Tuesday June 2nd - Tuesday June 9th. Hickman Line Surgery.

This week has mainly been preparation and trying to sort some stuff out before I go into hospital as an inpatient. So nothing really happened this week.


On Tuesday I went with my parents to a restaurant up London.


I was back at Hospital on Thursday where I didn't have any transfusions. I was told that my next visit would be Tuesday the 9th (today). Where I will have several transfusions and have my hickman line put in. I will also be staying as an inpatient for several weeks if they have the bed available. If it's not available I'll have a bed by Thursday the latest apparently.

2 BAGS? WHOA! MAD!

Over Friday, the weekend and Monday I saw some more mates and my Grandad, as its my last weekend before going in as an inpatient. I also fed a dog a crisp which was hugely exciting. Been having mad weekends recently.


Before going in to Hospital today I had to shower Monday night and Tuesday morning using a special kind of antiseptic soap. I arrived early in the morning and was immediately given 2 bags of platelets straight after each other, as I needed my platelets to be over 50 before my Hickman Line surgery. Before the transfusion they were 9, which isn't the lowest I've had by a long way.
After the platelets I had some time to kill and went to the cafe with my mum before heading back to the hospital for about 1:30.

I was soon taken to an upstairs ward and given a place to wait before my surgery. I had to get changed out of all my clothes into a stylish hospital gown. A surgeon came and spoke to me describing the procedure to me and informing me of the risks. Conversations like that are always loads of fun. After waiting half an hour or so I was taken into the operating theater where I sat for 5 minutes before being taken back to the waiting room again as they were running a bit late. This was a bit disappointing as I'd been getting myself ready by listening to music when I was previously waiting.

Waiting for my modelling career to take off

15 minutes later I was taken back into the operating theater which is a surprisingly large room. I, understandably, wasn't allowed to take my phone into the theater so I don't have any photos from that. The surgeons and nurses were all extremely nice and friendly and instructed me to lay on my back on the bed. I had to have some of my chest shaved (obviously, as I'm bare hairy), so that it reduced the risk of infection from the surgery. I had all these blue sheets pulled up and over my face only leaving my left eye clear. I could only look at the wall while the surgery went on the the right hand side of my neck and chest.

I could feel markings being made on my skin where they were planning their insertions. The surgeon said that I would feel a slight scratch followed by stinging as he applied a lot of local anaesthetic to the region that he would be operating on. The application of the anaesthetic didn't hurt at all because I'm hard as nails. After that I could feel the wires being inserted into me from the base of my neck which would go along my veins and rest just above my heart. As the wire was being fed into me the bed would move around slightly so that the surgeons had better angles to manoeuvre the wires through me. Like when I had my two bone marrow biopsies, the weirdest feeling is feeling liquid running across you and realising that it's your own blood. There were parts where a lot of pressure was being applied to me in order I assume to make sure everything was secure. At the end of the procedure I required some stitches in order to keep the Hickman Line secure and to ensure that there is no risk of it coming out. As my skin was numb due to the anaestetic I could feel the needles going into me and pulling the rope(?) with it. It was odd as I could hear it all as its happening to your own body. It's also weird as you know that without the anaesthetic it would be horrifically painful, but instead I'm lying there joking about how I feel like I'm in an episode of 'Scrubs'.
I was soon allowed to sit up, and have a look at the results. I look like you could get access to the internet if you plugged your laptop into me. I wasn't allowed to sit up until all the blood was cleaned away.
I then took a load of pictures, I can't really photograph it without getting a load of my hairy chest in, Sorry everyone.

Having so much fun.

I was told that the Hospital had been unable to get a bed ready for me today, so I'll be back in hospital tomorrow. I will definitely have my room this week and will be remaining in hospital for the rest of the month, maybe a bit longer. This will definitely be my last post from home for a while as a result. I will have internet in hospital so as long as I am able, I will continue to post blogs from there. Thank you to everyone who has been keeping up to date and messaging me as well as coming to see me. It's all been very appreciated.
I'll leave you all with this very special picture to show my thanks.

So Sexy.

A huge thanks to all those who have signed up to the Anthony Nolan register. It's a great thing to do and very easy too. As well as those who have been donating blood and platelets to the NHS, especially as I am draining the NHS of all it's resources.

Thank you Jui and everyone else.

Freddie obviously had to do a selfie.