Sunday 5 October 2008

Anniversary

It was the 6th October 07 that I was diagnosed. How time flys by. How things have changed. Initially I was told it would take about a year for me to get back to work, I was confident that it would not take that long and even thought I might be able to be back playing rugby in November and go touring to Dubai. While I always knew it would be tough and a long haul I still underestimated the effects it would have. I have been given the ok to start exercising again, I have no strength, cardio\circulation is poor and my body seems to take ages to recover. Reluctantly I accept I won't be playing rugby this season, but however with the top up of stem cells on the 24th hopefully I'll be back in work in November. While I am frustrated my life is not back on track I have to remind myself a year ago I was told I had a 50/50 chance.

In terms of treatment it is to early to say what the new drug is doing. I have been up and down all week. I am having some serious issues with my joints. While I tend to try and avoid painkillers I have had to start taking them to get around and sleep. Its not clear what causes this it is annoying as it is slowing my progress in getting exercising.

I am still in hospital nearly everyday. But this week I manage to get Tuesday of. Amy pops round after lunch (she is also of work on maternity leave). Its good to have company on my day of and we head to the cinema for the afternoon. After Alex (Amy's other half) arrives and we head for a curry.. I think the waiters get a little scared when they see the size of Amy's bumb. I'm sure the curry probably should have been hotter but they did not want to risk setting Amy off. Meanwhile we are still awaiting news of Wibbles and Emma's baby.

Wednesday I get some more good news. I have a provisional transplant date of the 24th October. Once I get this "top up" of stem cells hopefully my body will start producing enough blood to support itself. I would anticipate if the are no further complications I could get back to work 2/3 weeks after this. While I am still on to many drugs to drive I intend to start looking for a car again this month. I hope I'm not getting ahead of myself again. While I do not know if the new drug is doing its job yet I feel the treatment is progressing and apart from my joint problems I am feeling pretty good.

To celebrate (I think) I went to watch Bristol vs Saracens on Wednesday night. Bristol slipped to their 5th straight defeat. Whats worse for the 2nd game in a row they could have won it. A typical example of a team without confidence. Brizzley Bear got to wonder round with Miss Bristol (In all my 5 years of doing Brizzley they never arranged that for me) and the were cheerleaders who were quite funny. Bristol need to start winning if they are going to avoid relegation this season.

Friday night is Murder Mystery at the Palace (Emily, Julies and Widgets house) its Las Vegas theme and I am assigned Al Shuckup a Elvis impersonater. The girls have put in some serious effort they all look fantastic. The murder mystery is a little confusing. I think everyone gets lost fairly quickly. We have a tasty dinner and carry on with the murder mystery. We have a bit of a mess up, just before the final round where we all make our accusations we play the video expecting another clue... but it reveals who the murderer was. Somehow half the group still make incorrect accusations??

I went to watch OB's on Saturday vs Aretians. My leg seizes up and I have to head inside to sit down. Unfortunately the game turns when I do this and OB's go from leading and then end up losing 22 - 18. I have forgotten my painkillers so have to put up with it. The bar staff have not turned up so I also end up running the bar. In the evening I head to the oak and catch up with the other OB's. Heading home after last orders leaving everyone else to head down to Clifton Triangle.

St Mary's ladies are playing on Saturday. Emily, Julie and Widget have been supporting OB's each weekend and helping cook food and run the bar. The least we could do is go and support them. After a good start St Marys take a lead with forward dominated play, however Worcester come back with some quick backs taking advantage of a disorganised defence for Worcester to win confortably in the end. Widget breaks her ankle!! I think it is just chipped but get well soon.

Hopefully I'll find out how the new treatment is going this week. It may be that I need to restart the super cyro drug again. This would mean I have to be in everyday including the weekends again. Will have to wait and see again. If this works and the top up transplant is successful I entre the next stage of recovery. While this may involve less blood counts and fewer visits to hospital it is actually more of a mental challenge. You get no say in getting Leukaemia and how it effects you. You have to accept it and deal with each challenge as they come along. The next stage of recovery is different. It would be easy to sit back and think that is it. But its not at all.. You have to accept that Leukaemia has changed your life for ever.. you can't expect to step back into your old life. It will take me another year to get to a reasonable level of fitness and probably a little longer to get back to how fit I would want to be. The same applies to getting back to work. I cannot rush these things but I am looking forward to making progress. The past year has gone so quickly, so before you know it I will be back!!

Still good luck to Wibbles & Emma, Alex & Amy who are expecting very shortly.

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