Sat 5th Dec. 2009 'Another Nuffield visit'

Was given the opportunity to attend an appointment with the Cons.Gastro-enterologist this morning. Not the best way to spend a Saturday morning, but on the whole probably a more useful option than trying to fight our way through the Christmas crowds in York.

I assumed that it would just be an initial consultation, but following a fairly in depth chat about things I would rather not discuss, the Consultant decided he wanted to do an initial examination. A nurse came in and the curtains were pulled so I could remove the requested clothing. The nurse came back and was struggling to get through the curtains due to furniture, so she went back out and came through where it finished near the wall - 'oh' she said 'I thought I'd use the back entry'! It was at that point I was thankful Graham wasn't with me as we both have the same stupid sense of humour and several options for reply flashed through my head, but I guessed she may not get the joke, so I resisted.

For the record my weight today was 67.7kg which is 7kg less than I used to be. I'm a size 12 now, which in some ways is great. I haven't been a size 12 for over 30yrs, and generally I feel and look good, but I don't want to lose any more weight. I've decided to clear out my wardrobe and start again. This is harder than it sounds because I have some really nice clothes and it's tempting to keep hold of them, but that suggests I may go back to being a size 16 and I don't want that.

Following a rather uncomfortable procedure we talked some more about the significant changes in my bowel habits and he informed me that he wanted to carry out a Colonoscopy to be absolutely certain nothing was being missed. He agrees with my Oncologist opinion and doesn't feel the problem is related to the Herceptin and is worth further investigation. Personally I still think the chemotherapy has triggered some sort of 'irritable bowel' disorder, but I'm happy to go along with his recommendations and if everything is clear, at least we can look at ways of managing the problem.