Peter’s Hospital Diary

almost! Most of the packing is done ready for an early start tomorrow to get the 7:00 ferry to France! I am so looking forward to it – and a big thank-you to Sue and Mark for the loan of the house!

Not much else to add really (although buying Euros this morning was a bit of a shock!) – it has been an uneventful week, but I really feel ready for the break!

Onwards and upwards!

Tags: Holiday

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A busy weekend with some long awaited jobs completed! A leaking towel rail in the bathroom has been replaced (this started leaking about 6 months ago, and has been isolated, but yesterday I finally got round to removing it and replacing it with a new one. And also on the heating theme (in time for autumn, I replaced a motorised valve that may not have been seating properly. I’m not quite convinced – the symptom was hot water from the domestic hot water heat exchanger was flowing back into the heating system, and the only way I could see that could happen was if the valve was faulty – time will tell!

Today I replaced a blown lamp on the car foglamps (again in preparation for autumn) after getting the wheel stud freed by the tyre fitters so I could remove the wheel to get access to the back of the front buper. This afternoon I was playing wit the server – trying to get the operating system back to a consistent state. (You may recall that when I did a major update, it updated some of the files, but not all, so I have a sort of ‘hybrid’ system!) I did succeed in getting the install disc to boot from a compact flash card (the server does not have a CD/DVD drive) but the only options presented were to do a full install, not an upgrade, which would have meant a lot of work restoring the coinfiguration and backups, so I will leave it for the moment until I can spend some time to back it all up and then start again with a clean installation.

Olivia stayed last night – so it was an early start when she woke at 6 o’clock and came padding in to climb into “the big bed” where she promptly fell asleep for another 2 hours! Quite the toddler now!

So on all fronts… Onwards and upwards!

Tags: Computing, Tech stuff

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From the window in the dermatology day centre on the 12th floor at St Thomas’s where I am 20 minutes from finishing this session of ECP! The machine is humming as the little lymphocytes are being exposed to UV radiation to activate the drug!

Some of the little jobs from last week are complete – the replacement components for the shower pump control board arrived and have been fitted, and a replacement central heating valve has arrived, so that should go in at the weekend too.

I must try and get the car to the tyre fitters and get that wheel nut slackened off, then at least if I have a problem I can fix it, rather than wait for Green Flag!

We are off to France for a break next weekend (thank you Sue & Mark!) and I am looking forward to seeing all the changes since we were last there – eighteen months ago! Hard to believe where the time has gone – it has been quite an eventful time! However I will be taking the laptop, so I may be able to add some photos!

So… Onwards and Upwards!

Tags: ECP

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Not in its entirety, but for late August it was pretty chilly! However it was an opportunity to catch up on some of the little jobs that have been accumulating – the first off being a recent fault on a shower pump, that keeps cutting in and out. I suspect it is a control board, so I have ordered the replacement parts to fix for next week. Next off was the central heating, where there is a sticky control valve. I freed it up, but it still isn’t working correctly, so a new one is (or soon will be) on order.

My car also came in for some attention, a wash and I wanted to replace a foglamp – which means removing a wheel and the wheelarch liner – but I couldn’t get the wheel off, so that will have to wait until I replace the front tyres, and I shall tighten the wheel nuts by hand.

Finally I intended updating the software on the webserver (and in fact it was down for a large part of yesterday) but the new server doesn’t have an optical disk drive, so upgrades will be from a USB type device (actually a Compact Flash memory device that is treated as a hard drive) but that took ages to prepare – so that didn’t get done either!

However, there was a bit of socialising – out with friends Marion and Martin on Friday, to a new Indian restaurant in the village (very tasty too – thank you) and on Sunday I was out with fellow blogmaster Mark for a pint and some chilli nachos – and from that you may gather that my sore mouth is getting better!

Today is also the first day of a contract extension, so more good news, and on Thursday and Friday I shall be having my next session of ECP! And I jumped on the scales on Saturday – just over the 11 stone mark!

So in all ways… Onwards and Upwards!

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But I’m a happy bunny as the coursework is finished and submitted, and the next module isn’t for another couple of months!

However the academic honours this week go to Rachael (youngest) who has passed her A levels and has a confirmed place at University next year (she wants to take a gap year) So well done Rachael!

This week at work has been busy, although it is the holiday season. However, this next week is the last on the current contract, so having been told that it will be extended I am now anxiously waiting, pen poised, for the documents to drop through the letter box! Next weekend also marks the end of my financial year, so I shall be closing the accounts and doing whatever needs to be done with them. I’m also going to try and sort out the software hotch potch on the server (you may recall that it is part Fedora Core 10, with FC 11 bits attached, and there are a few domestic jobs to be done too.

Meanwhile we were at a BBQ last night, and we are off to another one this evening, before I drive back to the flat. Oh yes, I jumped on the scales yesterday – a couple of ounces short of 11 stone!

So – in time honoured fashion… Onwards and Upwards!

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On my coursework! Felicity has gone to Wales to visit her brother, so I have stayed in the flat to do some writing up of the current piece of coursework. I’ll be going over there for lunch later.

This week has been quieter, although I have been staying late to do some more writing up. However, my contract ends in two weeks… there are moves to get it renewed for a further term, and I am reasonably optimistic, but it is getting close to the wire!

Health wise all is OK, although my mouth has become sore again, however I have my next check up soon, and I have some of the medication I used before, so I’m not unduly concerned.

That apart – all is well!

Onwards and Upwards!

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Just realised that it has been over a week since I last posted. It has been heads down on the coursework at weekends, and some late evenings at work.

After the visit by my parents, we had a quiet (but wet) weekend, but last Sunday the sun shone, so we had the first BBQ of the year. I’m not sure why we didn’t use it during the earlier spell of fine weather, probably because everyone was away at the time!

Not a lot else to report at the moment – healthwise everything seems to be ticking along nicely, with the next ECP session due in early September. I also have a lung function test booked then, so I need to try and synchronise the two.

I have also realised that I haven’t really had a holiday since last September, apart from a short break at Christmas/New Year and Easter, so we are looking at going away for a few days in September, after the ECP.

So apologies for the lack of news, but as they say, no news is good news – so…

Onwards and Upwards!

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For not updating this during the week – but it has been busy again! Not just during the day, but evenings as well, with some visitors and a late evening at work.

However I am well, although last weekend I had some severe sniffles – to the extent that I logged on to the Swine ‘flu helpline, but as I didn’t have a temperature, it seemed I was OK. And in fact the sore throat has gone, and although I am still a little sniffly, I feel much better now. We also had various cousins and nephews visiting last weekend, so we had a housefull on Saturday night, and a large crowd for Sunday lunch, which was good!

My sister also had a birthday this week, so that was an excuse to nip over for a meal and I also had a visit from my parents who had a look at the flat. And work has been busy too – as we enter the holiday season, people are away, so there is a bit of covering to do. However we are planning a break in September, which I think I need!

And good news from Simon, who has recovered well (and has just told me off for not posting 🙂 ) but I’m sure he will post a comment in due course!

Finally, a goodbye to Margaret from the PET Centre – I’m sorry I missed the leaving bash, but a HUGE thank you to you and the staff for the various scans over the last ten years, and all the very best for the new ventures! Keep in touch!

Anyway – must dash 🙂 – Onwards and Upwards.

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Not for me, but about Simon, who I said was going into hospital on Tuesday for an op on Wednesday. I’m delighted to say that all went well and he is being discharged today.

Simon – Onwards and Upwards!

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The ECP was uneventful, but Tuesday’s session seemed to run a bit slowly; I had an appointment in the Haematology clinic at Guy’s on completion, but I received a message telling me to go to the day centre on the fourth floor. There is a day centre on the fourth floor at St Thomas’s, so I turned up – to find that I wasn’t expected! However I did meet up with Tom, one of the nurses that looked after me during the transplant, so we had a quick catch up. However as there were no transplant doctors there, we concluded that the message meant the Guy’s day centre, so I hopped on the staff bus, with my notes, for the session.

It felt a bit odd being back there – however after giving another eight tubes of blood for tests, I had my check up and sent on my way, with a prescription for a some oral antiseptics. I was less than amused to find a one to two hour wait at the (newly refurbished) pharmacy – pity the money wasn’t spent on getting more staff!

So I left it to go home and and I’ll get them from my GP! The journey back was fine, and I left to go back to Corsham later in the evening.

So we continue Onwards and Upwards!

(No news of Simon yet – he was scheduled for his op today)

Tags: ECP

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