Post date: 04-Jun-2012 08:34:45
There is now a picture of me on my exercise bike posted in the pictures section. It also shows some of the room decorations that seem to cheer the staff up no end. I think they have actually become more chatty since the decorations went up.
The visit from Mum and John was very pleasant yesterday. Isabel brought them in and although the guest limit is two the three of them were able to stay. I don’t think they think of Isabel as a visitor any more.
I think John managed a first for the nurses on this ward. It is the first time they have taken blood from a visitor instead of a patient. One of the treatment options for leukaemia is a bone marrow transplant and the best chance of finding a matching donor is from a sibling ( 1in 4). Rather than getting blood taken in Scotland and sent to the lab that is dealing with my bone marrow tests (Oxford) it would be easiest to get the blood taken while he was down.
I was not expecting a visit from a consultant yesterday but last night one of them popped in quite late. She had been in seeing another patient and thought she would see how I was. One of my blood samples had shown a minor infection but everything seemed fine now. There appears to be a little movement on my blood counts:
Haemoglobin - Carries oxygen round the body - No Change
Platelets - Helps blood clotting for cuts etc - Up
Neutrophils - Fight infections - Still on zero
So while this is encouraging news, the one that we are all interested in is the Neutrophils. With these stuck on zero I’m stuck in this room…
There is however a downside to my Platelets recovering. Due to the fact that I don’t move very far all day there is now an increased risk of DVT. To reduce this I need an injection. The nurse turned up and informed me that I need this as an injection and the best place for it was in my stomach. Ok fine I’m starting to get used to this sort of thing now. She then handed me the syringe and suggest firmly that I might like to do it. Now some of you may know that I do not like needles at the best of times. I went to Asia some years ago and paid quite a lot of money so that I only had to have my vaccination in two injections rather than three. I have now been here long enough to know that if a nurse suggests you may wish to do something it’s going to happen…
The reason she wanted me to do it is if I go home at some point I may still have to administer the injection myself… so best start as we mean to go on. I think they have fitted the smallest possible needle to the syringe I did not feel a thing. There was a little stinging sensation as the drug worked its way into my system but not bad. I was though in shock for a couple of minutes after the nurse left at the fact I had actually given myself an injection…
… 9k yesterday on the exercise bike, but it was hard work… possibly due to the slight infection the consultant told me about at the end of the day (Good luck Les with the start of your exercise bike workouts start off down hill that’s what I do)…