• about azahar (that’s me!)
  • my cancer story
  • azahar’s kitchen
  • azahar’s sevilla
  • sevilla tapas
  • personal trip planning

casa azahar

~ my life in sevilla

casa azahar

Category Archives: cancer

one down, two to go…

13 Thursday Feb 2020

Posted by azahar in cancer, friends, health & happiness, hospitals

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

cancer, colonoscopy, colonoscopy prep, friends, hospitals

So there I was, up at 6.00 am in order to prepare for the prep… which began at 6.30. Four fucking litres of this vile solution, downed in 250ml doses every 15 minutes over 4 hours. After the first hour is when the fun starts. I was amazed that I was actually able to down all 16 doses, but after awhile nothing mattered anymore, so what the fuck, what was one more disgusting oral and anal experience? After that I had to spend 4 hours not drinking even one drop of water. You’d think that by this point I’d have had enough liquid to last me, but as I’d also lost a lot of liquid I was actually quite thirsty, and I’m not used to going that long without water.

Anyhow… got a taxi over to the hospital with my friend Paz. These days I go to as many hospital visits on my own as possible, but this one required that I be accompanied because they administer a mild sedative. In this case it wasn’t that mild! A dolantin-valium cocktail totally knocked me out and I woke up again an hour later going – wut? By then it was all over and they were wheeling me into the recovery room. Seriously I don’t ever remember being knocked out so completely during any previous colonoscopy/endoscopy procedures. Maybe it was the sleep deprivation? Whatever, it was done and – YAY! – I was told that there were no signs of cancer and I was good to go.

And so I went, with Paz, for a long walk over to the Huerta de Rey Moro, a community garden where some of her family were having a birthday party for one of her many nephews. Grabbed a cold beer, hung out with the family for awhile and then decided – fuck I’m hungry! I mean, it had been over 36 hours since my last bite. So I wandered over to Eslava for a snack and also to just feel normal again. These hospital things really take it out of me, so I got back into my element, chatting with the barmen, doing a bit of Instagramming… and after that I was ready to go home. It was such a relief to open my door to three hungry cats, feed them, put on my PJs and get ready for a cosy evening at home. BUT THEN THIS HAPPENED… (stay tuned)…

ufff…

12 Wednesday Feb 2020

Posted by azahar in cancer, health & happiness, hospitals

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

cancer, colonoscopy, health, hospitals, sevilla

So for the second time in two weeks I am going through the hideous colonoscopy prep, which is usually something people only have to endure once every few years. My last colonoscopy was two years ago but recent findings (looking for leaks!) have led to me having another one sooner than usual. Unfortunately that barium xray a couple of weeks ago also required this same prep so here I am again. But with a difference.

Previous tests were either in the morning or at midday, so the “clear liquids only” day was the day before the procedure, starting the dread EVACUANTE the evening before, dividing the 16 doses (10 in the evening, 6 the next morning). This time my appointment is at 4 pm, so I  have to start the liquid diet after lunch today and then GET UP AT 7 AM AND TAKE ALL 16 DOSES before 11 o’clock. I dunno… have never managed to get more than 10 down in a row, and am always – literally – gagging on the last two. Six more (one every 15 minutes) means an extra hour and a half of this liquid hell. Uffff….

The “good” news is that (well, so my onc says) they aren’t checking for cancer this time, even though all my test reports since November (CT, ultrasound, endoscopy, barium xray) mention a suspicious area of inflammation and state that they cannot completely rule out neoplastic pathology. Whatevs. More news as it happens…

après oncology

06 Thursday Feb 2020

Posted by azahar in cancer, friends, gastronomy, hospitals, sevilla, tapas bars

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

cancer, friends, hospitals, oncology, sevilla, tapas

I mean, what the heck, right? Have to say that I always look forward to après oncology when I have a midday appointment. And of course it’s always extra nice to have a friend come with me to see the oncologist, especially a bilingual friend who can help me out with any language “issues” (like totally forgetting how to speak or understand Spanish…). This is the second time Claudia has come with me and I appreciate it so much. She and Paul also accompanied me for the endoscopy and Claudia will come with me for next week’s colonoscopy. I’m usually fine going for tests on my own, but the ones where they drug you up require that I have someone with me. Anyhoo… this time we stopped over at the fabulous Yebra for post-hospital tapitas and had a great time.

The upshot of this oncology visit, after reviewing the results of the barium enema from a couple weeks ago, was that… they still don’t know if I have a fistula (leakage from my intestine into my abdoman) or not. So I am now going to have more tests, this time a barium x-ray taken of my upper gastro area (so will have to drink it this time – ick), another colonoscopy, and yet another CT scan, plus more blood work. They don’t think anything cancerous is going on, but so far they still haven’t been able to prove there isn’t. At this point I reckon I’m going to die of radiation poisoning before anything else gets me. Wish me luck!

fed up

10 Friday Jan 2020

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

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

cancer, hospitals, sevilla

Let’s recap here, shall we? About a year ago my new oncologist told me I was cancer free and no longer required further tests. She said to me – and I quote – “If that pain comes back then go to emergency”. But I was no longer on the watch list for possible cancer recurrence. WTF? As most people know, by the time you are in any kind of serious pain because of cancer, you are pretty much already dead.

Meanwhile, to this date nobody can explain why I’m even fucking alive, and apparently my case flummoxed pretty much everyone who was involved with it. This is why I had regular PET scans, twice a year for five years after my last chemo in 2009, then once a year for the following five. And then in January 2018 suddenly there was some issue about an inflammatory area that had increased from one PET to the next, and suddenly I was seeing a new onc who gave me a whack of other tests: CTs, colonoscopy, endoscopy… and then pronounced me cancer-free. As in, you can go away now.
Continue reading →

my second endoscopy

19 Thursday Dec 2019

Posted by azahar in cancer, hospitals, sevilla

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

friends, health, hospitals, sevilla

My first endoscopy was in March 2018 and this past Monday my oncologist decided to do another one to compare with the results from almost two years ago. I was shocked when I got a call yesterday saying that my endoscopy would be today! Was it so fast because someone had cancelled or because my situation was deemed so serious that a test was required ASAP? Anyhow, they’ve also taken samples for a biopsy, so now it’s wait and see again.

The last one seemed to go more smoothly than today’s. For some reason I was really gaggy and it was very unpleasant – I don’t remember this happening last time. The nurse said that next time I should ask for a stronger anaesthetic.

My friends Claudia and Paul met me at the hospital because it was recommended that I have someone with me in case I was groggy after the procedure. Mostly I was thirsty because I wasn’t allowed to have even a drop of water for six hours before the procedure. I also hadn’t eaten since about 8 pm yesterday, so after finishing up at the hospital at 5.00 pm, we ended up finding a tapas bar with an open-all-day kitchen. And now I am home again, planning on an early night.

Apparently nothing now will happen until mid-to-late January, which is when they expect the biopsy results back. So as long as nothing was perforated and I don’t die of sepsis in my sleep things should be fine… for now.

← Older posts
Newer posts →

azahar on twitter

  • caturday march 6th 2021 azahar.me/2021/03/06/cat… 9 hours ago
  • RT @NatGeoTravelUK: Seville may have a collection of classic sights, but that’s only half the story. Its atmospheric barrios, home to fresh… 1 day ago

sevilla tapas on twitter

  • @nerdseyeview @Aerohaveno @daggyvamp Because I don't have a separate sewing room anymore my machine mostly just sit… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 9 minutes ago
  • @JdJCantalejo @TxemaMarin @RenoirGuides I think "just one thing" bars are very special. It's not always that you wo… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 13 minutes ago

Donate

patreon (1)

OR

azahar.sevilla@gmail.com

Sevilla Tapas on Trip Advisor

azahar online

  • Azahar Tapas
  • Azahar Travel Blog
  • Sevilla Blog
  • Sevilla Tapas
  • The Kitchen
  • The Photo Blog
  • We Love Tapas

comments

azahar on sherry kits
azahar on el mueble
azahar on the fauci factor
Deb Barnes on el mueble
Anne on sherry kits
Anne on sherry kits
azahar on el mueble
sledpress on el mueble
el mueble | casa aza… on the schedule
el mueble | casa aza… on IKEA nightmare almost ove…

amigos

  • 27th Street
  • Archie
  • Betty Bites
  • collecting tokens
  • Elegant Variations
  • Kim
  • Mudhooks
  • Nag on the Lake
  • raincoaster
  • Scribbler in Seville
  • Sledpress
  • Wandering Coyote

meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

visitations

  • 847,859 peeks

categories

archives

Enter your email address to subscribe to casa az and get email notices of new posts.

Join 2,876 other followers

azahar on Instagram

No Instagram images were found.

links

  • Bill Moyers Journal
  • Cats that look like Hitler
  • I Can Has Cheezburger?
  • John Richardson – Art
  • NASA pic of the day
  • Slow Europe
  • Stephen Fry blog
  • The Bloggess
  • The Onion
  • Worth 1000

Blog at WordPress.com.

Cancel

 
Loading Comments...
Comment
    ×