This morning my dad had his first meeting with the cancer team at the hospital. He had been under the impression that everything would be done and dusted within the hour, and that he and my mother would then be able to enjoy a visit to the Birmingham Botanical Gardens. As it happened, it was gone 2pm when they left the hospital.
Having arrived a good fifteen minutes ahead of his 9am appointment time, he was promptly whisked off to have his weight checked, and then ushered back to the waiting room to wait. Unfortunately, due to the cancer team being a member down, there was a significant delay until my dad was seen.
The good news is that they want to perform keyhole surgery on 16th October, which will be brought forward if a slot suddenly becomes available before that date. The bad news is that the tests and scans my dad's had to date haven't given them a clear enough picture as to exactly what they're dealing with. They know there's a shadow on the liver, but have been unable to determine if there's a clear space between his stomach (where the tumour is) and liver.
On a positive note, my dad doesn't need to return for a pre-op meeting, as they were able to rush that through and get it out of the way today. He's been told that he will have a scar that resembles a face (with the nose being just above his belly button).
In addition, my dad was able to meet with a dietician, who told him to dismiss what he had been told after his gastroscopy the other week. His daily dose of Fortisips drinks has been doubled (to 6), advised to drink as much full-fat milk as he can, and re-introduce soft dairy-based food to his diet (i.e. liquidised rice pudding, panna cotta, mousse). This was music to my ears, as 3 Fortisips drinks a day after weeks of barely eating just hadn't seemed enough.
