We both had such a bad night's sleep and were glad when it was a sensible time to get up.
We left for the hospital at 8.20 and after making our way through the heavy school traffic and finding a space to park at the hospital arrives at the outpatients at 8.45. We sat down for a few minutes and we were then called through to wait in the corridor near the doctors office and we waited and waited. We were then shown into his office and we waited some more. We could hear him discussing things with a doctor but we still waited and we were both nearly sick with nerves.
It was only 25 minutes but seemed like forever before he came in. He told us that the good news was that the second tumour, 30cm in, was not malignant but would need to be removed as it is large and could turn malignant. He then went on to discuss the surgery and Jon told him he was really not happy with having a stoma and would do anything rather than have it. Mark, consultant, said that was good that he knew as he needs to consider all the options available. He told us of a procedure that has been carried out in France with a lot of success but it is a bit complicated to explain on here but it would mean Jon would only need a stoma for three months until things healed. The one drawback is possible incontinence but the results are good and people have not had too many problems. It has only been done a few times in NZ but Mark seems to think it is a good option and Jon REALLY thinks it is a good option!!! Mark did say that he would probably be able to tell before the surgery if it was going to be possible but if during the surgery he found anything he would have the right to do the stoma in order to get a good result and Jon has agreed to this.
He then spoke about the radiotherapy and got one of the nurses to call Waikato to ask about our appointment which they did and told us it is on 8 May at 9.30 and they will be able to fill us in on more of the radiotherapy treatment. Mark said they have decided the six week course will be the better option as this gives the tumour more time to shrink and will result in better surgery. It does, of course, mean that I will need to get him across to Hamilton and back every week day for six weeks.
The road, over the Kaimai Hills, can be very nasty in the winter and as it goes up so high is prone to fog but hopefully the six weeks will be over before the real winter sets in. If it does get too much Jon can stay in the lodge over there.
We talked about the wedding dates and he worked out that if Jon starts treatment in mid May he will finish it by end of June and can then have another MRI in mid July to see how much it has shrunk. Surgery usually happens six weeks after radiotherapy but he says another couple of weeks will not make a difference and so he will leave surgery till after our UK trip. I am very pleased about this as I was worried about the effect of a long haul flight on Jon after surgery. It means we will have to change our dates and get back straight after the wedding to have surgery at the end of August or first week in September but that is not a problem and Jon has called the travel agent and asked him to sort it out. We will probably have four days in KL on the way and one night stopover on the way back to break the journey.
I saw a big change come over Jon during the appointment and he visibly relaxed and when we came out 30 minutes later we were both like different people. I really did not think we would come out feeling so positive but we do and we have to remain like this. I know he has a long way to go and there will still be bad days ahead and the consultant said it will be a major operation but he feels Jon is young enough and fit enough to come out of it well so that is what we have to concentrate on.
I told the consultant that having the surgery in September was good as it would give Jon enough time to be well for Jane's wedding in May!!
We came out and went and sat in some lovely sunshine and had a coffee until Jon got too hot and we had to leave!
Jon took me home and then he went to work. I got stuck in to emailing everyone with the good news and had a lovely Skype call to my friend Cathy in Atlanta, Georgia.
I went down into Tauranga and saw Les and Sharon at the Red Cross and told them the news but they could see from my face that things were better.
When I got back I made some shortbread to take in to the RC tomorrow as Les is always saying the shortbread here is too sweet and being a Scot she loves shortbread so I made her some.
Jon was home early as I had booked for us to go out to an Italian for dinner tonight and we had a really good meal, too much to eat so I brought it home for my lunch tomorrow.
Jon has gone to bed early and hopefully we can both have a good night which will be the first for a month!!
WEATHER
Sun, cloud followed by rain tonight 21 degrees
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