Monday… not blogging much :(

MountainJust realised (to my shame) that I haven’t posted here for a while, perhaps indicative that health things are going well! And they seem to be. I have had a number of minor checks to do with the symptoms of GvHd and the consensus seems to be that I am reaching an equilibrium with the new immune system. I also had a lung function check last week, which showed that my lung performance is pretty much as it was seven years ago, There is a slight deterioration, but mostly explained by the fact that I am seven years older. So that means diving is definitely OK!

MountainI also had a haematology check up (new consultant on the team, Dr MCann) which also went well. My bone marrow biopsy result showed no abnormalities, and the chimerism test showed that I am 99.7% donor – and the margin of error on the test is 0.5%! The opinion is that it is unlikely that the chimerism will slip back, and that possibility declines with the passage of time.

GorgeMy next check-up is in four months, and it is possible that by then the transplant unit will have moved to King’s College Hospital where a new transplant centre is being established, amalgamating the existing Guy’s and King’s facilities. I did post about this last year, as I was invited to participate in a patient consultation panel. Overall, it will probably be a ‘good thing’. The transplant ward at Guy’s was pretty old and the building is in poor condition (and I think earmarked for demolition) so a new facility, creating a centre of expertise will be good, once the start-up pains are overcome. From a personal point of view, it is not quite so good as it is a bit further to travel!

GorgeMy contract ended at the end of March, with little work in hand. However I have been out to Switzerland again. One of the highlights was a weekend at Loeche-les-Bains, visiting the thermal spa I went to at New Year. This time I stayed in a little village called Albinen, more details in another post. From there I did a little bit of walking up in the lower levels of the Alps (along well marked tracks climbing about 200 metres from a start point 1,400 metres ASL) including an interesting crossing on a suspension bridge over a deep gorge on the River Dala. I did this before the lung function test!

I did go the the thermal baths at Loeche, and was rewarded with snow, which fortunately didn’t stick!

Not much diving at the moment, although the seal on my drysuit has been changed, but I need to build up a bit more sheltered water experience before I start doing deeper ocean dives.

There are a few other things going on at the moment (one of the reasons I haven’t blogged for a while, but details of those will have to wait. 🙂

So in general, Onwards and Upwards.

One Response to “Monday… not blogging much :(”

  1. Julia on 26 May 2011 at 6:51 pm #

    No comments!! So thought I’d write one just to say that all your results are fantastic. That sprint up 240m was pretty impressive too.

    That mountain really is so like the one on your blog home page. You were obviously meant to go and see it 🙂

    See you again soon for more mountain views: ever onwards and further upwards.
    Julia xx

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