Romy had an operation to insert a vascath into her neck. This is being used to harvest stem cells from her blood to be frozen and given back to her as a stem cell rescue after the high dose chemo she is due to receive in due course. She had a general anaesthetic before undergoing the operation. When she woke she was very unhappy, although this was hardly surprising as she hadn’t been given any painkillers. Despite being distraught, in pain, angry and disorientated from the general anaesthetic she is so astute she could logically argue in the recovery room about how much she wanted the vascath removed, using the correct terminology and demanding we take her back to have it removed. Her neck has been very sore for the rest of the day and she isn’t turning her head at all to keep her neck as still as possible. Prior to the operation Romy wasn’t allowed to eat for 19 hours or drink for 9 hours (as her theatre slot kept slipping later into the afternoon). To make up for this we got some of her current favourite snacks and toys ready in her room.
-Helen
