Diagnosis, admittance and other stories

I have decided to at least start a blog, but I make no commitment on continuing or finishing it - only time will tell.

I write from room 10, T13 North Main tower of UCH in London, not far from Euston station. The T13 bit refers to the 13th floor - the view is due east along Euston Road; apart from a few buildings in the City to the South East, the view is not very prepossessing. This place will be my home for several weeks, so I guess I should get used to it!

It has been a hectic few days since the New Year. On Tuesday (4th) I had a bone marrow biopsy, on Wednesday met the consultant and was finally diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), and today I was admitted. I rushed out to buy an iPad (3G - no WiFi here), put a sane OOO message on my work email, packed and left. Rose (my other, better half) came with me, and helped me settle in. It was hard saying goodbye ... but let me try and avoid too much self pity:)

You can read about ALL on the web; http://www.cancerhelp.org.uk/type/all/?script=true, and a more detailed booklet at  http://www.beatbloodcancers.org/sites/default/files/ALL%20booklet_1.pdf

I am left wondering if all this rush is because

a - it is just the normal course of events
b - my case is so severe no time must be wasted
c - my case is such an early stage, the chance of survival will be greatly enhanced

The head says a, the heart says c (for after all, this is the best of all possible worlds)

I first started feeling unwell in October (but not very). When it persisted I went to my GP and his first reaction was "come back in a few days if you aren't feeling better". Then I had the first of three sets of blood tests, the results of the last one being available on Christmas Eve. This last set of results caused the consultant haematologist at my local hospital to think I probably had acute myeloid leukaemia (or AML, a diagnosis which subsequently was changed to ALL after the bone marrow biopsy). The surgery left a message for me to call, but I did not get it unti after it was closed for Christmas. At 4pm the GP turned up at our door, and although he did not say it in so many words, we knew it was leukaemia. I saw the haematologist at my local hospital on December 29th, and she transferred me to UCH.

Just in passing, The most painful symptom of ALL that I have is bone pain and I have been taking pain killers (codeine and paracetamol) that makes it bearable. I have been told that when the chemotherapy starts, this pain will disappear and I will have a comfortable period before the side effects of the treatment kick in. As you now know - I am an optimist!

I feel that I am at the beginning of a long journey and rather unsurprisingly sleep does not beckon. Tomorrow they will insert the picc line through which the chemotherapy is supplied, and start the treatment.

Sometime I hope to post about the iPad - so much hype it just could never live up to it really. But still, I think it was the correct purchase