Author: Neil

Blog update 6 May 2015

Another long over due update and lots has happen since February’s operations. One to improve the volume of my voice and the other to attached an titanium abutment into my skull to create a fixing point on my head for a BAHA (bone attached hearing aid) hearing aid. As I said in my previous post.

All went well on the day and I woke up feeling pretty good and not feeling too tired or sleepy from the anaesthetic, but I was talking a lot louder straightaway. But as I found out later, I should have been resting my voice for a couple of days after the operation. But no medical staff had told be this. A speech therapist should have come a see me whilst I was in hospital, but it took another 4 weeks for this to happen. After emailing my consultant after 4 weeks one morning not speaking to anyone about it. I actually got an appointment with the principle speech therapist on the same day. She was great and then told me that I should have rested my voice for a couple of days after the operation. Hindsight is a great thing! I then had 4 speech therapy session over 4 weeks with her which did really help me to understand how I could help my voice through different exercises. After the 4 sessions it was then decided that although the injection had improved my voice, their was still a gap in my throat between my good vocal cord on the right and the one that had stopped working on my left, which in reality is only about 1mm gap, but I have been told that I could still have another injection to push out the non working vocal cord to meet the good vocal cord better then hopefully I would get another increase in volume, which I definitely noticed after the first operation.

The BAHA abutment did take a few weeks for the settle down and for the skins around it to start to heal which did mean weekly visited to see the nurse, but after 5 weeks it was looking good. I was then booked in to get the actual BAHA hearing aid, which did take another 6 weeks for the appointment, but those finally happened on 27 April. So after getting my bonic ear clip on last week it’s been great and I have now got back my full hearing. The sound isn’t quite the same as my other ear, but with both ears working together I get a great surround sound, which also gives me back the ability to hear which direction sound is coming for. It has also help me in term of when I am anywhere where there is a lot of background noise and I have found even at parties I can hear well. So another thing to tick off as sorted.

At the beginning of April I had another one of my regular MRI scans to check on my neck and to see what’s going on in there and today I had an appointment with Mr Rubert Obholzer my consultant to review the scan and catch up on my progress. So Sue had the morning off school to come to Guys hospital with me. We was both feeling a bit nervous, as we had been told last summer there is still a very small trace of the tumour in my neck, but from August to December if anything it had reduced in size. So in the end it was a very positive appointment. Mr Obholzer explained a bit more about the tumour, that many people who had my sort of tumour often had small traces left, but often these are a very different sort of tissue and other people have lived with this sort of thing for 20 years with no problems. He has also booked me in to have another top up injection which will again be a general anaesthetic, as he believes this will again improve the volume of my voice, this should hopefully happen in the next 6 weeks and should only be a quick 30 minute operation. So with not great expectations for the appointment, we came away very happy.

As for everything else, eating is still slow, but improving slightly and I’ve halved the amount of shakes I’m still taking and generally my health is good and life is fairly normal. Work wise, I was a bit quiet in February, but this did pick up from March and I’ve been very busy since and I’ve had some great projects working on a Kronebourg beer and bottle packaging and an Orangina juice bottle and can packaging project for one agency for 5 weeks, which have been great projects to work on.

I must sign off now, but I once again want to thank all my family and friends for all your prayers and support as we as a family have got through this last 18 months together and we also believe that God has been watching over us and looking after us, every step of our journey. Thank you Jesus.

Just to give you all a brief operation update. Was it at 7 this morning and remember being in the theatre at 9.30am, next thing it was 12.30pm and I was fully awake in recovering and the best thing was, I was talking straightaway in sentences without having to breathe every 2-3 word. Happy I’m very very happy. They could stop me talking As I had a years talking to catch up on.

I was back up on the ward by 1.30 and feeling great, not even drowsy or in much discomfort. Throats a bit sore but only like a mild  sore throat. But who’s throat wouldn’t be sore if you had cameras and other stuff stuffed down your noise and throat.

My baha bone anchor also went well but wouldn’t get the benefits of this for another 4-6 week until the scar has healed.

But again overall very very happy. Thanks again for your prayers and support.

All has been pretty quiet on the operation front since my canceled operation in December. But I have had 2 appointments with 2 of my consultants last week.

The first last Wednesday was with Dr Mary Lei my oncologist consultant, and she was very happy with my progress and said I have made a remarkable recovery and now doesn’t want to see me for another 12 months. This was great news to hear.

Then last Friday I met with Mr Richard Oakley who is the neck and neck cancer consultant, after having to wait for 2 hours I caught up with him. First of all he commented that I was looking remarkably well considering all I have been through in the last year and he said not many people had had one of their carotid arteries removed and he was very happy with my progress to date and he doesn’t want to see me for another 6 months, especially as I’m still under another consultant Mr Rubert Obholzer who is the base of skull surgeon, who is going to sort out my next operations.

So I finished last week feeling pretty good. I’ve now come into this week with work being pretty quiet and then yesterday evening I had a call from Guy hospital, saying that they had had a cancellation this Thursday and was I available to come in and have the operations I was due in December to help improve my voice and to add a screw anchor in my skull to attached a bone anchored hearing aid. Both of which I really need to help me communicate and hear better. I would be able to get the Baha hearing aid fitted for 4-6 weeks and we have to wait for the anchor to heal and for the skin to grow ago the screw, but hopefully, the vocal operation should make a different fair quick after the operation.

I did say yes I’m happy to go ahead and this actually fits in very well, as I am quiet work-wise they have confirmed this morning and they said this should hopefully be a day case and so I should be out the same day. So watch this space for an update later in the week.

Thanks again for all your prayers and support and hopefully this will me another big step forward. I do find the weak and quiet voice a real frustration, so please pray that this op especially is successful.

Thanks Neil

Dan my son travelled up with me this morning to Guys for 7am for my 2 small operations. The first operation was to attach a titanium screw to my skull behind my left ear, so that a bone anchored hearing aid can be attached and the second operation was to help improve the strength of my voice.

Unfortunately over the last couple of days I had started to develop a cough and this morning I had a bit of a temperture was starting to feel a bit rough. Sue and Sophy had both been unwell last week and it seems most of kids in Sue’s school have as well. So I was going to be the first one in the theatre and I got changed ready and then when they took my temperature this morning my temperature had increased. The doctors then decided as they would be doing things on my throat it wouldn’t be advisable to go ahead with the operation as it would increase the possibility of further complications. So the operation was postponed and we then was back at home by 9am.

So after being disappointed that I wouldn’t be getting a stronger voice for Christmas, I also realised I wasn’t up to the operation today and have just come home a slept since. The operation should be rescheduled for sometime in January.

Thanks again for all your prayers and support.