Wednesday… Summer continues!
Jun 7th 2006PeterPost Hospital
It did look a little overcast this morning, but that has burnt off and it is another lovely summer day here. I have been out watering the garden this morning, especially the veg patch (only a few beans and some onions) but I have yet to catch whatever is eating the tops of some of the beans. Likely contenders are rabbits or pigeons! I did see a fox cub in the garden the other day, so perhaps its mother will frighten off the rabbits…
I am off to London tomorrow for the fortnightly check up, and I’m going to take back some of the surplus drugs – it’ll make a change to take stuff back to the pharmacy! The list inclusde 2 full (unopened) and two haf boxes of Cyclosporin, a half box of Mycophenolate mofetil (another anti-rejection drug), the unopened box of Thalidomide and a few boxes of out-of-date anti-biotics. It would be interesting to add up the value – the sad thing is that they will all be destroyed.
The check up will include the inevitable blood samples (after all, what would a visit to a haematology department be without blood samples) and to see how the GvHd is going. On that front, my skin was a bit itchy yesterday – my own fault because it was feeling better on Monday and I forgot to slap on the creams. 🙁
On a more positive front, I have – purely in the interests of research – tried a Pimms and I am delighted to say that at last it is beginning to taste as a Pimms should – it must be summer! 😀
After the check up I am attending (and possibly speaking) at an aromatherapy conference at St Thomas’s! Yes – aromatherapy! Now aromatherapy hadn’t used to really float my boat, but those of you who have been following the blog since its start may remember me talking about Kim, the aromatherapist sponsored by The Richard Dimbleby Cancer Trust who did the most wonderful and relaxing foot and back massages – and I became a convert! Well, she is organising a conference on the use of aromatherpy for cancer patients to get it more widely accepted and adopted, and has invited me to speak in favour – which I am more than happy to do!
Other than that, I have been completing the final touches on a training package for LeukaemiaCare. This will be given to both LeukaemiaCare volunteers and external agencies and covers areas such as listening skills and coping with loss. They have just been sent off for validation.
So its been a busy few days – and as the sun is shining and the washing looks dry, I’d better do some exercise – like the ironing!
2 Responses to “Wednesday… Summer continues!”
Elspeth on 08 Jun 2006 at 2:23 pm #
Hi Peter,
I remember you exuding over Kim’s attentions, and interested in you ‘selling’ the idea to others. Talking to colleagues, I get the impression that the pressures on professionals denies them the time to consider patients as people, which they regret, so you’ll be doing a valuable job.
Talking of jobs, you must be a good ironer to be continuing to be given the task – or do you offer!!!
How did the Pimm’s trial go, how many cycles will there be before maintenance therapy is reached? I’d stick to whisky myself, the maltier the better.
As we say in Geordieland, ‘gang canny, man’, (the same message to the other Blog-Boys, enjoy every day, despite the dates, THIS IS SUMMER).
L’n’Hs
Elspeth
Peter on 08 Jun 2006 at 7:27 pm #
Thank you Elspeth – it was a good conference – I have posted about it! I offer to do the ironing – I prefer to do a little at a time!
The Pimms trial went well, but I think it needs to be repeated as often as possible, especially while we have the good weather – it’s a tough task, but someone has to do it! I did have a Laphroaig the other day – the taste is odd (some sassenachs would say that it always tastes odd!) in that I didn’t get the full peaty flavour – and I had to water it down a little, but again it is an experiment I will be repeating!
O&U!