Out of hospital!

On Thursday I was told that if my counts were good when I finished my chemo on the Sunday I would be able to go home. My blood test on Sunday morning showed that my counts were good, but...the pharmacy were closed and they hadn't done my medications, so I couldn't go home until last night.

The chemo this time round was a very high dose and worked out that if I were to start it in the morning I would have had the chemo every other day - but as I started it in the evening it wasn't quite like that. I ended up having a day of doing nothing but sleep and be sick and then a day of being fine and heading to the hostel over the road for the day. It was pretty horrible this time.

I'm so glad to be home and am just resting up. Had a visit to the beach this afternoon but on the whole I haven't done a huge deal.

Tomorrow morning I'm going to the day unit in Colchester to see if my blood counts have dropped below 0.5 meaning I'd have to head back up to Barts for a couple of weeks till they climb back up. I'm hoping I get a couple more days at home, but am not holding my breath. Either way I should be home in time for a Christmas at home! Unlike last year when we celebrated it in my hospital room - not quite the same!

In remission...again!

I went to Bart's yesterday and had an MRI scan as planned. Just before the end they like to inject something called contrast (a dye), so they took me out of the machine and tried 7 times to put a cannula in but every time my veins closed up so eventually they left the contrast bit out. For some reason they aren't allowed to use the PICC line - which would have made life so much easier!

Following the MRI I went to my appointment with the consultant. Instead of seeing him at 1100 I saw him at 1330, a bit of a long wait, but it was worth it. When I saw him he told me that I was doing fantastically well, am "made of hard stuff" and more importantly am in remission. He said I couldn't be doing better. This is all great news and pretty encouraging. 

The plan ahead is still a bit blurry, but I will have at least one more load of high dose chemo and possibly another afterwards too. Because I've had the same kind of chemo before and I didn't stay in remission they know I wont after just chemo this time either, so I will definitely have the bone marrow transplant. At the moment they've got a 9/10 match, who they would be happy to use, but they're still looking for a 10/10 match as this would be ideal. 

Following the appointment I had to go to the day unit for a line lock (antibiotics) to be put into my PICC line and they told me that the scan people had been on the phone and wanted the day unit nurses to try putting a cannula in. So on the 8th attempt it worked and I went back downstairs for the rest of the MRI. After that I went home! 

So, it's all good news and I'm responding to the chemotherapy which is great. I start the next load on Monday and should hopefully be out in time for Christmas at home. I have a few days at home to rest up and enjoy now. 

Round 1 down...

Yesterday I had a bone marrow biopsy in London which went well - it just aches a bit now! I'm hoping the results might be back tomorrow but I was told on the phone earlier that it could be longer. The results will show if I'm in remission or not. If I'm not in remission it'll mean that the chemo didn't work and didn't destroy the leukaemia cells and the future treatment plan will be very different. I don't know what it would look like. I'm praying I am in remission and I can carry on with treatment as planned.

Tomorrow morning I have an MRI scan followed by a clinic appointment ( chat with the consultant). After that I'm coming back home and will be readmitted (if all's going to plan) on Monday.

I'm about to go to Colchester hospital as I need to have antibiotics put in my PICC line every day for 10 days and then will go up to London and stay there over night in time for tomorrow morning.

Last Saturday I was very grateful to be given tickets to see England beat Spain at Wembley. Below are a couple of photos from the game.

Count's are up!

I finished my chemotherapy on the 23rd and was then waiting for my immune system to come back up. I was well and fine, although pretty tired during that time, until Monday this week when my temperature shot up. It was around the 39 degree mark (sometimes higher and thankfully sometimes a bit lower) until Thursday when it came down. The high temperature was due to a lung infection I somehow managed to pick up, but I'm on antibiotics to clear that up, and today I found out that my neutrophills were 0.2, so were I better I could go home in a day or so, but due to antibiotics and still not feeling 100% I don't know when I'll go home yet, but I hope it will be soon.

The Dr. said that my infection was getting better and that I'm having the right drugs to treat it, but I've noticed how my breathing has become worse resulting in coughing, especially when trying to sleep. I'm hoping the Dr's right though and things are on the mend.

That's all for now, updates will continue.