Update from Paul

So it's Wednesday afternoon and I am currently sat next too mum in the extremely lavish hotel, sorry, hospital, that is The Wellington South in North London.

This is my first visit, post operation, and a few observations have struck me after spending a mere ten minutes in the room with mum so far.

First of all, how nice this room really is! Spacious. Warm. Flat screen television opposite the bed. En-suite bathroom, wow, and above all, a view overlooking the home of cricket, the nursery end at Lords! Wow!

Hello! Doctor! MY back hurts! lol.

I also noticed that, thankfully, mum is now back with us after a couple of days in the wilderness, dancing with the morphine fairies around regents park! Phone calls and text messages in the last week have been confusing to say the least.

When I entered the room, mum was with the occupational therapist, she was sat up slightly and talking, and instantly recognised who I was. Good start.

He then left, and we started talking about 'the week that was'. It became clear mum is still in alot of pain, understandably, and that confined to a bed can be uncomfortable, and some what lonely. But she soon perked up as we discussed all the messages and good wishes left on her Facebook page. She really does appreciate these!

And this led us nicely on to her blog, which is where we are now, and so she will now dictate as I type. Here are her thoughts and thankyou's to all her friends!

Hi everyone, the last week has gone in very much a blur, I stopped trying to reply too texts when I realised they were not making a lot of sense at all, or I sent the same message twice. And several people even received blank texts.

Thinking of you all, and looking forward to seeing you all! But I can now understand what they meant when they said 'you wont want visiters'.

Dr Kofi (my lovely anaesthetist) described me as 'another one that got away'. By this, he meant I did not have surgery as a teenager. And the scoliosis has worsened over 40 years, with the help of having 4 babies, but surgery was now possible and necessary. Nowadays teenagers with scoliosis would be operated on routinely, and I have heard how quickly they can 'bounce back'.

I am very fortunate to a have found in Mr Tucker, a surgeon willing to take me on. And I am very grateful that our medical insurance has made it possible to be treated so quickly, and in such luxury! (if I fancied eating, I would have put on a stone!)

Bit dissapointed though, it looks like I have only gained 1 and a half inches. But boy do I have some scars to show for it.

I really do appreciate all the messages, texts and cards, can't tell you how much they mean to me!

That is all for now. Love to all.xxx

So there we go, a little update from mum. Hope this helps paint a picture. It is a long road mum has started walking down, but it will be a lot easier with all her friends and family with her along that road!

Many thanks from all the Andersons, and from this blog in particular, me, Paul.

Speak to you soon.x

Update from Australia!

Hello everyone!

Well...this is all very clever! I am on the other side of the world but I have an update on Mum's progress! She text me at 2pm Auzzie time (which is about 3am over the pond!) as she wasn't sleeping very well...being the only patient in the Intensive Care unit, the lovely nurse allowed me to call her on her mobile! :o)

She sounded very groggy and a bit out of it - like you do after a few too many drinks! (sorry Mum, when you read this! :p) but that's down to all the strong painkillers she's on at the moment. It was great to speak to her & I can't believe she's already been standing up! It sounds like the surgery went perfectly and for the next few weeks it's all about pain control and the slow healing process...

It sounds like the "hospital" (hotel!!) is amazing and she told me how she's been eating some nice meals and as I was on the phone the nurse brought her a lovely hot cup of tea! :o)

Being on the other side of the world when Mum is going through something like this is reeeaaaallly hard but i've realised it's a blessing in disguise as when she can't sleep at night, there is always someone to talk to on the other side of the world! :o)

I will update the blog soon when I speak to Mum again but I just want to say a massive thank you for all your support and kind messages the past few weeks - she really does have great friends and without you, I don't know how she'd have got through the difficult patches!

Lots of love, Rachie xxxxx

p.s - Well done to David for his little update - keep them coming! :o) xxxx

Operations Over!

Hi everyone, Dave here! Mums just got out of the operation room and all went well. Mum is fine but not in a talking mood... She should be out in a few weeks though! That's all for now, OUT.

Big Day

Hello people,

Well I slept really well thanks to two little white tablets - tamazepam maybe? One minute I was sobbing and shaking and overwhelmed with fear and apprehension, the next I could feel my breathing settle and according to Ian I was snoring for England while he watched one of the many movies on demand...

Staff coming in this morning did something of a double take when they saw the bed was empty and unslept in - I opted instead to share the sofa bed which was actually quite comfy and much less lonely.

So - this morning I am sitting here with electrodes glued into my hair (the neuro-physiologist commented on how much she liked the colour). I've had all the spinal cord monitoring tests which involved some pretty painful electric shocks to my feet. We got up to 11 (volts?) and apparently during surgery it will be 20 - the two clinicians will be able to advise Mr Tucker if he is too close to the spinal cord so he can draw back. They also explained how they monitor the level of anaesthesia to ensure I don't wake up too soon - lovely as they both were I am hoping not to see them again.

Mr Tucker popped in after that. The man exudes confidence! Signing the consent form was as easy as filling out a Gift Aid Declaration - just felt like the right thing to do. He reckons I will be down by 11 and done by 4pm - though I doubt I will be updating this blog personally this evening...

I'll not go into too much detail as to what's going to happen as it's elswhere on this blog - suffice it to say he will be removing a rib, loosening some discs, fusing my spine (with bone from my ribs...), scaffolding it all with titanium rods and screws then sewing me up and sending me off to HDU for a few days. Anyone else got such an exciting day to look forward to...?!

Thanks by the way not only for the comments here but also the FB messages and tests. Did I mention this room has free wi-fi?! For some reason Outlook doesn't work but I can still pick up email via webmail so keep the messages coming - they are such a great distraction and survival technique - thank you!

Well time to get gowned up - very fetching pale blue floral number with some oh so attractive paper pants and stockings! To reduce risk of dvt sadly - nothing more exciting than that.

See you on the other side people xxx

Well here we are - view of my "hotel" room" - you may be able to spot your very own card or gift there - displayed on the chest of drawers to cheer me up when I get back from theatre.

We had a lovely meal. Ian, Sarah, Dave and myself then Jemma and then Paul joined us. Apparently he skipped footie training so if he is on the bench on Saturday he has only his mum to blame!

There really is a certain inevitability to it all now.

I've been thinking about this blog and the way in which I have made this journey so public. Ian and I discussed it this morning and I really hope that it may be possible to publish it somehow as a resource for others facing similar surgery. I mentioned that a few blogs ago but for those who have joined this week - that is the plan.

Many have said that they hope I am finding the blogging process therapeutic. The anaesthestist was fascinated and said he'd not heard of it before but hey everyone is twittering these days! I guess there are a myriad of reasons why I may have chosen to write all this stuff down and invite you to read it but at the end of the day does it really matter? Perhaps I am stressing too much about my motivation and what may come of all this. Perhaps it's just good to write stuff down!

I am going to take my first ever sleeping tablet shortly and snuggle up for what I hope will be a good nights sleep. Meanwhile here is one more pic....

Mini break

Well I have to be honest and say that I didn't expect the hotel - sorry hospital - to be quite like this. I may in fact be tempted to try and post a photo on here so that you can gasp at the luxury (and yes - the toiletries are Molton Browne...)

This morning was crazy - the phone didn't stop ringing, people popping in, last minute emails, a skype video with Australia, the bank, dentist, shopping for last minute birthday cards - all good "mind-taking-off" stuff but the stress levels were definitely at a peak. Tube delays meant we were late arriving at the Wellington but the atmosphere of calm in this place is amazing.

Having blubbed my way through the questions, bloods, ECGs and various other admission essentials I began to think about exactly why I am so stressed out. Chatting to my lovely nurse about hospital experiences when I was a teenager, and then again about 8 years ago, I could see how those bad memories have really scarred my mind and emotions so that just entering a hospital environment freaks me out. Mainly because I don't think I will be able to cope with the pain, and because of previous experiences I expect the response to that to be irritation from the staff and a feeling that I am a nuisance.

I can see immediately that this will not be the case here. The clinical nurse specialist is amazing - she works with the spinal consultants and understands exactly what is involved here. The nursing staff on the ward are devoted to the care and comfort of patients and keeping the inevitable pain under control.

No one pretends it is going to be easy but the picture is looking a little brighter - apparently I will definitely feel like watching one of the dozens of movies on demand, I will feel like eating and who knows I may be able to have visitors.

All that is in the future however - a week or so away. We have to get through the surgery tomorrow - which they have made clear is massive. Two ops for the price of one - almost. Then three nights in the HDU - the thought of which scares me silly.

I think once I get back to the room things will feel better. I've already made it quite homely and look forward to settling in with the remote and Daniel Craig

The anaesthetist just popped in to say hello and talk me through what's going to happen. Obviously it won't be a walk in the park but I have to say he did inspire confidence, after all he does this all the time! The stay in HDU is still the bit that's freaking me out more than anything - visions of some twilight world flat on my back staring at the ceiling in massive pain - let's hope I am pleasantly surprised!

Well logging off for now as the general consensus amongst the nursing staff is that we should go out for dinner. Dave and Sarah have arrived so we're going to find a nice Italian in St John's Wood High Street and the anaesthetist prescribes a large glass of something red - that's my kind of anaesthetist!

I'm second on the list tomorrow which means a bit of a wait in the morning - who knows I may even get on here. Ian's staying tonight - nice sofa bed in the room - and coming to theatre with me so everything is being done to make things as bearable as possible. But, for now, Bon Appetit xx

Saying goodbye

I've just realised the blog title sounds a bit morbid - especially as this is a quick post to thank everyone who came to my "pre-surgery drinks" last night.

It was amazing to see so many friends, family and colleagues - old and new. And on a school night too! Thank you for all the lovely things you said to me, for the many pints of water (still, sparkling, with ice....) that you bought me and above all thank you for reminding me what an amazing bunch of people I have in my life. Everyone who was introduced to someone new (it was a real "when worlds collide" evening!) commented afterwards on how lovely their new acquaintance was. Proof indeed that I have very good taste and high standards when it comes to friends!

It was surreal to stand in my "local" enjoying the evening and to realise it will be a long time before another evening like that one. It goes without saying of course that I hope it won't be too long - and all being well mine will be a large glass of red on that occasion!

Have to go now as a few last minute bits to do then off to the hotel - sorry - hospital. Helps me to think of it as a little mini-break ;-)

Laters people - and thank you for being on the journey. x