Hi Angela and Tim just a quick update. I went to the doctors for a check up and was told unfortunately that I have an ulcer and also an infection. I have been given loads of antibiotics to help me. They also changed my pain medication. I'm hoping that they help me as I have been told that if they don't work that I may have to go and get it drained. So please keep your fingers crossed for me. Apart from that I still "walking like a duck"

Angela & Tim sorry - but am hoping that these tablets help me. I will let you know how I get on. Apart from that I hope that you are well. Kind Regards

Roz

ps: Tim your info wasn't gruesom it was very informative thank you

Hi Roz,

Really good to hear from you. You really are having a tough time of it! I've definitely got my fingers crossed for you and hope the meds sort it for you soon. Thanks for your good wishes; I'm not too bad at the mo.

Here's hoping you'll be walking upright soon'

Best Wishes,

Angela

Hi Roz

Hope you are feeling a bit stronger as each week passes since your operation - I've just re-read your opening post and my goodness you surely have come through some major surgery.

Looking back at the corresponding period in my journey, I can remember clearly the ups and downs and how "raw" your emotions are at times. It might help just to keep a diary of how you are feeling just so that you can flick back through it in weeks ahead - just to prove to yourself that you really are getting better!

Best wishes

Hello Angela & Tim,

I hope that you are both well. Thank you so much for your kind wishes. I'm on the second week of my antibiotics and am feeling a bit better. I am even walking more upright. The doctor has given me another weeks worth of antibiotics. I really don't mind another week if it means that I don't have to go back into hospital again.

Tim I've been keeping a weekly log and looking back from week one with the Ghostbuster incident till now I realise that I have come a lot further than I thought during the last 7 weeks. As my condition is not a very common one I am hoping to be a case study so I can highlight my condition, symptoms and journey to other women of my age.

Kind Regards
Roz

Hi Roz

Very pleased to hear about your progress. You are one tough cookie!

I'm doing fine - I'm riding my bike once more and and I'm doing up to 50 miles in a day. I love it, being out in the fresh air and it gets all the stress out of your body.

I'm still waiting to hear from my oncologist about the next steps in my treatment. Hopefully, I will be able to get the peptide receptor radionuclide therapy at the Royal Free. If not, then maybe I'll join a clinical trial for sunitinib.

Best wishes
Tim

Hi Roz and Tim,

Glad to see things are improving for you both and hope they have improved still more.

Best Wishes,

Angela

Hi Guys

As u can see i have already posted on this site that i have had a liver resection and my gallbladder out i had this op done because i gad an adeoma caused by been on the Pill long term since having thsi operation i have now got servere itchyness all over fro top to toe was wondering if anyone else has had this not so nice side effect, my doctors tell me my bloods are ok but it seems a little strange that i have this now since my op and never had it ever before! can anyone let me know if they have had the same or something similiar!
Thanks
Caroline

Hi Angela & Tim

Thanks for your message. I have had a bit of a set back as I have still got an infection. This is the 4th week that I am on antibiotics but am still feeling very unwell. I am trying to get an appointment with the hospital but this is proving to be very difficult. Glad to hear that you are both well.

Best Wishes
Roz

Hi Caroline,

My name is Roz and we had the same operation. I have read that this is a rare condtion and have not come across anybody else who has had the same operation. I had 2/3 of my liver removed and also my gallbladder. I see from you post that you had yours about 1 month before me. I have had a few set backs as I was getting severe heartburn and indigestion and was told this was due to an ulcer due to the strong medication and also an infection. I am also on ulcer medication and also antibiotics. This is my fourth week and it is now making me feel very ill.

I also got itching for the first 2 months but this now calmed down a bit. I found that taking piriton tablets helped on really bad days. Can I ask how you scar is healing? Mine has now become itchy and quite raised in certain areas. I had 56 metal clips and a very large scar. I am feeling a bit of a pulling feeling inside as it is healing and I am wondering how is your recovery going?

Best wishes
Roz

Hi Roz

my recovery seems to be going ok i still have some pain/dull ache in my side and back which sometimes warrents me taking pain killers! im guessing that this is prob normal, my scar has healed ok now but it was pretty bad at the start i kept getting infections in it so it took a long time to heal! my concern is about the itchyness i am taking piriton tablets which does help but as iv never had this ever b4 im thinking that it prob has something to do with the op! Dotors have told my bloods are fine but i guess they are fine for what they have tested for as they said my kidney function etc is all normal!
Sounds like you have had a rough time!
thanks for repling
take care
caroline

Hi Caroline,

Thank you for getting back to me. I wish you a speedy and successful recovery. They said that it would take about 3 months to feel 'normal' again but I have been told by another member Tim that it takes around 6 months. Good luck with resolving the itching problem. I told my surgeon that I felt itching and numbness around my scar and he said that this is fine. He told me it is where they made the incision and cut through some nerves.
Kind Regards
Roz

Hi Caroline and Roz

Your posts about itching and post-surgery pain have sent me back into my diaries (which I expanded into an unpublished book) to see what I recorded after my first big operation (8 June 2005). For your amusement (?) or just reassurance here is an extract -

"Friday 1 July 2005

Once more, it was an early start to the day for me. I had already put the pots and pans away from last night's washing up session as I sat down at the keyboard just after 5 am. The sky held great promise for a fine day. In the bulletin, I was pleased to report that I slept in a nearly horizontal position on Thursday night. I had decided it was time to dispense with the myriad pillows that enabled me to sleep in a semi-reclined posture.

After about six hours sleep in total, my slumbers were ended by some pains in my back. I emerged bleary eyed to shuffle to the bathroom and then onwards to the kitchen make a drink of warm peppermint cordial. The latter had been a useful weapon in the locker with which to dislodge trapped wind ñ a mild condition made quite painful by the bruising to my innards.

The pain management regime was moving gradually into another phase as the inter-connective tissue started to rebuild and the swelling around my scar tissue slowly subsided. I was much more aware of the sensitivity in the skin on my belly. Describing it to Julie, I said that the slight movement of a T shirt against it, as I moved about, produced a sensation like sandpaper being dragged over a locally anaesthetised area of my body. It wasn't painful as such but it wasn't comfortable either. I could sense that the severed nerve endings caused by the incision were beginning the slow process of growing back and, based on previous experience with deep cuts, I recognised that this would take up to two years for the skin to feel normal again.

The discomfort was compounded by the bruising in my lower ribs, the sharp, referred pain I got in my back and the sensation of tightness along the scar line. These were all healing pains, I reasoned, and I welcomed them to my world, though with a tinge of regret that they had all arrived at the same time. Just to top off the party, there were the wind related bouts of discomfort as well.

As with the diagnosis of cancer, I decided, I could decide to give in to the pain and feel sorry for myself (which could lead to a self-fulfilling, pain increasing spiral of depression) or I just had to view pain as a means of keeping in touch with how my body was reacting and just accepting it. When the pain was at the lower end of the spectrum, the positive approach was fairly easy to sustain but it needed a much greater strength of mind to cope with pain at the top end of the scale."

So, Caroline and Roz, all your current discomfort can be attributed to the signs of healing. Don't forget that your surgery represents an enormous shock and challenge to the system.

Maybe I should put my book up as a resource on this site? Would people read it and more importantly would it be helpful?

Best wishes
Tim

Hi Tim,

Thank you so much for sharing that extract in your book. I could relate to so much of it and it made me feel that somebody out there has experienced exactly what I am going through. I would love to read your book and I know that it would be so informative to others as well as myself.

I have been experiencing a "tingling sensation" and was not sure if this was down to the infection or my healing. I look forward to reading more as this is the bit that the doctors don't tell you about.

After reading it I would definitely encourage you to try and get it published and I wish you all the best with it. I really hope that you post a bit more of it and I really look forward to reading more. If you do not wish to post so much I would love to read it and can provide you with my e-mail address.

Thank you so much. That is the most reassurance that I have received from anybody since having my operation. You have made my day once again thank you so much for sharing it with us.

With Kind Regards
Roz

Hi Roz,

How're you getting on?

Best wishes,

Angela