Bile Duct Diaries, II

8 Jan., 2007

Bile Duct Diaries, II

Just to keep people informed, there was a hospital conference yesterday about my situation, and I have now discussed things with the lead consultant. They think the most likely cause of the bile duct constriction, is some type of cancer, and they want to operate in order to remove the bile duct and part of the pancreas. This allows them to do a thorough investigation that should answer further questions and lead to a clearer plan for treatment. The consultant said, hopefully, that the intention of this operation is ‘curative’. We shall see.

Before they can do that, I have to get over the current bout of pancreatitis and gain more strength. Jane and I are going to the Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford to discuss all this with the surgical team on Friday. I need to also think over whether that might be the best time to have my case transferred to the Royal Free. I must say, paradoxically, even though none of us wants to hear the word ‘cancer’ there is some relief in hearing a bit more certainty coming out of all the investigations so far.

For colleagues, as well as friends, I suppose a rough timetable might be an operation in 10-14 days, followed by 6 weeks’ recovery before I should think of doing any work. That takes us up to mid March. In a few days I should have a more specific date for the operation, and then I need to speak to some of you more about cases and workload, etc, but it is probably best to make general plans as though I will be out of action for weeks rather than days. Meanwhile the BBC’s Rome series, James Naughtie’s History of Music and short walks into Crouch End represent the summit of my day.

Thanks for all your continued love and support.

Love

David (and Jane)