You what?

So we went to Frenchay (in the torrential rain - bit of theme running here!), and met with Ella's Oxford Consultant.  He said "how does 30 May sound for your next operation?" and we said "we thought it was supposed to be July after all the chemo has finished".

So we all scratched our heads for a bit and he has gone away again to talk to Ella's Bristol based Oncologist to decide what to do for the best.  We kind of assumed that all of this would have been done already.  Ella said "why are men so bad at communicating and talking?"  I said "I don't know"!

What else did he say...

He reiterated what a complex and unusual case it's been and still is.
All the team have been pleased with Ella's progress - even with all the problems along the way - they discuss her most Mondays
He explained what the next operation would involve - a big team again and more plastic surgery in terms of moving muscle around
After the operation - more sling wearing for another 6-8 weeks and then the physio begins
He showed us pictures of what Ella's new stainless steel humorous will look like
He reiterated that movement in her shoulder/arm would for ever be limited
He explained that her arm will never look like her other arm - i.e. normal
We talked about review meetings over the forthcoming years - a combination of some in Bristol and some in Oxford.
Lungs - still to be reviewed after next x rays - which will happen over the next month/week or so

The good news is that Ella feels very positive re all the above and  "happily (well some dragging of feet) went into hospital to  start cycle 7 this afternoon.

So watch this space for confirmation of operation date - we have not written anything in the diary.