Peter's Hospital Diary

Life has ticked on – after the weekend away, I returned to Corsham for another week at work before going home for the weekend. That was uneventful, I did a little tinkering with the new web server (a different power supply) it is now using about 35 Watts – the previous power supply was taking 40, and the old web server was taking about 110W, so I have achieved a 2/3 reduction. Apart from that I did a bit of pottering in the wilderness that is the back garden. Actually not quite true as with some hired help, the wilderness has been beaten back into submission and it is looking quite good!

After the weekend at home I drove back to Corsham for another week. This weekend I am off to Wales for an ordination! (Not mine )

I am aware that the frequency of the posts has dropped off, but perhaps that is an indication that life is pretty much back to normal – it certainly feels good!

My next check-up isn’t for another week, and that coincides with the next session of the now six weekly ECP!

Onwards and Upwards!

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I can’t believe that we are half way through June already! The last ten days have been busy, with three days at work after the ECP, and then down to Devon for a wedding – Vicki and Olivia being bridesmaids for one of Vicki’s university friends. Vicki and Tom combined that with a holiday and booked a cottage for a week and we stayed there with them overnight.

The wedding itself was in Ottery St Mary, about 15 miles away, and the reception venue was the old Bishops’ Palace – with parts of it dating back to the 10th century.The village we stayed in was delightful. We had the church bells on Sunday morning, followed by a quick stroll across the road to the village pub for lunch, then we sat in the garden lazing away the afternoon! An excellent weekend.

Sunday was also Katie’s Birthday – Happy Birthday Katie!

Onwards and Upwards!

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Well, the last posting may have been overdue, but I was certainly under-due for my ECP appointment.

It all got a little strange when I turned up at the accommodation yesterday, and found that no room had been booked. But it was when I arrived on the ward to be greeted with “Nice to see you, what are you doing here?” that I started to get concerned! It turned out that my appointment (which I had had to move from last Monday, had been set for next Monday! Fortunately there was a spare machine and I had the treatment anyway.

However, it didn’t all run smoothly as this morning there was a problem with the machine I was connected to, and after a bit of messing about, I was put on another one, so the process was delayed by an hour!

I had expected this to be the last session, but it seems not! As it is a while since I last saw the consultant dermatologist, I had an appointment made on conclusion of yesterday’s treatment. As I have had such a good response, I am having some more sessions, at six week intervals with a review in 4 months, which will be after another three sessions.

I was delighted to see fellow transplant patient Mark on the dermatology day unit. He has had a tough time with GvHd after his second transplant, and at the moment is on steroids to damp down his immune system, along with immuno-suppressants. Not a good state of affairs, so he is having a course of ECP as a less aggressive (and more effective) alternative. We had a long chat about the treatment – it has certainly been very beneficial for me – so I hope all goes as well for him.

Finally… I have always been interested in finding out about the various risks that have been likely to affect me, and one has been the CMV infection. One of the requirememts for my blood transfusions is that it should be CMV negative. CMV (or Cytomegalovirus) is a relatively common infection, that usually only causes problems in people that have impaired immune systems. I found an article about it in Monday’s Daily Telegraph, and with a bit of Googling, found this article which I have also added as a link.

While on the subject of common infections, another is the Epstein-Barr Virus, associated with glandular fever and possibly linked to some lymphomas. There is more information here. Although I am CMV negative, I am EBV positive, along with the majority of the population!

End of cytology discussion… Off to Chippenham this evening!

Onwards and upwards! (and I’ve just noticed – this is the 400th post!)

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An update is long overdue, but first, as it has been quite a while since I posted a picture of Olivia, here is one taken a couple of weeks ago. She is very much a little girl, now aged 21/2 years old, and very mobile, very determined and quite able to make herself understood, with a vocabulary that is increasing daily!

I have had a busy two weeks since I last posted, finishing off some coursework for the last University module I completed, and last week, back at Cranfield for another module, with an exam at the end of it. I have also had some results from last year’s work, and while one result from coursework was disappointing, I had made up for it in the exam, so I passed it, and I think I have enough credits for the PgCert, so I am now working towards the PgDip.

Last week’s course was quite intensive, but the exam seemed to go well, and I should get some results in about six weeks. I am now waiting for the coursework!

I have also been doing some computer stuff at home, and I have built a new server for the blog, one that will use less power and be a bit quieter. I moved the webserver onto it this morning, and it all seems to be working well! The pictures show the internals as I was building it, the main feature being nodedicated processor cooling fan, and only one small case fan that just switches on when required. The other picture shows the two disc drives (2.5″) in a RAID 1 configuration, which also consume less power.

Healthwise things have been a bit mixed. While I have been feeling well, and putting on a bit more weight, I have had an occurrence of the sore mouth, coinciding with a meal out with some very tasty chilli nachos about 3 weeks ago. I have been taking some medication that I have used before, and it is much better, but yesterday I had a letter from Guy’s confirming what I had thought, that I had a slight infection, and suggesting some other treatment to clear it up properly.

And there is another milestone tomorrow when I go up to St Thomas’s for the last planned session of ECP. It has certainly made a big difference to my health, and the GvHd seems to be under control. However if it does flare up again, there is always the option to have another course of the treatment.

So really on all fronts, it is ‘Onwards and Upwards’!

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