softcell's Blog

I've spent some time this morning looking at over a decade's worth of my photos and the comments that have been left on them. All I can say is THANK YOU! Thank you for being insanely generous with your compliments and your encouragement. This old gal is feeling very blessed by all the goodwill that has been sent her way over the years. The NN community is a remarkable one indeed, with strangers offering words of encouragement or a shoulder to lean on when needed, or a darned good laugh over the silliest thing. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to leave me a comment or a message, every single one has been appreciated. Thank you just for being there and for being you. NN you're the best.

Well, it's been quite a year for us all! We've all had to make changes to the way we live due to Covid 19. Some of us have dealt with it better than others. Some of us have lost loved ones and some of us have lost close friends. Hopefully, now that a vaccine has been developed, this terrible disease will be beaten. My Christmas wish for everyone throughout the world is good health, peace, love and prosperity.
My Christmas wish for myself is for true love to come into my life, to be accepted for the person that I am, without being lied to, cheated on and beaten up.

With regard to the positive mammogram, after having a biopsy, everything is benign, so that's bloody fantastic news! I've now been referred for gene testing though because of my family history. Will probably find out that I've got alien dna, hahaha.
I'm off up to Edinburgh on Thursday to see my children. Have decided to drive up dressed as and Elf .... just because I can and I'm losing the plot.
When I get back I'm doing my sponsored head shave. It's far too cold in Scotland to go up there all bald. I'd be in a permanent state of head freeze!
I've already put up the outdoor Christmas lights, which look very festive, but I'm waiting until I get back to put up all the indoor stuff. There are only so many hours in a day and I've got far too much to do before my trip up north.
I'm still slowly losing weight. I've had to get all my "slim" clothes out of the attic and some of those are too big! I've already got two suitcases of clothes to sell on ebay and after Christmas I'll probably have 2 more!!
The only problem with having bariatric surgery is that you are left with saggy skin and it doesn't seem to matter how much you exercise, it just doesn't tone up. All this translates into me doing a pretty good impression of a bloodhound, hahaha.
Anyways, I hope that all my friends across the pond had a great Thanksgiving and I hope that everyone has a great time over the festive period. xx

Well, the good news is that I've now lost a total of 4 stone (25.5 kilos/56 lbs).
The bad news is that on Friday I received a letter from the hospital to tell me that I've had a positive mammogram with defined dark areas, so I'm back in hospital on the 27th to have further tests. I've also been peeing blood all weekend so I'm dealing with that today.
On a better note, I'm having a sponsored head shave in December in aid of Children in Need. Yep, the long locks are coming off ..... for a very worthwhile cause!
Whatever happens regarding the hospital ..... you all know that I'm far too stubborn and bloody minded to give in. I'm already a C survivor and if I can do it once, I can do it again xx

So, this morning, my other half phones RCH Treliske, to see about me going in today, and they have no record of me being on St Mawes Unit on Friday night, even though I was given blood tests and sent for CT scans and seen by a junior doctor! When the results of those tests came back, just before midnight on Friday, I was seen by another doctor who told me that if I wanted to sign myself out, I should come back on Monday if my symptoms persisted, so that they could get a camera down my throat to see what's going on!
After speaking to the Staff Nurse on St Mawes Unit this morning it transpires that their lounge is closed until Tuesday morning and nobody would be able to see me until then!
What a shambles!!
In the meantime, I'm in absolute agony and hardly able to consume water, let alone anything nutritious.
The moral of this story? Don't get sick in Cornwall, especially at weekends, doubly so on Bank Holidays because nobody gives a flying fig!!

I came home around midnight last night because there was nothing they could do until the bariatric team are back in on Monday. I signed myself out on condition that I went back. The CT scans that they did do show that I haven't ruptured the internal stitches and staples where they made my stomach smaller and re-plumbed me, so that's good. However, I have to go back on Monday morning for an MRI scan and a camera down my throat to see if there's a narrowing of my oesophageal join. They seem to think that's a strong possibility.
My blood tests show that I'm starting to dehydrate and have slightly reduced kidney function so I must try to keep hydrated at all times. Not easy when you find swallowing anything, even water, painful.
Ah well, I'll just have to wait until they do more tests on Monday.
In the meantime, I'm baking to keep myself occupied. I can't eat what I'm making but it sure smells good 😁

Something has gone wrong with my surgery and I'm being rushed back into hospital. Will update as soon as I know more.

It's Thursday, 2 weeks post op and I'm getting there. I still have a bit of pain around the incision sites and under my left boob but I'm in control of it, it's not in control of me!
All but one of my dressings are off now, which is a relief as they made me itch like fury. I've finished all of my anticoagulant injections so the bruising is starting to calm down now too.
Altogether, I'm in a much better place than I was when I came home from hospital, and so far I've lost 34 lbs. Don't worry, I'm not going to fade away, I enjoy my food far too much to do that

Saturday, day 3, post op, and the pain is excruciating. Now that all the morphine has worn off, I'm feeling like hell on earth.
I've changed my dressings today and managed to have a shower, which has perked me up considerably, but the pain is consuming.
They don't tell you just how painful it's going to be afterwards, that you won't be able to lay down for a week, that you have to give yourself anticoagulant injections into the stomach every day for ten days, that your legs will feel like lead weights!!
They discharge you far too soon too. I was in hospital for a little over 24 hours!!
Anyways, in the words of Jane Fonda "no pain, no gain".

The procedure went well yesterday, although it was delayed by several hours. They had problems waking me up afterwards, as expected, I've always had a problem with general anaesthetic!

Back on the ward, I wasn't allowed to sleep, I was encouraged to start moving about straight away. Apparently this lessens your chance of having a thrombotic incident, as do the super, sexy, white, surgical stockings that I have to wear. Anyway, the long and the short of it adds up to no sleep since Tuesday! I am dead on my feet but have been told that I mustn't go to bed when I get home, oh no, I have to go for a walk!

Well, I'm at home now and I've had my ramble around the garden in my stockings and nightgown. Now I'm going to get some pain relief. I kid you not, childbirth was less painful than this procedure, and I didn't have any pain relief for that!!