Normal living

I weigh 84kg. My target is 86, which I will most certainly not reach, but I am content with the increase.

Today we went shopping in the car! First stop was the bank, to pay in some cash and to get my signature witnessed for a form from my Dad's estate. Then we went to buy cat food, and then the garden centre where we had coffee and a cake. From there we drove 20 miles to American Golf in Biggleswade to get Rose some summer golf outfits; normally we are in France for the summer and all her summer golf clothes are down there. We came home via the supermarket to get some supplies, and fuel for the car. I got the fuel whilst Rose went for the food, and then I drove home. It was well after one when we got back - a busy morning that really made both of us feel like normal life. It is a shame I have to go back for another round of chemo on Wednesday!

On Thursday I ordered Rose a new phone from Amazon marketplace, and it arrived this morning (I must go give the vendor 5 stars). This afternoon we learnt how it works (it is just a dumb-phone - a Nokia 2720 flip). Rose is quite mobile-phone averse, and this is my attempt to drag her into the 21st century! Time will tell if I was successful.

We are having one of my favourite meals for dinner; whole roasted sea bass Catalonian style (with anchovies, peppers, tomatoes and garlic) and baked potatoes.

A little light lunch

I weigh 83.4kg, same as yesterday. This was somewhat disappointing as I feel I ate a lot yesterday. When I cam home I weighed 81.2kg, so I have gained, but less than I would like.

There are only 4 more days of home time left. The time has flown by; as I said it is just like the school holidays!

My health is pretty good; the anaemia is the most obvious and debilitating thing I have. I feel I have built up some muscle tone in my legs (but still not much). A couple of days ago the hospital rang with the preliminary results of the bone marrow biopsy they took 10 days ago; they show I am still in a good remission, and the treatment is on track. Although I had not been thinking about it too much, it was nice to hear.

Today Marilyn and Kim came to visit and we had lunch. We had all been to the supermarket; they bought vegetarian tarts and salad, we bought cream cakes and crumpets. It was not planned but it turned out well. We watched a little bit of the royal wedding. Rose and Marilyn watched the Charles and Diana wedding 30 years ago, so it is somewhat of a tradition for them. This time around, Kim seemed to know more about it than the rest of us, especially the timings.

Brandy is convalescing nicely. If she starts worrying her wound, we may need to put a lampshade collar on her, which we are not looking forward to!

A busy day

Another good night's sleep. This morning I weighed 83.4kg, a good gain.

Today we took Brandy to have her operation. I am pleased to say it seems to have gone well. We picked her up at 5:30 this evening and she is quite sprightly. Now we have to keep her indoors until the wound has healed a bit, certainly until Tuesday. This will be a challenge as she does like to go out during the day.

This evening, when we went to pick Brandy up, Rose's car stopped working. It is all electronic, but when you push the button to start it, the engine turns over but it does not start! Typical that it should happen at the start of a long holiday weekend. So, we had to push it out of the drive so we could use my car. Thank goodness it is only a Toyota IQ - I don't think I could have pushed a normal car.

This evening Bill came to visit. He is currently over in the UK on business, and kindly took the trouble to come to Hatfield from London. I picked him up at the station and we went for an Italian meal at my local leisure complex. It was really good to see him, and we had a good meal (I used the taste card too).

Quite an eventful day.


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The most fun I have had since Christmas 2010

I slept well last night. This morning I weigh 82.8kg. A small drop but within the bounds of stability.

This morning rushed by, as we did some paperwork and the French tax return. This afternoon, our old friend Kevin came to visit, and since he is a keen golfer we arranged a round of golf at our club.

Now, I am far to weak to play golf. I can not wield a club properly, never mind walk around the course, but we had an idea - we rented a buggy and Rose and Kevin played whilst I drove round in the buggy. It was absolutely brilliant fun. The weather was sunny and breezy, about 19C. Here are Rose and Kevin before we started:

Here I am driving the buggy. It was my first time!

I got out at each shot and walked across to watch one or other play their shots, so I actually got a fair bit of excercise too - my legs and feet feel quite tired as I write. It was a keenly fought contest, with many good shots; Rose came out on top by 4 and 3.

Kevin also bought us a Banoffee pie! We shall have it for desert tonight (pretty soon!).

Going round the golf course really makes me want to play golf, but the chemo is so debilitating :( Even so, I think I may try swinging a nine iron on the driving range at the weekend).

All in all a fantastic day and really good fun.

Some bad news

This morning I weigh 83kg; I am pleased to have gained some weight at last.

Rose played golf today, and had mixed fortunes - 7 gross pars but 4 double bogeys! I spent the day alone watching some TV on BBC iPlayer and then watching the snooker in the afternoon (I had take-out pizza for lunch). I also did the ironing; it is nice to be able to the odd chore whilst I am home, to give Rose some respite! I did not do much exercise - but everyone knows the rest days are as important as the training days!

A few days ago we noticed a lump in our cat Brandy's armpit, and today we took her to the vet. He said right away that it was a tumor, and probably malignant. It is more bad news for us, especially Rose as Brandy is a loving companion for her when I am away in hospital. After considering the options, we decided to have the tumor removed by surgery; the anaesthesia is a risk, but overall it seems like the best option for prolonged high quality life for Brandy, so wish her luck. Poor Rose ... she is surrounded by cancer!

A trip to the golf club

I slept well, despite a party next door for our new neighbour's daughter's 18th party. They warned us it would be noisy, but actually it was not really; and they stopped at midnight.

This morning I weigh 82.0kg. My weight is stable but not increasing :(

We went to the golf club to meet our friends Anne and Dave for coffee and a chat. We saw some other golf friends too, and had a nice time. On the way home, we got fish and chips from the chippy for lunch. It was really good!

We spent this afternoon in the garden doing the crossword (with partial success). Then I went for a small nap. This evening we had a nice bottle of wine with dinner. I have blogged about it before, a Beaune Clos du Rois from Tollot Beaut. We had the 2000 vintage and it was really good; a serious complex Burgundy wine, at just about the perfect age.

I did not feel nauseous at all today, so the drugs are working.

Reminders that I am ill

Last night I woke up in the middle of the night hungry. This is the first time I have felt hungry in weeks (since being admitted for the second infection). I went down for a midnight snack: a bowl of cereals seemed the easiest.

This morning I weigh 82.2kg. Another small rise.

Countering the elation that my appetite might be slowly returning, I have had a couple of reminders that I am still ill ...

• Each day I inject myself with blood thinner (called deltaparin, brand name Fragmin). This is because I had a clot and they want to keep my blood thin. Yesterday, the puncture from the injection leaked a few drops of blood several hours after the injection. I rang UCH, and they said not to worry, and if it gets worse to come to them, or maybe my local hospital. This morning everything was fine, so yesterday I probably just nicked a capillary.
• For the last few days I have felt a bit nauseous in the mid-morning. This morning Rose and I went for a walk, and on the way home I felt sick, and vomited. It all happened quite quickly. I guess the after effects of the chemo are still with me. I had stopped taking my anti-sickness drugs, but needless to say I have restarted!
• Whenever I stand up, I get dizzy unless I stand up very slowly (feels like Alien unfolding itself in the escape pod). This is because I am very anaemic. I forget to stand up slowly about 50% of time!

Being at home is like normal life, but it is not really normal for me. Fortunately, it is still very enjoyable! Today, after the walk, we watched the Badminton cross country on the TV and lazed in the garden.

Visiting friends

Another slightly troubled night. My weight is 82.0kg, so a small rise at last.

Putting on weight is difficult for me because my taste is still altered, but worse still I don't have much of an appetite, so I eat because I know I need to, rather than because I want to. Slowly I hope these will return to normal.

Today we went to visit our friends Paul and Raksha for afternoon tea at their beautiful house about 30 minutes drive north of here. Paul works in Rome, and is home for Easter so it was great to see him. They looked after us very nicely. Here we are in their enormous garden:

(I give up trying to fix the orientation!)

This evening, Christine has come to see us. She is just back from the US and lives up North, so we don't get to see her much. A pleasant supper awaits us ...

The iPad is sold

We had an interrupted night and got up somewhat late to another gorgeous day.

Today was a very lazy day. My brother Les came late morning and bought the iPad from me, so it is no longer for sale. After Les left we had lunch, with a glass of wine, and spent the afternoon in the garden, and having a not very well earned nap!

As I write this, I must confess to being a little bit tipsy, after a couple of glasses wine with dinner! Not much else to add today ... just enjoyng my home life.

Enjoying home

After yesterday's exertions we both slept quite well, and got up late-ish. My weight is 81.8kg.

Mid-morning we strolled up to the Galleria to take advantage of the coffee and free cake again. We also did some shopping, and I even bought a pair of shorts and a tee shirt! I felt just like a normal person!

We then went to a kitchen design place in Stevenage that doesn't exist anymore! I will explain why we needed to go in a later post. On the way home we stopped at the supermarket and bought some provisions.

With the walk to the shopping centre and the supermarket, I was quite tired when we got home. The weather was glorious so we got the sun beds out and lazed around in the garden for the afternoon, before enjoying a delicious dinner of squid with couscous, cheese and rhubarb and strawberry crumble.

In the evening we chatted with Andy and Yvonne on the phone, and also arranged to see Paul and Raksha on the weekend as Paul is back from Rome for Easter.

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A trip to haematology daycare

Last night we went to sleep late as we watched Godfather II - a great film! But we woke a little sleep-deprived.

Today I had to go to daycare to see Gemma, the haematology nurse specialist, to discuss the timings for my stay at home and next round of care, and afterwards to have another bone marrow biopsy. The biopsy was scheduled for noon, so we set off early, parked in Rose's normal car park, and had an early lunch in Pret a Manger.

Before speaking to Gemma, a nurse took some blood. My counts have all risen nicely, especially my platelets which are 62.

The discussion with Gemma was quite up-beat. I will get 2 more weeks at home, my tretatment will recommence on Wednesday 4th May. I suspect the extra week I am getting is because of the extra public holiday for the royal wedding. The next cycle of chemo will be done in Ambicare (with me staying in the hotel), and is done in two bursts at day 1 and day 15. In between, I may get some more home time too. Furthermore, I should not go neutropenic during the cycle, so there is a far lower risk of infection. All this was very positive; the only downer is that I still have no clear idea of when the transplant might happen.

The bone marrow biopsy was not such a good story. It is the third one I have had and was very painful. I have had one each side now; today was the second one on the right side, and each time is worse than the last. Next time I will ask to be sedated ... it was that bad.

After a 45 minute wait for some more drugs, we came home, and I sat in the garden enjoyng the balmy weather. A little later the doorbell rang and Pete was there, popping round on his way home from work; a very pleasant surprise, and we had a nice chat.

After Pete left we had dinner (for a change I will spare you the details, but it was delicious).

Shopping at iTunes

Today I spent a lazy day at home whilst the sun blazed down. Rose was playing golf at the ladies Spring meeting, and shot a very creditable 74 net; well done Rose! She is currently at the post-competition dinner, having a good time I hope.

I spent the day very pleasantly. I used the iTunes shop for the first time and bought a copy of Wish You Were Here, then synced it to the iPad. It all went smoothly enough. I was even able to convert it to MP3 format to play it on non-Apple devices, so I feel comfortable buying more music from iTunes.

I went for a walk up to the top of the road and back, which was quite tiring, then I came back and watched some catch-up TV. During the day I sat outside in the sun a few times, each time until I got too hot. I was too lazy to get the sun umbrella out! I did manage to eat lunch outside.

For my dinner, I warmed up some of the leek and mushroom tart, and had it with boiled Charlotte potatoes and rocket and tomato salad; very healthy! I had ice cream for dessert. Washed down with a nice glass of claret. I ate outside - the evening April air was just warm enough.

Now, the sun is beginning to set ...

My first day at home

I have had a very exciting and pleasant first day at home, it really is the best tonic possible. The more I am an inpatient, the more I hate being in hospital.

In the morning we walked to the nearby shopping centre and looked at some 2g phones to see if we can find one for Rose (not much success). We had a coffee and a cake in the centre and then walked home again. It may sound like not much, but it was a big deal to me. The weather is pleasant and Spring-like, unseasonably warm in fact, and this added to the enjoyment.

We got home to find a phone message from Sue, Rose's childhood friend, that she and husband Graham were in town for 1 day, and could they visit (they live in Switzerland)! She did not leave her number to call back! I called Rose's Mum and Dad to get the number of Betty, Sue's Mum. They did have Betty's number (many thanks to them), but we found an email from Sue with the number to call and got in touch. Sadly, they were in London and too tied up to come out to Hatfield, so we just spoke on the phone. Sue and Graham are some of our oldest friends (I was best man at their wedding, which Rose and I attended in fancy dress).

We spent the afternoon sitting outside enjoying the weather, playin with Brandy, and also watchng videos. During the afternoon Rose's brother Pete rang and we had a nice chat.

We have just had a very nice dinner of home-made leek and mushroom pie, with chips and veg. Such a contrast from the hospital it is insulting to even compare them. I had a couple of glasses of wine with diner too.

Tomorrow promises to be a very hot day, so I am looking forward to a lazy day in the sun ... it's good to be home!

iPad for sale

Since I find myself with two iPads, before I offer it publicly I wonder if anyone following me is interested in buying one. I am selling an iPad 1, 64gig, with 3G. It comes with it's original box, and also a real apple iPad protector. It is in near perfect condition.

If you are interested, make me an offer by email. I would like £300 or thereabouts.



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A short review of "One Day" by David Nicholls

I finally succumbed to read this after Harry and Sandra visited, and Sandra said she had read it because Alyson had suggested it (a long time ago on this very blog as a matter of fact). If you can't follow my family tree, don't worry.

The book is very much like "When Harry Met Sally", but told by examining the lives of the two protagonists on the same day each year from 1988 to 2005. The characters are a bit stereotypical, and the plotting is a bit corny, but it is presented in a very easy to assimilate package.

I enjoyed it very much, and would not hesitate to recommend it, especially to people my age or a bit less.


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Going home

An early post today, because I will be going home! The doctor is letting me go, but first I must have some blood products; platelets and red cells to boost my haemoglobin. It is now 1:40pm, I don't expect the blood to arrive before three, and it will take a couple of hours to administer, so I will not be home before evening. Fortunately, Rose is at home, and I can call her when I know there is only an hour to go.

I am so looking forward to a soak in the bath!

My weight is stable at 82kg. I lost 4kg in the three weeks I have been an inpatient. It is really difficult to maintain your weight after a neutropenic sepsis! I will do my best to gain weight at home. One big problem is that your appetite goes. It is a dieter's dream and an ill person's nightmare. It was hard enough stabilising my weight after my very poorly episode, when I could see it going down on the scales almost every day. You have to force yourself to eat, and with altered taste and hospital food it is not easy!


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Disappointing Saturday

Count	Norms	11/4	12/4	13/4	14/4	15/4	16/4	17/4
Haemoglobin	11 - 15	8.80	8.4	8.9	8.3	8.3	8.7
Platelets	> 150	20.00	12	18	5	25	19
White blood cells	3 - 10	0.32	0.21	0.31	0.61	1.1	3.01
Neutrophils	2 - 7	0.00	0.01	0.05	0.18	0.60	1.71

No more worries on the neutrophils, but the platelets refuse to rise, so they did not let me go home. The problem is that I really need platelets above 50, 30 would do, but 50 is the target. It is because I had a blood clot; I need to inject blood thinner, but only when the platelet count is not too low. It is all a bit strange, but the net result is another night in hospital. I hope my platelets will be good enough for discharge tomorrow.

Rose visited today, and bought me a Japanese lunch of veg dumplings with noodles in soup. It was delicious, but very difficult to eat, needing spoon and fork. I am not expert enough with chop sticks to eat dumplings and noodles out of soup in a reasonable manner!

After lunch I got dressed and we went for a walk! The remote control for the DAB radio needs a new battery. We tried PC World but they did not have one. I got tired so we came back. This was my first time out in three weeks.

After this Rose left and I had a nap, and then watched an extraordinary game of rugby between Leicester and Gloucester. The score was 41 each, but the Tigers threw it away in the last minute giving Gloucester an interception try. Each side scored five tries!

Then, I got dressed again and went out again. This time, I successfully bought a battery from the camera shop over the road :) I still tired quite quickly, so I did not go far.

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Counts gathering pace

Count	Norms	11/4	12/4	13/4	14/4	15/4	16/4	17/4
Haemoglobin	11 - 15	8.80	8.4	8.9	8.3	8.3
Platelets	> 150	20.00	12	18	5	25
White blood cells	3 - 10	0.32	0.21	0.31	0.61	1.1
Neutrophils	2 - 7	0.00	0.01	0.05	0.18	0.60

A good day for the neutrophils! The nursing staff are preparing for a possible weekend discharge. I am nervous that something will go wrong, but looking forward to what may come. They have stopped my antibiotic; I guess tonight will show if I have truly beaten the infection and can fend for myself.

Rose had a day off from visiting, but Chris and Harriet came at lunchtime, bringing Mizo soup for me, which was OK, but not as good as the mushroom risotto! It was brilliant to see them, but sadly the visit was all too short. I hope they have a good time at their up and coming Royal Wedding Street Party.

The weekend maybe a bit disrupted blog wise, depending on what happens tomorrow. I will do my best.

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A missed visit

First, the counts. They have risen well, except the platelets. They gave me a pool of them to supplement me.

Count	Norms	11/4	12/4	13/4	14/4	15/4	16/4	17/4
Haemoglobin	11 - 15	8.80	8.4	8.9	8.3
Platelets	> 150	20.00	12	18	5
White blood cells	3 - 10	0.32	0.21	0.31	0.61
Neutrophils	2 - 7	0.00	0.01	0.05	0.18

At last some grounds for optimism!

Rose came for a visit as usual. For lunch she bought me some mushroom risotto soup from Pret's. It was delicious, better than the pizza yesterday, although maybe my taste is also improving.

After lunch, I got a phone call from Cees and Claude. They have come to London to visit me, but Cees has a cold! Rose met them for coffee, and we waved at each other, but that was as close as we got. What a shame. Still, at least the Euro is strong against Sterling, so they can shop till they drop.

Even better still, they brought us a bottle of wine. A very nice bottle of wine actually, a 2005 Tollot Beaut, Beaune Clos du Roi (which is a premier cru Burgundy wine). It will be ready to drink in about 2015, maybe a little later as 2005 was a "big" vintage. We know the wine quite well. We have had both 1997 and 2000 vintages, all very good indeed. For Christmas 2006 a 1997 Clos du Roi had pride of place. I wanted to show a picture, but the software will not play :(

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A short review of "Room" by Emma Donoghue

I chose this book because it was recommended by Kindle, and it had good reviews. I also wanted something easy to read, and this certainly is.

The book is about a young woman who is kidnapped and held for years in a small room. In this room she has a child, called Jack, who is five when the book opens, and narrates the story. The book describes their captive life, escape and immediate aftermath.

I would say the book is OK, but not fantastic. The author just manages to keep the five-year-old narration fresh throughout, but the story is a little predictable. Probably more interesting for parents of young kids!


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Counts begin to rise

At last, some positive movement!

Count	Norms	11/4	12/4	13/4	14/4	15/4	16/4	17/4
Haemoglobin	11 - 15	8.80	8.4	8.9
Platelets	> 150	20.00	12	18
White blood cells	3 - 10	0.32	0.21	0.31
Neutrophils	2 - 7	0.00	0.01	0.05

Maybe you feel I am too fixated on these counts! But when they recover I get some home respite, so they are important. Especially since I thought I would not be staying another weekend, and now it looks like I will :(

Rose came to visit, and we had a wide ranging discussion, especially about what to do with the house in France. I think we made some good decisions, and I sent some emails as a result. I am hoping to enjoy it next year!

As a special treat, we had takeout pizza for lunch. It tasted OK, but not as good as it should. Still, it is the first substantial meal I have had since coming back in after Ambicare.

Otherwise, my health and wellbeing are fine.

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Counts move backwards!

Slightly disappointing news, that my counts have mostly moved backwards. The haemoglobin is not too much of a concern, but all others are.

Count	Norms	11/4	12/4	13/4
Haemoglobin	11 - 15	8.80	8.4
Platelets	> 150	20.00	12
White blood cells	3 - 10	0.32	0.21
Neutrophils	2 - 7	0.00	0.01

I am keeping positive for tomorrow. I have added the normal values to the table, but in reality they will discharge me before I reach 2 neutrophils. As for the next steps, I think there will be some more chemotherapy phases, hopefully shorter than these previous two, finally followed by the transplant. But they are being a bit vague about timing at this point.

Harry and Sandra came to visit, and a very pleasant time was passed.

I downloaded a book, and I have started reading it! I will review when I finish.


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Location:London,United Kingdom

Counts stubbornly fail to move

My counts are:

Count	11/4	12/4	13/4
Haemoglobin	8.80
Platelets	20.00
White blood cells	0.32
Neutrophils	0.00

I will add the new numbers each day. Tomorrow I will try and find out what will happen to me next.

Have pity on me because I had to draw that table by hand in HTML!

Rose arrived bright and early; I was asleep. And then later on Babs arrived which was a complete surprise to me. She brought pictures of their new arrival, a one year old rescue cat called Pippin. Aahhh!

The weather deteriorated today, but the sun has reappeared for the evening.


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A Pleasant Sunday

I slept well, as I have most nights here I am pleased to say. Took things very leisurely this morning, and had a mid morning kip just before Les arrived for a visit. We had a wide ranging chat, very entertaining. He left just after lunch, but I was unable to sleep again because I tweaked a muscle in my leg watching TV yesterday and the pain was just too niggling. The pain relief needs to be managed to coincide with sleep time.

But anyway, at 2pm it was another Heineken Cup QF, this time Northampton versus Ulster. A cracking game, with some stunning tries. This keeps English hopes alive in the competition.

I had my first dose of GCSF today, as my counts were still flat. Hopefully things will start to move now.

I am looking forward to tonight, and the final round of the Masters ...


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A day dominated by sport

No visitors for me today, but sport has dominated the day; Heinekin Cup quarter final between Leinster and Leicester, and then golf.

For those of you interested, watching a rugby match on Sky mobile TV costs 620Mb. Well worth it, except that my boys were comprehensively beaten.

The results of my heart scan were all OK. So I really am playing the numbers game with my blood counts. My neutrophils rose above 0.0 to 0.02. I am not sure if this is significant - I think another days rise would confirm they are recovering. But my platelets dropped below 10, so they just gave me a bag. The counts do not come back together, but it it's the neutrophils that are the most important.

Even with no visitors the time passed pleasantly with the rugby, and much sleeping!




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The Easter Bunny and other stories

The religious season is upon us, and just as the early Christians managed to cleverly weave the Jewish legend of the Easter bunny and the Pagan legend of the sacrificial lamb into their myth, so I find myself weaving these well tried and tested tales into my blog ...

As I wait for news of my blood counts, by sending out a rabbit from my ark to see if there is any news, I begin to doubt the wisdom of using the cuddly bunny for this purpose; despite their prodigious breeding rate, the demand for chocolate coated bunnies is putting an unsustainable pressure on their numbers. Plus, every day my blood counts are flat as a pancake (a bit like the lake in which my mate Nora told me to build the ark).

Anyway ...

Rose came to visit as usual today, and Marilyn joined us for an hour or two at lunch. A pleasant time was had by all.

Today I also went for a heart ultrasound, where they use an ultrasound probe to check for heart abnormalities. I think the results were negative; I will find out tomorrow. I will also discuss the possibility of a course of GCSF, the growth stimulant for stem cells.

... now where did that sacrificial lamb fit in? I think it was T16, bed 39:)


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T16 visits

I forgot to say, but visitors are welcome - bed 39 (not 36 as previously). Just call first to be sure.

Let's play catch-up

On Sunday afternoon my headaches got worse. These are not like normal headaches, more like someone stabbing you with knife in the side of the head! By evening all I wanted to do was curl up into a ball and die.

Things went from bad to worse on Monday. Rose put Brandy in the cattery in preparation for going to France. I was very uncommunicative and unresponsive.

During the evening of Monday things got worse. Rose tried to phone but I did not want to speak to anyone. I just lay curled up and dying. Just before midnight (and unbeknownst to me, clearly), my nurse called Rose to say they sent me for head CT because they suspected I might have a bleed on the brain!

Needless to say, Rose was quite freaked! She decided not to got to France! Rose called back at 2am and the preliminary report was negative.

The following day, Tuesday, Rose came in early. I was still very uncommunicative. The doctors ordered an MRI scan, and a lumbar puncture. They took me for the scan at about 12pm, and this is when I started to snap out of it. Rose left at 3pm to get Brandy back from the cattery, I had the LP, and after the enforced lie-down I felt a lot better. In the evening I phoned Rose to tell her I was feeling a bit better.

Wednesday dawned, and I was in much better spirits. Rose came in very early again, and Marilyn also visited at lunchtime. It seems like I am now over the worst of things.

The doctors don't really know why it happened, but now I am once again hoping my blood counts will recover so I can go home!

I have subscribed to Sky mobile TV so that I can watch the Masters. It works pretty well, combined with my new rolling 1 month contract for 10gig data!

Many thanks to Marilyn and Yvonne for helping Rose get through this, as well as all the other people who sent messages of support.

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Close, but no cigar

It has been a while since I managed to write something here; I have been in a pretty bad way for a few days.

After Jeremy and Diane left, things went downhill quite rapidly. I became very sleepy and listless. Rose had been planning to fly to France on Tuesday to make arrangements for managing the pool. On Monday this still seemed viable, but my general health and listlessness were becoming a problem. I was even unable to answer my phone.

Today things are improved. I will catch up when I can.


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A day of mixed fortunes

I did not feel too bad this morning. Jeremy and Diane visited but I rapidly went downhill and had a pretty torrid day. Only now am I able write this
short post.

Each new day brings new challenges. How I wish it did not!

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Fungal infection of the chest

Today they sent me for a chest CT and it showed positive for a fungal infection. They immediately treated me for it, and I will get a daily dose of fungicide.

My temperature spiked again this evening, so they just took more blood cultures. To be honest, I can barely keep up, as all I do is sleep all day, and I suspect all night. This post is a real effort.

I am just surviving ...


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A rough day

Sorry for the late post, it was a rough day. I only just managed to do something other than sleep, or fail to sleep.

Nothing new, just a bit of a stalemate with the infection. I will prevail, but it will take longer than I hoped.


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