Post date: 06-Jun-2012 08:25:27
With yesterday being another bank holiday I was expecting another day like Monday. By now I should have learned to expect the unexpected… anyway more of that later.
The day started normally enough with the usual 6am wakeup call – stats (blood pressure etc) taken, then blood taken and dugs administered. Then a review of my hair in the bathroom mirror – no real change except it is starting to grow. I guess that will be it until the next round of chemo. I will need to get Isabel to trim it at the weekend.
There was no ward round at 10am so I naturally assumed that I was not going to see a doctor yesterday due to the fact I was feeling quite good.
Although I use my exercise bike every day some of the support staff now know what time I do it and come round to make sure I am doing my exercises – so no getting out of now.
About 11:30 to my surprise one of the consultants came in to tell me
Haemoglobin - Carries oxygen round the body - No Change, just a little low
Platelets - Helps blood clotting for cuts etc – Up, into acceptable range
Neutrophils - Fight infections – up to 0.1 (need to be 0.5 to be sent home normal range 2 to 4)
We then did the normal question and answer about how I felt finishing with how close did I live to the hospital. The consultant then asked if I would like to go home for a few hours under some very strict conditions. Basically – sit on the sofa, no going to the shops or pub, no visitor and had to have Isabel with me at all times. Any sign of infection I had to come straight back the ward.
Isabel had already started to make lunch by the time I spoke to her so she brought in a very nice pasta dish with chicken and peppers. So we had another little street party. I had to wait for the nurse to give me my antibiotics and disconnect me from the drip (it would not fit in the car… )
It was really strange walking out of the room in my normal clothes for the first time in over four weeks. I can see how prisoners have real difficulty adjusting to life outside. I just felt slightly sense of anxiety walking to the car. Also this is the first time I have walked anywhere more than a few feet and I was not holding onto a drip stand although I was holding onto Isabel (much better than a drip stand). I am so glad that I have been doing my exercises so that physically there was no problem walking a couple of hundred yards to the car.
At home we just chilled out and watched some television, had a bowl of soup and then back to my hospital room. It’s strange but it was nice to be back to my hospital room, both Isabel and I think of this as safe environment for me. As soon as I go outside then there are risks of infection.
… 9k on the exercise bike yesterday…