Bloods 07/03/2014
Haemoglobin 10.2
White Blood Cell 5.5
Platelets 42
Neutrophyls 4.8
Not too shabby given that I'm on ciclosporin, mycophenolate and ganciclovir IV.
I think I've pretty much contributed to all the tests/scans that were required from me, the last of which was a bone marrow biopsy (the needle in the back of the coccyx) taken very efficiently and painlessly this afternoon. So the plan is to sit tight for the weekend and wait for the results to start filtering in early next week. The endoscope (stomach and upper gut scan) showed some traces of gastritis, which would go a long way to explaining the gut pain. It also looks as though there is on-going GVHD in my lower gut, but I believe that further verification is required. The GVHD in my mouth is stable just - two small tracks of ulcers on the inside of either cheek which are neither growing nor shrinking and currently giving me no major gyp. The meds for this have been sharply reduced so I'm keenly aware that a flare up could be on the cards.
I'm still receiving additional hydration via saline drip and also getting IV Ganciclovir (instead of acyclovir) to specifically target the re-emergent CMV (Cyto Megalo Virus) which won't play ball by just f**king off and staying dormant as it does with the bulk of the 60% of the UK population that has it anyway. This will be my third tussle with this little shitehouse of a virus - Valganciclovir (the tablet form) has proved sufficient to supress it in the past but I think that this time out the team here have decided to go with the IV infusion just in case gastric problems are preventing proper absorption via pills to the gut.
Confusingly, some of the CMV symptoms marry up with the gastric problems, but the diagnosis period doesn't - which is odd and I don't envy the docs who have to chase their tails around on this one little bit. The one CMV symptom that I can recall as being distinct and not overlapping with the other stuff is a headache which I've treated simply by dosing up with OTC painkillers.
Having slated the crap out of the breakfast menu yesterday I have since come across a few half decent meals. One is a chicken, mushroom, broccoli and cheese pasta from the standard menu the others are from the Religious, Ethnic and Vegan menu - which also includes Kosher food and I've had Sesame Chicken Schnitzel in Pineapple sauce with little round potato balls and white pickled cabbage and then another chicken meal - Kosher Stuffed Chicken with rice and some kind of brown onion sauce and fresh green beans - really pretty tasty and beats the crap out of the stuff they give the Meschugana to eat from the Goy menu! There's a whole other bunch of stuff on there yet to try like jerk chicken and various curries - even curried goat with rice - which I may have a punt on,
Tonight I'm having a bash at West African Jallof Rice with Chicken so fingers crossed - I mean I don't know what it's supposed to taste like so who's to tell if it's crap or not. The difference with ordering from the standard 'English' menu is that you have a fair idea of how the stuff is supposed to taste and look and I think we can all agree that 'fresh egg' omelette shouldn't be wafting the gentle day glo aroma of air whisked fish farts across the brekkers table - unless it's that rarest of NHS delicacies 'The Kings College Blue Sturgeon Caviar and Chaume Surprise' which comes close to describing it.
Later...
Turns out that dinner was a bit hit and miss as well - 98% of it was Jallof Rice which tasted like chilis and Land Rover footwell dust and the chicken looked to have been cooked by chasing it through a minefield with a pointy stick - maybe that's the translation!
09/03/2014
Brekkers today will be Croissant, Danish pastry and Special K with milk so as to run a test on whether I'm still silly buggers with lactose. I do love the experiments on science day!
In a fairly typical perverse reaction to entering hospital my GI system has decided that its going to make me look a liar by spontaneously recovering from the squits - when all I've done for the past 5 to 6 weeks is to complain to the consultant about the ridiculous amount of time I've been spending on the throne due to being a bit loose in the hoose. Not that I can genuinely complain - better I s'pose to look like a tight arsed liar than a crap sodden cholera victim any day. The thinking here is that it's due to morphine having a binding effect on the batty - so fair enough, I'll go with that.
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