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  149 – I Learn How to Keep Margaret Alive, Part 2: 17 January 2025 Early in the afternoon ofn 3 December 2021 I demanded that the health insurers obey the law. By 7.30 pm on that day, Margaret’s cancer had retreated and her stents were removed. I knew then that if I wanted Margaret to live, I had to force the health insurers to obey the law. I was determined to enable Margaret to live. Margaret and me on 26 March 2015 at Wilpena Pound, South Australia. **** As recounted in Blog 148, Margaret rang me at about 7:30 pm when she woke after her operation.  She had spoken to the surgeon and the surgeon had told her she could go home.  In the two days between the previous operation on 1 December and the latest operation on 3 December, the cancer had shrunk to the smallest size that the surgeon had ever seen it.  The cancer was not gone, but it had shrunk – and it had done this without any further treatment in the two days between 1 and 3 December.  The surgeo...
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  148 – I Learn How to Keep Margaret Alive: 16 January 2025 I learned on 3 December 2021 how to keep Margaret alive. To keep Margaret alive, I only needed to force the health insurers to obey the law. No matter what happened after then, I knew I would make the health insurers obey the law. Margaret and me on 19 November 2020 at Loveon Cafe. **** In Blog 39, I wrote this. Throughout Friday 3 December 2021, I worked frantically on letters of complaint to our health insurer HCF and to the Commonwealth Ombudsman.  In theory, the Ombudsman was the government agency which, in conjunction with the Australian Health Department, enforced the laws governing private health insurance. At about 4.30 in the afternoon, I emailed this letter of complaint to HCF. **** I have now had the opportunity to check my records of that frantic day of work and worry.  The computer tells me that at 12.51 pm on 3 December 2021, I sent an email to HCF.  The fo...
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  147 – Margaret Learns How to Paint: 15 January 2025 Because I decided to force the health insurers to obey the law, Margaret gained an additional 20 months of life and had a painting lesson on 15 May 2022.  Margaret is in the exact middle. **** The surgeon had scheduled yet another operation on Margaret for Wednesday 1 December 2021.  The cancer had vanished from the lymph nodes, but it was still there and the primary source of the cancer in her ampullar was still present. The 1 December operation took place as scheduled.  The news from the surgeon could hardly have been more dismal. He had not been able to administer endoscopic radiotherapy to try and blast the cancer because the inflammation in Margaret’s digestive system had not gone down but increased.  The inflammation had prevented endoscopic radiotherapy during the previous operation and the medication since then was supposed to have got rid of the inflammation so the radiotherapy could go ahead on 1 De...
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  146 – Margaret’s Lymph Node Cancer Disappears: 13 January 2025 This was how Margaret looked in Ireland on 17 September 2019.   By October 2021, she was dying and no longer looked like this. **** Ireland on 17 September 2019. **** The findings of the 29 September operation were a little inconclusive, but they were not good.  **** As I have already said, I simply do not have the words to describe how I felt after getting the news of what the surgeon found when he operated on 29 September 2021.   Although the surgeon had been unable to administer radiotherapy during his operation on Margaret on 29 September 2021, he was able to implant two stents into her bile duct.   His medical words summed up what he had done: The biliary duct was stented with 2 plastic stent[s] and this resulted in good contrast and bile drainage The surgeon had wanted to also insert a stent into Margaret’s pancreatic duct, but the swelling in the pancreatic duct ...
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  145 – Margaret’s Cancer Spreads to Her Lymph Nodes: 12 January 2025 This was how Margaret looked on 27 April 2019.  By September 2021, she was dying and she no longer looked like this. **** Margaret had another endoscopic ultrasound on Tuesday 14 September 2021.  The report of the operation was optimistic.  The report said this.   Findings On endoscopy, the ampulla was small but has some polypoid/ villiform tissue at the orifice.  Biliary discharge was noted.  The ampulla was biopsied using a forcep. On EUS, the ampullary mass is barely noticeable and has reduced in size to 8 mm the max.  There was no obvious extension of tumour into the distal CBD or PD.  Neither duct was dilated (CBD 7 mm and PD 1-2 mm).  Overall, the appearance suggestive of ongoing remission!. The previous 2 cystic lesions[s] within the pancreas: neck (23 mm) and tail (8 mm) were both seen.  Both has no high ris...
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