Richard Quatermaine

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Hi Vernon.
Just caught up with the posts had some trouble last few days. Give Richard my regards and wish him a speedy recovery when you see him. I'm sure he was at one of the functions the MN association used to hold in Flemington Markets RSL. I think he went to the same sea school as my brother Roy but much later.
Cheers Des


Will do Des and Thanks!
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[Richard Quartermaine]

Thank you Vernon for your concern and for the Thread you have started. And thank you Jean, Roger, Tony, Des, John and Keith for your responses.

It all started with radiation on my prostate cancer over a period of two months at the end of 2009. I didn't realise that it had damaged my lower bowel until about a year ago when smears of blood began to appear. That got progressively worse until I went in for a colonoscopy in early December 2011 when the blood spots were cauterised by laser.

On the evening of the first of February this year I hemorrhaged, rang tripple o and was rushed to nearby Katoomba Hospital where I was tansfused with one and a half litres of blood on the spot with another one for the sixty km trip down the Mountain to Nepean Hospital. There a few days and the bleeding stopped so they sent me home. On Monday the 20th February the same thing happened again and again I was sent home, this time on the Wednesday.

Arriving home at Katoomba on the train at six pm having, as previously 'nil by mouth' for two days, I had some grub and went to bed only to wake up a couple of hours later in a pool of blood. Back onto tripple o, back in the ambulance only this time I refused to go down the Mountain. I was put in the Close Observation Ward and I stabilised following a few bags of blood being pumped in. Early Friday morning I sprung another massive leak and was back on the transfusions, back into the ambulance and at peak hour traffic had the trip that any small (healthy) boy dreams about.

I got lucky. The Hospital gastro team transfused more blood, got me up into the Intensive Care Unit to stabilise. I did but at three am on Sunday the 26th, which you Tony rightly said was my birthday - the eighty-first so far - the Gastro team took a tour into my nether regions and found the damaged artery, got the surgeon right away and when I woke up I got the best birthday present I could get. A cauterisation! The day was further enhanced by the arrival of my dear Margaret, our daughter and husband, two of their three boys who were able to be there, one with his wife and our four year old great grandson, Jake.

At the end of March I am to go back to Nepean Hospital for a follow up and to arrange removal of the damaged lower bowel, the nearby diverticular problem which had been considered previously as the fault and a ticket to some quality of life. Oh yes. My doctor at the Cancer Centre told me a few months ago said that with a psa reading of 0.04 cancer is not going to be what takes me off.
I can't help feeling chuffed!

Thanks again, all of you.
Richard Quartermaine

[Tony Morcom]

Great to see you back on site Richard. Take it easy.

[alf corbyn]

hi vernon. very sorry to hear about richard and hope he is up and about soon. its very nice to read about all the lads & lasses who also sent best wishes. alf

[Colin Hawken]

Pleased to hear the news Richard. Hang in there mate. Sounds like things can only get better now. Hope so, I really do. Regards, Colin.

[Richard Quartermaine]

Thanks Tony, Alf and Colin. Some of the time this maturing business has got whiskers on it.

Take care Mates
Richard Quartermaine

[Richard J Quartermaine]

G'Day Y'all and Hey Dad, hope you don't mind me joining in the conversation. Though I worked with a Norwegian Company all the crew were either English, Scottish or Welsh.

[Richard Quartermaine]

G'Day Y'all and Hey Dad, hope you don't mind me joining in the conversation. Though I worked with a Norwegian Company all the crew were either English, Scottish or Welsh.

[Tony Wilding]

wish you a speedy recovery richard, Tony Wilding

[happy daze john in oz]

Richard mate, hang in there it will get better just never ever give in.