A Second Week of Treatment for my Chest

Saturday 8th to Sunday 9th December 2007

An uneventful two days spent recovering from my two weeks “in dock”. Phone calls all round to keep Anna, Matthew, Daphne, Peter, family and friends up to date. My appetite is still minimal and I sleep at least two hours during the day. I am unsure how my weight is, but suspect it is down.

Friday 7th December 2007

I am nil by mouth overnight and have my bone marrow biopsy taken by Sangeeta under sedation. It makes all the difference! I come round about 11.20am for a brief discussion with Tim Corbett, the memory of which is lost in the mists of the sedation. I don’t think he said anything that I hadn’t heard before. I sleep on to 1pm and have a late lunch, followed by my CT scan. I then get myself packed and wait for Tina to collect me. I am not sure whether my two weeks of treatment have made any significant difference to the condition of my lungs. I suppose the CT scan will say it all. Have met a few more fellow patients who have helped make yet another stay in hospital bearable and amusing and I wait to hear what next.

Thursday 6th December 2007

My early morning routine is turned upside down when I don’t have my Tazocin infusion until 7.40am. Funny how institutionalised you can get in hospital. Even so I eventually get down to the shop getting papers for myself and others from my ward and the ward I was in for my birthday. Nothing like keeping the brain active! I have an enormous coughing-up session from 10am to 12midday, which leaves me exhausted. It is broken only by a visit from Dr. Sangeeta. She tells me I will be discharged tomorrow after a CT scan and a bone marrow biopsy, with Ciprofloxacin as my ongoing anti-biotic. Sr. Peter gives me Holy Communion after lunch and I then rest for a couple of hours before Tina visits. Thank goodness for my I-pod. Fortunately my lungs have decided to be quiet for the afternoon and evening. I celebrate the end of my Metronidazole-induced alcohol fast with an evening Guinness - purely for medicinal purposes of course. I do not start my late evening Tazocin and Gentamicine until 12.40am and so I don’t get to sleep until 2.20am! I finish reading Anna Politkovskaya’s “Russian Diary”. What a country and what a crooked regime!

Wednesday 5th December 2007

I am seen by Tim Corbett again today. He has had a chat with Steve Devereux about my situation and Steve’s view is to recommend going ahead with the transplant in January despite the shift in the odds. Tina visits me earlier than usual as it is her day off. I am not missing much on the weather front recently as it has been lousy outside. Sister Peter calls by briefly after lunch. I also have another visit from Rebecca, the physio. She advises that I am being a bit too enthusiastic with my breathing and coughing, hence the sore throat. I should be more gentle. The rest of the day I sleep, read and blog. My weight today is 73.4 kgs as weighed on the scales in the Haemotology Day Unit.

Tuesday 4th December 2007

I see Sangeeta this morning just as I am finishing my lung exercises. I am coughing up a lot more today, both before and after the exercises, giving me a bit of a sore throat. I ask her if my dilated alveoli will recover in time. Her answer suggested probably unlikely. I have a visit from Mia early afternoon and then am transported to Brighton General Hospital for my lung function test. I recognise John the ambulance driver from my police patrolling days in Mid Sussex back in the 70s and 80s! The lung test is disrupted somewhat by my still coughing up stuff. At one time I have to lie on the floor to make the coughing easier, simulating the lung exercises! I then have a visit from Jim, with Tina arriving shortly after he leaves. My coughing and the visits have tired me out and I sleep through the whole evening with my I-pod. My weight is 73.8 kgs.

Monday 3rd December 2007

Staff nurse Kate sees me this morning gleefully announcing that I have to do a 24 hour urine collection starting at 11am. This is one of the pre-transplant requests from Kings, which also included an echo-cardiogram and a lung function test. I discuss the chest situation with Tim Corbett when he sees me on his round. Unfortunately the Pseudomonas has colonised in my lungs, rather than being simply an infection and I will take it with me into the transplant. It will be a case of keeping it under some sort of control prior to and during the transplant - and afterwards no doubt. Tim’s assessment is that this moves the percentages for risk and success by something between 5 and 10%. I have the echo-cardiogram in the afternoon and then Tina visits me. I tell her about this latest assessment and we have a big hug-in. The renal unit seems to have a lot of confusing staff shift patterns so I see different people through the day. There are not so many nurses who are aufait with Hickman lines and the whole thing ran rather late such that I had my last Tazocin infusion at 1am. I had a bit of energy in the evening and started catching up on last week’s blog. My blood results today are - Wbc: 4.9; Neuts: 3.0; Hbn: 9.7; and PLT: 71. My weight is 73.6.kgs.