Made it to 60

Yesterday, the 22nd June, was my 60th birthday. Nothing much to celebrate under the circumstances, but it was quite a nice day all the same. I spent a small piece of it at the hospital having another session of antibody therapy and being prescribed morphine for the increasing back pains.

The antibodies are being upgraded as from next week. It appears from the latest tests that the tumour is gradually growing, so the therapy is being intensified to counter it.

I am going to England from 8th to 12th July to spend a few days with Linda. It's rather complicated because of having to drip-feed, but we think we've found a way to deal with that. I want to visit my mother for her 82nd birthday while I'm there too. Who knows how long I'll still be able to travel?

The last hope has gone

The operation took place as planned. It put an end to my last hope of gaining at least a little quality of life. The artificial oesophagus had grown together to such an extent that it couldn't be opened again. The consequence is that I will never be able to swallow for as long as I live.

I don't think I need to elaborate on how I feel now. It really was my last hope and, like all the others, it has failed to materialise.

Another stay in hospital

What a naive little boy I am! There I was, believing that the endoscopy would be an hour under anaesthetic and another hour in the wake-up room and then home to tea and cakes. Instead of that, I have been called up to enter hospital next Wednesday (15th June) for the "operation" (well, it actually WILL be an operation-style endoscopy this time) on Thursday. I don't know how long I'll have to stay after that - probably until they're satisfied that everything is healing and I can be sent home.

At least there's hope that I'll be able to swallow once the artificial oesophagus has been opened up again. That's all the motivation I need to face another stay in hospital. Actually, it's not that bad. I find it fairly easy to get on with the nurses (in German known as "Pflegefachfrauen" - you have to spit to pronounce it properly!), and I get spoiled for a while.

Linda is here in Zurich until Wednesday. We're having an enjoyable time together. Very short, as usual, but there are no alternatives at the moment. I'm looking forward to the time when I can commute to England and back again. I haven't been there since last August.

Some good news

I went to the hospital this morning to have a chat with the senior doctor from Ear-Nose-Throat who was in charge of my case while I was stuck there. He was much more positive than I'd expected. For one thing, he replaced the dreaded cannula in my throat with a so-called "Larry tube" which is much shorter and causes much less damage to the mucus membrane. It's also slightly more aesthetic.

He then examined my throat with a camera on the end of a tube and agreed with me that the leak was now closed and the substitute oesophagus was indeed blocked. He said he would organise an endoscopy either on this coming Thursday morning or at the beginning of next week to open it up again. That should enable me to swallow at long last.

I came home feeling that things were definitely looking up.

Yesterday (Sunday) was fun. One of my sons, Peter, obtained his private pilot's licence back in January. I hadn't been well enough to go flying with him until yesterday. Then we went on an hour and a half's flight in a four-seater Piper aircraft across German-speaking Switzerland to the Bernese Alps and back. The views from 8000 to 9000 feet above sea level are even more spectacular than what you see from ground level. Between us, Pete's wife and I took a total of 93 photos. It was a brilliant afternoon out.