Tuesday…woops!
Jun 9th 2009PeterGetting My Life Back! & More treatment!
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!)