Barbara Hulme 2022 22.9 x 30 cm Watercolour Unframed

I am the artist and here is My story – I have done paintings of two of my scars from having esophageal cancer. I had 3 months of chemo pre op and then I had a 10 and a half hour operation which I was 0.7mm away from them having to abandon. During the operation 2/3rds of my esophogus was removed, the top third of my stomach was removed and then the remaining stomach was pulled up into the chest cavity to create a dual function organ that now acts as both stomach and esophogus. This was followed by 4 weeks in ICU recovering due to lung complications, including pneumonia, collapsed lungs, and fluid in the chest cavity. I also have a small scar on my neck from being given a tracheotomy and put on a ventilator. 8 Years post op I had counselling for PTSD due to the distress caused by the intense difficulties breathing that I had post op. Ongoing issues are that I now have to sleep well propped up (cant lie flat) and also have post-pandrial hypoglycemia. I am incredibly grateful to the surgeons, surgical team and support systems within the NHS for saving my life and making this journey as easy as they could for me particularly Mr Ian Welch, Tina Foley and Barbarella. I now have good quality of life, especially following my counselling for PTSD. God Bless the NHS part Link to information about esophageal cancer https://www.macmillan.org.uk/cancer…/oesophageal-cancer