Computer Says No!!!!!

Yesterday a long day was soon to become a stressful one! To avoid traffic the driver of the Janbulance decided to go through Runcorn rather than through Liverpool/tunnels. We arrived at Walton 30 mins earlier than planned .. good going. Enough time for a cuppa before signing in!

Oh Jan!!!!!

At booking in time, 10  mins before the appointment I left Jan and Gail having their cuppa and I went to scan my appointment letter, the computer said no, I tried again .. it said no again. An assistant came over, checked all my details where correct and scanned it again ... Computer says no! The assistant said, don't worry just go and sign in manually ... which I did. The typically dolled up blonde receptionist scanned my letter and said, "is this the only letter you've had?" I said "yes it came on Saturday," she said "this appointment has been cancelled and another made for you on the 22nd!" I could feel myself sinking, this hospital is a 100 mile one way trip for me, I have to ask people to take me and I knew this was the only letter I had received ... and that's exactly what I told her!  She said she would go and speak to the Neuro nurse and I went to find my back up!
On return she said the nurse had finished her appointments for the day and I would have to come back on the 22nd ... and the reason for this cancellation was that this appointment was not within the 6 week period before the operation. Jan immediately pointing out to her that the operation was only a month away, she flustered somewhat and asked if we'd like to speak to the nurse. Obviously yes!
From the moment we met her nurse Debbie was wonderful. We explained the situation and she said she would cancel her meeting, send for my notes and do the pre op. But she said, smiling, "I'll leave your blood pressure till last shall I!" She was an amazing lady, typical of all the staff I have previously seen at Walton, efficient yes, but also funny and caring!  She contacted Mr Puthuran my consultant and he also agreed to come and see me. ... Yes he was Dr Yusef Khan from Easternders, but not as similar to him as I remember, actually much better looking! He explained that my MRI results show the coiled aneurysm is in good order, but because of the size and location we should proceed with this stent. Without it he said "It will re-bleed!" The aneurysm itself was very large at 14mm,  (that almost a centimeter and a half!) and as he said ..inside your head that's taking up a lot of space.
So blood test, pee sample, ECG, blood pressure etc etc and a thousand questions later I though I was ready to leave for my Maccies meal on the way home. But nurse Debbie still had to tell me about the future ... I will start 2 lots of medication a week before the operation. One lot to be taken for 6 months, the other for 2 years. (the dentist will be pleased, but that's another story!!!!) If all goes well I will only be in for 2 to 3 days and will need to take it easy for a minimum of 2 weeks. The MRI cycle starts again with the long MRI before I can go home, then another 6 months later ... etc ...  The stent is only to safeguard the coiling and I must be prepared for some more intense headaches for a while. Also the stent will have no affect on my progress after the hemorrhage, only time and correct management will heal the brain! Yes I know - rest rest rest! So when I told her I went back to work 2 months after the hemorrhage she said ... "YOU DID WHAT??"  Ooops oh well ... glad I didn't tell her I was driving!!!!
My Chicken Legend meal from Maccies on the way home was wonderful!!!!!!