Category Archives: cancer

hospital duque del infantado

25 Friday Feb 2022

Posted by in cancer, health & happiness, hospitals, sevilla

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duque infantado

Bet your hospital isn’t this beautiful! But I also bet yours functions better as a hospital. The Hospital Duque del Infantado was built for the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929 and was the Basque pavillion. In 1973 it was inaugurated as a Regional Oncology Center, and since then it has undergone several reforms and expansions. In the 1990s Oncology care was moved to the Virgen del Rocío Hospital (my hospital!) and now Duque del Infantado is mostly geared towards outpatient care, minor surgeries and specialist visits. Which is how I ended up here this week for my oncology revision instead of at Virgen del Rocío (which was full).

The appointment was to go over the results of the last CT scan (done last November) and as I already had the results I wasn’t too worried. This was mostly to decide on what to do next. Ever since Covid I have not seen the same oncologist twice, which isn’t a bad thing as I really didn’t like the one I had been saddled with previously. But man, when they say this is a specialist visit they aren’t kidding. The onc told me what I already knew and agreed that another CT should be done (it’s now scheduled for some time in June) but when I asked her about a couple of the other somewhat alarming (to me) things mentioned in the scan results she said she was only dealing with cancer/no cancer stuff. Okey-dokey.

I mean, I’ve been in this game long enough to know that if I want answers about the other stuff then I have to get my (also new) GP to request an appointment with a Digestivo specialist but that just makes me feel so tired. Meanwhile I feel like a walking time bomb with several “issues” going on in there  involving my spleen, liver, stomach lining, pancreas, a possible fistula and that hernia sticking out of my belly button. Clearly none of this is good, but so far none of it has turned into cancer, and that is what they keep testing for. And so, that is that for now. Over and out.

september

01 Wednesday Sep 2021

Posted by in cancer, change, coronavirus, covid, lockdown, sevilla

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september

September has always felt like the “new year” to me, much more than the first of January, with its post summer holiday back-to-school feeling of everything starting over again. But this year, not so much. Of course this is in part due to Covid, but even last September felt more… hopeful?… with several tapas bars reopening after an extra long lockdown. It felt like things were getting better and people were still more or less pulling together. But I have to say that in these past twelve months I have been feeling more and more discouraged. Not so much by Covid, which is still proving to be a serious daily issue, but because people have been showing themselves to be… well, themselves. I do cling to the hope that there are still good people out there, simply because I know a few myself and so there must be more, but there are days when I truly despair.

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dodgy bits

07 Wednesday Jul 2021

Posted by in cancer, health & happiness, home, hospitals

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online appt

I got my CT scan results yesterday (for scan done June 21st) and it’s not a bad report. There are still some unexplained dodgy bits, but nothing has changed much since the last scan in September. At least there are no obvious signs of cancer, so that’s good. The areas of inflammation, and the spot where I was “leaking” before (ewww)  are still cause for concern but short of opening me up again and taking a proper look the best they can do is keep monitoring me with scans and x-rays.

This morning the hospital called and I have an appointment with the oncologist on Friday… on the phone! I’ve never done that before. But what the heck. It saves me a trip out there in 40º weather and perhaps it will actually be better as I won’t feel self-conscious about having my notes out in front of me. We shall see.

adiós coliflor!

01 Monday Feb 2021

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coliflor

Unless it’s prepared like this. I feel a bit like Sherlock Holmes and also grateful for having most of my life (including meals) up somewhere on the ol’ internets, because I think I have solved a mystery that’s been plaguing me for at least five years and probably more. So okay, getting to the point (and be forewarned, this is probably going to be really boring so don’t feel obliged, but I want the info here for future reference)…

After that last emergency op in August 2011 things didn’t heal as well as after the previous three cancer ops, which I think was in part my fault. I was extra impatient about being in hospital AGAIN and I remember begging the surgeon to let me go home on the Friday (the op had been on Monday, and we’re talking major abdominal surgery). I just wanted to be back home with the cats and sleep in my own bed and couldn’t bear the thought of spending the whole weekend in hospital (they only discharge people on weekdays). Well, turns out I should have stayed in because after promising the doctor that I’d “be good”, I really wasn’t. I didn’t wear my “faja” all the time at home (it was August and too hot), and I was out and about more than I should have been. The result was that I ended up with an umbilical hernia as well as the usual post-op adhesions. What’s this got to do with cauliflower you ask?
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what’s your superpower?

16 Friday Oct 2020

Posted by in cancer, health & happiness, hospitals

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superpowers

So I picked up my latest CT scan results yesterday and it was the clearest of “all clears” I’ve had in a few years. Not sure what this means yet as I still have to see the oncologist. But it looks like maybe I won’t need to be tested again for awhile. The scary fistula leaking gack into my abdomen seems to have healed on its own and there is no evidence of any metastasis in lungs or abdomen. Okay, my cholesterol is still higher than it should be and my liver is a bit fatty (like the rest of me) but these don’t seem to be immediately life-threatening. Unless I get Covid of course, then I’m a goner.

Meanwhile I can’t help but think that after more than 12 years of radioactive substances being either beamed or injected into my system on a regular basis I should at least get a superpower out of this.

If you could have a superpower what would it be?