Awoke this morning with a very sore but much smaller arm. I can't quite believe it but my arm has shrunk in the night. The consultant said yesterday that it might take weeks to see any change so I wasn't expecting that!

It was another long day yesterday - we left home at 9.30 and got back home just before 8. I was the last person on their list so waited from 11.30 until 4.45 to go to theatre. Thankfully I had taken plenty to read and listen to. The surgery was quite straightforward although I bled quite a bit. My arm is now nicely bandaged and very sore. I have to go back in 6 weeks to have it checked and to make plans for the other arm if needed in the future.

The nurse who looked after me after the surgery couldn't understand that I hadn' t had a fistula made and tried to give me instructions as to how to look after a fistula. She gave me a stethoscope to listen to the buzzing and I explained that it wouldn't be buzzing as it had been tied off. She just kept insisting that I needed the stethoscope. Then she gave me a letter to take to dialysis, which I told her I don't do. So she then said 'oh you will be doing that in a about 6 weeks when your fistula is ready'. I again explained that I had had my fistula tied off. It was only when I explained that I used to do dialysis and had now stopped that she seemed to understand what I was saying. I think she thought I was stupid and didn't understand fistulas! Once she understood she was then amazed and said she had never heard of anyone stopping dialysis except if they had a transplant.

Thank you all for your good wishes, thoughts and prayers. Think it might take a few days for recovery.