Martin left for work early this morning and I got busy. Today is d-day for my publication. Lots of little last minute changes to have done and I am trying to do it before we go and see Dr H.
My lovely friend, who has been a complete gift from God through this whole process, has offered to have the kids for me so I can go with Martin to the doctor. The kids are excited, they think they are having a play day! Finally they are getting out of the house!!
I drop the kids off to Felicity's house and then head home to collect Martin. I have a snowball in my stomach. I say a snowball because it always starts off small but the more in rolls around with events the larger it gets! Sometimes I am sure it is so large that I am merely a snowball with my head, arms and legs sticking out of it!!
We head to Dr H, Martin is contemplating not letting me in the room with him, I think he can see my anxiety building, but I am holding tight to my faithful bottle of water and praying quietly to keep calm. Into the room we go. Martin begins to tell Dr H his symptoms - again they always seem a little more descript than the ones he gives to me! Dr H wants to look at the cat scan report - a letter neither of us have read before. Lots of mumbles by the doctor as she scan reads it, looks at Martin, keeps reading. Feels his tummy - yep something is definitely not right! Little bits of laughter as we all realise what an obvious statement that is!!
Ok - here's the breakdown... after Dr B telling me that he has a mass oozing from his stomach and bowel Dr H begins to explain that the mass is coming from the omentum.... blank looks from us.... the omentum we are told is what medical gurus call 'the fatty apron'. It is a layer of fat that sits in front of your stomach, bowel, liver etc. Alright - well that was the start of our omentum lesson. The cat scan also shows that Martin has fluid on his left lung, fluid in his abdomen and fluid in his pelvis. This is known as ascites. Alright, Dr H re-evaluates the blood tests from last week. Yep blood seems really good except for a slight elevation in the liver count. She begins to ask questions like, are you having night sweats? Do you have diarreah? (I begin to wonder if I should put my hand up and say yes.... maybe I should be in the patient seat as well??) The usually highly strung Dr H is actually being very calm - which I am glad about, but also nervous because it makes me wonder if she is hiding her concern from us! She is straight on the phone to a specialist organising him to see Martin asap. Dr Bryant will see us on Friday! He is a gastro-endo specialist. Dr H summarises at the end of the appointment that should Martin have cancer that has caused this much ascites then he should be very very sick - and he's not! She asked if he has ever been to Asia, after he said 20 years ago, she thought that perhaps he had picked up a worm of some type. Wow - a 20 year old worm inside of my husband is kind of a gross thought but I must say a nicer one than cancer. I think for now I will cling to the worm theory!! Off for some more blood tests - these ones are tumor markers - designed specifically for cancer detection.
Martin and I head to the shops and decide to have some lunch together - it is kind of nice to have some down time without the children. I attempt some sushi - a little bit stayed in, but I have to say my body really isn't absorbing food!!
We race off - I still have a deadline to meet today! Handing over the disc to my client I felt a great sense of relief and wonderment - I can't actually believe I pulled this one off! I have had so much going on in my head the past week - from planning funerals, writing eulogies, being a single mother to then fighting the medical system, visualising a mammoth worm in my husband’s gut to thinking I am actually just being slipped some strong hallucinogenics that is making me imagine all the crazy stuff going on! But I did it. I have created a publication that everyone seems happy with.
My kind hearted friend has invited us to stay for dinner when we collect the children. I must say food is one of my hardest hurdles at the moment - I cant eat so therefore have no interest in cooking. Every time Martin puts something in his mouth I hold my breath waiting for him to yell out in pain as it becomes lodged somewhere or worse, I imagine his stomach or bowel exploding from another thing going in there! Meal time is not really a happy moment right now! It is wonderful to have company and distraction tonight!
With the tired kids and my belly worm husband we head for home. It has been a big day, but I have gone to bed feeling a little more confidence in the medical system.
My lovely friend, who has been a complete gift from God through this whole process, has offered to have the kids for me so I can go with Martin to the doctor. The kids are excited, they think they are having a play day! Finally they are getting out of the house!!
I drop the kids off to Felicity's house and then head home to collect Martin. I have a snowball in my stomach. I say a snowball because it always starts off small but the more in rolls around with events the larger it gets! Sometimes I am sure it is so large that I am merely a snowball with my head, arms and legs sticking out of it!!
We head to Dr H, Martin is contemplating not letting me in the room with him, I think he can see my anxiety building, but I am holding tight to my faithful bottle of water and praying quietly to keep calm. Into the room we go. Martin begins to tell Dr H his symptoms - again they always seem a little more descript than the ones he gives to me! Dr H wants to look at the cat scan report - a letter neither of us have read before. Lots of mumbles by the doctor as she scan reads it, looks at Martin, keeps reading. Feels his tummy - yep something is definitely not right! Little bits of laughter as we all realise what an obvious statement that is!!
Ok - here's the breakdown... after Dr B telling me that he has a mass oozing from his stomach and bowel Dr H begins to explain that the mass is coming from the omentum.... blank looks from us.... the omentum we are told is what medical gurus call 'the fatty apron'. It is a layer of fat that sits in front of your stomach, bowel, liver etc. Alright - well that was the start of our omentum lesson. The cat scan also shows that Martin has fluid on his left lung, fluid in his abdomen and fluid in his pelvis. This is known as ascites. Alright, Dr H re-evaluates the blood tests from last week. Yep blood seems really good except for a slight elevation in the liver count. She begins to ask questions like, are you having night sweats? Do you have diarreah? (I begin to wonder if I should put my hand up and say yes.... maybe I should be in the patient seat as well??) The usually highly strung Dr H is actually being very calm - which I am glad about, but also nervous because it makes me wonder if she is hiding her concern from us! She is straight on the phone to a specialist organising him to see Martin asap. Dr Bryant will see us on Friday! He is a gastro-endo specialist. Dr H summarises at the end of the appointment that should Martin have cancer that has caused this much ascites then he should be very very sick - and he's not! She asked if he has ever been to Asia, after he said 20 years ago, she thought that perhaps he had picked up a worm of some type. Wow - a 20 year old worm inside of my husband is kind of a gross thought but I must say a nicer one than cancer. I think for now I will cling to the worm theory!! Off for some more blood tests - these ones are tumor markers - designed specifically for cancer detection.
Martin and I head to the shops and decide to have some lunch together - it is kind of nice to have some down time without the children. I attempt some sushi - a little bit stayed in, but I have to say my body really isn't absorbing food!!
We race off - I still have a deadline to meet today! Handing over the disc to my client I felt a great sense of relief and wonderment - I can't actually believe I pulled this one off! I have had so much going on in my head the past week - from planning funerals, writing eulogies, being a single mother to then fighting the medical system, visualising a mammoth worm in my husband’s gut to thinking I am actually just being slipped some strong hallucinogenics that is making me imagine all the crazy stuff going on! But I did it. I have created a publication that everyone seems happy with.
My kind hearted friend has invited us to stay for dinner when we collect the children. I must say food is one of my hardest hurdles at the moment - I cant eat so therefore have no interest in cooking. Every time Martin puts something in his mouth I hold my breath waiting for him to yell out in pain as it becomes lodged somewhere or worse, I imagine his stomach or bowel exploding from another thing going in there! Meal time is not really a happy moment right now! It is wonderful to have company and distraction tonight!
With the tired kids and my belly worm husband we head for home. It has been a big day, but I have gone to bed feeling a little more confidence in the medical system.
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