Hi Rayb

just been through this had FLOT april and may operation in june  its a long journey but stick witk it.

It may all sound a bit frightening at first i would recommend you read up on your treatment the FLOT is bearable and the operation is not really a worry although it is a major operation i will say that at no point in my journey have i really suffered any major pain and i am 90  percent recovered as of today if i can offer you any help or advice please contact me as it is always good to hear from someone who has been through this procedure recently , our NHS will take care of you by far the best care you can get ,trust me.

do you know what a plo is in an operation? 

would be grateful if you have any idea

sorry to hear about your diagnosis x

Hi Hilts,

Thanks that sounds pretty good. As I say we have insurance but they excluded OC so anything related to it isn't insured. Will see what T (ui) say. As you say fingers crossed they don't have it anymore so I kinda see where you are coming from but as you've said insurances are renowned for not wanting to pay out so if anything happened they may dispute it? Like you've said if you're in Europe it's easier despite the dreaded B word lol.

Re the States yes we did Orlando/Florida pre kids then took lads when they were in their early teens. 2 weeks in parks but inbetween we hopped over to Coco beach for Kennedy Space Centre and also Daytona Beach. Then down the Everglades/ gulf coast and the Keys for a week. Key West was absolutely fab - so different a bit 'hippie/boho'. 7 mile bridge - amazing! Happy days!

Any news on date for op? The Tapas meal sound good!

I've been swimming today for the first time since this all started and I went to choir last night! 
 

keeping the faith

Milly

Hi Mille n'all, 

Thanx- yep, date came through last night. Op will be THIS Tuesday- 9th nov!!!!. Sooooo quick- they don't mess about. Day patient.......apparently- although I guess it depends on what time he goes to theatre and how big the job is when they get in there, but all fingers xxxxx! Bad night last night with coughing, so can't come soon enough.

Will update.

Keeping the coughing Faith!
hilts

Hi Hilts and all,

That is quick which is good as hopefully it will all be 'done and dusted' before the festivities commence. It sound like a standard procedure but like any op you just want it over and done. 

Lee I hope your meeting with the surgeon has been Ok and your dad gets his operation date soon.

Sally has your husband had both his consultantations now?

keeping the faith 

Milly 
 

Hi Milly 

We had a meeting with the surgeon today (only 1 person allowed in the room) but we managed to 'squeeze ' my Mum, Dad,  translator and myself all in!.

The surgeon said pre OP in next few days then the surgery within next 14 days.

He said they'll open my Dad,  take a biopsy and get results within 15 mins to see if it had spread - if it has then close my Dad back up and no surgery- if it hasn't, then the operation will last 8/9 hrs. The surgeon said hopefully no complications but quite possible.  He also said 4/5 days in icu then 2-4 weeks on the ward depending on recovery.  

This all seems so surreal as for the last year since first diagnosis,  there was no possibility of surgery- now we are just hoping all ok when they perform the OP and what they find.

Thanks for asking 

Lee. 

Hi Lee

Great news on the plan.  My op was about 8 hours and a couple of days on ICU, then out 9 days later.

We did plan to visit southern spain (we can fly to Alicante without too much trouble from our local airport) in April last year with a view to doing a road trip to explore the area of to the east (around Denia and Javea) with a view of getting residency before brexit took hold.  Somebody then took one look at what we are going to do and decided to send a plague to stop us from travelling, 3 different tumours for my wife and then to top it all off, my little embuggerence in October. 

So when we do go to Spain, it will be last minute and unplanned so expect a quick note on here asking for advice on where the best place is to get a cold one.......

Hilts - hope all goes well with hubbies op.  My wife's last removal was a day job - but it still knocked the stuffing out of her for a good week afterwards.   Baby steps.  :-)

Oh - and I hadn't realised. 

Happy Anniversary everyone! 

When Ray posted a couple of days back, that was exacly 1 year from his first post.

cheers

bfg

Hi Lee, 

I can't remember if I responded to your previous post, but anyway.......excellent stuff regarding the op. They are looking at curative I presume if they proceed after biopsy??? So many different combos out there.

As for the op itself- yep , I think the standard has been 8-10 hours on the slab! My husbands was 10 as it was keyhole, more 'fiddly' (: 2 or 3 days on ICU as I remember then chucked out day 8- but only because it was xmas eve, I think it would have been a tad longer as his chest drain was refusing to dry up!
Most have had a tad of post op lung bother, but all sorted, for all I think.

Your Dad will be nicely blotto for the whole lot, but for us watchers it was/is a strange old day.... for me, I found the best thing was distraction- I went to work, probably as useful as a chocolate fire guard, but distracted nonetheless (:

All the 'victims' on here were hauled out of bed the next day(: I think, no respite, fluids , if all well the next day. Plenty of 'fluids' for you too (:

Keep us up to speed and very very best wishes

keep keeping the faith

Hilts

Hi bfg, yes the Brexit effect has hit us all really hard here - I'm getting the feeling that some efforts will we made to easy residency requirements as many applicants have been refused.  We are based just near Alicante airport but been upto Javea, Albir Calpe many times. I'm sure we could find somewhere for a cold one - just let me know if you do make it over here.

Lee

Hi RayB

we wondered what had happened to you ? good to hear you are still with us , take it easy.

Regards

Douglas

Hi Hilts,

There seems to be a thin line between 'curative' and 'palliative'. The surgeon and oncologist have said that there is a small chance of cutting out all the cancer but they seem to be leaning towards the operation giving more time. The surgeon said today that if the OP goes well then it could be 2/3 years before it returned and then we could attack it again with more chemotherapy. As much as this isn't 'a permanent solution ', it Is a much better outcome than we have been told for the last year (before surgery was a possibility).

A few days of relaxing now before we get the date of surgery. 

Lee

Hi Lee,

Yes we had the same warning but not the biopsy. Standard 8-9 hour op. Hilt's husband is the only total keyhole surgery I've heard of. My husband was a hybrid, keyhole on abdomen and open at the back. As you know recovery was meteoric until the very unusual complications (never happened before unusual!) with the drain removal and everything that followed. However he recovered and has made a good recovery. Much longer stay in ICU, HDU etc BUT they sorted him. They are experts and yes whilst there are risks it doesn't mean it will happen and if it unfortunately does they know how to deal with what happens. The best thing to do I think is treat your dad as an individual no two people are the same. As Hilts says hard day for you all but keeping occupied is the best thing to do. My son took me out for a long walk and a pub lunch - felt surreal but helped enormously. We will all be routing for you, please let us know the date when you get it.
 

keep the faith Lee and remember just how far your dad has come

Milly

I 

Hi Lee,

Yes we had the same warning but not the biopsy. Standard 8-9 hour op. Hilt's husband is the only total keyhole surgery I've heard of. My husband was a hybrid, keyhole on abdomen and open at the back. As you know recovery was meteoric until the very unusual complications (never happened before unusual!) with the drain removal and everything that followed. However he recovered and has made a good recovery. Much longer stay in ICU, HDU etc BUT they sorted him. They are experts and yes whilst there are risks it doesn't mean it will happen and if it unfortunately does they know how to deal with what happens. The best thing to do I think is treat your dad as an individual no two people are the same. As Hilts says hard day for you all but keeping occupied is the best thing to do. My son took me out for a long walk and a pub lunch - felt surreal but helped enormously. We will all be routing for you, please let us know the date when you get it.
 

keep the faith Lee and remember just how far your dad has come

Milly

I 

Thanks Milly...I'll remember the walk and lunch with my Mum on the day, good advice. 

Lee