Recovery – Round Two!

It’s been a little while since we blogged, so here’s a quick update on what’s been going on! We were moved back to Queen Alexandra Hospital (QA) in Portsmouth not long after Ben’s second round of chemotherapy finished, and are now well into the recovery period. Ben has been doing well, although there have been the usual things to deal with; most notably infections, with the tell-tale temperatures, and the antibiotics needed to tackle them.

Nutrition has also been a concern; having brought up his NG tube on his first night back(!) and after a couple of fairly stressful attempts to pass a new one, we have been trying to encourage Ben to eat and drink without falling back to the NG. He’s been doing OK with this, but it’s taken some encouragement, and a bit of lateral thinking as we’re not able to cook for him on the ward. He’s a fussy eater at the best of times and with taste buds altered by the chemotherapy, there is little on the hospital menu that appeals, which can make it a bit of challenge to hit his calorie target every day.

He’s had a couple of transfusions, and we are now just playing the waiting game for his blood counts to start to pick up. Ben himself has been in good spirits, with Lego and watching movies occupying most of his time! As ever we are very grateful to friends and family who have been sending things to keep him occupied!

It’s been just over ten weeks since we got Ben’s initial diagnosis, and looking back we’ve all come a long way over that time. We continue to be amazed and grateful for all of the support from family, friends, and nursing staff.