A Week of Treatment for my Chest

Sunday 2nd December 2007

The morning routine has not settled yet and I don’t have my blood samples taken from my Hickman line at the time I have my first Tazacin infusion. Instead one of the phleb team takes them in the traditional way from my arm. It turns out they don’t get to the laboratory or the results are not put on record! Sister Peter brings me Holy Communion at 11.30am and Tina follows shortly afterwards, while Anita is cooking lamb shank at home. I have a restful afternoon and evening, reading the Sunday paper and checking out my camera. My weight today is 72.9 kgs but I suspect the scales are inaccurate.

Saturday 1st December 2007

Today is my 64th birthday! Fancy spending it in hospital! The change to a different nursing regime is quite noticeable. The Renal team appears to have a higher nurse - patient ratio, although they do have health care assistants to help as well. I get observations at 6am and then see no one until 9.30am, when my Tazacin infusion is usually given to me around 7am. Matthew visits at 1.30pm with a super present of a book about the battles of 1916. Tina comes in at 4pm with Anita and Bob, who are up for the weekend. I have a stack of birthday cards, a birthday balloon and my present is a Nikon SLR digital camera! With my old Canon having gone caput a few months back and my intending to replace it after my transplant, this came as a complete surprise. Tina also brings me a chocolate birthday cake and this is followed by another cake, with candles, from the kitchen staff with all the nurses singing me “Happy Birthday”. All very embarrassing but very nice. Shortly after Tina and company leave I am offered a move back to ward 1, but I am still under the Renal nursing team. Having missed my afternoon nap, I have a long sleep in the evening. My blood results today are - Wbc: 2.5; Neuts: 1.5; Hbn: 10.4; and PLT: 72. My weight is 74.4 kgs.

Friday 30th November 2007

Today has started very well. After calling Dave Lloyd with a welfare update, I get calls from Steve Scott, Martin Stevens and Jeanette. I see Ros Johnston on her rounds. We conclude that things seem to progressing quite well as I am bringing up lots of the nasty stuff from my lungs with my physio exercises. She tells me that Steve Devereux has been in contact with Tim Corbett to suggest that under the circumstances it would be best to put the transplant back to after Christmas. My CT scan could be at the end of next week before my discharge or sometime in the following week. I have visits from Sarah and Paul and then Mia again. All six beds in Haemotology are taken and another patient is having to be admitted, so late afternoon I am moved from ward 1 to ward 3 and my nursing care is “sub-contracted out” to the Renal team. I have less shelf space for all my things! Then toiletry evidence suggests that the C. Difficile “scare” may be over, but I am taking the Metronidazole until Sunday. My blood results today are - Wbc: 4.2; Neuts: 2.5; Hbn: 9.6; and PLT: 69.

Thursday 29th November 2007

I have a passing visit from Sister Peter around lunch time. As my neutrophils are 1.9 today I have a dose of GCSF and it is looking like I will be having GCSF every other day in order to keep my levels above 2.0. It is a lovely day outside so my afternoon exercise is a walk right round the outside of the hospital. The day is generally uneventful, except for a few changes of patients in the ward. Tina visits about 5pm en route to an evening at Matthew and Charrise’s. My blood results are - Wbc: 3.7; Neuts: 1.9; Lymph: 1.4; Hbn: 9.3; and PLT: 74. My weight is 74.2 kgs.

Wednesday 28th November 2007

I get a morning visit from Matthew together with decorative masks made for me by Ella and Lily. That cheers me up no end! I am also cheered by Sangeeta’s conveying to me the possibility that a CT scan might be sufficient to measure progress with the treatment. Thus avoiding the need for a further bronchoscopy. This will be confirmed later after consultation with the chest team. Tina has had a day out shopping in Brighton with Linda and Sue from work and they visit me about 4pm. Whilst they are here, Sangeeta comes with news that I may have to be moved from Haemotology to Catherine James ward. I am very reasonable about it, although saying that I would prefer not. Tina takes a far more determined stand and it does not happen! Good for her. I think I would have simply “rolled over”. I am well into Anna Politkovskaya’s diary - heavy stuff going on in Russia and Chechnya, with top level sanctioned murders, the re-creation of a “single party” state and electoral vote rigging. The latter is confirmed in the subsequent state elections of 2nd December!

Tuesday 27th November

As I am getting my first Tazocin infusion anywhere between 6 and 7am, I find I am showering around 7.15am or 7.30am whilst no one else is trying to get to the shower / toilet at that time. That sets me up nicely for breakfast and then a walk down to the hospital shop to get my paper - and for one or two others in the ward. The exercise is good for me and so is the routine - well so far anyway! My lung exercises seem to be going well. I see Sangeeta Atwal for my morning check up. As my diarrhoea is persisting, she advises I try to drink three litres of liquids per day, so as not to dehydrate. She has also prescribed a saline nebulizer four times daily to help loosen the mucus in my lungs. My blood results are - Wbc: 3.8; Neuts: 2.0; Lymph: 1.5; Hbn: 9.8; PLT: 568 and CRP 5. My weight is back down to 73.2 kgs.

Monday 26th November 2007

I am having honey and mixed nuts with my Ready Brek breakfast to make it tastier and Tina has brought in some Smoothies for me as well. With a slice of toast, that makes quite a filling breakfast. I am also trying to have a Fortisip three time a day, although often I am feeling too full to have it. I have visits today from Joyce and Vincent Meagher and Mia Morris. In the afternoon Rebecca, the physic, sees me and explains the physio-therapy breathing exercises I should do. The idea is to inflate the lungs in such a way as to draw out the mucus from the alveoli but to avoid excessive coughing. I am to do them twice daily for about 15 minutes - and they seem to work straight away! She recommends I have regular daily exercise, like walks around the ward. I learn that my lung condition is called bronchiectasis. I also hear that Andre Jansen from Kings has called the ward for an update on my situation. Tina visits as usual about 4.30pm. My blood results are - Wbc: 4.8; Neuts: 3.1; Lymph: 1.2; Hbn: 9.5; PLT: 59; and CRP < 5. I spend the evening resting and reading.