Geoff has made great progress over the weekend. He actually slept for 3 hours straight last night. He still tires very easily and can not do more than 1 walk around the ward but that will get better. He is talking a little clearer and having to use the whiteboard less.

The doctors are really happy with his healing from the operation and they are going to give him a scope this afternoon to see how it all looks in there. They are talking about putting a discharge plan in place and perhaps leaving mid to end of the week…. Yahoo!! That would be amazing – when we first learned he needed this operation they said 2 weeks in hospital was the absolute perfect result with no complications … but to prepare for to 5 weeks.

This would mean the Trachea will come out .. the feed tube will stay until he can master swallowing again.

Will should gets answers today re pathology results and wishing, hoping & praying for the all clear or the above may change.

I will be back soon.

Love to you all.

 

 

I felt totally lost this morning… I had no idea what today was or the date – its a bit scary I could not get my head around it. We have been here for 10 days now but it feels like weeks and weeks. Anyway its not really about me.

Geoff is a lot better today than he has been last few days and I think each day now he will get stronger and stronger. Yesterday was probably his toughest day yet. He said he no longer feels like he is choking and I guess we can all imagine what that would be like especially for days on end. He has also been in the one room for 7 days now, but he has small verandah he can sit on the catch the morning sun and a fab view as well.

He is managing to speak which is a great achievement 7 days post operation and the speech pathologist got him to do a swallow and although it took a long time and was painful in did to eat – so it looks promising that he could end up being able to eat and speak ….  so now it is the long wait (perhaps as long away as the end of next week) to see if they have been successful in removing it all.

Below is a beautiful message from our Great Nephew Teddy – Harry and Melissa’s young boy… just love his accent. Watch till the end.

It has been another very tough day for Geoff with no sleep due to his breathing issues. Another blockage of the airways was found and once cleared breathing become much better.

He had been having a nebuliser every other hour, they have added a humidifier that plugs into his trachea and it is working really well and he is breathing so much easier. Hopefully he can now get some rest.

They did a chest X-Ray today and he has a slight collapsed lung on the right but they don’t seem to concerned about it, unless he gets an infection. They will keep an eye on it.

His colour has improved immensely and tonight looks remarkably good – the grey look is disappearing and I am sure over the next couple of days he is going to go ahead in leaps and bounds.

 

Sorry I missed yesterday it was a very busy day. Geoff did really well yesterday all Drs come in and did the big check over. They had a look at this throat by way of the camera down the nose and said they can not see much because of the swelling but everything is as they would expect.

The days are very long for him as everything is such an effort with the biggest part of his day is the shower which we all know he loves so much and has always called it therapy. He can only shower from chest down but that is enough to make him feel better. I try and be there for every shower so I can give him a moisturise and a bit of a massage.

Yesterday they changed the trachea to a smaller one which was a great move forward but unfortunately he is not breathing as easily. They think the trachea tube is not lining up with his airway. The will again but the camera down and see if they can see why it is happening and may have to go back to the bigger one. His feeding tube is working well and so much smaller than the one he had 10 years ago which was a garden hose – no exaggeration.

My sisters have been her with me since the operation day but alas had to go back home to there own busy life’s yesterday.

I have set up a little make shift office in Geoff’s room where I can still operate the business. The room is bright and sunny with the best view and Geoff is sitting reading while I type this.

Feel very blessed that he is in the Lifehouse everyone is wonderful, the facilities are great and we know he would not get better care or access to any better doctors anywhere else.

He is not up to a lot of visitors as yet but I will let you know when he gives me the thumbs up.

 

Geoff was moved last night from ICU into a private room in a ward at the Lifehouse. He will be in this room for the remainder of his stay. The view from his room and private balcony is out over Sydney …

When I arrived this morning he was sitting up in a chair watching TV. Still hooked up to quite a lot of tubes but it is getting less everyday. They are hoping that he maybe able to have a shower and this will be a huge pick up for him – as many of us know a shower for Geoff is like therapy.

He is absolutely exhausted as can only snooze for a couple of minutes at a time. He looks so tired but I think he looks quite well in his eyes considering what they have done to him.

I am going out with my sisters for a few hours today and will let you know how his day has gone later this evening,

Love to you all

Geoff loves black cockatoos and when he was recovering 10 years they used to come passed our house everyday and he used them as an institive to try to get out of bed to see them – if he couldn’t then just the sound of them were a comfort to him. Soon I hope he will back home in his own bed hearing them again.

Sorry about the delay with getting to update you on Geoff but it has  been a very long and emotional couple of days.

Geoff had the operation yesterday … it was a long 10 hour ordeal. They have removed part of his tongue at the base and part of the soft palette. They have done a full neck dissection on the left and a large removal of flesh from his leg. He has a trachea and a feeding peg. They are hopeful that they have got good margins for him to be cancer free but these results will not be in for 7 to 10 days.

He is doing ok today. Relatively pain free, thankfully. They have had him up and he has had a small walk around ICU.

He has not really slept due to the discomfort. The nurse says they hope to have him trying to speak a little tomorrow, so that is really promising.

This evening has been a bad time for him due to the swelling but has the best of care and hopefully everyday will get easier.

I will update tomorrow.

You are welcome to leave a comment for Geoff that I will pass on to him.

Karyn xs

 

 

 

 

I have started this blog to keep our family and friends updated on Geoff’s Journey to kick cancers ass again.

Geoff has been cancer free for 10+ years but unfortunately has been diagnosed with Oropharyngeal cancer which includes the base of the tongue.

Geoff will be having surgery on 12th July at the Chris O’Brien Lifehouse. The surgery is major and will go for around 6 – 8 hours. They will be doing robotic surgery and will take flesh from his arm or leg and blood vessels from his neck to repair what they take out.

Unfortunately radiation and chemo are not an option due to this area having been radiated in his previous treatment. So it is important that they get it all in this surgery. In fact Professor Clarke has suggested that this cancer could be a side effect of all the radiation 10 years ago …. never knew this could be a possibility.

Geoff will be in intensive care until the Monday and if all goes perfectly will be out in 2 -3 weeks but it could be up to 5 weeks.

I have rented a house in Newtown which is in walking distance to the hospital and will enable family to come and go and I can visit Geoff as many times as I can. He will not be able to have visitors for at least a week apart from immediate family and then it will depend on his progress. He will be communicating via white board and will not be eating, for how long is unsure.

As you can imagine this is a very difficult time and it is going to be a huge healing process for Geoff again but as we all know he is one tough man and I know that he can kick its ass once again.

I have never done a blog before so lets see how it goes. Let me know if you have any questions on any thing that I may not have covered,

Karyn