The report from Histology was that it is Ovarian cancer (+ the metastasis from that primary source). There was a mystery about these Lab results from the point I arrived in Hull on the Monday until I was able to grill Professor Lind directly myself (more of this later). “Professional Etiquette” acts as a highly effective preventative to the free dissemination of information. Everything appears to be on a ‘need-to-know’ basis, with the caveat that you do not need to know (I'm also sure that this is a fully-prejudiced view). A call on Tuesday to a Lynne Holmes - a nurse (with an unknown title) obtained as a good source from my brother - resulted in a return call on Thursday with the info about it being Ovarian. (My brother & myself are working our support on a tag-team basis - it seems to be going effectively, with our relevant strengths in different domains complementing each other well.) With my working hours I was fast asleep when this came through. My parents have adopted the Health professional's etiquette & I only found out because their GP (Doctor Newman) attended & I put the question to him. He did not know - after all, he is only their local doctor - but with an air of triumph my parents informed us both of the phone call.

The original tentative diagnosis via Mr Van Geen (her consultant prior to & within hospital) was Ovarian cancer, then the test results before the hospital admission ruled this out plus Mr Van Geen's microscopic analysis at surgery of her right (left?) ovary did not reveal any tumour. Professor Lind is the doctor in charge of the Chemotherapy unit and he got into a little bit of a tizz when I pointed out that Van Geen - an acknowledged expert in Ovarian cancer - had told me that he removed & examined the left ovary and found it clear, whereas now, many weeks later, this histology report commented on a half-inch tumour on the outer wall of the right ovary. If my mum wasn't full of secondary cancers on the inside of her guts & clearly dying from those, regardless of the primary source, I think I would get far more concerned. As it is, other issues are occupying my mind.

(15 Dec - there was lots more to write, but the sheer horror of it all overwhelmed my mind & I could not.)