Petrol pumps and plumbing fail... but holding warp 1

I am now exactly a week from the planned introduction of chemo 2 and thankfully my body is coming back together and coming apart in all the necessary ways. Firstly I am up to the hospital every day now for the morning as I have to have IV antibiotics to fight the infection around the wound of the Hickman line, good news it that this is working and the line feels much less sore that before (also night sweats and temperatures are coming back down). Today we could not get the lines to bleed despite my impersonation of John Travolta in the middle of the haematology ward to try and unblock it, this after coughing, jumping up and down or arm exercises failed to free the blockage.

The other patients found it quite funny specially as I was humming the tune at the same time, its good to laugh in that place as many of the patients are really in the final waiting room of life, being kept alive by daily blood transfusions and other treatments. Never the less the humour and consideration for others is a great example to me each day when I go in. The good news on the Hickman line front is that they were able to give me their equivalent of drain cleaner and after an hour the lines were back to flowing as normal so I avoided the need for a needle infusion (and got the line working again for the next chemo).

Well all that took from 10am until 1.30pm when I had expected just to be in for a half hour infusion so the rest of the day was a blur, I did get to a shop to pick up a new amp for the home cinema system, having doggedly stuck to my old Bose stereo for many years I finally caved in to 5.1 surround sound (Bose system will be rebuilt in the study). So the bits of the next which I am home and well will be spent trying to work out how to connect it with the DVD, TV etc, it has a 200 page manual so many cups of tea will be needed to work it out I think. A good boys toy!

As deputy blogger has reported I was let down for only the second time in five years (note deputy) by the MG last night. It was a dry night, the first for many weeks, and I wanted to run the MG so that the battery would charge and the oil get splashed around the engine. So I took it out to pick up Poppy on the other side of the city instead of relying on the Mondeo. Unfortunately it stopped in the middle of a busy junction and would not start again, so I had to push it off the road, with the help of a few bystanders, and get Lee to pick up Poppy. Just as this happened it started to snow! With no white blood cells I took the safe option of calling the recovery people. When Lee went to get Poppy I managed to determine that the spark was fine, petrol was topped up as a precaution but it still would not start, even jump leads from Lee's Jeep when she returned could not start it. My guess is that the fuel filter or the fuel pump had packed in - one of those jobs which has been on the list for a few months and not resolved (as the new souped up engine was running out of fuel at high revs on the dyno road I had planned to replace the pump and double up the fuel lines and filters). Anyhow discretion is the better part of valour so I waited in the warm jeep with Lee and the kids playing eye-spy until the recovery man arrived. He agreed with my analysis, after checking the things I had checked with better equipment, and, as the filter and fuel pump are under the car at the back we both concurred that towing it to my garage was the best option! So that's another project for a warm day or at least a day where I have left the heating on in the garage for a few hours and my blood counts are high enough to sustain cuts and scratches ( ie no time soon ). I may swallow my pride and get the guys in the garage across the road to look at it for me.

On the garage front the Aston is still there waiting on a special hose to come from the factory, I managed to avoid all the unnecessary jobs they tried to stick me for but one job was necessary as the lower cooling hose had nearly worn through rubbing on the fly belt. There was a mod to prevent this which should have been retrofitted to the car so we are pushing AM to say it was their dealers poor servicing which led to the need for the work. If I get away with that all I will have to pay for is the basic service - keep you posted on that one.

On the medical front I did visit with the folks who will get the transplant stem cells out of my blood, they took nine different blood samples in one session on Wednesday consuming all of the morning, thankfully the Hickman line was working well on that day. They showed me the machine which will take blood out of me, separate it with a kind of centrifuge, keep the stem cells and return the blood to me. Pretty much all the blood in your body ends up going through the machine over the four hour period, which is a scary thought, but they seem to know what they are doing. The doctor has done this with 16 Hodgkin's patients and all were successful in mobilising and collecting stem cells which is a very reassuring proportion !

The bad news is that I have to start self injecting growth factor, twice daily, for a week before the stem cells are extracted, this is planned for Monday and Tuesday 5th and 6th of Feb. Based on prior experience this will lead to a good deal of bone pain, so I will be the grumpy old man for that week, shifting in my seat and letting the odd groan out, even with the dihydrocodine I get to take to counteract it. So the next two milestones are fixed, chemo 2 on Thursday and stem cell collection on the 5th Feb. A few days later will be some crucial scans, we need to see substantial reduction in the disease as a result of the first two chemo for the rest of the treatment to have a chance of success, all fingers will be crossed at that point. If we can get a successful scan and successful stem cell mobilisation hooked up I will be half way to a good outcome and much more confident of success.

Other health issues have actually stabilised tummy problems are mostly gone, and the mouth ulcer is receding due to some drugs and some topical medicines I have been taking. I still tend to avoid hard or sharp foods but with milkshakes, stews, and careful eating I have managed to put back about half the weight I lost. I am now losing weight in a different way as I am molting hair all over the place and from all parts of my body. When I shower in the morning a steady stream flows down the plug and when I dry myself I end up with a near carpet on the floor ! So tonight once I finish the blog I am going for the number 1 marine style haircut (all over perhaps) which will be a relief as my hair hurts now if I tug it as I put on a hat. I have got a nice range of hats to wear from a fishing hat from Sioux Narrows to the Aston Martin hat my sister got me for my Christmas present.

If I can work out how to put photos on the blog I will try to post a few of my new baldy status for your amusement and to throw darts at.

Six days of reasonable health to look forward to before chemo 2, warp 1 is holding, the dilitum crystals are staying put, its not pretty but we are holding course and developing a bit of speed.

Cheers

Gerry