T + 26. Knackered

18/03/2013


Hb:    10.2 (+0.1)
Wbc: 3.56 (-3.55)
Plt:    68    (+4)
Ntl:   2.68 (-3.47)


Weight: 72.8kg

19/03/2013


Hb:    11.0 (+0.8)
Wbc: 2.69  (-0.87)
Plt:    100 (+32)
Ntl:    1.99 (-0.69)


Weight: 70.6kg


Things are looking good as far as my blood levels go  - the haemoglobin and platelets are all my own work, but the Wbc and Ntls are probably assisted as I had another GCSF jab a couple of days ago.

Jeannette conveyed some interesting information yesterday (well interesting to me anyway) she was chatting with one of her contacts in haematology and he had this to say. What has effectively happened to your husband is that he has been pretty much killed and brought back to life, so his system has been in shock and is using all and any resources to try to heal and get back to normal.

Given that under normal circumstances a male needs to consume between 2000 to 2500 calories per day to fuel the body, a post chemo/transplant male needs something in the region of 3000 calories per day just to maintain the status quo. I find this very helpful in explaining my weight loss (I've dropped about 10kg since coming into King's) as it gives me a very clear path forward - chow down and pig out. I'm not naturally a grazer, I tend to only eat at set meal times, or at most have a protein shake with a raw egg in it before and after gym sessions so it's new territory.

Jeannette has brought me in some unflavoured Build Up powder that is sprinkled on normal meals to up the calorie count and I've been down to the hospital shop and stocked up on chocolate. As an additional incentive I'm going off menu tonight and ordering a delivery from a Pizza Hut down the road, I figure after nearly six weeks of eating from the same hospital menu (good though it is) I'm entitled to a bit of variety.

Update - sodding bastard Pizza Hut won't deliver to the ward - they'll meet me outside the hospital gates, which is less than helpful seeing as I'm in an isolation ward. I bet this wouldn't happen in the U.S. they don't let anything come between a man and his lard. I can only assume that it's because the area is a bit dicey and there's a likelihood of the guy losing his bike or getting robbed - still I was quite gutted as I was really looking forward to it. Luckily I had  BLT and some Muller Rice to keep the calorie count up - around 500 for the two.

I'm off the MRSA prog now, so no more HiBi scrub soap or Bactroban gel to stick up my snout, I'll be swabbed and retested on Thursday and fingers crossed that'll remove another barrier to me getting out.  As a further precaution, I've also just done a sugar absorption test on my gut which I believe is to look for GVHD of the gut as it's possible with the weight loss. I tend to think that it's down to not forcing enough food down me - but hey who are the experts round here anyway? Very very tired all the time down  - probably sleeping for 15 hours a day.