Peter's Hospital Diary

No, not the sort that you eat with Nachos, but another major milestone in “getting my life back” – my first open water dive for over five years!

The dive was proposed last week at a sheltered site close to Portsmouth Harbour, and I spent some time getting my kit ready last night. It has been carefully stored, and I had checked it earlier, but it was still a little painstaking simply because I haven’t had to prepare it for a long time.

It was very cold this morning – air temperature at about 1C, and the water at an estimated 4C, so it was drysuits and a good assortment of thermal clothing.

There were one or two kit problems, but I eventually jumped in, together with buddy Dave. It was very strange at first. In some respects it was like being a novice diver again, worrying about the techniques of buoyancy, and controlling breathing, and remembering where all the bits were, but after about 15 minutes, everything settled down and I started to relax as earlier training came back to me.

I was in the water for about 30 minutes, 27 of which were submerged. On exit, my hands were blue under the wet gloves, and I used a lot of air (a function of the cold water and my nervousness) even though the deepest we went was 6 metres but… it was great to be back in the water.

I still need to do some pool self training to refresh the drills, but I think if I can get back in under challenging (in terms of the cold) conditions, I should be OK to progress to deeper dives this summer.

And a big thank you to all at the dive club for their encouragement and patience!

Onwards, and upwards (and downwards!)

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Yesterday saw me returning to Guy’s for my check up at Guys. It is 5 years sin ce the donor transplant, and the protocol dictates that I should have a bone marrow biopsy, and on Tuesday I received a phone call saying that one had been booked for me in the Haematology Day Centre.

So I duly travelled up a little earlier to go to the Day Centre – first surprise, it had moved, and a is now located round the corner in a much enlarged and very smart facility. However, while the location and facilities are new, there were some familiar faces, particularly Orla, who used to run the unit (and has moved on, but was back yesterday to help out), Karen, whio helped look after me during my various visits to Samaritan ward, Debbie and Grace, also from Samaritan ward, and finally, as I was leaving the unit, Yvonne, who used to run the day centre at St Thomas’s, where I first started treatment many years ago! It was wonderful to see you all and to catch up with all your news.

But is was strange being back in that environment. The site of the little canulas (or should that be canulae?), the red boxes marked “Danger – Cytotoxic drugs”, and the sound of the infusion pumps brought back many memories and mixed emotions. Having been so much a part of my life, I did feel like a visitor. The new unit seemed slightly less cosy than the old, but there is no doubt that it is an improvement. I was talking about these feelings with Orla, it is almost like being part of a family, and while the circumstances were not ones to be wished for, there were some good times during the various visits.

Orla did the biopsy (a new development – previously they have been done by a doctor. Lovely job too, almost painless and today no twinges at all. She did remark that my pelvis (to be accurate, the iliac crest) was particularly tough! I also had my armful of blood removed for analysis!

I was delighted to have a long chat with Michael, about two years into his treatment – so if you are reading this, good luck with the remainder of your treatment!

After leaving the unit, I went down to the Haematology 2 clinic where I had a check up. Nothing untoward found, but the protocol dictates that I have to have a bone density scan – ironic after Orla’s comments! I am also having another lung function test which will be useful with the diving!

I finished the day with a chat with Dr Raj, before heading for the train home. It was a bit of a dash and in my hurry I dashed for the wrong train, so by the time I had backtracked, I was an hour or so later than I expected getting home.

But it was a good day, lots of memories, catching up with old friends.

Tomorrow I am going diving (sheltered water, but it will be outside, so it will be a ‘chilly dip’ – perhaps I ought to take some nachos!

Onwards and Upwards!

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It is about time I wrote a longer blog, and I did promise some photos from my trip to Lausanne. I did wonder if I was going to be able to go at one point – two days before departure I walked into the living room at home, and noticed a damp carpet. Closer inspection showed the central heating radiator had sprung a leak.

Fortunately I was able to find a replacement next day (when the plumbers’ merchants opened after Christmas) and with some help from Mark, mananged to remove the old one, and fit the new, which although a different make, lined up with the pipework, so the job only took about 90 minutes. Better still, the carpet seems to have dried without any lasting stains.

So I did get away and the picture here on the top left shows one of me taken on the hills just above Lake Geneva, just before going off to Loèche-les-Bains. The second photo above shows the steam coming off the outside bath! For obvious reasons there are no photographs from the inside looking out!

This photo (above) shows the sun setting on the mountain tops around Loèche-les-Bains. And the next day, a cable car, shown here took us to the mountain tops, well, at least the lower levels. Very picturesque and there are, as usual, more photographs in the gallery. The top cable car station was also the terminus for another cable car, of a slightly different type, but again with the spectacular backdrop of the Swiss Alps.

After the two days in the Alps, the remainder of the time was spent sight seeing round Lausanne. I certainly felt very well and very refreshed after my trip! The final photo (below) shows Loèche-les-Bains from the cable car during the descent.

At the moment I am sitting in Gassiot House at St Thomas’s Hospital having just completed the first ECP session, with the second tomorrow morning. Will it be the last? Well, there are certainly no more appointments booked, although I am being called for review in March, which will be in eight weeks time, to see how I am getting on. If the skin GvHd does return I can have more treatment but the hope is that it has stabilised.

My next haematology check-up in the haematology clinic (the ‘Late Effects’ clinic) is next week, when I will be reviewed to see how the side effects of the transplant (primarily the GvHd) are affecting me. One thing that has become apparent is that the minor side effects are attracting far more attention than perhaps they did before – things like the dry mouth, and the dry eyes, – which although important, tended to be overlooked against the backdrop of the lymphoma.

This January is the fifth anniversary of the blog, the stem cell transplant was on January 19th 2006, and it is four years since I was rushed to Southampton, and during my stay there, Olivia was born on January 15th. This morning I took her to pre-school! So lots to be thankful for – especially my anonymous donor.

And 2011 has certainly got off to a good start – may it continue ‘Onwards and Upwards’!

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Just a brief update on the blog as the Christmas decorations are put away for another year!

I had an excellent New Year in Lausanne, and for the last two days I have been up in the mountains at Leukerbad (Loèche-les-Bains). This is a natural thermal spa resort about 1,400m above sea level. Yesterday was spent in the spa complex, and today we went up in a cable car to one of the ski centres (not to ski!) – 2,300m asl. Absolutely stunning scenery and there will be some photos on the next blog entry!

With the altitude, O & U takes on a new significance, but the mountain air and the spa water must have had an effect because I feel really well!

So we head into 2011 very much Onwards and Upwards!

(and a quick hello to Liz, who has re-discovered the blog!)

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It has been a busy and event filled year, and as yet no annual newsletter has been produced – one of the jobs to do later this year when I get a little time.

Christmas was very good with lots of guests for the Christmas period, but for New Year I find myself in Switzerland, just by way of a change!

There have been some sad moments too in 2010, the loss of my university friend, Jane, and of another friend, Simon, but they will not be forgotten as we move into 2011.

But no matter where I am in the world, I hope you all have a Happy and Successful year in 2011, and may we all continue…

….Onwards and Upwards!

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And may I wish all my readers a very Happy and Peaceful Christmas.

And it has been a peaceful day here. We are eating late this year, because Rachael has been at work, so we had a big breakfast and then a quiet day. We had a houseful last night, and then a brief visit by Vicki and Livvy this morning – they will be returning tonight to eat with us.

The pictures show the Christmas trees here – the small one in the conservatory (nicely warmed up for the day, and the bigger one in the living room here, where I have just lit the fire to get that nice and cosy.

So I hope you have all had a good day…
Onwards and Upwards towards!

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Most of the snow has gone, although this was the scene that greeted me last Friday after a heavy early morning snowfall! It was very pretty, and the sun came out mid morning, shining through the branches of the trees in the back garden. I managed to get this photo during the brief moments of sunshine!

Quick “Happy Birthday” to my Mother and Father (today and last Saturday). They will be coming down to stay on Christmas Eve.

And my super spy software (TM) tells me that there may be a new anonymous reader in the Totnes area – yes, you know who you are! All comments welcome!

Onwards and Upwards

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The Christmas decorations have been retrieved from the attic, the blog is in its winter guise, and most of the Christmas shopping is done (thank you Amazon!)

The snow has almost gone, but it has been wet today and freezing tonight, so tomorrow might be tricky on the roads. I need to go out to collect Rachael from the station as her university term ended today.

It has a busy couple of weeks. Last week was another residential module on my Postgraduate course, the last one to give me sufficient credits for the PGDip. But, I found new enthusiasm for the subject, so I think that next year I will continue to do the dissertation and I hope get my MSc. Last week’s module was very enjoyable though as it concentrated on Linux where I have a little experience!

I spent the weekend in London, meeting up with two old friends from my school days. One I have been in touch with since those days, the other I hadn’t seen since just after leaving school, so it was good to catch up on our life experiences in the intervening years – the exact number need not be revealed!

But what was most reassuring was that, despite these life experiences, the person I met was fundamentally the same as the person I knew all those years ago – which was quite comforting!

On the health front, my cold has almost gone, and the aches that indicate an activated immune system have subsided, as has the runny nose and cough. I am still a little breathless, but that will also improve, based on past experience!

So in general it has been a good couple of weeks, and with Christmas just around the corner, it is very much Onwards and Upwards!

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I suppose we are no worse off (and probably better) than most of the country, but this was the scene that greeted us this morning. (and more pictures in the Gallery).

It seems to have been a long time since the last entry, longer than I normally leave it, but quite a lot going on. No sign yet of another contract, but feelers are still out there. I have been up to London for my penultimate ECP session, which went as uneventfully as usual, with the last one scheduled for January 2011. January 2011 – seems just round the corner!

I have also had a really bad cold for the last few days. I always get at least one really nasty one a year (since the transplant – but small price to pay!) but I think I picked this one up from Livvy.

I have been on (play) school pick up duty a couple of times, bringing her back here, cooking her some tea (Scrambledy eggs!) and looking after her until Vikki can pick her up. It feels really odd hanging round with other parents – a real travel back in time! And it has been a while since I posted a photo of Livvy here – quite a change – she is nearly 4, born if you recall, when I was having a couple of health snagettes in Southampton General.

And with Christmas round the corner, it will soon be time to get out the decorations, and decorate the blog in its traditional festive manner! Watch this space.

So all ticking along – may things continue Onwards and Upwards!

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Although there isn’t much evidence of mellow fruitfulness in the garden (it was a good year for apples though) there was certainly some mist about as this photo, taken about 20 minutes ago, shows. It is quite nippy to, at a chilly 1 degree C, quite cold when compared with (say) Lausanne or Limoges, both at 5 degrees C. But it is warmer than it was; there was a layer of frost on the cars this morning. I’m glad I brought the geraniums in a couple of weeks ago!

However, the sun is starting to break through as I type, and the birds are hammering at the bird feeders, so I had better go and fill those up, and get some fuel in for the fire.

But it is a lovely morning – very much Onwards and Upwards!

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