Stoma closure admission day.........6th May 2010

We arrived at Basingstoke at around 09:30 after an early start but thankfully uneventful journey. The next job was to once again get Tracey booked into the on site accommodation. This time rather than her own flat she shared with other people so it gave her some company.She was a little nervous being on her own but as soon as we walked in we bumped into a member of the Christies forum which helped break the ice and settle Tracey.
We the headed to Costa coffee for a bite to eat and a drink before heading for the X ray department for my 10:30 appointment. At this point I was pretty relaxed about the whole thing. I felt that nothing could be as bad as what I went through last time and I'd managed that so I could manage this.
At the X ray department they were running on time and I didn't have to wait long. I was soon called and made my way to a cubicle where I had to change into the usual hospital gown. I was then shown through to the X-ray room. It looked a pretty standard piece of kit to my untrained eye. I was expecting something slightly different given what they were doing but this wasn't the case.
The nurse explained thoroughly what would happen. The whole procedure would take less than 10 minutes. A small tube is inserted into the back end and a series of pictures taken to establish where the join has been made in surgery. The photos have to be taken at different angles so it did involve shifting around to different positions on the table. Once they were happy then the dye is injected via the tube to check for leaks, again the photos are taken from different angles and that's it, job done.
The experience certainly wasn't painful but at the same time not enjoyable! You just have to get on with it, it has to be done. You are then ushered to a bathroom to tidy yourself up and get changed. All pretty straight forward really and over fairly quickly. I was back in the waiting room by about 10:50.
Next I made my way to "C" floor Elective Surgery Admissions as I had been instructed. The nurse went through the admission papers and explained that "C2" was full and that I was to be admitted to a bed on a mixed ward on "C4". I was a little disappointed but what could I do. As we were there early they didn't need me for a while so again we were free to go off to the restaurant for some lunch for an hour.

I made my way back to the ward and was shown to my bed. I got myself settled and was soon visited by one of the doctors. She took blood and inserted a cannula in the back of my left hand. It seems that surprisingly my veins hadn't recovered properly from the last op yet and she struggled a bit. This was unusual as normally they have no problem with me as I have a pretty good cardio vascular system due to all the running and stuff.
I was also given an E.C.G. This was a bit of a strange one? So we asked, and to my surprise was told that post MOAS they has discovered that I had a small amount of fluid around my heart! I was shocked, this was the first I had heard about it. I vaguely remember having a heart scan when I was in ICU but it was all a bit blurred due to my drug induced state but I clearly remembered the lady saying that a I had a "beautiful heart" and to be honest would have been shocked at anything else again due to the fact I don't really drink, don't smoke and the sheer volume of exercise I do.
The doctor explained that the E.C.G results were fine, it was just a precaution and that the fluid around the heart post MOAS was caused by the trauma of the operation as the body often will store fluids around the body which then is re-absorbed. Phew!
Then that was that, I made myself comfortable and settled down with an episode of "Band of Brothers" on the DVD player.
I was second on the list to go down for surgery in the morning. The consultant just wanted the radiographer to check my scan results before she proceeds. I anticipate going down around about 10am. I'm nil by mouth from midnight so tuck into a pack of Jaffa cakes for supper......