A colleague from work whom I don't know very well, suffers from cystic fibrosis. Yesterday he received his long awaited heart, lung and liver transplant and is apparently doing well. I am so pleased for him and, I have to admit, a tiny bit jealous. John I wish you well and look forward to seeing you back at work healthy and happy.
Last night we hot footed it off to Laurence's for tea. Well we would have hot footed it if we hadn't been stuck behind a three car pile up on the M1. Arriving almost an hour late our host was totally unfazed and quickly settled us down in the living room where he showed off his latest purchases. A clock and a framed poster. Then he was off into the kitchen to prepare tea, unsurprisingly it was pasta with a arrabiata sauce with pancetta, it was very good. My appetite is still quite poor so I only had a small portion but at least I did manage to eat it. Having seen his well stocked cupboards and a bowl of fruit on the table I no longer have any worries about him living off junk. He has made his home very nice and kept it really clean an tidy, though I suppose living on his own and being out so often means it gets little opportunity to get dirty or messy. He has finally registered with a local doctor, not that he ever needs one, so all my worries have now been met and satisfied. After tea the others watched TV while I went through my drug prep and line change, no matter where I go I can't get away from that unfortunately.
My main worry now is Andrew, he is equally good in the kitchen but living in student digs is a far cry from living in your own home. He is going to have to share kitchen equipment and will face having his milk etc nicked from the fridge on occasions. I've no doubts he will learn to cope but I think the first term, while he is finding his feet, will be tricky. Andrew is far more happy go lucky and has far more confidence in himself than Laurence, who is a bit of a 'planner' and Andrew is more likely to rush in without thinking of the consequences. I have always worried more about Andrew than Laurence even though they have both spent their fair share of hours in the local A&E. As his course is rather full on, he has already been warned that terms are a lot longer for him than others, he only gets a week off at Christmas and the summer term doesn't end until August, he won't have time to get in any scraps. He will be doing twelve hour shifts with the London ambulance service including night shifts. I have no doubt he will enjoy it but it will be exhausting for him and I don't think he'll be so eager to cook for himself that much. I don't think his university experience is going to be quite as relaxed as he was hoping.
Had a letter from Harefield giving a summary of all the test results I've just had. They have put my chances of surviving the transplant at 85%, which I consider to be pretty good odds, with a 75% chance of making it through the first year, again pretty good. I had worse odds from my ablation so I don't think I have anything to worry about. It goes on to say I am 'physically well conditioned', makes me sound like a car, but it is nice to know my underlying fitness is still there. I was very, very fit before I was diagnosed and remained fairly active for as long as I could. Looks like all the effort has paid off, with a bit of luck it also may not take quite as long to get fit again post transplant.
My current health problem finally seems to be improving, I feel less washed out today and and am coughing a lot less. I've been here before of course only to go backwards. I am desperate to get back to work but I'm not going back until I am sure all the bugs have been throughly killed off. I'm officially on leave for two weeks from next Friday so even if the doctor says I'm OK to go back I will have a couple of weeks to relax and fully recover my strength. with a bit of luck, and with flu season nearly over, I might manage to stay in work for more than a week this time around.
I've had a really lazy day, I've watched a couple of films and then crashed out with the cats for a couple of hours. It is lovely to doze off surrounded by warm fur and purring. It seems my body really does know what it needs and at present it is craving rest and lots of it.
Finally I must tell you this really funny story.
Laurence has been looking for a dining table for some time now. He does have one but it is a very dark wood and he really wants something that will match the rest of his furniture which is much lighter. He's been keeping an eye on freecycle, ebay and gumtree in the hope something would come up. About two weeks ago it did. A lovely light oak table that would seat six. No chairs with it but he wasn't to bothered about that and the price was really good so he put in a last minute bid and won. A week later the new table arrived, by first class post, through the letter box. He had bought a dining table for a dolls house. We absolutely rocked with laughter and the little table is now proudly on display in his living room. Laurence himself admits that he'd missed several clues along the way including the word 'miniature' in the description and the cost, which was only £2.50 including postage. When asked how he thought he was getting a full sized table for that price he just shrugged and said he thought he'd found a real bargain, which set us all off again. It could have been so much worse and he has learned a valuable lesson, if it looks too good to be true it usually is.
Last night we hot footed it off to Laurence's for tea. Well we would have hot footed it if we hadn't been stuck behind a three car pile up on the M1. Arriving almost an hour late our host was totally unfazed and quickly settled us down in the living room where he showed off his latest purchases. A clock and a framed poster. Then he was off into the kitchen to prepare tea, unsurprisingly it was pasta with a arrabiata sauce with pancetta, it was very good. My appetite is still quite poor so I only had a small portion but at least I did manage to eat it. Having seen his well stocked cupboards and a bowl of fruit on the table I no longer have any worries about him living off junk. He has made his home very nice and kept it really clean an tidy, though I suppose living on his own and being out so often means it gets little opportunity to get dirty or messy. He has finally registered with a local doctor, not that he ever needs one, so all my worries have now been met and satisfied. After tea the others watched TV while I went through my drug prep and line change, no matter where I go I can't get away from that unfortunately.
My main worry now is Andrew, he is equally good in the kitchen but living in student digs is a far cry from living in your own home. He is going to have to share kitchen equipment and will face having his milk etc nicked from the fridge on occasions. I've no doubts he will learn to cope but I think the first term, while he is finding his feet, will be tricky. Andrew is far more happy go lucky and has far more confidence in himself than Laurence, who is a bit of a 'planner' and Andrew is more likely to rush in without thinking of the consequences. I have always worried more about Andrew than Laurence even though they have both spent their fair share of hours in the local A&E. As his course is rather full on, he has already been warned that terms are a lot longer for him than others, he only gets a week off at Christmas and the summer term doesn't end until August, he won't have time to get in any scraps. He will be doing twelve hour shifts with the London ambulance service including night shifts. I have no doubt he will enjoy it but it will be exhausting for him and I don't think he'll be so eager to cook for himself that much. I don't think his university experience is going to be quite as relaxed as he was hoping.
Had a letter from Harefield giving a summary of all the test results I've just had. They have put my chances of surviving the transplant at 85%, which I consider to be pretty good odds, with a 75% chance of making it through the first year, again pretty good. I had worse odds from my ablation so I don't think I have anything to worry about. It goes on to say I am 'physically well conditioned', makes me sound like a car, but it is nice to know my underlying fitness is still there. I was very, very fit before I was diagnosed and remained fairly active for as long as I could. Looks like all the effort has paid off, with a bit of luck it also may not take quite as long to get fit again post transplant.
My current health problem finally seems to be improving, I feel less washed out today and and am coughing a lot less. I've been here before of course only to go backwards. I am desperate to get back to work but I'm not going back until I am sure all the bugs have been throughly killed off. I'm officially on leave for two weeks from next Friday so even if the doctor says I'm OK to go back I will have a couple of weeks to relax and fully recover my strength. with a bit of luck, and with flu season nearly over, I might manage to stay in work for more than a week this time around.
I've had a really lazy day, I've watched a couple of films and then crashed out with the cats for a couple of hours. It is lovely to doze off surrounded by warm fur and purring. It seems my body really does know what it needs and at present it is craving rest and lots of it.
Finally I must tell you this really funny story.
Laurence has been looking for a dining table for some time now. He does have one but it is a very dark wood and he really wants something that will match the rest of his furniture which is much lighter. He's been keeping an eye on freecycle, ebay and gumtree in the hope something would come up. About two weeks ago it did. A lovely light oak table that would seat six. No chairs with it but he wasn't to bothered about that and the price was really good so he put in a last minute bid and won. A week later the new table arrived, by first class post, through the letter box. He had bought a dining table for a dolls house. We absolutely rocked with laughter and the little table is now proudly on display in his living room. Laurence himself admits that he'd missed several clues along the way including the word 'miniature' in the description and the cost, which was only £2.50 including postage. When asked how he thought he was getting a full sized table for that price he just shrugged and said he thought he'd found a real bargain, which set us all off again. It could have been so much worse and he has learned a valuable lesson, if it looks too good to be true it usually is.
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