Today was interesting. We got up at silly o'clock to attend the day surgery at Coventry hospital, where as part of my brand new and life-long lasting chemotherapy treatment, I had to have what is called a portacath, or port in short, inserted into my chest.
A portacath is a small reservoir that gets inserted under the skin in the chest and the other end going into a vein near the heart. It is used to administer chemotherapy and makes the whole process a lot more convenient and less irritating, as it means not having a canula in the arm every time I have the treatment. It as an interesting treatment delivered by a really excellent Polish lady doctor, and her team. They were really professional and caring. The procedure required getting changed going into the surgical room, where a small army of health professionals were assembled to help. It was not too painful; a couple of injections and then the drugs kicked in, that resulted in some odd pulling sensations but no real pain to be fair.
This procedure means that once bedded down, I can still go swimming and live a normal life, whereas before with my previous chemo with a PICC line in my right arm, I could not indulge in water sports, and had to wear a plastic cover for showering, etc. Frankly, it was a darned nuisance, but this new process will last a lifetime. My hope is that it will be a long time!
On the way back from the hospital, I received some exciting news I wanted to share with everybody!
Yeh, so basically, I've been nominated and shortlisted for the charity champion of the year award from Ultra Events for my fundraising efforts for Cancer Research UK during my Ultra Comedy training and perfomance. I am one of three finalists and the other 2 finalists are very worthy. However, if you would like to vote for me, please use the link below. Voting is open till December the 4th, 9pm.
Many thanks!
Austin Birks
Image source: Cancer Research UK