Annual scan time again....

 So once again it’s that time of year when I get fed through the PMP wheel of fortune! Or in other words annual CT scan time.... 

I haven’t felt too worried about the CT scan itself. In fact I was in Sainsburys yesterday morning buying doughnuts for the staff on C2 just before heading to Basingstoke and bumped into a family member of ours who remarked just how upbeat and happy I seemed prior to having to be zapped by the scanner. The scan doesn't phase me. It has to be done, it’s not an ordeal and to be frank wasting energy and all the negativity that worry brings just simply isn't worth it. Worry when you know you have something to worry about.

 This time as the scan was scheduled during the final days of the school holidays we made it a family trip and the girls joined Tracey and I on our trip to Basingstoke. The two hour drive from Bristol went well and it’s now a well trodden path for us. We have seen the Hampshire countryside in all types of weather and yesterday the sun shone brightly on the corn fields as the farmers toiled in their combine harvesters reaping the rewards of the harvest.

 We first headed up to C2 ward to say a quick hello to the team and deliver the freshly baked doughnuts! We had a quick chat with Vicki, Linda and Jade all of whom remarked on how well I was looking. Time was pressing and I was due to the bloods clinic at 12:30 for my fast track appointment to have the Pseudomyxoma blood tests prior to the CT scan. So we said our farewells’ and headed for the bloods clinic.

 Once completed we then headed to the CT scanner and checked in.  We found a comfy seat in the waiting area and I started on the flavoured drink that has to be sipped over the hour before the scan itself.

 When the time came I was ushered into the scanning area and got changed into the hospital gown. From there it was to a small cubicle where I sat in a chair whilst the nurse inserted the cannula into my left arm. So that was bloods from the right, cannula in the left! Doing well! Shortly after I was called through to the scanner and shuffled along in my hospital gown and hopped onto the bed of the scanner. The nurse connected up the cannula and I was reminded that the iodine dye that is pumped into you gives you a hot flush and makes you feel like you have wet yourself! Then she left the room for the scan to begin.

 It was at this point that I did for a fleeting few minutes contemplate the seriousness of that particular moment in time. I feel that this scan is a particularly important one. Any re occurrence now would probably mean that Pseudomyxoma has it in for me. I can understand that a second re occurrence could be down to a “bit that was missed” from the  first operation (or could just be kidding myself). My second operation was successful and again I was given the all clear. The surgeons have been in twice now and sorted me out; there must be a limit as to how often they can repeat such a large operation? And that was that... the nurse entered the room, the scan was over.Time to keep smiling, be upbeat and crack on. But once again the PMP wheel of fortune has been spun and for the next 7-10 days I once again find myself on the PMP runaway train and await the results.

 I got changed and met the girls in the waiting room. First stop was the canteen for a cuppa and a sandwich as I had now done four hours without food and drink so was famished! Then it was the long drive home. The mood in the car on the way home was different. The girls listened to their I-pods but Tracey was quiet. Tired out and I think reality had hit home. We stopped in a pub for dinner and treated the girls to giant Knickerbocker glories for desert. Then home and early nights all round.

 So here I am, at work typing this on my lunch break. More worried about the state of my inbox after a day out of the office at the moment but as the week draws on the ever present knowledge that I’ll soon be getting “that call” from Basingstoke will obviously weigh heavy on our minds...fingers crossed.