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Tag Archives: hospitals

ufff…

12 Wednesday Feb 2020

Posted by azahar in cancer, health & happiness, hospitals

≈ 1 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!

so that was… ick?

23 Thursday Jan 2020

Posted by azahar in health & happiness, hospitals, sevilla

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

cancer, health, hope, hospitals

Who knew mint green was my colour? Here I am rockin this gown … and wearing a diaper … like a QUEEN. Yep, got the barium opaque enema done today. To be honest it wasn’t that bad, more uncomfortable than painful, but the lead up to it!

You may recall I picked up the dread SOLUCIÓN EVACUANTE at the hospital before I saw my oncologist on Tuesday. It comes in a box with 16 envelopes of powder that you mix with water (and/or one of those lemony sports drinks). Usually they give you a print out of instructions, but I assumed it would be the same as for a colonoscopy so I just took the box and left. That was my first mistake.
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here we go again…

22 Wednesday Jan 2020

Posted by azahar in health & happiness, home, hospitals

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

health, home, hospitals

Actually, this will be the first time (I think) that I’ve had the Opaque Enema procedure, using a barium contrast. But apparently the prep is the same as for a colonoscopy. Oh joy. So have spent the past couple of days on a low-fibre diet and today it’s clear liquids only, until I start taking the SOLUCIÓN EVACUANTE around 6 pm. Bleh.

The worst part of liquid diet day is how boring it is. Sure I’m a bit hungry, but it’s more that I’m not preparing a snack or going out to meet someone for a tapa. Just feels weird. At first I thought that, today being a cold rainy day, it would be easier as I’d have an excuse to just stay in and be cosy. But now I’m thinking that doing my 10,000 steps in the sunshine would’ve been a better diversion. Oh well. It’ll all be over by this time tomorrow and this evening I plan to binge watch The New Pope.

UPDATE: Went to start the “Evacuation Process” this evening only to discover that there were only 9 envelopes in the box I picked up at the hospital yesterday. There should be 16. So I am taking the 9 and hope that does the trick. Sure don’t want to have to go through all this again!

honestly, what are the odds??

21 Tuesday Jan 2020

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

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

cancer, friends, health, hospitals, sevilla

People always say that things happen for a reason, but I don’t actually believe that. I think that things just happen, but that sometimes they happen with such incredible serendipity that it’s hard not to wonder if there is some “reason” out there. My favourite Spanish word for this is “azar” (“happenstance” in English). Anyhow, YOU WILL NOT BELIEVE what happened today.

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