Mixed fortunes

A strange day of mixed fortunes, mostly not so good.

The diarrhoea is the same as ever, ie terrible. Overnight, I discovered another small clot in my left arm. They say it is not serious and they will do nothing for the time being.

Now that I have discovered the bathroom, I thought I would have a bath to start the day, but before I got in I needed a wee. I passed blood! It is very painful, and I recommend you never do it!! I buzzed the nurse, and on top of this he told me that the bone doctors had showed up! The bleeding stopped quite quickly and I went back to my room to talk to the consultant. The plan is to take an ultrasound of the leg to gauge the extent of the abscess, and then probably operate. However, the ultrasound did not happen today, and I have no idea of the timetable. Of course, surgery implies nil by mouth, the complete opposite of what I am trying to do! Anyway, it was all a bit of a rush, but after they left I got my bath, and Rose arrived just as I was drying myself.

They are not sure why I passed blood. Yesterday they restarted me on blood thinners (ironic to get a clot right away), and this is one possible explanation. Another is trauma from the catheter, but since I have already passed loads overnight with no problem I am sceptical of this. Needless to say I was fearful the next time; fortunately it went OK. But later it happened again, and now every time I wee I get some blood at the end, but thankfully not painful like the full flow. How we take these things for granted! They have halved the blood thinner dose, but are determined to keep on with it. If things stay as they are it is not too bad, but I worry every time I go.

Rose came with some of her delicious home made soup, which I drank during the morning. I had quite a big lunch, including some Sushi that Rose got me from Prets. It tasted OK, but not as good as it should!

Sometimes in this blog I take Rose's visits for granted, and yesterday I did not even mention her. Let me say that I love her so much I sometimes well up thinking of her, and I would not be who I am (well or ill) if not for her fortitude, wit, love and friendship; she is the best friend I ever had, and ever will have, and this, above all, I think is the secret of our relationship.

This afternoon they did the bone marrow biopsy. It is not a very pleasant procedure. They take some fluid, and some solid. It is not too bad until they go for the solid matter. These things must be endured. The biopsy is the ultimate arbiter of whether I am in remission, and can move on to the next phase of the leukaemia treatment. Of course, my bad leg will also need to be fixed. The next week or so will tell all.

They have taken another diarrhoea sample (every 7 days) to see if some treatment might be possible rather than this laissez faire policy we have now. Speaking of which ...

No blood in wee, so a result there! 

I am now in room 4, a much bigger room. The reason is that in a larger room there is less risk of airborne transfer of C-DIFF. It is OK to visit me, but now you take care that I do not infect you. As long as you don't get too close you will be OK. This room has a TV, so I paid for the weekend telly so I can see the rugby. Of course, I will probably be carted off for the ultrasound at the wrong time, but I think that would be good.

So, apart from the diarrhoea, the clot in my arm, the blood in my wee, and my bad leg, I am doing OK. Except that despite my stuffing myself as much as I can, I still lost another 2kg yesterday. My physical shape is beyond description. It is going to be a long haul back.