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Three days till surgery

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D

Dave_goole

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
on Tuesday I get admitted to hospital, surgery on Wednesday

Total pancreatectomy and a tumour to be removed from a kidney

As a 46yr old single man of previous good health I couldn't be more worried and feel completely lost and hopeless

I also loose my job as I am an hgv driver

Where do you start?
 
Hi Dave, welcome to the forum 🙂 Wow, so sorry to hear you have to go through all this :( We have a number of members here who have had pancreatectomies, so hopefully they will be able to help with their experiences on that particular aspect. I'm not a driver, so again, not sure what the rules are regarding getting your license back once you are recovered and have things under good control.

I'm presuming they will put you straight onto insulin, has this been discussed much with you? Managing things with insulin can be quite a steep learning curve to begin with, but things do get easier after a while. There are lots of knowledgeable and experienced people here who will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

I hope that everything goes smoothly with the operation and that you recover well, and quickly. Please let us know how things go or if you have any particular concerns we might be able to help with.
 
If you are on Metformin you should stop this before surgery - but presumably they have told you this.
Welcome to the group. I too hope all goes well for you with a quick recovery. Try not to stress out too much about the job right now. Getting you back on your feet is the first priority.
 
All the best for the surgery and a speedy recovery.

Perhaps all your HGV experience can be funnelled into a complimentary role (logistics, training?).

PG
 
PinkGrapefruit said:
All the best for the surgery and a speedy recovery.

Perhaps all your HGV experience can be funnelled into a complimentary role (logistics, training?).

PG
Click to expand...
A really good point, you should be able to get a PTLLS (basic teaching qual) cheaply or free through someone like the Shaw Trust. When you feel better message me, I can guide you through it.
 
Best wishes for your surgery and recovery Dave. Take things one day at a time starting with getting over your surgery and feeling better to help you move on from there
 
All the best for a speedy recovery and I look forward to hearing from you again in a few days. I'll be thinking of you. 🙂
 
Wishing you a speedy recovery, when you feel up to it please let us know how you get on
 
Wishing you a speedy recovery Dave. Hope everything goes smoothly.
 
Welcome to the forum, but sorry about the circumstances that bring you here. You're right that needing insulin will mean a change from HGV driving to another career. Do you have any other skills, interests or qualifications? There are opportunities for retraining. Not sure of your location, but if you're in East Anglia, Papworth Trust might be able to help. Also, you'll have to communicate with Job Centre about benefits etc, so take all the advice that's on offer. It's worth finding out which organisation helps with welfare rights in your area - some councils have advisors, or Citizens Afvice or other names.
 
Dave_goole said:
on Tuesday I get admitted to hospital, surgery on Wednesday

Total pancreatectomy and a tumour to be removed from a kidney

As a 46yr old single man of previous good health I couldn't be more worried and feel completely lost and hopeless

I also loose my job as I am an hgv driver

Where do you start?
Click to expand...
Good luck for your surgery.

You can still be an HGV driver as the rules were changed, there is a very strict criteria though for having an HGV licence.
 
Hi Dave,

Welcome to the forum. This forum was so helpful to me after I had my total pancreatectomy just over four years ago.

I know how you must be feeling right now, I was seventy-one years old when I had to have my operation and I had never been diabetic before. After my operation I was in the intensive care unit for four days and this is usual for this type of operation and of course I am a lot older than you. I was really looked after with a one-to-one dedicated nurse, and you will be too, I had general anaesthetic and epidural for pain relief afterwards. When I was moved to the main ward I opted to have injections for pain relief.

You have to take things slowly at first but physio will soon have you out of the bed and walking up and down the ward, holding on to your drip stand. I was fed through a nasal tube for the first few days but after that it was small meals with Creon to help digestion. Because of my age I was I was in hospital a month and gradually gained strength during the next six months. I have attended a DAFNE diabetes education course and two years after my operation I was granted an insulin pump.

Don't try to rush things and try not to worry about work now, the main thing is that you are going to be made better. It is too early to make hasty decisions about work because you have to recover first, but what I would say is that your employer should support you at this time on the grounds of this period of disability. If and when you feel you could do some work, your employer has a duty under law to make reasonable adjustments under the equality act 2010 if at all practicable.

Concentrate on getting better Dave, you are welcome to private message me if you want.

I will be thinking of you on Wednesday.

All the best

Annie x
 
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Hi Dave. Hope all goes well with your upcoming surgery.
 
Thinking if you.
 
Best wishes Dave for you surgery and recovery. Take your time to deal with things step by step.

As has been said, your employee is required to make appropriate adjustment where possible. But that is for the future.

Take care
 
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