Dr Sunil Daryanani 2018-02-02 Person 5 5 0

After seeing my GP last year because my tummy was rapidly and unexplainedly expanding until I felt I might at the age of 79 be about to give birth to what felt like a huge watermelon, I was diagnosed with ascites, caused by ovarian cancer. I had a laparoscopy performed in London by Professor Christina Fotopoulou at Queen Charlotte's Hospital, which showed that the ascites had deposited what looked like a sandstorm over all my organs, making surgery at that stage too dangerous. I was therefore referred to my "home" hospital, which is Yeovil District Hospital, for chemotherapy. Dr. Daryanani was given my case, and he chose for me from the two treatments recommended by the surgeon, only carboplatin which he decided to give me as he put it "little and often" -cycles of once a week for three weeks with a week off before beginning another cycle. This has been very successful so far, with the cancer marker right down the bottom of the graph at the end of three cycles, half way through the treatment.As I write I have just had the penultimate dose, and am looking forward to the final one next week. All through the last six months, Dr Daryanani and Karen Gow, my Macmillan nurse have seen me at the end of each of the six cycles, in the company of either my husband or a daughter, and all of us have been amazed at how very clearly he has explained the disease and the progress of the therapy, answering all our questions and never making us feel that they were not important. Last time I saw him I voiced my slight anxiety that with the stopping of the chemotherapy, the wretched ovarian cancer might wake up and resume its progress up the chart instead hopefully of lying dead. He has assured me that I can get back in touch if I have any issues, either by telephone or an appointment to see him or the team. It is so comforting to know that I am not about to be abandoned!! The next step is a CT scan and a visit to Prof Fotopoulou to discuss whether she feels surgery is now necessary or whether a preventative drug and close observation will be the best way forward. The treatments themselves were given to me by the wonderful nurses in the Macmillan Cancer unit in the hospital. Always with a smile and a cheerful welcome they made it so easy for me, offering a heat pad because the IV line was icy cold, and taking such care over inserting canulas and making sure patients were comfortable. They all work so hard and are unfailingly efficient expertly going about their tasks and never complaining. I found the company of others there very helpful in that experiences could be shared, and laughed about sometimes, and the downsides made light of because in the end it's all worth it. Swapping ideas on how to ward off the wretched sickness in between treatments was helpful and I felt so lucky to be having short sessions of around an hour and a half when others were there for whole mornings, afternoons and sometimes a day. The staff in the chemo unit are all remarkable. I cannot praise enough the care I have been given by them all. It has all been so positive, so cheerful, so willing and so expert. I feel really lucky to have been referred here. It is not just the oncology department which gives this standard of care. In January last year my husband had three weeks in the male geriatric ward having been admitted with a broken hip and a subsequent chest infection. The staff in his ward literally ran between jobs. There was always laughter to be heard and the ward was always busy. These wonderful people work tirelessly to give the greatest of care to those in their charge, and I really feel that they are not properly rewarded for the effort they so willingly put into it. The NHS really has to be one of our nation's greatest treasures and if those who work in it to make it possible are not sufficiently rewarded how can we expect them to struggle on? Demands on them are enormous and the funding is not enough. We need urgently to address the situation before it collapses under the strain. I and my family have nothing but praise for Yeovil District Hospital, and its amazing work force. The personal care given to me by Dr Daryanani has been absolutely first class, and backed by the splendid Macmillan Unit I could not possibly have had better anywhere else.