At home.

I'm thrilled with being home. It is very tiring being around the kids though. They have quickly learnt that Mum is going to be lying on the couch and doing nothing. I move between the couch and bed. Today I achieved by including a shower in my couch/bed routine.

It surprises me that just before discharge I was still getting a lot of treatment. In the above photo I have an NG tube in my nose because I couldn't tolerate food. When I felt sick, they would use a large syringe to aspirate my stomach contents. The silver bag is my artificial nutrition - this was great as it gave me strength after a long period of not eating. I'm also receiving saline and my PCA (pain relief button is going). You can't really see but I also have two drains coming out of my wound.

The district nurse came today and removed the drains. For the first time in a month, there is nothing sticking out of me!

I probably had the PIC line pit in too late. My veins gave up receiving lines for fluids so this was the solution. It was quite good because they could take blood from the line as well as deliver medications.

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I'm incredibly weak and my main focus at the moment is just getting stronger. I'm advised to eat high protein for wound healing. I also have to eat low fibre food generally and carb heavy. This is to help thicken my poo (tmi) and reduce the frequency with which I need to go to the toilet.

On my last day I got the lab results. It turns out that they didn't get all of the cancer in the first place and some was still in the colon. Since the whole colon was removed it shouldn't be a problem. Importantly, my lymph nodes were clear. I don't need any more treatment. So, apart from follow up appointments and district nurse visits I'm at the end of my treatment. It has been a strange experience, being a 'cancer patient' for twelve weeks. I recognise how lucky I am in comparison with others.