here, so even if we don’t actually see some of the people they’re all involved in discussions on a regular basis.
I think this is so there’s no overlapping & in theory all the departments you could be involved with are kept up to date.
In my case I know the hepatologists join in even though I don’t see them regularly. When I went for the drain change one of them came looking for me to find out how I was doing after seeing my name on the admissions board which I thought was really nice.
I’ve been told by the nurse specialist that all the radiologists know me intimately – I pointed out it was likely they knew my insides well but not the rest of me! Although who knows who’s there when under the influence!
I don’t think I’d ever feel ‘safe’ without some investigations regularly, even if in time that was just bloods. Think I’ll be on the CT scan list for a while yet after all the scar tissue biz.
What fun we all have…… Val x

Hi Kris, you are the very brightest star shining in the dark of Julia’s strap line, hoping the docs can come up with some radical plan for you, if the power of positive thought & prayer can help then you & your docs should be inundated by the power coming from everyone on here! Thinking of you, x

Hi Harmony!

Great stuff & thanks for the hug, it even reached across the pond to the UK! Marvellous.

I’ve been reading your blog – I think I’d like to come and live near you for a short while – your food sounds really good! I’d be a very happy recipient of your ‘feed friends’ strategy.
I may have questions soon on translations of what certain foods – have you heard the saying that England (& the rest of the UK) & the U.S. are countries separated by a common language? Yes indeed! White beans?

Keep going as you are & watch out for runaway garbage trucks!

Take care, Val x