Nurse

So I'm home. All be it with 39 staples and a lot less liver than when I left. I'm feeling calm, relieved and like the worst of it is over. I ended up having the right side of my liver removed (with four tumours on it) and another tumour on the left side burnt. The surgeon said it was a bigger op than last year and that I lost more blood.

In what feels like a rare chunk of fortune everything seems to have gone smoothly. I've been a lot more calm about the whole process this year as opposed to my first operation. I wasn't as anxious on the morning of surgery despite it being postponed 24 hours. I've been more comfortable post op with no significant pain or hurrendous experiences of being off my head on morphine. Familiarity certainly helped as I knew the surroundings and routines so well. It helped that the epidural didn't fall out this year, giving me significant pain relief and also making me drowsy so I could sleep days away. The only negative being I couldn't stand up so spent five days lying on my bed peeing in bottles.

As each tube was removed one by one (seven in total) I edged closer to coming home. Feeling quite well in myself meant I missed home and the boys more than my previous holidays in hospitals as I wasn't purely focused on my own health and well being. The delay to coming home as I needed a blood transfusion was therefore a big kick in the teeth.

The nurses in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital were nothing short of outstanding. The strain they are put under for twelve hour shifts is horrendous. I don't know what keeps them coming back each day for what from the other side looks like a draining, painful and punishing job.

So home it is now. Nurse duties are handed over to my wonderful wife and hopefully we can finally start to f look forwards. Onwards and upwards.