A New Hope

I hope George Lucas does not mind me borrowing the title of his epic, but it somehow seems appropriate. It has been a busy 24 hours, but I will start with the news that my brother Harry rang me today to say that he *is* a match for me, and can be a stem cell donor. To be honest I still cannot quite believe it! It is certainly a great weight off my mind, and I am very grateful to Harry for taking the test and having the right profile! It by no means guarantees anything, but it does remove some uncertainty, which is the one striking feature of this whole treatment; you simply don't know what will happen.

The next bit of news is that they decided they will not move me to another room, so I am still in the same place, T13N, room 10.

Last night the ward was a bit short staffed, and there were some problems with the IV pump setup (not mechanical) that made for a very disruptive night. Furthermore, the nurse did not take blood first thing in the morning, which was especially important today as I was supposed to have a lumbar puncture and have some Methotrexate administered. However, the registrar wanted to see the blood results before doing the procedure to make sure clotting would be OK.

Eventually the took blood at 11, but the samples went missing! So, I did not get the LP, instead it will be done tomorrow if all is OK. Needless to say they took blood again - it must be checked daily.

They have altered my drug regime to include IV Anti-sickness drug Cyclizine, which helps quite a lot with the nausea. I get 3 doses per day, which is not quite enough, but sees me able to eat something.

I have started getting sore elbows! The nurse thinks it is just from the bed (I must be reading too much eh), and not a reaction to the drugs, but they will monitor it. I have some moisturiser for relief.

Rose called for her daily visit and we passed the time very pleasantly. I am now drinking bottled mineral water that she brings me rather than the horrid stuff from the hospital. We cracked some crossword clues, and read some more about Bradley Wiggins. Rose came armed with a wheelie bag to help me move, so that had a nice outing in the car for no real purpose!

Thanks for all your comments, emails and calls. It can get lonely here and the contact is much appreciated.


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