Archive for the ‘Royal Marsden’ tag
Serious stomach pain all night, despite taking three codeine. Either it’s the mother of all ulcers, or the cancer has spread to my stomach. I’m calling the hospital to try and get an appointment ASAP.
No scan yet
Went in to see the melanoma unit at the Royal Marsden yesterday. Short version: it’s ‘highly unlikely’ that the headaches and other symptoms come from a brain metastasis. No CT scan now, but one scheduled for three months time. Read the rest of this entry »
Introduction (first surgery)
My first operation was November 24th, 2009. I had my spleen removed (long scar down my belly), the lymph nodes in my groin removed (another long scar), and the primary melanoma removed from my leg (another long scar down my ass). It was a major operation–the first I’d ever had–and it taught me that the really crappy thing about surgery is not the procedure itself, but dealing with the loss of things you’ve taken for granted afterwards. Read the rest of this entry »
Introduction (The NHS maze)
Back in Blighty, the first hurdle was getting registered with a GP. NHS care is only free to UK residents–NOT citizens. So if you’ve been living overseas for a while, the NHS wants to see proof that you’re actually now living in the UK, rather than just coming back to get your whatsits clipped, or whatever. The amount of documentation they needed was . . . intimidating. (Visa for my wife, school registration documents for the kids, etc. etc.) It really was jolly exciting dealing with all of that and preparing for the operation. Read the rest of this entry »
