Family & Surgery Update…

So 9 days ago I went for my surgery to remove my skin cancer. My youngest sister messaged me with lots of irritating questions, “what time are you leaving for the hospital, what ward will you be on, will you go straight down to theatre when you get there, what is the latest time they take people to surgery, what time is your operation, how long will you be there, will you have many stitches, what’s happening after the operation, is it a day case, will you have to go back, whats the surgeons name” and many many more! She is one of those people who continually ask questions in rapid fire and never really take a breath, and asks many daft questions. I am not the type of person who likes being questioned and find it irritating, and usually close-down or give generalised answers when this happens as I prefer to tell when I am ready and not be under a spotlight.

After the surgery I drove home and replied to a few more texts from my youngest sister and one from my mother, mainly ones of “are you home yet”. Today I finally got a call from my mother asking how I was, but I could tell from her tone she was not really calling to know how I was, then it came. “The reason for my call, can you ask your mate how much a new computer……” When my phone rang, I said to M “oh! here we go! I wonder what she wants this time?” knowing it would be a “can you” type call and not a genuine call of concern.

One of my sisters has not bothered calling to find out, and my little brother has become an ass and does not think he has to ask about anyone, including his father when he was in hospital.

M and I are always suspicious now when we get calls from our family as it is either a call for help or in the case of M’s mum, a mistaken call as she is trying to call someone else. It would be nice to have parents like we see on the Hallmark channel, or to have family like my cousins, but coming from a broken home I realised that would never happen.

So, my surgery went well, and I got away with only 4 stitches. The surgeon said it was deep and he removed skin and what lies beneath in the shape of an ellipse. He said he thought it went well and for me to go back to see him at the end of the month. I removed (yes I did) my stitches on Thursday and boy was I glad to get them out as they were irritating me. I heal really fast, always have no matter the injury. Cuts tend to take about 24/36 hours to fully knit, and usually within a week they are pretty much healed and just faint scars. This is no exception, and on Thursday when I took them out you would not really tell I had surgery. There is a fine scar and very thin mark that will fade to nothing before I go and see my surgeon.

I thought I would share a photo of the surgery, this was taken about 2 hours after. Although 48 hours later I did have a slight black eye as can be seen in the second picture.

Hospital Visit…

A few weeks ago I had two “growths” removed, one from my face under my right eye and one on my chest. I had had them for a little bit and noticed that the one on my face was getting bigger. It was not bit at all, and most people did not notice it, but I did and that was all that mattered. The one on my chest was a funny brown colour and not like a regular mole. One of the GP’s at my surgery (not my regular GP) does minor surgery so I booked an appointment with him and off they came, but I have a lump on the right side of my face about 2/3cm from my right eye that he could not do as it was not a surface lump like the other two, but deep into the skin. The GP told me he would get me an appointment to see a specialist. Just over a week later I was booked into the private hospital to see a consultant in Maxillofacial surgery.

The hospital is only a 10-minute drive (very convenient) and is in the middle of several farmsteads, surrounded by trees turning gold in the autumn sun, and many many pear trees shedding their fruit. The hospital itself is state of the art and appointments always run on time which is a nice change from the overrun NHS hospitals. After being booked in and completing registration paperwork I saw Mr B. He examined the lump quite extensively and quickly diagnosed it as skin cancer, namely basal lymphoma/b-cell lymphoma. He assured me that it was nothing to worry about and he would perform surgery and remove it and I would be left with a few stitches where it was cut out, but as he is also a plastic surgeon the scaring would be minimal. The only thing that I was disappointed about was the scaring, as I do love a good facial scar, also I am a sun whore, but I guess factor 30 or 50 from now on.

I have had many operations in my life and have had 16 (over 8 years) just to rebuild my face including plastic surgery after having it smashed in when I was 17. Yes I picked to look this way ha ha.

I am just awaiting my appointment to go in to have the surgery now, which should be just over a week away.

Lunch…

M and I went for lunch on Thursday with two of my cousins, and all our dogs.  We have a pub that is totally dog-friendly, even to the point of bringing a bowl of water for them to the table.  I had scampi, M lasagne, and the girls had nachos and chicken and bacon salad.  I was driving so had zero alcohol beer which was delicious and seemed no different than normal beer in taste.

Our topics of conversation ran the gamut from them being related to John Lennon (I much prefer Yoko Ono), my Nan’s crochet and embroidery, more of that in a later post, and my asshole father, again, more of that in a later post.

My dogs were very excited needless to say, but in the end, I had to put them back in the car (sunroof open and all windows cracked open too) so they could calm down.  Harper was overexcited, but she tends to be like that when she comes into some of the shops too, yes, we live in quite a dog-friendly place.  Where I grew up all the pubs were dog-friendly, but being int he middle of a farming community it was expected, sometimes people had their horses with them.  I digress.  Rosie the other dog was very well behaved, apart from having a growling moment at my dogs for no reason.  The had all been on walks together with no problem and happy to play together.

It was nice to catch up with them again, and more so that M got to meet them.  He has met one other cousin of mine, but as that side of the family is estranged most of my dad’s side are still standoffish, that is down to him, again, more of that in a later post.

One of my cousins has been undergoing breast cancer treatment, and now finished, she attends the hospital for follow-ups and treatment of side effects, pains in extremities etc., so it was a little surprising to get home and in my email box was one from LoveKnitting.com about knitting for Breast Cancer Haven.  100% of the sale of the patterns got to the charity, so I decided I would make two hats, one for my cousin and the other I would donate to Breast Cancer Haven for another patient going through treatment.  I decided to go for the Plum Tart Hat by Rosee Woodland.  I messaged my cousin asking what her favourite colour is and that all would be explained in time, she said mostly reds and a little lilac.  I have bought two shades of Willow and Lark Ramble yarn which is 100% merino wool, which I love to work with.  I have ordered two shades of red, one called Ox Blood and the other Cranberry.  When I have finished them I will give her the choice and the other I will donate.  I picked this hat out of all the patterns because it had more of a cable design to it, and I thought it quite stunning.  When I have the yarn I will take a pic of it to show you all, and of course, when I have finished each of the hats, do a show and tell too.  Oh, and if you were wondering, my cousin loves hats and wears all kinds, this being due to losing her hair.

Victoria Wood

Today we say a fond farewell to one of the UK’s best comedians.  Victoria Wood passed away today after a short battle with cancer. I for one will miss her.

Not only was she a great comedian, but an incredible actress in both funny and serious roles.  If you have never seen her in a serious role, then may I suggest watching “Housewife, 49”