Last Blog

Well my dear friends this is my 75th and last blog now that we have reached 5000 visitors.

In my mind I am now cured and the blog has therefore run its course.

I can’t believe it is just 4 short months since I started out on this incredible journey.

Well what have I learnt?

• I now have an excellent knowledge of the gastro system which I must admit was a bit sketchy beforehand. I think bowel knowledge however is on a need to know basis.

• Cancer is such a spine chilling diagnosis and it seems all encompassing. It can however be taken on and beaten but you need luck, skilled care and tenacity. My secretary’s uncle was diagnosed with bowel cancer shortly before me and has just died of it, at the age of 55, in the same time it has taken me to get cured. Sobering.

• Humour is a blessing. Countless times throughout my life it has been inferred that it is a weakness and that I use humour to hide my feelings. I now realise that this is not true as it has been a valuable and treasured asset that has enabled me to face mans worst fear, ones own mortality, and deal with the consequence regardless of the outcome. It is an immensely powerful gift.

• Nothing can prepare you for the agony of telling your children that you have cancer or the pride in seeing their strength in dealing with it.

• The unconditional support and love of a wife is a powerful weapon in defeating the worst of foes.

• Farting is one of life’s treasures which you don’t miss until you can’t. Welcome back old friend.

• The greatest wealth you can have is a loving family and a bevy of good friends.

Thank you one and all for your love and support and I look forward to continuing my long and loving friendship with you all in the future.

The blog will remain open in the hope that fellow sufferers will stumble upon it and gain some support from it. I will also set up a message board post should you wish to continue posting or even chat amongst yourselves (I am sure Francis and Skip would love to hear from their new pen friends). Please drop into the site from time to time and leave a message and I will update it with the 3 monthly test results.

God bless you all,

Love, Jon xxx

Progress

What a great time to be convalescing, what with the 5th Test and the World Athletic Championships! What a treat today with 15 wickets and bowling Australia out in less than a day. Great medicine.

The dressing change today went OK and the infection seems to be settling down on its own which is good. We will see what tomorrow brings but hopefully it will continue to recede and the hole can then begin to heal itself.

We went on from the hospital to do a bit of shopping and it was great to be out and about with the wind in my hair ....... and elsewhere.

A good weekend ahead with visitors planned for both days. Marilyn is out in London tonight with friends for a meal and theatre. It is great she can now put her shoulders down. She has coped magnificently and has been of enormous support. I am a lucky man. On my admission form I had to put down the relationship of my next of kin. I put down wife/lover/friend.

I'm home again

I am home after 6 days and jolly pleased to be here. I will be just in time for 5 days of exhilarating cricket watching Freddie win the Ashes!

After a couple of false starts everything is working fine down below. It is far from perfect but then neither was a cancerous bowel and I much prefer the latter.

My first decision is that after today I no longer wish to discuss my bowels and my bowel habits. After 3 months of intense scrutiny I can now be consign the topic to its rightful place which is the toilet!

Unfortunately I now have a nasty infection in the wound which has taken the edge off things. This is one of the common risks of bowel surgery. I had to have the staples removed yesterday, 4 days early, and have it opened up so that the swelling can be drained. This unfortunately is done by squeezing, which is a tad painful. I have to go back to out patients on a daily basis for the next couple of weeks for it to be repetitively drained and dressed. The positive thing is that it is now the focus of attention and I can forget about everything else which is past history.

I will stick with the blog until it is sorted but this too is coming to a natural end. It has been of enormous therapeutic value to me and quite humbling that you are all still tuning in.

It is now 4am and I am up as it is time for my pain relief. I had better sign off until my humour bypass returns.

At least I know I am not alone in these small wee hours. Somewhere out there sits a sad and lonely woman hunched over her screen, scouring the net, like a search light in the blitz, hunting for a glimpses of naked men. Goodnight Frances. x

Bombs Away!!

Sorry, fell asleep last night so no posting. Good news today – bombs away and everything appears to be normal. Eating soft foods again. Infection is still there but consultant thinks it is where the muscle was sewn up again – will just take time. Nothing to worry about as his temperature is normal and blood tests are fine. This is the only thing stopping him coming home now so it should be very soon. He’s ready to come home and is getting a bit cranky! I decided to walk to the hospital and back this evening as the weather was so nice – about 5 miles – good exercise but I’m exhausted now! Jen is coming down tomorrow and possibly Oli, Jon will love seeing them again. Hopefully the next bulletin he will be able to make himself.

Love
Marilyn

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

What a lovely day it was today, warm and sunny. Not an ideal day to spend your birthday alone in a hospital but Jon being Jon has just got on with it. The nurses gave him a card and then I went in with a big pile of cards and presents. Thanks so much for all the cards, messages, texts, etc – he really appreciated them, even though the funny ones hurt his side when he laughed! Yesterday he was a bit jaundiced but that has sorted itself out now. The wound has a red area around it which is sore but the blood tests show it is not an infection and is probably caused by the trauma going on underneath. They are keeping their eye on it. Having progressed to solid food he has been put back on liquids because nothing is going through. Bit of a setback but par for the course apparently. Tuesday has been mentioned for him to come home if everything has sorted itself out. Oli was here for a while and visited Jon but he has gone back to London now so I am home alone and am about to put my feet up with a cup of tea!

Love
Marilyn

Back on track!

Much better today, nausea gone, farting and back on sloppy foods – who could ask for more! He is officially the last patient in the hospital now but he has his two favourite nurses on duty this afternoon so he is more than happy making them giggle. Dressing is off his wound, which is about 3 inches long (Jon would be furious with me for not using centimetres!!), little bit red and angry so they are keeping their eye on that – staples which will be removed in 10 days. He is resting well, watching TV and reading the papers. Physio have got him on breathing exercises already and he is walking up and down the corridor all the time. Me, I’m going to curl up and watch a film tonight and go to bed early! Goodnight!

Marilyn

Not such a good 24 hours.....

Poor Jon had a bad night with nausea and most of today. This is similar to last time when the bowel went on strike – doesn’t like being messed about with. I went in briefly 3 times today and he was doing his best to be cheerful. On the upside he has been up a couple of times and is walking up and down the corridor with his drip and his bum showing out of the back of his theatre gown. Sweet! The last patient is being discharged tomorrow morning and he will be in there all on his own this weekend. I bet they make a fuss of him on his birthday. Once again thanks for all your blog postings – I printed them off and took them in to read to him and he loved them!

Love you all
Marilyn

Goodbye Bag

Well the op is over and Mr Donaldson is very pleased with how it went. Jon is quite chirpy and chatty and enjoying the rest and the attention – all the nurses remembered him and were pleased to see him. One even asked where his poobah hat was! Lots of snoozing today and drinking water. If he keeps it down he will go on to food tomorrow and hope for the best. They will also get him up walking around. Thank you for all your phone calls and texts – we will be posting every night while he is in hospital. If things go well he could be home in 3-4 days, possibly for his birthday on Sunday. Oli and Jen are here tonight with me – Oli still working hard on his computer writing for work and Jen exhausted after cleaning out her old flat ready for the itinerary check on Saturday. It’s lovely having them here….

Love to everyone
Marilyn

Zulu

I went back to hospital today for my pre-admission checks ready for surgery at 8am next Thursday. I had blood, ECG, urine, MRSA, swine flue, dropsy, scurvy and erection tests although the last test was optional for private patients only.

I had to fill in endless forms again and one question was “preferred language” so I put down “Zulu”. She asked me why I wanted Zulu so I said I had always found it a relaxing, lyrical language. It will be interesting to see if they get me a Zulu nurse!

I am surprisingly more nervous about this operation than I was about the first one which was much more major. This one is only about 45mins. I guess I know what is coming.

We will keep you posted,

Love Jon ; xx

Last Night

Marilyn and I went out for an Italian meal last night and then onto the cinema to see Australia. The film was almost 3 hours long and something I ate slowly caused the bag to fully inflate. I just made it back to the car but couldn’t drive as I couldn’t sit upright. So there I was with the seat half reclined and my trousers completely undone when, you guessed it, we were stopped by the police. A motorbike policeman came to my window and said we had been followed by an unmarked car who thought Marilyn was drunk. He took one long very suspicious look at me lying there, trousers gaping with this very swollen appendage! We explained the problem and that Marilyn had to drive my car in high heels. He was most sympathetic and said we better be on our way before it explodes. We are now claiming the most original excuse to avoid a breathalyser.

Come the reversal in 11 days time I think I will keep one of the leftover bags in the car, fully inflated, ready to stick on in case we are stopped again.

After the success on the “last poo” photo I was thinking about a “first poo” photo but have decided to savour the moment and keep this private with just the immediate family in attendance.

Much love,
Jon ; x