Graham Davies

[John Simkin]

Pleased to hear that Graham has left hospital after major surgery. Unfortunately Graham is likely to be in and out of hospital on a regular basis over the coming weeks/months. Hope you make a full recovery. Your contributions are much missed.

[Jean Walker]

Yes, my best wishes to Graham, also

[Guest]

Yes, my best wishes to Graham, also

And mine too

Graham has been a great asset to this forum from the very start - I wish him all the best for a full recovery

[Graham Davies]

Thanks for your kind wishes.

I’ve had a rollercoaster of a ride over the last three weeks. I was diagnosed with a tumour in my abdomen in January this year, admitted into hospital on 28 February and underwent surgery on 1 March. I finally got out of hospital, on 24 March. It was an uphill struggle following the operation (Major with a capital "M"), and there were continual setbacks, but I'm now healing well, on my feet, mobile, free from pain and feeling reasonably fit again. The four-man surgical team were puzzled by what they discovered inside me. It was a large cancerous tumour, a mucinous adenocarcinoma the size of a small football, growing out of my bladder and extending into my abdomen – but, fortunately, localised. None of the surgical team had seen anything like it before. The tumour was removed, along with half my bladder – so now I'm just drinking half pints of beer instead of pints. There’s still a big question mark over the prognosis. Fingers crossed!

Being in hospital was a salutary experience and gave me lots of time to think. In spite of all the moans and groans we read and hear in the media about the National Health Service, I have little to complain about. I was treated well and efficiently. I really appreciated the dedication of the overstretched doctors and nurses. Most of the nurses in my hospital were immigrants: Filipino, Caribbean, African, East European – and all of them angels.

I really appreciated having had a good education and knowing how to pass the time reading books and the quality press for several hours every day. Most of the other patients in my ward just didn't know what to do in order to pass the time. Few appeared to be able to concentrate on reading for more than 20 minutes and constantly complained of boredom. I had personal access to radio, digital TV channels and a telephone via the excellent Hospicom system, and I watched lots of documentaries and films. I'm very well informed now! I didn't miss the Internet at all. I could have logged on via Hospicom (for a charge) if I had wanted to, but I decided not to.

Having now caught up on my emails and browsed the archives of the discussion lists to which I subscribe, I don't appear to have missed much. I now wonder to what extent the Internet is replacing older media and technologies, e.g. the press, radio, TV and the telephone – which I would have really missed. I have just skimmed through a few blogs relating to modern languages. Comments posted to the blogs are all in single figures, and I therefore wonder who is reading them. Maybe there are a lot of lurkers out there – but maybe people are not all that interested. There was only one other patient in my ward who knew much about the Internet and who regularly used email. All the others regarded the Internet as a bit of a mystery or used it occasionally for shopping and booking holidays. Maybe there’s a lesson here.

[Guest]

Thanks for your kind wishes.

I’ve had a rollercoaster of a ride over the last three weeks. I was diagnosed with a tumour in my abdomen in January this year, admitted into hospital on 28 February and underwent surgery on 1 March. I finally got out of hospital, on 24 March. It was an uphill struggle following the operation (Major with a capital "M"), and there were continual setbacks, but I'm now healing well, on my feet, mobile, free from pain and feeling reasonably fit again.

I am very pleased to hear you are fighting back Graham... when is your first game of golf scheduled for?

[Jean Walker]

Glad to hear you are on the mend, Graham. And good to hear about your positive experience in hospital. Our health system here is increasingly underfunded and inadequate, when once it used to be superior to Britain, but that's right-wing economic rationalists for you!! We've had the smiling company of Mr Blair out here the last few days, advising our Labor Opposition Leader, so things should improve, don't you think!!!