Brizzleys Chronicle

Summer continues as does my wait for any progress. At least been off work has its benefits when the sun is out.

I think I overdid it on the exercise last week. My red blood cell counts were low. I did think I was producing red blood cells but obviously not enough to cope with my exercise routines. I feel hungover on Friday and have little energy. The low blood count combined with the cyclosporen drug and steroids makes me feel worse on Saturday and Sunday.

However this is not enough to stop me enjoying myself. I spend Saturday round a friends sitting in a hammock and Sunday on the downs. What better way to spend a weekend. Although I was very tempted by the BBQ's which were going on. I managed to resist and stick to my microwave meals.

Sunday night I develop a pain around my line (a implant in my chest to make injections easier) this is worrying as it signals that the is a infection. My CRP count has risen slightly confirming this. As a result after seeing the doctors on Monday the decision is taken to remove the line. Hopefully the infection has been caught before it spreads and causes further trouble. When I go in on Thursday it looks like I've got away with it, CRP count is back below 10 and the is no tenderness around the implant area. This shows that my immune system is working as well. Having no line will mean that I have more injections but I'm glad to be rid of it, fingers crossed I won't need another one.

Mondays results also show that my Red Blood cells had gone up. This again is repeated on Thursday. I was worried that something may have gone wrong with the transplant but this confirms all is OK and I was probably overdoing it with exercise.

In my wondering round the hospital I have bumped into two familiar faces. First of all I bumped into Uri. He had his transplant before me and was coming out of isolation as I was going in. In all honesty he looked like sh!t. He has graft vs host in his lungs. I almost feel guilty about seeing him when I am doing so well. My worse nightmare would be to get graft vs host in the lungs as it almost always leaves long term damage. Its also a reality check that problems can still occur. The second person was Merve. Merve had been through some tough times but his transplant seemed to have gone very well. He has not even lost his hair and has twice as much colour as when I last saw him.

Thanks to those who have popped in to keep me company this week, always welcome and appreciated. Don't forget to enter your team into the dodgeball competition (www.dodgeballbristol.co.uk), or if you can't take part feel free to make a donation to the just giving site (link to right of page).

Cheers

Robbie