Peter's Hospital Diary

How quickly a week passes! We left mark and Sue early yesterday morning (about 7:30) for the trip up to Caen. There was a frost on the car, and it felt very cold (about -2C) but we left the wood burner blazing away! We had lovely clear skies on the fairly leisurely drive up to the coast, arriving in time for a last minute trip ‘au supermarche’ before catching the 5pm ferry.

The rain started about 2 hours out, and there was a surprising swell in the channel, but we docked at Portsmouth on time and in dry weather for the final leg home. This morning is a round of tidying up and washing – and putting the plants under shelter as there is a frost here – luckily we brought the bourgainvillea and lemon tree into the conservatory before we left.

So ends a very very relaxing and enjoyable break! I have the rest of the week off and then back to work on Monday!

O&U!

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This morning dawned bright but cool (although not quite as cold as the previous two days). The first task of the day (after Mark lit the fire) was to investigate the damage to the wiring. It was slightly worse than we thought, because although no conductors had been severed, the insulation on three (out of eight) had been damaged. French wiring tends to be loose in conduit, feeding to local junction boxes on a star topography, rather than a ring main, so we decided to replace oneconductor and remove two circuits completely and re-wire them back to spare breakers on the main fuse board. The house is fed with a three phase supply, so it enabled us to balance the phases a bit better. We spent about 5 hours doing ‘bricolage’!

However it did make for great appreciation of an a late afternoon ‘winter warmer’ accompanied by some roast chestnuts – some we gathered on our walk, others bought at the Objat market. We have packed the car, and will be setting off for the ferry early tomorrow morning, although I could quite happily spend another few days here!

But another big thank you to Sue an Mark for letting us use the house in their absence, and their company for the last two days!

Onwards and upwards!

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Yesterday started with a cold morning, and a slightly more extensive frost, but the main event of the day was the expected arrival of Sue and Mark in the late afternoon. We went to do a little shopping in the morning, where we discovered a bitterly cold wind, so it was back to the house to get the fire going. The wind dropped later in the afternoon, so Felicity and I went for a walk down to the river via a very steep path – as you can see when we walked back up. We got back to find the house suitably toasty, and Sue and Mark and their children arrived about an hour later.

This morning , after a leisurely start, we went to the local town of Objat, where the highlight of the year was on – the apple fair – this being a notable apple growing region. There are more photographs in the gallery, but suffice it to say we came away with some cheese, a frying pan, some honey and… some freshly pressed apple juice, which goes really well with the winter Pimms. The very press is shown in the gallery photographs!

After lunch we went to a former paper mill, not far from the house. The mill was producing paper up until 1968, but when it closed, the owner wished to preserve it, and the local ‘commune’ bought it and opened it as a museum. It is a fascinating piece of industrial archeology, and its products (straw paper, used for wrapping meat) was exported all over the world to French colonies. Before it was a paper mill, it had been a forge, but Napoleon 3rd’s treaty with England, and the subsequent opening of the border to Bristish iron made production uneconomical, hence the conversion to paper production. The paper making machine is the only one of its type still in existence in Europe, and was made in Limoges. Again photos are in the gallery.

After we returned, we sat outside by the pool (now winterised!) and drank a cup of tea in the warm sunshine. Then it was time to do a little work in the house, in the form of putting up curtain tiebacks. Mark has had a minor op on his shoulder, so I was deputised to wield the drill – which I did with great aplomb on the spot Mark marked. The spark were a little ominous, and closer investigation revealed a nice hole right in the centre of some plastic wiring conduit. It doesn’t appear to have cut the conductors, so we may get away with taping the damaged insulation and replastering! Woops.

And by the time we had finished investigating that, it was time for quite a spectacular susnset. So ended a very pleasant and quite relaxing day!

Onwards and upwards!

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We were rather surprised to see a ‘Cold and Frosty Morning’ this morning, although it was only a ground frost, and a glance at the weather stats showed that the air temperature had only dropped to 0.9C. The frost soon melted in the bright sun, and we went off to Sarlat – a pretty town that we had visited last time.

It was rather deserted this late in the year (although quite a few Brits – presumably ex-pats rather than tourists). I took a couple of photographs but we only stayed for a couple of hours – a wander round some of the bits we hadn’t seen before and lunch before heading back to the house for a final round of grass cutting and preparation for Sue and Mark’s arrival tomorrow.

As you might guess, we are sitting round the wood burner and feeling nice and toasty!

Onwards and upwards!

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Which pretty much sums up the contrast bwtween day and night. However we are nice and toasty round the wood burner. To see how toasty you can visit this link which will give near real time weather info. (One of the items I brought out for Mark was a method of interfacing the weather sensor to the broadband router – this is the result – wind speed isn’t recorded yet). We also have another warmer – Pimms No 3 Winter mix. Richard mentioned this last year, but I had other things on my mind at the time, but we saw it on the ferry…

We have had a busy but relaxing couple of days. We went to Pompadour yesterday for the market – but it is now out of season, and the market is only held every two weeks – and this week isn’t the one, so after a look round we decided to head off to Brive. Not overly impressed, so we thought about going to Brantome, which we visited last time. However we felt hunger pangs on the way and stopped off for a leisurley French style lunch at a lttle roadside tabac, and after that it was a little late, so we headed back ‘home’, stopping at a little village (St Raphael) for a photo opportunity. (All the photos are here on the gallery for your perusal).

There was just time to do change the blown lamp on the car and do a little more grass cutting before it started to get chilly. The lamp changing was a saga! Now you are supposed to carry a spare set of lamps with you, but they wouldn’t have been much use as it took about 45b minutes and a few tools to change it – in fact the manual recommends taking it to a dealer! Next time would be easier, but it was a tricky job.

Today we did get to Brantome and had a look round some of the its we missed last time, like the river walks and some of the back streets. The main ‘attraction’ is the Abby, part of which is built into the hillside. After Brantome we headed back, lit the fire and we are settling down with a Winter Pimms and a book!

Onwards and upwards!

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We are back in France, staying in Mark and Sues house in the Dordogne – this time on our own, although Sue and Mark will be coming out at the end of the week. Our job is to get the house nice and tasty for when they arrive!

But it has been a busy few days since I last posted! On Friday I drove up to Worcester for the training weekend. Thanks to Dawn and the LeukaemiaCARE HQ staff for getting everything ready for the training team (Mike, Steve, Suzy, Elspeth and Myself) and of course thanks to the course for their participation!

I drove home on Sunday afternoon to unpack one bag and pack another before setting off 3 hours later to get the overnight ferry to Caen. We thought that a cabin was a good idea before the 6 hour drive, but it was very noisy! Every minute or so the whole of the fabric of the cabin seemed to resonate with the engine noise for about 20 seconds, before stopping, so it was a restless night.

We disembarked to dry but foggy weather (unfortunate time for one of the headlight lamps to fail – luckily we have fog lights) but as we drove further south the skies cleared and we arrived in warm sunshine and clear blue skies, to set about removing dust covers, clearing the odd mouse trap etc and making a cup of tea. We had been warned that the nights get cold very quickly after sunset, so an early task was getting the fire (a wood burning stove) going!

Today (after a late start – in fact so late that the swimming pool contractor came to prepare the pool for winter and left again having done it without waking us) we have pottered about the house, cut the grass (with the tractor – this picture was taken last time we were here) followed by a trip to the supermarche and the garage to replace the blown headlamp bulb.

And at the moment we are relaxing in front of the woodburner!

Onwards and upwards!

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It has been a bit of a medical week! I went to see my GP for the prescription for the Clexane (to combat the DVT) on Tuesday and came away with 14 boxes of 10 injections (I thought I had finished the self injection bit with the last lot of GCSF last year) and yesterday saw me at the dentist for a bit of crown preparation work. But today was the biggy – the monthly check up at Guy’s, followed by a lung function test.

First off, it was good to see fellow transplant patient, mark, who was looking a bit sorry for himself as he has his leg in a brace, following surgery for a snapped achilles tendon. I did think he was about to take place in a mono ski race as the leg brace looked just like a ski boot! Hope it all goes according to plan and it comes off next month Mark!

During the chat in the waiting area we discovered a few more transplant patients, so a warm welcome to Linda, who had her transplant 10 years ago! To Sue who had hers last May, and also to Andy, who I met last year when he was being considered for a novel procedure, a transplant as a treatment for Crohn’s disease (which is an auto-immune disease). It looks as if that might be going ahead, so good luck Andy. Finally, ‘Hello’ to Mary who is on schedule to have a transplant in January (two years after mine – and Mark’s – how time flies) as treatment for a rarer type of Lymphoma, Waldenstroems syndrome. Mary and Andy received the full blast of our collective experiences, including the run down on hospital food (If you are reading this Mary or Andy, see the page top right on Hospital food!) and other tips from the old hands! Anyway good luck and we will all have our fingers crossed for you. (Just a quick note – if you want to comment and let us know how things are going, the first comment you make doesn’t appear immediately, but after that, they do)

My ‘chat’ went well, haemoglobin is up at 12.8, the highest it has been for a long time, and liver function is normal. My creatinine level is still a bit high, but stable, so that is good news too. And best of all, my next appointment isn’t for another 6 weeks! However, it is thought that I should have another bone marrow biopsy (first one in a while) in January.

After the haemotology clinic I went up for the lung function test. That was OK, gas transfer across my lungs is fine, but the spirometry (how hard I can blow, lung capacity etc) was a bit down, so that will be repeated in 3 months.

After leaving the hospital I went and had a pint with an old friend and work colleague (and my best man) Simon. A good catch up session over a couple of pints before he went back to work, and I came back home.

Tomorrow I am off to do some training for LeukaemiaCARE for the weekend, and then after my return on Sunday, we nip down to catch the overnight ferry to France for the week.

So….. Onwards and Upwards!

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I was looking back through recent posts and I realised that I haven’t posted anything of Olivia for a while, so I have updated the gallery with some new photos taken today when Vicki and Tom came over for Sunday lunch.

Other than that, it was a quiet day – Rachael did a bit more driving practice but otherwise quiet. The nights are drawing in though, won’t be long before we start thinking about the first open fire of the season!

O&U!

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It was a very intensive course, although the last week wasn’t quite as intensive as the first, but it did end with a written exam on Thursday and a practical exam on Friday. The formal results won’t be out for a couple of months, but I should get an informal indication in about 4 weeks. I am reasonably optimistic that I have passed! But having completed this foundation course, I can go on to complete some more modules in the subject which would be good.

I have fixed the Gallery software, and uploaded some more photos from the dinner last Saturday here. I am now about to look at the e-mail mountain, although a quick look shows that the majority are ‘Spam’, so they should be easy to deal with!

I collected Felicity’s mother on my way home and she is staying for a long weekend. This afternoon Vicki and Olivia came over – Olivia is SO close to walking, and I’m sure I heard a few sounds recognizeable as words! This afternoon I went out supervising Rachael’s driving, which was good.

This week I have another check-up at Guy’s, then a weekend doing some training for LeukaemiaCARE and then on Sunday night, after the training, Felicity and I are going to France for a week, staying in our friends’ house (Sue and Mark).

So very much ‘Onwards and Upwards’!

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