Stuart Stevenson
In January 1999 I was working in an Aluminium smelter where I had been for 22 years. I was being treated for stomach pains through my GP and had been for approx 9 months e.g. stomach ulcers, colitis, and irritable bowel. I collapsed in pain on January 31st taken to hospital filled full with morphine more tests, found bowel cancer, surgery on 1st Feb ’99. Then filled up with morphine again for next week. The walls where singing people drilling holes in the ceiling to spy on me and many other things I believe brought on by the morphine, a very scary time. My wife even though she asked was given no information only on the discharge day was all revealed. I had lost most of my colon along with 11 lymph nodes and told I would have chemotherapy, shown the door. In comparison the staff who gave the chemotherapy showed true professionalism and supplied the best treatment I had ever had, indeed I could not have asked for or expected any better, all in the same hospital.
In 2004 I had a squamous cell carcinoma removed from my nose along with about a dozen tiny stitches, when the stitches were being removed the nurse made a phone call asking for help then left the room touching the door frame on the way out, five minutes later she returned still with the same gloves on and proceeded to carry on, I had open wounds and asked her to stop and change her gloves which she did with a long face.
I am a patient’s voice with beatingbowelcancer.org and involved with several other groups in the local hospital with the aim of improving the standards for those that follow in my footsteps or bed in this case. I returned to education in 2003 having left school at 15 with a certificate in woodwork, after completing the access course in college I applied to Bangor University for a clinical health psychology degree (Bsc) In June 2008 I graduated with honours.