I am beginning to get excited at the thought of leaving Ward B8 and heading for home. I know that there will still be a long road to recovery when I get home. Everyone keeps saying try not to run before you can walk, but really I just need to get out of shuffle mode and into walk mode and I’ll be happy. Developing a rash yesterday afternoon was a bit dismaying; please do not let it cause delays to my discharge I willed the doctors on their rounds this morning. It could be the first sign of a little Graft vs Host disease (GvHD) or it could be a reaction to all the various drugs I’m on. The antibiotics finish today and then there will be 24 hours of monitoring to make sure the temperature does not go above 37oC. All being well, Wednesday could be release day.... yippee !

Well, Christine and I never smelt it, but one of the nurses decided she could smell electrical burning in my room, and she fetched another and another and suddenly it was time for fire alarms and the pair of us had to abandon my room.... permanently. We spent the next hour, when I usually have an afternoon nap, just moving every scrap of clothing, toiletries, CDs, books, posters and get-well cards from room 6 on one side of the corridor to room 9; it’s mirror image on the other side. Internally the room is identical in layout but when I leave it I have to remember to turn right instead of left; and the window faces South which means there is no reflected light from the building opposite. The best thing about the new room is that the air conditioning fan is quieter through working less hard because the door pressure seals are much better.
So eventually I got a late afternoon snooze and Christine went off for some fresh air and exercise down the road. Earlier the morning had been taken up by Christine and I having an extended coffee break c/o ‘the Friends’ and discussing all the previous day’s events down in Yorkshire, where the time had come for the clearing of my mother’s house, bless her. The family have all rallied round and managed to get the bulk of the sorting done, but there’s more going on today and tomorrow; while I am stuck here like a beached whale counting Neutrophils (which, incidentally, are back to a more expected 1.57)

Today's counts have just arrived. Hb - 91/ Wcc - 2.28/ Neut. - 2.04/ Plts - 20. Exciting to see neutrophils suddenly break through to 2+. Platelets still bumping along at a rather low 20, may mean help required unless they pick up by themselves over the next 3 -4 days.
At long last planet Rodg is beginning to recover from the effects of ‘the Melphalan Bomb’ all those weeks ago. The volcano has just about ceased it’s rumblings and the tension it was causing on the stomach muscles has begun to ease, and with it the quivering feeling of nausea. So all in all a good day. A simple and uneventful typical Saturday in ward B8.
There has been some curiosity as to the state of my hair loss. What seems to have happened is that the areas of most rapid growth in the past have been the ones most effected, while other areas still appear to be unaffected. So I have a rather moth-eaten stubble on my chin and a smooth back of the head, while still having a hairy chest, arms and legs. Whether that hair will go with time or remain is anyone’s guess.

Expedition number three to the ‘Friends’ proved interesting yet again. The coffee was equally good (tea still isn’t hitting the mark). This time I took a novel over with me and sat in the sun until I cooked and had to move to the shade. Not an option back in my own room.
When ‘Sue’(I think that was her name) came to take away my empty cup and half nibbled Kit-kat she struck up conversation. How far away I lived, occupation etc. ? Soon I discovered that Sue was a Royal Academy of Music violin graduate from here in Glasgow and had been taught by Hester Dixon, Christine’s Aunt on her father’s side.
Sue was now heavily involved in running the ‘Friends’ and with hypnotherapy for musicians as well as cancer patients. Hypnotherapy is not something I have ever experienced first hand and was keen to learn more. She was dismissive of the Derren Brown TV, ‘snap-of-the-fingers-and-gone’ type nonsense. But I may get to learn a little more depending on just how long I remain here next week. My Goodness it could get so interesting I might look forward to staying an extra day or so ! There’s positive reverse thinking for you ! The latest ‘maybe home’ date from a different, more senior doctor is next Wednesday; so still the illusive 5 day gap remains.

Today a possible return home date was mentioned for the first time -next Tuesday ! (if all remains well). Five days from now, maybe; if we can keep the temperature low and stable over that period. Fingers crossed for that one.

The rest of the day has felt like steady progress; I think Christine managed to inject a bit more of a spring in my step on her visit yesterday. And the blood counts have continued to make steady progress over the last three days. The haemoglobin holding steady at about 94 while the white count has shown small but steady progress moving from 1.63 to 1.70 of which the neutrophils moved from 1.47 to 1.52. Finally platelets have held steady at about 25 which has not been much of a fall away since the last transfusion, when they were 30. But still well short of a nice safe 80.

My adventure for the day consisted of an expedition to the ‘Friends of the Beatson’ for a repeat of yesterday’s delicious cup of Coffee Latte. I also went with my Mac iBook under my arm hoping to do a USB connection to a printer. However the place is run by a bunch of non tech women who have to call engineers out for all their PC machines. They were too nervy to let me start touching any wires what so ever, so I had to beat a hasty retreat; defeated I’m afraid. Pity they don’t just have a spare printer. I have so many fragments and ideas written out on the lap top it would have been nice to have them out in the real world to peruse at leisure.

Christine made the 2 1/2 hour trek up from Galloway this morning and arrived mid morning, she insisted that we should take a walk and see some new horizons. The sensation of walking, taking myself from A to B via C, felt like a new experience although perhaps more of a shuffle than a walk. The Friends of the Beatson brought us two delicious coffees on a tray, frothy with chocolate on top, which I tentatively tried along with half a kit-kat. It is first time I’ve had either for over a month. They went down surprisingly well. We sat by a window overlooking some gardens and views of snow on the distant Ochil Hills. It made for a very pleasant change from the claustrophobia of my room back away down the corridor. It also meant I did not need a sleep until 3 pm.!
The night before had been uneventful, as was early this morning, thankfully no nausea and no temperature. We just need a couple more days without spikes of temp. and they might start to reconsider a discharge date for me. I feel ready for a change. The place is beginning to weigh heavily on me. Three weeks now since Transplant and oh boy are the days beginning to tick by slowly.

And I just want to say a big thanks to all for the lovely get-well cards.

For those of you requiring continuity of plot line (and there’s more than one would imagine) here are the facts and figures that help outline just where we have got to in the space of a week. On the 2nd Nov, Haemoglobin was 94 it has held fairly steady throughout and on the 9th Nov. was 95. The white count was 0.11, of which neurophils made up 0.03, has now risen to 1.34, of which neutrophils now make up 1.18, so steady progress on that front. Finally platelets, were 15 then struggled to get to 19 then fell back to 13 followed by a platelet transfusion which has boosted them to 30 by the 9th Nov. So steady progress all round. Well short of normal counts but enough that by the end of another week they may well allow me out of here. If only we can clear up this grumbling infection.