Hello there, I am back and Eric has been evicted!! This post is in two parts, the first a health update and then a garden update. You are free to skim the first part and go to the garden, which is probably of more interest.
Eric’s eviction
As I woke from the anaesthetic I remember patting myself down and saying “Keyhole and no stoma” to the response “Yes, keyhole and no stoma”. What a relief that was, although if it had been worse I would have just had to deal with it.
Anaesthetics, painkillers and my system do not mix well. It took me a long time to come round, and although my 4 hour operation started at 8:45 a.m. I was not down in a ward until about 5:30 p.m. and in a comatosed state for the rest of the day on a drip and oxygen. This meant that the first of the Enhanced Recovery Program (ERP) steps, to get out of bed and move into a chair the same day of the operation, went by the board. Wednesday was not much better, following a visit from the Pain Team, I was dosed with Ketamine (yes the stuff they give to horses!) and slow release morphine. By the afternoon I was so spaced out, I couldn’t even form a sentence, was violent sick (not good following abdominal surgery) and every time I closed my eyes I felt black and white patterned walls closing in on me. It was all very scary, I thought I was having a stroke, and think the doctors had the same worry. I was taken off all painkillers except good old paracetomol and by Thursday was back in the land of the living – it was certainly an experience I don’t want to repeat. I was then two days behind the ERP but caught up quickly and was discharged on Sunday into the capable care of my youngest daughter and her husband.
The Surgical Registrar told me they had taken out just over a foot of my colon, and happily announced that they had “removed all the cancer” – making it sound as though I had only had a tooth pulled. I have an appointment with the Consultant on Thursday 23 May to find out what the staging is and what chemotherapy treatment may lay ahead of me. In the meantime, I now have to build up my strength and get my appetite back. I have lost a lot of weight and have cheekbones I haven’t seen for years!
The Garden
I came home yesterday, Saturday, and it was a joy to wander around the garden. The Forget-me-nots, bluebells and Lilac look wonderful, especially with the alliums just about to come out. Stupidly, I had left my DSLR camera on and the battery was flat, so the photos below were taken using my little Fuji FinePix and sadly they are not quite as sharp as I would have liked them to be.
The garden over the wall has a magnificent Ceoanthus in full blue bloom, mine is still in tight bud, but then it is probably not getting as much sunshine.
The Lilac needs pruning hard after it has flowered to encourage more flowers next year, it seems a little top heavy at the moment.
Imagine this is smellie vision, the perfume at the end of the afternoon today, with the sun shining on the lilac was breathtaking.
As I said earlier the alliums are just about to flower, which will add to the blue/purple hues in the garden. Not to mention give me the opportunity to take lots of photos of them from all angles.
Nestled between a prolifically growing hardy geranium (cranesbill) and the Aquilegia I found the Geum Bell Bank flowering away to its hearts content. It is such a pretty plant and I am pleased it has decided to return again this year, so many plants in my garden give up the ghost after the first year. Knautia macedonica is a prime example it clearly doesn’t like my garden.
Finally, another allium, a giant one this time, which is going to look really colourful against the Eurphorbia when it is out in full.
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