Monday September 8th 2008

Derek has an appointment with Dr Gomez at 11:30 this morning.  This is the day we have been looking forward to and dreading in equal measure.  It has been a hard week on Derek and his second week without his cigarettes.  He had not realised how much it would take it out of him.  The anti-biotics are finished, but he is still reliant on the pain killers which are making him tired and listless; and apart from the operation site, the catheter is making him very uncomfortable and at times it is downright painful.  The weather is hot, but he has to wear trousers only adding to his overall discomfort.  Today we really hope that the catheter will be removed and hopefully the metal staples too.   We booked a taxi to pick us up at 10 past eleven, but it did not arrive until 11:25 – not an auspicious start for the day.  We arrived ten minutes late at the hospital and after queuing at the main desk to book in, arrived for our appointment nearly twenty minutes late.  No sign of Doctor Gomez, no queue outside his room and the room was empty, mild panic was setting in.  Gradually, other people joined the queue we had started, but it was three quarters of an hour, before an apologetic Doctor Gomez arrived.  I was so relieved to see him that I didn’t care how late he was or that he still managed to see three other patients before he got to us.  The wait was worth it.  Doctor Gomez is a very caring, patient man who always puts you at ease and takes the time and trouble to explain everything until he is quite sure that you understand.  Today he has good news for us.  The cancer has all been removed with the kidney and there are no secondary sites and the lymph nodes were all clear.  This means that Derek will not need chemotherapy or radiology.  Before Derek can say anything else the good doctor tells him to go to the treatment room so that he can remove the catheter.  The look of relief on Derek’s face is a picture as he makes his way up onto the couch in the treatment room.  Fascinated, I watch as he clips out the metal staples one by one, but leave before he gets around to the catheter – I don’t really want to hear a grown man cry.  However, I need not have worried, because according to Derek he was very gentle, unlike the nurse that removed the one he had after the biopsy, I suppose it is a man thing.  Doctor Gomez tells Derek that he has to return for regular check ups, every three months for the next five years.

That part over, we head to reception and book the next appointment for December 3rd 2008.  From reception we go to Administration to find out their intentions regarding Derek’s front teeth.  Carmen in admin remembers the incident and soon locates the file.  She disappears to the dental department and comes back with an appointment for Derek on Monday September 29th.  I can’t help wondering just what it was she said to the orthodontist.  I mean, was it, “Better do an excellent job on this one or he might sue the socks off us”, or was it, “Get away with it as cheap as possible, they’re only foreingners and won’t know any different how we do things over here”.  Cynical or what?

Sunday August 31st 2008

Today is our wedding anniversary, but we certainly had never envisaged spending it in San Jaime, but as the day dawned early as usual, we had already resigned ourselves to it.  Breakfast and lunch passed by uneventfully, with the usual visits from the nurses toing and froing, changing drips and doing the vitals.  Television pre-pay ticket ran out, so had to purchase a new one, seven more euros to get us through the day.  Another doctor comes to poke and prod Derek – at least we think he was a doctor, but he looked more like the boiler-man just come up from the basement and helping the doctors out.  Anyway he gives Derek the once over, pronounces him fit and tells him he can go home.  Derek asks when, thinking he means tomorrow.  “Now” says the doctor. “Come back in a week to see Doctor Gomez”.  So the drips are pulled out and the central line removed and all we have to do is pack up and leave.  I hand the still unused telly ticket over to the nurse as I am sure someone will be able to use it.  Helpfully, they order us a wheelchair taxi, and with Derek still in pyjama bottoms, we leave the hospital just as the taxi draws up outside.  How’s that for timing?  By 4pm we are home again.  So a pretty good wedding anniversary after all.

Later in the evening my brother, Geoff, rings me, strange that I thought, he generally only rings at Christmas.  He is ringing with bad news.  Our eldest sister, Pamela, died yesterday.  I did not even know she was ill, but by the strangest coincidence, she had been diagnosed with kidney cancer around the same time as Derek.  They told her it was operable, but it was much further advanced than Derek’s (thank heaven for those kidney stones) and she collapsed on Saturday and died an hour later before they were able to treat her.

Saturday 30th August 2008

Day started early as usual.  Opted for coffee instead of tea.  Its not a bad cup of coffee and with biscuits and croissants it’s an acceptable breakfast.  Derek is still feeling poorly, so it does not seem likely that we will be going home today.   He is still only managing a few mouthfuls of food per meal.  The food is generally pretty good, well balanced and always nice and hot.  Derek is on a restricted, bland diet, so it is not very adventurous, but certainly nothing to complain about.  Before lunch he is given a menu card and allowed to choose his own meals.  This is much better and they have quite a nice selection to choose from.  Around tea time we have a new nurse, Marian, come to change the dressings.  We speak to her in Spanish, but she replies in very good English, much better than our Spanish.  She sees that we are surprised and tells us that she only speaks English to people who speak to her first in Spanish!  Now isn’t that confirmation of everything you have always thought.  Derek has to have the wound drain removed, but when she tries to pull the long tube out, it causes him excruciating pain.  Quickly, she stops.  We are both very worried.  She says that she will get the doctor tomorrow to take it out.  Derek says ” what the ****’* wrong with today!”  Nurse exits rapidly.   Some 15 minutes later, nurse returns with Doctor.  A quick twist and sharp pull and it is out.  Doctor explains that it was probably just a little bit stuck and that the nurse had already freed it.  Exit Doctor, followed by nurse.  Said nurse returns 5 minutes later – minus doctor and says in her best English, ” See, I put my arse on the line for you!”  I like this Nurse Marian.

Friday August 29th 2008

The day started early as usual in hospitals, at around 6:30am with the nurses coming in to take vitals etc.  At 8am the breakfast trolley came round.  Derek was feeling somewhat better by now and looking forward to a cup of tea and a bite to eat.  It had been 36 hours since he last ate.  Two cups of milky water with floating tea bags arrived, accompanied by a croissant, jam, butter and some biscuits.  Quickly I added our own tea bags to the murky brew and produced a half decent cuppa.  Funny, when you are desperate, how good even a half decent cuppa tastes.  Two nurses arrive after breakfast and proceed to give Derek a bed bath.  Quite amazing to watch how they work in unison, making him comfortable, clean and refreshed.  After washing and drying him, they smoothe over Aloe Vera liquid and also sprinkle it on the fresh bedlinen, I am most impressed and Derek looks so much better for a little attention.  Later that morning Doctor Gomez came to see how his patient was doing.  He told us that the operation had gone as expected, that he had removed the kidney, adrenal gland, lymph nodes and urethra and that everything looked clear, but we would have to wait for the final results.  He took Derek off the oxygen, but left the wound drain in and also the catheter.  We were amazed to see the surgical incision held together with large metal staples, much heftier than anything you would use to hold papers together, but Doctor Gomez assured us that these were the best method and gave no trouble when the time came to remove them.  Derek asked how soon the the catheter could be removed and was most disappointed and surprised when he was told not for two weeks.  Rather difficult especially as he had come into hospital wearing his shorts.  I said “What no sex for two weeks!!”  Made them laugh a bit.

Thursday August 28th 2008

Admission went smoothly and we were shown to Room 121 on the first floor,  not a suite this time, but large enough for the two of us!  There was the usual television high on the wall, a sofa bed and a large and comfortable recliner chair as well as the hospital bed.  The nurse followed us in and gave Derek a gown to put on, which he did, leaving his boxers on to preserve a little modesty behind the almost transparent paper gown.  As he did so, I noticed the razor in the nurses hand…….end of modesty then!  So onto the bed a thorough dry shave by the nurse and ten minutes later they wheeled him away to the theatre.  It was still only 20 to nine.  The first hour he was gone went quickly enough, but the time dragged from then on and my worry for him grew, but I could get no further information.  It was nine hours before they came to tell me he was out of surgery and that I could go and see him.   No explanation of why it had taken so long and I was frantic when I overheard one of the nurses saying “….problema…”.  Derek was down on the ground floor in the recovery room next to the operating theatre.  The anesthetist came to see me and explained that when they administered the anesthetic they had unfortunately managed to knock out his two front teeth!  He said that I would be able to see Derek for only 1 minute.  I was shown in and literally given one minute with him before being ushered away again.  They told me he was to be taken to the Intensive care ward – which was normal practise after on operation and that I could come back to see him, accompanied by a nurse,  between 7 and 7:30.  It was 7:20pm  before the nurse was available to take me down to see him, but the ward was not yet open and I joined a queue of other concerned relatives.  Eventually, the doors opened and we were allowed inside, however there was no sign of Derek.  The nurse found me and explained that he was now well enough to go back to his own room, so to return there and he would be back in half an hour.  About three quarters of an hour later they wheeled him back into his room.  He looked so poorly, hooked up to various drips and the oxygen tubes, drifting in and out of a sleepy state.  The anesthetic had not agreed with him at all and he felt very sick, so they kept pumping full of anti-sickness drugs and pain killers.  Still,  it was all over and he spent an otherwise uneventful night.

Thursday August 28th 2008

Set the alarm for 5:30am but did not sleep well.  Up, dressed and ready and waiting for the taxi by 7:15am.  Bang on time, Jose arrives – only it is an ordinary taxi!  He looks at me, by now outside on the road behind his cab, and mutters in Spanish, probably something about getting him out of bed at that time in the morning and then not being able to get in his cab.  Anyway, with a flourish of his arms and a “No problema” he gets on his radiophone to the cab company.  A couple of minutes later he is again telling me no problema and assuring me that there will be another one along in five minutes – where have I heard that before, I wonder?  With that, he gets back into his cab and drives off down the road, leaving me feeling totally helpless in the middle of the road.  Derek is standing in the garden doing what he does best (swearing) and saying that we might as well not bother to go and that he feels fine anyway.  However, before I can even get back through the gate to argue with him, taxi number 2 arrives – wow that was quick!  Could not have been more than three minutes.  So we are loaded in and away to San Jaime; straight to admissions, we know where we are going this time, and all before twenty to eight in the morning.

Wednesday August 27th 2008

With the big day looming tomorrow we figure we should work out our plan of action.  We will need a taxi to get us to the hospital and as we have decided it would be easier for me to stay with Derek, then the best idea would be one of the wheelchair taxis to take us.  Tried to ‘phone to book one, but the woman at the other end did not speak English, and refused to understand my Spanish; okay so my Spanish is lousy.  Gerry, our neighbour comes to the rescue and phones them for us, however, wheelchair taxis can not be booked in advance. “You must phone in the morning”  Luckily, Gerry has a friend of her granddaughter, who has a friend, Jose, that has a wheelchair taxi, so that is arranged for 7:20am.  A great weight lifted just knowing that has been booked.  Now just pack a case for two people, not forgetting to take some tea bags (the ones at San Jaime are rubbish),  breakfast/cereal bars and a pack of cards and crib board to while away the hours.  I also take papers to read as I have read that the operation takes 2 to 3 hours.

Wednesday 20th August 2008

Apart from going to the main desk to hand over the expired card once more and receiving our sticky labels again, we have no idea of where to go.  This time we are told to go to the second floor – this is new – we don’t usually get beyond the first floor, however we have no idea of what to do when we get there.  We see a short queue at a desk so decide to join that.  Our turn comes and we soon discover that it is the wrong queue.  So off we go, down another corridor and join another queue.  The receptionist takes one of our sticky labels and attaches it to a form before handing the rest back to us.  We then to go to wait outside another door for Doctor Alexander.  Finally it is our turn and it quickly becomes apparent that he has no idea of why we are there!  However, after explaining briefly, he fills in all the right forms and sends us off to get Derek’s vitals taken all over again.  Another ECG, another label;  height and weight, another label; X-Rays, another label.  Derek is grateful that for this time, at least, they don’t require any more blood.  So two hours later and we are back home.

Tuesday 19th August 2008

I had just started to prepare our evening meal when the telephone rang.  It was the call we had been expecting from San Jaime.  The surgery has been booked for Thursday 28th August and Derek has to be there at 7:45am.  He is not amused, as he did not really believe that there were two 7:45s in a day!!  First though, he has to see Dr Alexander at 11:45am tomorrow, to go through the pre-op routine again.

Wednesday 13th August 2008

We figured that we knew the routine by now, so arrived in plenty of time for our 11:30 appointment.  Waited our turn at the main desk, again handed over the out of date card and received our sticky labels.  Then down the corridor to wait outside of room 13.  After a short wait, that seemed like an eternity, we were ushered inside to see Doctor Gomez, a cheerful looking round faced bespectacled man with a small moustache of around 50 years of age.  He looks serious as reads through Derek’s notes and tells us that the biopsy shows that the tumour is indeed cancerous.  They have also scanned his bladder from inside and are happy that there is no sign of cancer there.  Patiently he explains the procedure to completely remove the kidney, adrenal gland, nearby lymph glands and the urethra.  This last bit is necessary as the cancer is sitting over the area where the urethra joins the kidney, so this is to ensure that no cancer cells migrate down to the bladder during or after surgery.  I ask the doctor about smoking and he tells us that the type of cancer that Derek has is directly attributable to smoking.  After the operation he will have only one kidney, so he must look after it very well.  He wants Derek in as soon as possible, but once again we first have to get the okay from the insurance people.  The hospital will phone us as soon as they know to make the appointment to come in.  It is really annoying that before each procedure we have to get the insurer’s permission and that generally takes a week.  You would think that once they had agreed the the first one, that the rest would just carry on, but no.  So back home to await the phone call.

Wednesday 6th August 2008

The day started early, around 6am when the nurses come round, make their checks, take his blood pressure and temperature etc.   He reaches for his tobacco again the minute they are out of sight.  Breakfast is delivered at 8am and enough is provided for us both.  The doctor does his rounds later and pronounces Derek fit enough to leave as soon as the catheter has been removed.  A short while later a nurse arrives and takes out all his drips and then the catheter.  It is heart rendering to hear a grown man cry!!  Somehow, I think that nurse is not his favourite person.  Now another long wait, as we can’t leave until Derek’s notes have been written up and first the Doctor has to finish in his clinic.  At two o’ clock we finally have the notes and can leave.  On the way out, we make an appointment with Dr Gomez for the following Wednesday to get the results of the biopsy.

Tuesday 5th August 2008

Admission time is 8am so Derek insists on being up at 5:30 to leave at 7:30 so he can drive us there.  It is a hazy day, but there is no shelter from the sun at San Jaime, so we just park close to the entrance.  By half past eight the admission formalities have been completed and we have been guided to a mini suite on the first floor, number 115, comprising a bedroom, separate sitting room and enormous bathroom.  There is a television, but the channels are somewhat limited. The vista is of the salt lakes and beyond to the mountains.  Derek hates waiting round and it soon becomes obvious that he will not be first on their list.  We watch a bit of television and play a few games of cards, but it is difficult to concentrate.  It is nearly one o’clock before they come for him.  I wander around for a bit, tidy the room of all our bits and read the paper.  A couple of hours later, they wheel him back in.  He is not at all groggy from the anaesthetic as I had expected, but wide awake.  The whole procedure was carried out with an epidural.  It took a while before all the feeling returned to his legs, but his biggest concern was the catheter he had been fitted with.  He was less than impressed!  Only just back from surgery and already he was demanding his tobacco.  Not a promising start.  Eventually, after running the nurses ragged, we settled down to an uneasy nights sleep.

Thursday 31st July 2008

It seems to have been a long wait, waiting for the insurance company to give the okay for Derek’s kidney biopsy.  It finally came through and the biopsy will take place next Tuesday.  First though, this morning at 9 am he has to have his pre-med check up.  It is a very hot day, even though it is only nine in the morning.  Derek is shunted around several departments clutching the new supply of sticky labels, to be given up, one at a time at each examination.  Once again he is screened, scanned and X-Rayed, then off for an ECG followed by the blood drawing – not his favourite bit!  Two hours later and we are on our way out again.  As it is still quite early we decide to drive into Torrevieja and go to the bank.  Luck must be on our side today, as we find a parking spot, in the shade and on our first circuit of the town!  Believe me, if you can find a parking space in Torry at this time of year, you keep it as long as possible.  It’s almost worth parking there all day and walking home.  However, we opt to have lunch at The Casino, having first been to the bank.  We returned to the car some three hours later, to find it now standing in the blazing sun with the inside doing justice to a furnace.

Wednesday 23rd July 2008

Another hot, beautiful, day dawned.  Pita has gone to stay with Auntie Yvonne and Moley has gone to Feline Friends Cat Hotel.  It always seems strange when we are without the animals, but at least it gives us chance to organise ourselves.  Depending on the outcome of today’s appointment we could still be going back to the UK on Thursday, albeit for only a couple of weeks.  Not being sure of where to go, we arrived at the hospital 20 minutes ahead of time.  The main desk seemed the best place to start, so we joined the waiting queue for our turn.  Patiently, we explained to the girl that we wanted to see Dr Gomez at 5pm; equally patiently she replied “mañana”.  Frustrated we said “No, hoy” only to be met with “No, no hoy, mañana.  Several versions of this conversation and a good ten minutes later we are no closer to seeing Dr Gomez.  Then Derek has a brainwave and remembers the name of Carmen Maria.  The very mention of her name seems to disturb her tranquility  and gets her reaching for the telephone.  She hands the telephone over to me and after a few words of confirmation with Carmen Maria, I hand the ‘phone back to the girl.  I don’t know what she said to her, but her attitude changed immensely as she spoke on the ‘phone.  Conversation over, the insurance card is requested once more and still no one seems to notice it is two years out of date.  Armed with a handful of sticky labels we are pointed in the direction of Dr Gomez consulting room.  Derek and I are called in to see the doctor.  He quietly explains, that from all the information he has in front of him, Derek appears to have a 4 to 5 cm mass on his left kidney, which from the scans he is pretty sure is cancer.  The next step is for a biopsy of the tumour to be taken.  Doctor Gomez wants to do this as soon as possible, so returning to England is not an option.

Tuesday July 22nd 2008

Well it was a lot to take in.  We talked about it over night and generally we both seemed happier for any necessary treatment to be carried out at San Jaime.  Phoning them to make an appointment however, was entirely a different matter.  Derek never, but never , makes telephone calls.  My call was passed around through numerous departments, most of which had no idea what this crazy English woman actually wanted.  Then suddenly a little light dawned as I spoke to a young woman by name of Carmen Maria.  She promised faithfully, that she would sort it out and call me back later that day.  Normally I hate that ominous promise, waiting for a call that never comes, but it was the best we had achieved so far.  It was nearly 8pm before she returned the call.  Still,  she had found Derek’s notes and now knew what was needed.  An appointment was made to see Dr Gomez at 5pm on Wednesday.  So far, so good.

Monday July 21st 2008

Three days before our flight back to England.  Holiday for the dog is booked.  Cat is going to Feline Friends Cat Hotel.  Then in the early hours of this morning – 3am to be precise – the pain that Derek has had in his side all day gets worse, so we take a trip to San Jaime Hospital.  It is always nice and uncrowded at this time of the morning! Mad panic as we can not find the current insurance card, so we take the one that expired 2 years ago.  Luckilly no one seems to notice.  Derek is wheeled away from me for a battery of tests; chest x-ray, MRI, Cat scan, bloods taken and urine sample requested. No luck with the latter as he had just ‘been’.  With that we are shown to a room for the night. Drips are inserted and another request for urine made. In the morning the doctor visits and gives Derek the news that his pain has been caused by Kidney Stones.  However, on the scans they can see a shape on his left kidney and are pretty certain that it is a cancerous growth.  Derek signs himself out of the hospital to consider his options.