Update 2

UPDATE TWO – 28 July

 

John has enjoyed being home – welcomed back by the villagers (some of whom even wanted to organize a church service for him) – as well as the dog, the cat and the parrot.

 

He gets up every day with me just after 6 am (before it gets too hot) and walks down the road til I turn off with the dog into the valley, and he returns back home.  Sunday we made it early to the beach at Curium, just as the sun was coming up and he swam out to the red buoys and back and then walked the beach.  It was too early for breakfast at the café on the beach, so we got some bacon on the way home and had a good old English breakfast.  Bacon, egg and tomatoes has never tasted so good.

 

Monday he went back to the clinic for the operation, under general anesthetic, for the insertion of the Port o Cath.  The surgeon, this time a Cypriot who trained in Los Angeles, was very careful and particular and John has a very neat scar just above his right nipple.  He made a cut on the shoulder blade to insert the catheter (tube) down the vein into the heart, and then another longer cut on the breast, where this port o cath is inserted.  The catheter is then connected to the portal and sits under the skin so that it needs minimal care.  It is an American device made by Deltec and it is accessed using a specially designed needle which goes through the skin and into the portal, so that any fluids go through the catheter directly into the bloodstream.

 

It has to be flushed with a heparin solution to prevent blood clots from forming.

 

So John stayed Monday night in the clinic in Limassol where the operation took place, and returned home today.  Tomorrow, Friday and next Monday we will return to the doctor’s surgery for it to be flushed again – just a quick simple process.

 

The Oncology Centre has already been in touch with the surgeon, and says it wants to start chemotherapy as soon as possible, so this will likely be next week, but we do not have an appointment yet.  That will mean a trip every two weeks to Nicosia.

 

So, says Natasha, how does Dad look?  Well he looks extremely well – unless he does too much and just gets tired.  On the whole he controls the pain with pain killers (3 a day just paracetamol) and takes a sleeping pill at night.

 

He has particularly enjoyed receiving all your emails and phone calls and is at his best in the morning although remember, (as one friend said) he can talk for England!!

 

Thanks again.

 

Sue