Friday 29 April - the calm before the storm (or something like that)

It has only been blood tests this week.  Thankfully my results have been good and I haven't needed any more blood transfusions.  Neutrophils are sadly still below the Brie level - sigh.  I have a clinic appointment on Tuesday and then 6 days straight of chemo.


We had a friend visiting from Toronto for a coupe of days this week.  Jocelyn is the daughter of my friend Caroline (who featured in a post in March).  She also takes lots of photos, but of architecture rather than birds.  She really enjoyed looking around Cambridge.  Also it was Andrew's mother's birthday on Tuesday so Andrew cooked a special dinner on Tuesday and I took her to the ballet in Milton Keynes on Thursday, to a matinee of the Northern Ballet's Swan Lake.  Great dancing and lovely sets.

Saturday 23 April - sorry for long gap between posts

Sorry there has been a long gap.  I have been fine.  It has mostly been blood tests this week apart from Wednesday when I had two units of blood because my haemoglobin count was below 90.  Being hooked up to a drip for 3 hours was rather tedious but Andrew did say I looked pinker the next day!  Also my haemoglobin count was up over 100 on Friday, so it worked.


In other news we went into London today to have lunch with no 3 daughter Rebecca and her boyfriend Matt at his new flat in Fulham.  He cooked a fabulous lamb shank recipe.  Amazingly it only took us two hours to get there and less time to get home.
I have also been gardening this week:

I have put in two rows of new potatoes in the veg plot in the garden at home.  I have also acquired two splendid blackcurrant bushes from a fellow allotment holder.  Luckily it rained after we planted them so they are looking pretty healthy.

I have also put in maincrop potatoes into my two other children's plots at the allotments.  So far the strawberries in the centre plot look as though they are doing pretty well, though I need to net them soon.








I have really enjoyed being out in the garden - grateful to be well enough to do it.

Friday 15 April - a week of ups and downs

On the up side:
I had the last dose of cytarabine for Consolidation 3.2 and will finish the tablets that go with it on Monday
My neutrophils have remained safely above 0.5 so I have not yet gone neutropenic (with all the dietary restrictions it brings)
My niece came up from London for lunch on Wednesday - it was lovely to see her and hear about what is going on in her life
I bumped into a fellow leukaemia sufferer that I was an in-patient with back last August and he has had a successful bone marrow transplant (with a donor from  Germany who was a 10 point match!) and was looking really well


On the down side:
Yesterday my exceptional colleague David MacKay died of his stomach cancer.  Read about him here http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/5-000-raised-memory-Cambridge-engineering/story-29116531-detail/story.html

Today was the last day of chemo for this week.  I am starting to feel increasingly weary - the cumulative effect of the cytarabine.  It may only come in a small amount  but it packs a large punch!  I now have the rest of today, tomorrow and Monday off and return to the hospital Tuesday - Friday next week for more cytarabine.  I'll have to see whether I feel well enough to continue driving myself.


In other news, I have acquired 3 children's plots at our local allotments on the edge of the village.  These are just the right size for me to manage without exhausting myself.  I have planted my strawberries in the middle one andintend to put maincrop potatoes in the other two.  We have a vegetable patch in the garden at home but I always slightly resent filling it up with potatoes when I could grow more interesting things.  I have just set my seed for climbing French beans and also patio pot French beans as well as climbing peas (we'll see how successful these are this year - they get one more chance...), parsley and lemongrass.  I've also got some pak choi seed which needs to wait until it is warmer.  I will plant new potatoes in the garden plot as there is nothing much nicer than new potatoes on your plate that were in the ground half an hour ago.

Thursday 7 April - after a long day on Tuesday the rest of this week is short chemo

I had a consultant appointment on Tuesday.  I got in early so Dr Craig and I were looking at the wedding photos when Andrew arrived! (Because I have to come in at least an hour before my appointment for bloods a friend who works in Cambridge dropped me off just after 8am).  Dr Craig was pleased with my progress and has authorised the next lot of chemo - 1 dose of cyclophosphamide on Tuesday and Cytarabine Weds - Sat this week and Tues - Fri next week along with a 14 day course of mercaptopurine.  I see her again on 3 May.


So off to the ward at 12 noon for my appointment.  However, the blood labs were not playing ball and my full blood count results didn't come back until 2pm.  Since the chemo couldn't be authorised until Dr Craig had seen these results I finally escaped from the hospital at 5:50pm.  A long day, brightened up by a post-lunch visit from two colleagues.


Yesterday and today by contrast I have been on the ward no more than 45 minutes.  The Cytarabin is a very short push.  I have been driving myself but have had to be careful to go straight home afterwards as about an hour later I feel like someone has sandbagged me and have to go to bed for an hour.

Monday 4 April - had a lovely day on Saturday

 Andrew and I were guests at Michael and Ellie's wedding on Saturday at Worcester College Oxford.  Ellie is my friend Hazel's daughter (older twin) and Michael met Ellie at Worcester.  Michael also used to work for me in the Department of Engineering before he had a better offer from Oxford!
It was a lovely day, sunny and warm for the most part.  The wedding was very relaxed and friendly but had the most amazing music - they came in to Parry's 'I was Glad', had the Mozart 'Laudate Dominum' sung by Ellie's singing teacher and the choir, and then the choir sang Harris' 'Faire is the Heaven' and Stanford's 'Beati Quorum Via' during the signing of the register.

 Me with Martyn and Christina, Hazel's oldest daughter, and another village child Hannah and her boyfriend Rob.  Martyn and Christina are getting married in August - ceremony in our church in the village and reception at Clare College, Cambridge where they both studied.  My middle daughter, Sarah, is one of Christina's bridesmaids.

Andrew with our youngest daughter Rebecca who is Ellie's best friend and one of the bridsmaids.

Hazel (my best friend in the village and mother of the bride) and me.  Both sporting hats hired from another friend in the village.  I've never worn a hat before but I could be converted! 

Me and Rebecca outside the reception venue - Notley Tythe Barn near Long Crendon.  It was a lovely venue. Below are the bride and bridesmaids: L to R: Rebecca, Sarah, Ellie, Isabelle (Ellie's twin).
We stayed until after the speeches and then Andre whisked me away - it must have been more tiring than I realised because I fell asleep in the car within minutes and only woke up when we got home!