It has been a tough couple of weeks but it is improving.

Sorry I have not posted but the last couple of weeks have been very stressful. The swallow test showed that there is nothing happening when he swallows – and some of the liquid is still going to his lungs and his body is not reacted to it. Normally you would start coughing or gagging but this is not happening for Geoff. Which means he is still at risk of aspirating. This was a huge set back for him as there is now a real possibility that he will be nil by mouth for good. But he is not giving up – he is doing the swallow tests daily and he is scheduled for another test on the 19th October. At this time they may put him in just for day surgery and try expanding the space in his oesophagus which has been scared due to the radiation 10 years ago. Fingers crossed even if he has to keep the feeding tube but he gets to the point where he can have a cup of tea – a sip of water…. something. This is such an anti social cancer … everything about socialising with family and friends is usually about food in some fashion.

Geoff has lost alot of weight and is now down to 82 kilos. He is hoping that this will start levelling of soon. In the meantime I am trying to find information on how he can gain weight while been on this liquid feeding.

He is walking the beach daily which tires him out buy he’s doing it!!

On Tuesday he actually went into Nowra and did some shopping on his own.

So heaps of progress has been made over the last week and he seems in much better spirits.

He is still not ready for visitors but I’m hoping soon……..

It has been a long time since I have posted anything. Geoff had been going along well but last weekend he started with a sore throat and a high temp and felt quite unwell.

The hospital advised to ring an ambulance and they took him to Nowra Hospital who inturn called the Lifehouse and where given instruction to give him a CT scan, antibiotics and send him by ambulance to the Lifehouse.

The main concerns were aspirated pneumonia and an infection in his throat that would jeopardise the surgery.

He arrived at the Lifehouse at 4am and the wonderful staff there went into action.

He came home on Wednesday with more medication and progressively got better each day.

We are heading back to Sydney today where he will do another swallow test to see if he can swallowing some sort of food – its a biggy because I know how devastated he will be if he can’t.
He has an appointment with the heart doctor as he is also having a few issues with low blood pressure which has stopped him from doing any exercise.

I will post again once we have some more answers over the next couple of days.

 

Geoff had a follow up appointment at RPA where they assessed how everythings is going. They had a look at the surgery in his throat and are really happy with how it is all going. There is still some swelling which is good as it means there is still some opening of space to come to make breathing easier.

They decided to take the trachea out — HOORAY !!!!!!!

It is amazing a quick tug and it was out … something that has been causing so much discomfort and gone that quickly. He still has to put his hand over it to speak or cough until it heal over. Geoff is now finding it has cleared up a lot of the horrible secretions he has been dealing with, his voice sounds clearer and he is standing straight again – that thing didn’t allow him to stand or sit up properly – he is enjoying lying in bed this morning.

He can now concentrate on doing a walk everyday and trying to get some energy and strength back. He has lost so much weight and body strength but he will get it back.

This is the turning point we have been waiting for.

 

Just a quick update. Geoff is struggling a little at the moment. The main thing is not being able to get enough air and unable to sleep. He is only managing to get 5 or 10 minutes consecutively and this is really started to exhaust him. He had been getting a 20 minute slow walk in daily but has not managed to do the walk over the last couple of days, with most of the day spent on his bed trying to get some sleep. I am sure this is just a bump in his recovery and soon will be moving forward again.

His next appointment is at the Lifehouse Tuesday 21st – he believes if they take the trachea out it will help but … they won’t do that until he is getting enough air. I

In my last post I put that Geoff was up to visitors and a few of you have contacted me to see when to come .. I am sorry I had to put you off but he has asked for no visitors this week but hopes he will be feeling much stronger next week.

If you have been texting Geoff thats great but I am not sure if he has been up to responding but if you would like to put a message on here, he will see it.

Thank you all for being there for us.

Sorry its been so long. We are home at Erowal Bay and will be here for a couple of weeks now and Geoff can get into a rhythm with walking daily and get stronger everyday.

He had the swallow test on Monday which unfortunately shows that anything he swallows is going directly into his lungs. Normally if this happens you would automatically start coughing and spluttering to warn you and to clear it. This automatic function is no longer working for Geoff. It is a huge set back for him. He has been given some exercises to do to help with the swallowing which means he has to swallow teaspoons of water which means that it will go down his lungs – he needs to do walking everyday and be careful he does not get any colds or flu etc as he will be susceptible to aspiration phenomena.

The trachea is still in as he is still not getting enough air in over night while sleeping. If he can get this to a higher ratio within his next visit on the 21st they will keep him in over night to monitor how much oxygen he is getting and hopefully get rid of it. This is his biggest hinderance at the moment and once that goes I am sure he will feel much better.

Today he managed to walk, very slowly,  for 23 minutes around the block – it was so nice to be out in the sunshine.

I probably won’t do any update until the next doctor appointment.

Let me know if you are in the area and would like to visit him.

 

We are home. Yesterday was a big day after a mid morning appointment at Lifehouse we finally headed out of Sydney. We were both a little nervous and I could feel Geoff tensing the further we got away from the hospital.

We did a pitstop at Jakes in Wollongong for Geoff to have a refuel then the final leg and we hit our house at 2.30. The trip down really took it out of him and he wasn’t feeling well last night.

He is good this morning and even ventured down to the office, turned on his computer and answered a few emails .. Go Geoff.. now he’s buggered. At least at home he can go from bedroom with TV and Netflix, or lounge room or kitchen and Fox and enjoy looking out over the water. The quiet is so nice … Missenden Road is so busy.

We are heading back to RPA next Monday and Tuesday where they will do an Xray while swallowing to see if it is working ok and they may start introducing thickened water (doesn’t that sound appetising…. yuk!!) or thickened juices.

They will also access how much oxygen he is getting with the trachea blocked off and he may be able to have it removed…..That would be a huge relief for him. He feels once that has gone he is defiantly on the road to recovery.

I think we are both feeling a lot more positive and relieved now that he is home.

Thank you all for your love and support. I will update in a couple of days time to let you know how he is progressing.

Geoff was discharged yesterday at 12pm. We walked down to the unit we are staying at – it is only around 500 metres and we did need to stop a number of times but he did it.

Last night was normal for him with no scary moments – he is just doing it!!

He has an appointment at Lifehouse tomorrow morning and hopefully we will head down the coast from there. I think the further we get from the hospital the more apprehensive he will become but once home I hope he will settle in and let the recovery process begin in full.

Picture below – Geoff leaving the Lifehouse and standing next to the robot that Dr Clark used for his surgery.

 

Happy Birthday Rebecca. What a magically day it is. Geoff is being discharged today, I am so excited but apprehensive at the same time. We will be staying at the unit until at least Tuesday incase he has any issues and on Monday and Tuesday see all of the doctors and all being well head down the coast and back to little Erowal Bay.

I will add more today as the day progresses.

Good Morning. So sorry for not posting since getting the all clear news.

Geoff’s days are very busy now that the recovery phase is in progress. His days are full doing everything he has to do . Everything is very hard work as he is still not able to get enough air through the trachea, this will improve as the swelling in his throat goes down over the next couple of weeks.

He is getting stronger every day and is booked in to be discharged on Sunday. We will stay in Sydney at the apartments down the road for a couple of nights to be on the safe side. Then all going well head on down the coast. I am sure he will continue to get better quicker at home.

I went home yesterday for the night and heading back up to Camperdown this morning.

I will blog again in the next couple of days. Love to you all xxx

Pathology is in …….. and it is all clear. No cancer!!!

Bloody hell …. he has done it.

They have said they would normally do radiation now to mop up but can’t due to having had it previously and we knew this already. So this is a really good outcome and he will be monitored very closely.

Now they will start preparing him for going home – the next few days will be busy for him with speech pathologists etc.

HOMEWARD BOUND !!!!!!!