Campath continued - Out of Neutropenia

Sunday 25th February 2007

Up for a bit of breakfast before 8.30am Mass then finished off afterwards. Feeling good, but legs up, so compression stockings on all day. To Matthew and Charrise for a chaotic lunch with the girls and Roni and back by 4.30pm. A lazy afternoon and evening.


Breakfast: Orange juice; yoghurt, cereal and mango; toast and marmalade; hot chocolate.
Lunch: Lasagne and salad (good) with garlic bread (no taste); Tina’s meringues (great – as always!).
Tea: Can’t remember!

Saturday 24th February 2007

A lazy day all round, after signing up for the C4. Phone calls and did my blog, then Rugby – England slaughtered by the Irish at Croke Park, followed by France beating Wales. Tina to Linda Bell’s for a drink and chat. Felt good all day, but my legs were up much more than usual despite being rested.

Breakfast: yoghurt, raspberries and honey, toast and marmalade, green tea
Lunch: Cheese on toast (tasteless – even with sauce and Tabasco)
Dinner: Chicken tikka marsala, rice and papadums (OK except the papadums were tasteless)

Friday 23rd February 2007

Legs seemed better, no rash and throat / head better. Up to KCH with Matthew early in case I needed a transfusion. Blood counts superb! Wbc: 2.44; Hbn: 9.2; Plt: 125; Neuts: 2.39 – unbelievable! Wt: 82.7kgs. Despite early arrival, relative chaos – staff shortages - in chemo room meant Campath didn’t start until 1.30pm. Visit from Mary Alston from work – which was great. Slept a lot through the Campath – the most I have ever done – about an hour in one stretch! Much to Matthew’s amusement. Woke with a proper head sweat! Usual allergic reaction at the end, given the usual anti-stuff and allowed to leave without lengthy observations as this has become a regular thing. Home at 7.30pm. Unfortunately a lot our tension surfaced this eveing whilst Matthew was with us. He acted as a wise councellor – and did very well despite his own emotions being expressed as well.

Breakfast: fruit juice; yoghurt, honey, raspberries and cereal; toast and marmalade; green tea.
Lunch: Ham sandwich, apricot fool, banana, biscuits.
Dinner: Chilli bean soup; pork steaks, new potatoes roasted and roasted vegetables (delicious); yoghurt, raspberries and honey.

Thursday 22nd February 2007

No night sweats, but feet and Mr Blobby up more than recent mornings. Took 2 x 20mg flusemide tablets. Visits from Derek O. and Phil Mears took me from 10am through 3.30pm with a break for lunch. BUT – I have a slightly tickly throat and by 5pm a slight headache. Temperature of 36.1c; Took two paracetomol. Fortunately this came to nothing. Legs swelled up.

Breakfast: fruit juice; yoghurt, honey and mango; toast and marmalade; ordinary tea with milk (no good);
Lunch: red lentil and pancetta soup; ham sandwiches; rhubarb yoghurt;
Dinner: Chilli bean soup; pan fried salmon, potatoes and asparagus; yoghurt, honey and mango.

Wednesday 21st February 2007

Head sweats for the second night running. Legs down but allergy rash on waist and thighs.
Also noticed that a spot on my right calf, which I have had for about 2-3 days had grown and was now reddening – must tell them about this. Could it be the start of an ulcer? Free parking in pub car park (!) after very easy run up. Blood counts excellent! Wbc: 1.58; Hbn: 8.7; Plt: 75; Neuts: 1.52 (WOW!). (Dr) Austin advised keep an eye on the red spot and marked it with a pen. Also I stop Ciprofloxacin and the Spironolactone now that the fluid on my legs is going down. My Campath ran from 12.40pm for 3 hours, but then an allergic reaction appeared on my wrist, thighs, chest and stomach, so more Hydrocortisone and piriton and a wait until 5.15pm before we could leave. Charge Nurse Eunice forgot to give me GCSF, so I did it myself when I got home.

Breakfast: fruit juice; yoghurt, honey and mango; toast and marmalade; green tea and lemon;
Lunch: half an avocado pear; ham sandwiches; biscuits; banana;
Dinner: red lentil and pancetta soup; Pinky Lilani’s chicken curry (limited taste) with flat peas (tasty); yoghurt, mango and honey.

Tuesday 20th February 2007

Woke to find that my swollen legs had virtually gone(!!) and did not feel the need to wear the compression stockings. No reaction to the Campath at all and am feeling good. Dibbled around all morning, phone calls with Peter and Daphne, read a load of information sent to me from the CLL Support Association. Eventually got down to some typing about 4.30pm – I really must try to start earlier! Allergy rash came up in the evening on thighs and lower back – not a problem but forgot I had some piriton I could have taken. Feet swollen by 8pm.

Breakfast: fruit juice; yoghurt, honey and pineapple; toast and marmalade; green tea and lemon;
Lunch: Lentil and ham soup, sardines and tomatoes on toast, yoghurt and honey;
Dinner: Guinness, smoked haddock, asparagus and “roasted” new potatoes (nice – but little flavour from the haddock unfortunately), yoghurt with honey and mango.

Monday 19th February 2007

Another easy drive up – half term? Blood counts good – Wbc: 0.86; Neutrophils 0.74. My weight was 81.3kg (up 0.5kg). With the neutrophil count over the magic 0.5 threshold I was able to have my Campath. Incidentally a neutrophil count below 1.0 makes me officially neutropenic. So 3 hours of Campath started at 1.40pm. saw Vicki Bevan again, the lymphoma clinical nurse specialist, who gave us the card of Anne Crook, the haemoto-oncology councellor the All set to go about 5.30pm when a rash appeared on my wrist followed by one behind my hip on the waist line, so we had to stay until 7.15pm with injections of hydracortisone and piriton and then observations. Worth a note that my temperature went up to 37.7 during this time.

Breakfast: fruit juice; yoghurt, honey and pineapple; toast and marmalade; green tea and lemon;
Lunch: Avocado pear – half, ham sandwiches, yoghurt with honey and ginger, banana;
Supper: Lentil and ham soup, hot tomatoes with basil on toast, yoghurt with honey and pineapple.