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Friday 13 May 2022

Testing time

I spent a large chunk of yesterday at University Hospital Lewisham having a bone scan. Sue came with me to keep me company … and to drive me home afterwards if I felt unwell afterwards. My appointment was for 9.30am, and thanks to the heavy traffic on the South Circular Road, it took us over an hour to drive the four miles from home to the hospital. Luckily, we had left enough time to allow for holdups, and I was in the Nuclear Medicine Department just before 9.30am.

I was intravenously injected with a small quantity of radioactive material … and then told to come back at midday for my scan. This was to allow time for the blood to circulate the radioactive material around my body, particularly my skeleton.

As Sue and I had not eaten breakfast before leaving home, we made our way to the hospital’s coffee shop, where we each had a bacon roll and a café latte. This took until just after 10.00am, and as the weather was quite pleasant, Sue and I went out of the hospital’s rear entrance, which led us into Ladywell Fields. This is a large open space that is bordered on one side by the main line railway from London to Hayes, Kent, and on the other by the River Ravensbourne. Besides areas of grass where people can walk their dogs and children can play ball games, there are a number of tennis courts, a children’s playground, an athletics track, and a small cafe.

Sue and I wandered around the park until 11.30am, at which point we returned to the hospital’s main entrance. As we still had about twenty minutes until I was due to have my scan, we went across the road to have a look at the local war memorial.

Next to the main memorial was a smaller memorial to those local men who won the Victoria Cross, and each of them was further commemorated by an individual paving slab.

I was back at the Nuclear Medicine Department by midday, and my scan took just under an hour. I then went out to the car park, where I had arranged to meet Sue. She had used the time I had been having my scan to have a walk around the local area, and after searching the graveyard of the nearby Church of St Mary the Virgin, she had discovered a short row of local shops. Amongst them was a proper bakery, and rather than go straight home, Sue suggested that we might go there to buy something for lunch. We did ... and each of us bought one of their home-made Cornish Pasties as well as a cake, which we took home to eat.

I expect to hear the results of my scan in about a week’s time. In the meantime, I am still undergoing hormone treatment that is supposed to stop the cancer growing any further.

30 comments:

  1. Hi Bob...Clearly something of a trying day but at least you seem to have made the most of your time. It never ceases to amaze me what you can find wandering around an area for the first time. Positive thoughts always. Regards Tony

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    1. Tony Adams (Tony),

      Thanks for your kind comment.

      Although the hospital is only four miles away, getting there is difficult because all the transport links in South East London radiate out from the centre of London, not across it. As a result, going there takes much more time than one would expect.

      Luckily, the scan was quite a simple affair. All I had to do was to lie still for about forty-five minutes whilst the scanner moved up and down and then around my body.

      Ladywell Fields was an oasis of quiet and calm in an otherwise very busy area … and we will certainly go there again if we have an hour or two to fill. As to the war memorial … it was a surprise to see it located so far from the centre of Lewisham.

      The upside of having such a tiring day yesterday was a full night of uninterrupted sleep for the first time in months. I woke up feeling very rested and upbeat.

      All the best,

      Bob

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  2. Scintifgrafy is the proper name of this procedure.

    https://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info/bone-scan

    I know that because I looked after the computing requirements of such a system when I worked in the vet school.

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    1. Jim Duncan,

      Thanks for letting me know the actual term for my bone scan. In due course, I will follow the link to find out more.

      All the best,

      Bob

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  3. BOB,
    All the best with your results from the scan. Thinking of you there in London. Glad to hear you have a good night sleeping. Lately I've had very much broken sleeping at night- waking at about 2:00am and then at 4:00...haven't had a straight nights sleep in ages. Cheers. KEV.

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    1. Kev Robertson (Kev),

      Cheers! I’m hoping that the scan will not show any signs that the cancer has spread to any part of my skeleton.

      I have never slept particularly well, but since I retired I have been waking up at least two or three times each night … and just before I was diagnosed with prostate cancer, I was lucky if I managed to sleep for an hour at a stretch.

      Keep safe and keep well,

      Bob

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  4. Fingers crossed for you on the results.
    Looks like you made quite a find with Ladywell Field. I just had a quick look on Maps and it looks an extensive area and you can follow the river for quite a long way. Also I noticed the Ingrebourne flows into the Thames at Deptford Creek.

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    1. Nundanket,

      Cheers! Hopefully the scan will show nothing untoward.

      Ladywell Fields stretches from Ladywell Station to Catford Bridge Station, and covers an area of 54 acres. The River Ravensbourne (not Ingrebourne as I incorrectly wrote in my original blog post!) runs from Keston to via Catford, Ladywell, and Lewisham to Deptford Creek and thence into Greenwich Reach on the River Thames,

      All the best,

      Bob

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  5. Bob -
    I have no idea what best wishes should look like at a time like this, but I'm sending you mine anyhow. All the very best,
    Regards,
    Ion

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    1. Archduke Piccolo (Ion),

      Any best wishes are always welcome … so thank you for sending them to me!

      All the best,

      Bob

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  6. Hello Bob, I as not aware that you had been diagnosed with Prostrate cancer, obviously a very worrying time for you so please accept my very best wishes for your treatment and recovery.

    Ladywell Fields is a place I knew well as a child. One of our school projects was to trace the Ravensbourne from it's source in Keston Woods to the point it flows into the Thames. it involved several school trips to points along the route, making notes and sketching, a very enjoyable way to learn about your local area.

    Are you planning to visit Broadside show next month Bob?

    All the best,
    Lee.

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    1. ‘Lee,

      Thanks for your best wishes.

      This is my second ‘brush’ with cancer, having had a cancerous polyp - and a section of my colon - removed in late 2020. My prostate cancer was diagnosed earlier this year after I was admitted to hospital as an emergency with a urological problem.

      Whilst I was a teacher, I went on several field trips to the River Quaggy, which joins the Ravensbourne in Lewisham. Although I’d seen Ladywell Fields from the ward window of Lewisham Hospital, I’d never visited it … and it was a very pleasant discovery! I’ll certainly go back there again if the opportunity arises.

      I hope to be able to go to Broadside in June, but it depends upon whether or not my projected radiotherapy treatment has started.

      All the best,

      Bob

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  7. Replies
    1. Ray Rousell,

      Cheers! I hope to see you as soon as I am well enough to go to a wargame show.

      All the best,

      Bob

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  8. There are so many interesting little nooks and crannies in England, and lots of evocative place names! Hopefully you will get good news and your treatments will produce positive results. Good luck and best wishes!

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    1. Mark Cordone,

      Cheers! Thanks for your best wishes.

      You are right about England having many odd little places hidden away … often in full sight. I live a couple of hundred yards from a Neolithic burial mound, but unless you knew what it was, it would appear to be just a grassy mound to the casual observer.

      All the best,

      Bob

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  9. Major Harvey RMLI VC is commemorated on the Chatham RN memorial.

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    1. Nigel Drury,

      I didn’t know that. I did read up about each of the recipients when I got home, but did not pick up that bit of information.

      All the best,

      Bob

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  10. Glad the procedure went well. Stay safe.

    One of the things I loved about the UK was all the historical tidbits both hidden away and right out in the open (some of them, like the churches, still in active use). I'd love to live there for a year or two, and just might one of these days.

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    1. Jennifer,

      Thanks very much for your kind comment.

      We tend to forget how much history is just around the corner in the UK. A couple of years ago I met up with an Italian wargamer who was visiting London, and on our way to a pub for a drink, we walked past a section of the Roman wall that used to surround Londinium. There were no plaques or signs to point it out; it was just there.

      I recommend a long trip to the UK, and would suggest that you would need at least a year just to get a taste of what the country has to offer.

      All the best,

      Bob

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  11. Somehow I'd missed that you'd been diagnosed with prostate cancer Bob when my old laptop stopped me viewing your Blog. Fingers crossed and hoping for the best for you. Having had prostate cancer I know how trying it can been whilst awaiting to find out tests results courses of action. Keep your chin up!

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    1. Steve J.,

      Thanks for you kind words. Sorry to read that your laptop has stopped working. I hope that you get it fixed or replaced soon.

      I find all the faffing about waiting for the results of tests very wearing, as I’m sure that you did. At least I’ve started on hormone treatment to stop the cancer from growing, and with a bit of luck, I should get a decision about what future treatment I will need very soon.

      All the best,

      Bob

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    2. Hi Bob

      It is good to hear that you are keeping so positive at such a difficult time, and managing to distract yourself. I went through a similar experience back in 2004, and well remember how important it was to take things one day at a time, and to dwell on it as little as possible. But of course that is easier said than done. And the worse part is always the waiting. It is also good to see that you have so much support from your virtual friends here on the blog. Best wishes and speedy recovery

      Paul

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    3. Paul Leniston (Paul),

      Thank you very much for your supportive words. It is difficult at times to remain positive, but having suffered from depression in the past, I’ve learned that there is little point in worrying about things over which you have little or no control.

      I am glad that I have wargaming to help keep my mind off my problems … and the support I have had from the wargaming community has been amazing.

      Keep safe and keep well,

      Bob

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  12. I hope the tests and treatment turn out well, Bob. That's quite an interesting memorial, with all those VCs!

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    1. David in Suffolk,

      Cheers! Thanks for your best wishes.

      It was an interesting selection of VC winners, and I enjoyed reading about them online.

      All the best,

      Bob

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  13. Good luck with the treatment Bob. It seems when you get to our age you see a lot more of the inside of hospitals than pubs or restaurants. Ah well. Such is life.

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    1. Jon S,

      Cheers old chap! You are spot on about how things change as one gets older; you go to more funerals than weddings or christenings, and you have your local hospital telephone number on speed dial!

      All the best,

      Bob

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  14. Good luck with it all, Bob.
    Hope to bump into you at Broadside, if you get to attend.
    All the best 👍🏼👍🏼

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    1. Martin S.,

      Cheers! Hopefully I’ll be feeling well enough to go to Broadside, and if I do, we might well have a chance to have a chat,

      All the best,

      Bob

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