On the way home Lel told me that Ruth had been very negative, had cut off a lot of dead skin and that she did not give any possible positives about how his wound could possibly heal.
I have been told from the beginning that I need to avoid as much stress as possible however it would seem that Harry doesn't seem to want to comply with this. For the first time I was having bad problems on a daily basis with nausea and was taking antiemetics 3 times a day before each meal.
As we got back neither of us were overly hungry so we had a quiet night.
On the morning of the Sunday the 30th we were up early as usual so as to stop Harry getting too excited. Being a bank holiday weekend we just decided to stay at home given that the rest of the world were bound to be going out and about for the weekend. We kept both dogs quiet for the weekend, much to Jade's disgust. Julie was at work so I asked Helen whether she would be able to pop over and give us a hand with Harry for the afternoon re-dress. She came over and wasn't shocked with what she saw but sadly, when he had had all the tape stuck on the previous day, they had taped over a really nice clean dry bit of stitching that had healed. This then looked a bit wet and sore when we got the tape off which was frustrating. He was very good but it clearly hurt him as they had used very sticky tape.
Lel and Helen redressed it whilst I posted cheese triangles into the front end and kept him still. Helen didn't seem too phased by it all and said she had seen far worse wounds heal which was very reassuring.
Monday the 1st we stayed in again apart from a brief foray to the shops for the weekly food. Vicky came over to sit with him as leaving him in Tena pants only would have been a bit risky. In the evenings we were putting him in his pants as well as a t-shirt in between another pair of pants to try and stop him getting to the wound. He was also wearing a 'lampshade' cone to try and put him off having a chew of it overnight. Helen came over again to help with the re-dress and was quite happy with how it was looking even though it was clearly a very large wound.
On Tuesday the 2nd I took annual leave to get Harry back to the vets, dad came over and took me to oxygen, leaving mum at home with the dogs. We headed back home afterwards and collected Harry alone to take him to the vets again. We got through there in plenty of time and popped in for the bathroom, I asked that Charlotte call us when they were ready for us so we waited in the car. At around 1.35 we were called and headed in. Brendan was waiting for us in reception and took us through to the nurses room where Harry was taken off into the back for a re-dress and laser treatment.
As Brendan came back through to talk to us, I explained how Lel had felt after speaking with Ruth and asked if we could book an appointment as the weekend so she could see him and talk through her anxieties with him. He wasn't working the weekend but offered to call that evening and speak with her. He explained that he was hoping he would be able to operate on Friday if the wound had granulated enough and bring some of the skin over to reduce the size of the wound. Brendan seemed very positive that he could work with the wound and that we would be fully able to have his bum healed in time. He stated that it wasn't going to happen fast but that he has healed larger wounds in the past and he didn't see any reason why this wouldn't work also. I asked if they had the pet medical suit that they had ordered initially as it might make him feel more secure with his dressings and might make me feel easier about leaving him...
We headed home having booked a further appointment on Friday in case he would be healed enough for surgery. We still had the appointment on Thursday that we had booked so we had chance for Brendan to check how it was and hopefully make the ok for further reparative surgery.
Having got home I had a phone call from my boss telling me that I had to go onto a change of contract and go to flexible working as apparently the longest any phased return can be is 6 weeks and I have had significantly longer than this. She explained it badly saying that it would be that I would be paid when I was in which almost indicated that I would be on a zero hours contract which is clearly not what I signed up for..
That evening whilst sat at home I felt that I had a midge bite coming up on my hand. I was surprised as I didn't think that I had been bitten by anything. I also felt that my legs were a bit itchy, I looked at my legs and they were covered in a rash which felt and looked like midge bites all over my hips, knees, legs and all the way down them. I decided to phone the Chemo line as whilst I know it is a possible side effect, all the literature said to phone for advice if this happened. I was on hold for ages so we decided to take the dogs out for a walk and whilst out they answered the phone. They advised me to take piriton - fortunately I had loads of this having been provided with a bottle when Harry's tumour flared up and to call back in the morning if it hadn't gone down or if it had got any worse. The nurse said that she would speak to a doctor and get back to me. As we got back my phone rang, Lel accidentally cancelled it and it was Brendan.. We rang the surgery back but obviously with the time of night, it was closed. We were putting the dogs to bed when her phone rang, Brendan had called mum and dad to get her number and called back in order to speak to her. I love my vet so much!!!
He spent about 15 minutes on the phone to her explaining what his plans were for Harry's reconstruction and telling her that he can mend this and, unlike how Ruth was implying, Harry will heal and is not going to be put to sleep over this. She felt so much more relaxed after the phone call which was good for me but I know that I had been stressed and far more tense than is good for me. On going to bed my legs, hips and arms were covered with a rash that looked like midge bites and itched like mad. I took a piriton as advised and my regular evening medication and waited for the nurse to call back. Around 10pm she phoned, little did I know that she had phoned mum and dads first, not quite sure why as I had told her to phone back on my mobile - poor mum must have wondered what on earth was going on that evening. First Brendan then the chemo nurse!!
The nurse advised again to use piriton and if it was no better or worse in the morning not to take my next dose.
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