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12 April - Decisions, decisions

Today we had an appointment to see the surgeon about my gall bladder operation. Actually, we saw his assistant. We arrived half an hour early for the appointment but ended up being late as the disinterested receptionist didn't bother to tell us where to wait. We waited in the hospital reception area which I thought was a bit odd. It turned out to be the wrong place.

Eventually a nurse found us. We saw the surgeon's assistant who told us that the MRI scan showed no gallstones blocking my bile duct. This was not too much of a surprise as I had felt okay on the day of the scan. It was therefore up to me whether to have the gall bladder removed or not. Given that I had experienced several recurrences of gallstone pain I opted to have it out. So I am now on the waiting list. The doctor couldn't tell us how long that would be, but I could change my mind about having the op at any time up to the day of the appointment.

But there is a complication. One of my scans to look at my gall bladder had revealed a cyst on a kidney. So I have an appointment to see another specialist at the end of May about that. (Perhaps I should worry about that as my brain tumour started off as a possible cyst.) It was suggested that we should wait until after the other consultation because it would be possible to see to both things at the same time which would avoid the need to be anesthetised twice. So I can forget about operations until after my 60th birthday, which is a bit of a relief.

My next hospital appointment is the rearranged meeting with the oncologist to discuss the plan for monitoring my brain tumour and whether I can apply to have my driving licence back.

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