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Chris Lawrence



Last Updated: 11/18/2009

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Status: Single
City: SIERRA MADRE
State: California
Country: US
Signup Date: 11/6/2006

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Wednesday, August 26, 2009 
Hello everyone:
 
Sorry it's so long since I updated anyone - it's been non-stop and then when we got home we had no internet connection.
 
Well, Terry's home now but this is where the hard work starts! He's still in a lot of pain, and has lost 3 stone (he weighs 10 now) and is sleeping a lot.
It has been very scary for him (and me!) - leaving the security of the hospital after 3 weeks. Still, it has to be done to begin the next chapter of his recovery. 
 
In 6 weeks he'll have a test to see if his bowel's healed. If it has, they can then book him in to have the stoma reversed - hopefully before Christmas (he'll be hospital in about a week). Then, once he's recovered from that, they'll test him definitively for the Coeliac's disease (gluten intolerance) that they may have been mis-diagnosed. He has to eat gluten for 6 weeks in order for them to do the blood test, so either way he gets to eat Yorkshire Pudding and Christmas Pud!
 
So, once again, thanks for all your support - it really has made the difference to how Tel feels. And from now on, he can answer his emails (but treat him kindly!)
love Fi x
 
 
3:05 AM 
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Thursday, August 13, 2009 
Hi all,
  the latest on Terry's physical well-being is that he continues to shed his tubes at a steady rate and is mastering the pain with the morphine button since they increased the dose. His mental well-being is very up and down - particularly low at night when the night staff are often nowhere to be seen and the worries creep in.
 
Today he managed to walk down the corridor holding onto the drip-stand and is a bit more mobile in getting from his bed to the chair. He was able to eat a Calippo today which he thought was heaven after the taste of water every day. 
 
Terry has had to learn fast in order to get the best out of the nurses - continous ice, hair washing, and a blind eye to the fact that I'm at his bedside long before and way after visiting hours!
 
What they get in return is that Rawlings humour ("I love that catheter cos I can read in bed and wee in front of all the nurses!") and ultimate revenge by waiting for him to fall asleep and then pouncing on him to take blood/temperature/blood pressure.
 
However, he hasn't worked out how to deal with the man in the next beds' relatives, who talk incessantly and repeatedly about the menu for the next day, discussing the finer points of each dish in great detail (Terry has not eaten food for 10 days and counting); and delight in telling their dad how lovely, sunny and warm the weather is outside and how lovely the garden is back at home ("I hate people!..."mutters Tel)
 
Not everyone understands Terry's style - Nurse Hilary wanted to know why he was lying on his bed with his sunglasses on(!), and she's never heard of The Clash/Pistols/Buzzcocks.
 
Just to warn you all that I may not be updating you very often as Tel's been getting into using the laptop to watch DVD's and it's hard to wrench it away from him.
 
Many to those of you who have sent cards - if anyone else wants to the address of the hospital is:
 
WARD C2, 
BASINGSTOKE AND NORTH HAMPSHIRE HOSPITAL,
ALDERMASTON ROAD,
RG24 9NA
 
Fi x
2:25 AM 
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Monday, August 10, 2009 
Hi everyone,
 
After a couple of bad days with very low blood pressure, Terry has had a better day today -managing to stand with help and sitin a chair for 3 hours. However, he's been in a lot of pain as his epidural was taken out today and he has to rely on a morphine button which isn't as effective and gives him hallucinations and paranoia.
 
Actually, the hallucinations aren't so bad because he 'likes the colours' and he knows the huge gorilla that opened the paisley curtains is no more real than the spaceships and poodle! It's the paranoia that's hard to deal with as it causes a lot of confusion and distress.
 
Terry still feels he's a long way off feeling up to any visitors - I'll let you know when this changes.
 
I apologise if I haven't replied to any texts or calls -I often have to turn my phone off and I get so exhausted that I forget who to reply to. This is why it's much easier if you just email. I write your messages down every morning (so keep them short!) and read them to Tel, which he enjoys (so keep them upbeat!) Just assume that no news is good news and that I've been too busy with Tel to compose an update.
 
Love Fi and Tel xx
11:49 PM 
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Sunday, August 09, 2009 

Current mood:  sad
Here is the latest on Terry's status...

Hi All,
 
Sorry to take so long to update you - it's been a rough ride and I'm shattered.
 
To summarize, Tel's had his spleen, colon, large bowel, gall bladder, appendix and half of his stomach removed along with the massive tumour that obscured all of his organs.
He has also had chemotherapy applied directly to his organs before being put back together again with a stoma (bag).
 
At first he had 7 drains stitched into his chest and abdomen; an epidural for pain relief; a central line in his neck for 
drugs and fluids; three lines in his arms: three wires on his chest, a catheter and a nose tube draining fluids from the stomach. (17 attachments in all!) He also had a wire filter put in a vein to prevent the blood clot on his lungs travelling to his heart.
 
Gradually, as he's improved these lines and tubes have been removed so 3 days after the operation he has only 2 drains left in; the epidural; the catheter, central line and nose tube.
 
He was moved off the intensive care unit onto the ward yesterday and found things very difficult to deal with. The initial relief that he survived the operation; that it was successful; and that the stoma is only temporary has given way to massive shock and depression as it's hard to take on board what's happened to his body. He has an incision from breast bone to pubic bone with 54 staples, and will have scars from the drains and the stoma (when it's reversed in a few months). The morphine drip is making him paranoid and gives him hallucinations which, although sometimes funny, can seem very real and scary. He is also suffering from sleep deprivation and extremely low blood pressure.
 
He's doing really well considering what he's just been through, but he has a long, long way to go and the next few weeks will be 
a series of ups and downs. 
 
I know some people have asked about visiting him in Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital. At the moment he doesn't feel he could cope with visitors at all, but we have been told that as the next week progresses he should start to feel significantly better - so I would suggest that you email me with a suggested date and time and we'll take it fom there. 
 
Thanks so much for all your love and support - it has meant so much to know how many people are rooting for him. I've tried to update people as much as possible but as I've had over 60 people to text it'll be less exhausting for me to update you all by email. If you have a message for him I can write it down and read it to him as he enjoys this.
 
If you reply to this email please make sure you take all the other contact names off as some people may not appreciate getting everyone else's replies,
 

Love Fi x
12:06 AM 
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Friday, August 07, 2009 

Current mood:  hopeful
Friends,
As we all have, I have been feeling frustrated and even depressed lately with my income down and bills not all getting paid on time, not enough gigs, etc.
Feels like both tires are stuck in quicksand doesn't it?
Then I get this update from a very dear friend's girlfriend in London.

Hi All,
 
Just to let you know that Terry's doing ok so far. He had a very long(12 hours), difficult and dangerous operation on Tuesday which had to be stopped a couple of times as his blood pressure was out of control and he lost 6 pints of blood.
It looked at one point that they wouldn't be able to remove all of the tumour, but thank God they did, and were able to give him chemo which was applied to the organs directly before putting him back together again.
He was kept on a ventilator in intensive care over night and was woken up at 9am yesterday morning.
He has had a understandably difficult day and night with pain hallucinations (i had 3 hours sleep last night as i had to stay by his bed constantly reassuring him that the blue and red spaceships hovering over the bed were nothing to worry about!) but he's determined to get out of there fast, saying he's bored already! 
It'll be a long recovery - apparently the only more major operation than this one is complete organ transfer!
today he had to have another 2 pints of blood and will be kept in intensive care for the time being.
Here's to the surgeon who worked for 9 hours non-stop without having a break, only for a sandwich ('what did he have?' Tel asked when I told him afterwards)
And here's to Terry who's still showing a great sense of humour despite staring death in the face!
 
Love Fi x

EEEEEEEEEEEEYOW!

This is his SECOND OP for his colo-rectal cancer, he's already had many of his internal organs removed and cemo-bathed and replaced and his rectum removed.

And we think we have problems!!

For those who care Terry is a remarkable guy and one of my favorite friends, a retro MOD who went to school with Paul Weller of the Jam and has written a number of books on British 60's rock, Brian Jones, Ron Wood and other rock and roll subjects. Terry has given me countless great times in London showing me all the British Rock and Roll sites, introducing me to dozens of people and places, hanging out with British rock star geezers, and just being the kind of pal that is hard to find. He has not only arranged gigs and sessions for me there but given me a roof over my head on many occasions. We are both fans of the mid 60's and bonded over our obsession with all of that era. I have shown him the same when he has come to L.A. from the Sunset strip to MoonEyes hot-rod shop and Joshua Tree ("Is this really where Kieth stood in that picture?"). For me it is difficult to imagine a world without this guy.

He has a web site www.terryrawlings.com
Send him some good vibes, love and energy if you can.
-chris

3:24 PM 
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