T + 395.UPDATED Is that the bloke out of The Matrix and LOTR on the right?

21/03/2014

Haemoglobin: 10.9
WBC:           4.61
Platelets:        51
Neutrphylls:    3.59

Weight: 61.9kg

This is all good news. I haven't had any top ups for more than a week and am no longer neutropeanic. So don't need to wear a mask when I leave the ward.

Something happened - doesn't it always?

Had a shower this morning and spent a good 30 odd minutes with a chair in the cubicle just letting it wash over me. Really relaxing. Shave, spray all that business clean pyjamas then sat on the bed to put my DVT stockings back on, they are white and made of nylon. Now before you start everybody in here has to wear them in order to prevent deep vein thrombosis as we spend a fair amount of time in isolation rooms sitting on a bed doing nowt and the stockings compress your legs to keep the blood flow vigorous.

I now know- as certainly any women reading this will know, there is a right way to wear stockings and tights there is a foot bit just like in socks  so you have to roll them up to get them on right. So I was in the middle of doing this laying on my back on the bed tongue sticking out - which it does when I concentrate, leg raised at 45 degrees up in the air to roll the stocking down my leg when I looked up through the glass pane of my door window and made brief but horrifying eye contact with a gent standing outside my door - guy about my age making his way down the ward to visit a family member I guess, I think he thought I was Priscilla Queen of the Desert because his eyes were bugging out of his head then the head went down and he scuttled off double quick. Mind you better that than sliding over to the door and coming in I s'pose. Hopefully his spouse/other half will explain.

I'm in the middle

Just had a lovely visit with Jeannette, who also arrived with 3 bags of stuff to keep me stocked up until next week. Great to be together in the same room rather than on Skype or on the end of a mobile. Two hours to get here, an hour's visit and two and a half hours back to get Milo from school. Nice day off! Then a visit from a couple of Victoria's registrars who gave me a general checking over and who have promised to get back to me with a revised CMV level later today or Monday. I'm told they are currently doing the tests twice a week so unless they accelerate the treatment or increase the number of tests I could be here 'til late next week, for a 7-10 day stay this has overrun a bit - no point going out until I'm fixed. I made the mistake of clearing my throat and having a quick cough whilst they were here and inadvertently booked myself a chest X-Ray....

Edit woke at 0100hrs feeling a little refreshed but still dozy from the zopzop and keen to write even if it is just more giblets. I had a long chat with J after she got home last night and we're both still going to stick firm with this place and keep the faith that Victoria P knows what is best for me in terms of quashing the CNV and oral GVHD. This stay is now approaching the halfway mark of last year which included the full 9 day lazarus experience. They both want me home now and I wanna be home now - but another week should pay long term dividends. May amble off to get a cocoa. It got a tad cold in here earlier so I pulled my jumper on - it has zip neck and leather collar sitting here looking at it on web cam - I have more than a passing resemblance to Uncle Fester from the Adams Family Movie. Pic to follow.

graphic denotes location of top 10 readers

To finish - some stats; the top 10 totals 7691 views. Please note Ukraine is kicking Russia's arse in this respect. The total number of page view for all countries is an amazing 8485 with 85 separate viewings yesterday alone. A welcome to Poland, Denmark, Belgium and especially to our Nigerian reader. Please feel free to leave comments or feedback on the blogspot page - the entries with comments get more readers. I sometimes feel like I'm pissing down a well here. That might not make the edit....

	Entry	Pageviews
	United Kingdom	5810
	United States	765
	Canada	242
	Latvia	219
	Germany	209
	Ireland	117
	Ukraine	117
	Russia	86
	Poland	65
	Australia	61

No sleep for you! 0525am and back at it. I sometimes look at the US news section of the Daily Mail paper online - life there is certainly more intense and bigger than here = more people = more accidents and drama. However there is something that I've noticed in the comments section of the letters, which is that USA citizens get very defensive if a person from outside the US (normally the UK as it's the daily mail) comments on a US story in even a slightly negative way. Hang on I'll see if I can find an example; bugger no specific examples just now, but I'll keep looking on this and post back - or else edit this out!