10th to 16th September

Tuesday I went into the chemotherapy to give bloods so that they could monitor my blood levels from the point of view of recovery from the tooth removal as well as monitoring the tumour marking. Still having trouble eating properly.

Wednesday Due to have my lower left wisdom tooth removed by my local dentist at 2.30 pm. Wendy and Alison took me into Kingston to buy Paul a birthday present, mainly to stop me thinking about my tooth extraction. We got back from Kingston had a quick lunch of soup and then headed for the dentist. We got there on time and surprisingly they were ready for me. I was whisked into the room and in the chair in minutes. After a quick investigation and questions such as 'is that as much as you can open your mouth?' the dentist decided that the extraction was too complicated and decided to refer me to the specialists in Kingston Hospital. They had faxed a form of referral direct to the Oral department of the Hospital.When I got home I rang the Chemotherapy unit and told the receptionist what had happened and could they do anything about it. She said that could I get the contact name and phone number of the person that the dentist had faxed. When I rang the dentist I asked the receptionist for the name and phone number which she was able to give me. I then asked how long she thought it would take and she said it would be up to  6 to 8 weeks. I then phoned back the chemotherapy unit with the required details and the receptionist said she would go over and have a look in the Oral Unit.

Thursday Still concerned about my extraction. I rang Chemo Unit again but the receptionist had gone out for a couple of hours. I then decided to ring the Oral Unit myself and I asked the same question - how long would it be before they could extract my tooth - I got the same reply, 6 to 8 weeks. So I said it was an emergency as I was in the middle of chemotherapy and they could not continue until the tooth had been removed, she said she would have a word with the consultants and ring me back. Mid afternoon I got a call from them giving me an appointment for 2.30 pm on Monday of next week for a consultation --RESULT. I rang the Chemo Unit and got the receptionist who said that she had just been round to the Oral Unit and they had received my referral and had given me an appointment for next Monday.

Friday I went into the chemo unit to have my PICC line cleaned up. I spoke with the receptionist and she said that the Chemotherapy doctor had written a long letter to the Oral Unit which was more good news. Last Tuesday when I went to give bloods the nurse said that it was difficult to push the saline through the line and she was not getting much bleed back when she tried. The result was they had to draw blood from a vein using NEEDLES. The nurse I had today to clean my PICC line said that it was better today as there was bleed back on both lines and it wasn't too bad pushing the saline through.
The last time I had chemotherapy transfusion was 20th August, four weeks ago as I write this blog. I can still feel the effects of the drugs particularly in my nose and mouth where the soft linings of the nose and mouth are being affected plus the tingling sensation in my hands and feet.

Monday After a cold and very wet weekend I am ready now to visit the Oral Unit at Kingston Hospital to see what they can do for me.
Just come back from seeing the Hospital dentist. I had an X-ray of my teeth which the dentist examined and announced that the wisdom tooth was decayed, the evidence was a black hole inside my tooth on the X-ray. She then got me on the couch and did a visual examination of the tooth and said there is not much room there to remove the tooth but it should be OK. She asked why my dentist had referred me I said I didn't really know but I suspect she didn't want to take the risk of removing it. Anyway the hospital dentist (whom I have yet to meet) has agreed to take the tooth out on Friday at 11.00 am after the children's session has finished, the nurse said bring a book in case they run over time.   Watch this space!!