Tumour Diary, Day 2 - Wed 9th Feb 2011

6:34am About 3 hours' sleep. Woken by Registrar to get me to stick my tongue out at him for 10 seconds. "You can go back to sleep now". Thanks mate. Try to get back to sleep
7am Nurse in for observations. Good news - BP is normal. Try to get back to sleep
7:30am "Stranglish" nurse is back. Must take steroids before breakfast. Try to get back to sleep
8am Up and decent, ready for food!
8:15am No sign yet...
8:30am Consultant rings. Explains that the tumour is a cyst that has grown up around a birthmark. Benign. Not in a good place, but removable. Both tumour and birthmark must go.
They want to do an angiogram today to get some more info. All good news, except...Nil By Mouth. Noooooo!
10am Shower with "Surgical Scrub". Nice. In a surgical gown now, just need the stockings and the ensemble is complete
10:30am Young geeky doctor arrives and proceeds to do all the familiar poking and prodding. Yawn. I perk up when he suggests it might not be necessary for me to be NBM...
10:45am More blood taken. Only a handful this time
11:15am Another formful of questions, strangely familiar...
11:30am Observations. BP up again
11:35am Got my TED stockings on at last. Am made up
12:15pm Doesn't look like lunch will be forthcoming. Time for a nap instead
2pm No news. Bored
2:35pm Tessa arrives - my first visitor - hurrah! All-round fantastic person, and funny too. Perfect pick-me-up
3pm Porter arrives to take me for CT scan. Fortunately Tessa was about to go anyway.
3:40pm After much deferring to urgent stroke victims, finally get CT with contrast
4pm At last out of the hateful military-issue gown and back into civvies. Just in time for my brother John's arrival. Most welcome.
Also welcome is the lifting of the Food & Drink ASBO - Hurrah! Nurses scurry off to rustle up tea and toast. Where are those house-elves when you need them?
Consultant's Registrar arrives to confirm what we already know. Says he is off to review CT results and either he or the Consultant himself will return later.
4:20 Rachel arrives - with millionaire shortbread! Highly favoured lady. Hope all goes well with the birth of her second son, on Friday, if they induce...
4:45 Fran and Louise arrive - now we are 5. A proper party, except for the absence of gin.
They bring generous presents; Louise has loaded an ipod with an eclectic music selection and brings it complete with charger - how fab is that? Not to be outdone, at my request Fran has brought not one but two toothbrushes, plus some trashy chicklit novel she found abandoned on the train. I'm being unkind; she also brought some really great books too. Anyway what really matters is that they came. Special friends
5ish Rachel leaves and Declan arrives. Very pleased to see him (as always). We are all very well entertained by "the Special One". Generous lifting of spirits all round.
6pm John leaves, followed a bit later by the gels. Fortunately John notifies us that he has left his bag behind before the gels set off, so they take it and return it to him at Victoria. Result.
6:30pm Dinner arrives and Declan graciously bows out; he can no longer make himself heard over the loud troughing noises anyway.
6:33pm Dinner finished. 'Nuff said.
6:40pm Bill "the Brain" rings. He is concerned that no-one has come to see me with a plan of action yet.
7pm Observations. BP highish but I am getting a bit stressed not knowing what is going on.
Time for some Bookface before starting to phone back all the nice people who 'phoned and left messages.
8:15pm Still no word from the consultants. According to the nurses I am to be NBM after midnight and they will try and fit in surgery tomorrow.Concerned now that there doesn't seem to be a clearly-defined plan, or if there is, no-one has communicated it to me...
8:30pm Katharine & Daniel arrive for a welcome visit. Really appreciate all they are doing - amazing friends. Well, more like family really. Lovely cards made by godtwins Tom & Miriam (7). Seem to be having some trouble maintaining the stiff upper lip as I write this - must be a side-effect of the tumour
9:30pm Visitors depart. Must call back well-wishers.
11:50 Calls made and thanks expressed. Observations taken - BP highish but acceptable.
NBM in 10 mins. Hmm, now what can I scoff before bed?