"My visit, November 12th 2014"

I visited the Oral/Facial surgery unit on November 12th and underwent a 'double' op, removal of an implant post in my jaw and removal of a lump from the back of my throat. From the minute I arrived (at 0730) I was greeted pleasantly by the staff gathered at the nurses station, including those who were not there on my behalf. Smiles were exactly what I needed as I was feeling very anxious. I was shown where I could wait and given a brief idea of timings and what to expect. I was slightly concerned when someone from the surgical team introduced herself and said 'you're here to have your tonsilsout..' I said no, and she checked and agreed that it was actually implant removal and lump removal. Phew. After that, everything went smoothly and the nurse who was with me all day was consistantly kind and reassuring, especially after the op, when I failed to spring back into action quickly and was sick and unhelpful. Thank you. I was pleased that the consultant was the same as I had seen back in August and I had a moment to speak with him before going into theatre. Very important to me. In the end I was rather late going home (couldn't eat, sick and wanted to stay asleep) but suddenly felt I was able to make the effort. Once home I realised that perhaps I had not spoken to anyone about what to expect once I would be home alone, although my sister-in-law who was with me was given good advice about pain relief, which stood me in good stead during the next 10 days. I remember being given a leaflet and being told to expect a return visit notification. Two weeks later I still have disolvable stitches in both sites and am not sure how long it takes for them to go or if I'm supposed to do anything about them. My sister-in-law, who was more awake than I was at the time commented on how good she thought my treatment had been at Treliske and, from what I can remember, I too felt I was treated with enormous gentleness and kindness. Thank you to everyone involved.