Outpatients

17th.March

I had an outpatients appointment with Mr.Knight, one of my surgeons last Friday, 13th.March. It was just under 5 weeks since my operation and I was very keen to get my feeding tube and drain bag removed at the jejunostomy site which was only used when I was in the ICU. It was removed OK....what a relief to get rid of that bag. The surgeon also mentioned that he removed 36 lymph nodes, none of which showed any sign of cancer so essentially it means I am now free of cancer. I was not offered any follow-up chemotherapy, the surgeon considered it unnecessary. Mr.Knight planned to see me again in 6 weeks time, 1st.May. In his report he remarked that I 'looked the picture of health'.
It turns out that there are 600-700 lymph nodes in the human body so 36 is not that great a deal. However lymph nodes do play a part in the immune system which is a little bit worrying considering the threat from the coronavirus. Not having any drains or dressings now , I have counted up the number of 'entry/exit' points on my stomach, chest and back form the keyhole surgery........there are 9 sites all healing well but some are a bit mis-shapen which hopefully in time will improve.
Today I removed the final dressing from the jej site, it was fine so I was able to have my first shower for 5 weeks.....another milestone.