"how the queen elizabeth hospital saved my life..."

Anything else?

Today the first of January 2014. Oh my god another year that I shouldn't be here. It seems right today to tell you my story. Like any story , it has a beginning, a middle and hopefully an end. It began on the 12th of April 2012. I was spring cleaning.I thought I had a bit of dust in my eye but there was nothing there. The doctor said I needed to get to the eye hospital.I went 3 times over the next 3 weeks. I was in terrible pain, They did what they could but finally refered me to an E.N.T. specialist as they thought it was possibly an abscess on my sinuses. One week later my husband and I decided to pay for private catscans and m.r.i. scans as my eye was protruding that much I couldn't get my glasses on to watch the telly!! You cannot imagine our shock when the scans showed a tumour as big as an orange behind my left eye and the tumour had eroded the bone.Finally I discovered it was cancer. I was 66 years old. I was sent an appointment to see the E.N.T. specialists at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, They saved my life and this story is dedicated to them. Several weeks later, after being treated with dignity, compassion and kindness a team of 7 brilliant doctors sat me and my husband down to discuss how they could save my life, The whole left side of my face had to be reconstructed. My hipbone would replace my jaw. My eye had to be removed, All my teeth had to come out. But the good news was , I would get dental inplants when I felt better!! hurrah. To be honest, I felt like I was in the middle of a horror story. I was so scared.This is me, scared of blood tests and I have needlephobia!! The operation was due on the 10th July 2012. By the end of June I was so ill I had to be admitted and I just wanted to die I was in so much pain.The nurses were so lovely and did what they could but in the end the doctors came in and told me that the tumour had spread to my brain and the operation would probably kill me as I was too weak .Chemotherapy was not possible. I could hear my husband and my daughter sobbing. Shut up I shouted I am not dead yet!! I was told I could go home with them holding my hand, but maybe as a last chance they could try radiotherapy but didn't hold out much hope!!.I decided what the hell, I had nothing to lose, but I was too ill to get off the bed for my first session. How scary it is when they mould something around your head that resembles a chip pan basket. I came home and went to the funeral directors. I wanted nice hyms people would sing to and I even chose a coffin, cheap enough it was going to get burnt anyway!! So my story carries on. I didn't die, but its no fun with lumps out of your tongue and sores inside and outside of your mouth. Guess what I stopped biting my nails after 60 years, Lost 30 pounds and had a fabulous wig. I also had a loving caring younger husband, that kept me going.!!My family and friends have been so supportive and I thank them from the bottom of my heart. My story doesn't end there, watch this space