cancer

District nurses are the best.

When my mum was suffering from Dementia and I was struggling to cope, my cousin who was a retired Health Visitor (sadly passed away) advised me to ask my GP if a District Nurse could visit mum in her flat.

He resisted saying that mum could be dealt with through care in the community but eventually agreed.

I made sure I was there when the nurse called and she was wonderful. Within days mum was admitted to hospital and subsequently to a Home where she settled in quite quickly and was well looked after.

Heaven knows what would have happened without the District Nurse because I was heading for complete carer burnout.

My op is tomorrow afternoon !!!!!
I had the anticoagulant jab today and it was so painful I cried, there was no offer of pain relief and it hurt for 30 minutes. My pain threshold is very low I cry if I prick my finger with a sewing needle. If this is only the first part of the treatment I shudder to think what the rest will be like.
I will not be posting till I get home as my iphone is staying at home in case it gets stolen , Im taking a dinosaur with me just for text and calls.

ethel, you'll be fine!

Hope to hear from you very soon.

Sending you all my best wishes, ethel

I'm sure you'll have morphine post-op to get you over the immediate after-effects. I have never heard of pain relief for an anti-coagulant jab.

This is silly!
Those jabs ate not that painful, no matter how sensitive you are!

All my very best wishes, too, for the operation and for a speedy recovery.

I am very impressed that you use an iphone to post, I have trouble posting on my tab (I like the old pc that has to be cranked up.)

Ethel what's the betting you return feeling much tougher and stronger after your hospital stay? You'll see people enduring more than you're going to experience and will soon gets things in perspective. Come back and tell us how brave you've been

Best of luck for tomorrow! I am sure you will have all the pain relief you will need and that all goes smoothly.

Good luck EthelBags. Thinking of you.

Good luck Etheltbags I hope it all goes well for you

Good luck Ethelbags hope all goes well, and remember, the medical and nursing staff are all there to help you and make things easier for you, just try and go with the flow, do not keep seeing ulterior motives in everyone, they are not there! Will soon be over and you will be able to get home to your own bed and get on with your recovery. All good thoughts coming your way

Good luck Ethelbags, I am sure that you will be fine. I had a major abdominal operation a few years ago and I have a 12 inch scar to prove it. As an ex-nurse, I was pretty much aware of what was going to happen during the operation and I was scared. It really was manageable! There is some pain, (how could there not be?) but there are painkillers which are very effective. Please try and relax as much as you can and you too will be fine. Wishing you an uneventful and speedy recovery.

I agree with Galen- anticoagulant injections sting for a few seconds but one could not describe it as pain- I should know, I am injecting myself x2 daily!

Good luck for tomorrow but Ethel you will have to get a grip of yourself.

I expect that by the time you're reading this etheltbags your operation and hospital stay will be behind you and you will have discovered that you coped after all. Here's to a speedy recovery.

Ethelbags I hope all goes well tomorrow. Perhaps your sensitivity to pain is because you anticipate it and become very stressed. I wonder if learning some relaxation techniques might help? Your GP might be able to advise.

ethel - good luck with your op.

Anxiety can reduce your pain threshold and make things that are only mildly uncomfortable seem painful. Try practising some of the relaxation that you do with your clients - I am sure it would help.

I injected myself for months with Clexane and it really does not hurt - momentary sting and that is all.

Good luck, ethelt!

I hope the op went well ethelt and that by the time you read this you're feeling so much better than you'd imagined.

It'll all be over when you read this!
Welcome home ethel, hope everything went well.
Here's to a speedy recovery

thank you all for the kind wishes. I am home and hopefully over the worst. It was painful and uncomfortable but I expected that. I found that I could not sleep due to noise from other patients and staff doing their jobs so by the time I came home I was exhausted. I had lots of visitors and my DD stayed last night but from today I am on my own.
It is scary being careful with my scar in case I bump it or my cats jump on my stomach, I am also thinking of all complications that could happen and I worry.
However the main thing is that I am home and just waiting for my check up to see what the lab results said.

Good to see you're safely back home, ethel. I hope you recover soon

Glad you are back home Ethel and your DD is there for you when you need her. I expect she'll be feeling very relieved too, to have you back.
Just take little steps and you'll soon be looking back and seeing how far you've come

Welcome Home Ethelbags and I bet you are glad to be back in your own bed. Many people say that the worst thing about being in hospital is trying to get some sleep when there is always so much going on, especially when you are used to sleeping in a quiet bedroom with just a cat or two for company! My DM phoned from hospital 3 days after her hip replacement to say that if I didnt come and get her she was going to phone a taxi to collect her as she just couldnt get any sleep, and when she had finally fallen into an exhausted slumber the previous night, one of the staff woke her by shaking her shoulder to ask to check her next of kin details! I went to get her . Enjoy being at home, and we look forward to hearing from you when you feel up to it. Meanwhile these are for you

Wecome home ethel hope your recovery goes smoothly.