Peter’s Hospital Diary

The decorations are down, and the festivities are almost over – we saw the New Year in at Caroline and Gabor’s, and now I’m thinking about to go back to work!

Although I have posted the generic ‘Annual Newsletter’ I have been reflecting on the last year in more specific terms. It has been a year of change for me – I retired from the Navy in September and started a new venture which was exciting, and found myself working back in a similar area – so not quite leaving my comfort zone. On the health front I have made some steady progress – perhaps culminating in passing my diving medical, although with the advice that as my immune system is still not fully functional, I shouldn’t go diving. And as a bit of a warning, I had the week in hospital with some nasty ‘flu bug!

But overall I feel stronger and fitter than I did twelve months ago, and although I failed in my goal to end the Christmas season at 10st 8lbs (67Kg) I have increased my weight to 10st 2lbs (64Kg) which is an improvement from the start of the year! The ECP has helped my mobility in my shoulders and arms, so that has been a great bonus, so I feel a lot better this January than last!

However there have been sad moments. The death of John – a fellow blogger – who died indirectly from the effects of chronic GvHd in May this year, and whose experiences persuaded me to undertake ECP. Ironic as I think he would have benefited from it, and it was beginning to look as if he would have been referred for assessment. He also battled long and hard to get improvements to his home that would have improved the quality of his life – sadly he died just as they were about to be implemented.

The death of fellow LeukaemiaCARE trainer Elspeth in October was also a moment of sadness; both John and Elspeth were inspirational and gave me strength, as did the support of family, friends, readers of the blog and the medical staff at Guy’s and St Thomas’s hospitals. The death of my Godfather in new Zealand was also a moment for reflection about many things.

On the plus side, friend Simon came through a difficult time, and many of my fellow transplant patients are also doing well, in spite of their various trials and tribulations along the way! Sharing experiences when we occasionally meet in the waiting area of the haemotology clinic is always interesting!

But enough of the introspection – the sun is shining outside – it is a new year, with new challenges and opportunities (the first being another piece of coursework for the PGCert), so in every sense….

Onwards and Upwards!