Peter’s Hospital Diary

I meant to write this up yesterday, but it was such a lovely day that I spent most of it out and about pottering in the garden, doing the odd bit of watering or just enjoying the sunshine!

I don’t know if it is the passage of time or the boost given by the news from the last PET scan, but I seem to be feeling stronger as each day goes by. I am still a little surprised at how thin my arms seem to be, and the fact that I have lost 11lbs since I came out of hospital in February (on top of the 23Lbs I lost in the 12 months previously after the second autologous transplant) but I’m sure I will build my strength up again.

I have been reading another blog by a transplant patient (John, who has commented here and whose link I have added to the blogroll) He has recently been through a tough time in intensive care, and remarked that what he really wanted was to get his life back. I can empathise with that sentiment. Very early on on my cancer journey I had a visit from Tom (Dentist friend with whom I shared a house at Uni when we were students) who very astutely commented that one of the hardest things for some people is the fact that control of their lives is suddenly handed over to the medical team. Once I had thought about it, I realised how true that was, and one of the reasons for getting to immersed in the details of my treatment was to try and get some of that control back – or at least the illusion of some control!

There have been some defining moments on my journey when I have felt I have got my life back. One was last year when I went to a conference in Calpe, Spain. There is a rock there, about 300 metres high (a miniature Gibraltar!) which I walked to the top of one afternoon. It felt quite an achievment and at the top I felt “I had got my life back”! and from then on life got back to normal, diving and other recreational pursuits until the relapse later in the year. I suppose the last “normal” activity was a weekend diving in Plymouth just before I started the last lot of treatment. The next defining moment will be when I get back in the water again!

The rock…

…that I walked up! (April 2005)

Anyway – if you have a moment, do have a look at John’s site and give him some support – I know I have said it before, but it is worth repeating – it makes such a difference!

I see that after an overcast start, the sun is out again – so off to the conservatory and garden!