[Written before Christmas] Today (Thursday, Day 9) I got to explore the hospital slightly further because I was sent for an abdominal ultrasound scan to check for any other reasons for my liver enzyme over-activity. They didn’t find anything too abnormal. I’ve stopped the tablet chemo for a couple of days, as that could be the cause: we shall see whether it is or not.
They actually started the new anti-fungal on Tuesday before giving me the intrathecal chemo – which was indeed done by Prashant (who spells his name like that, I now think – no doubt he’ll correct me if I’m wrong, as he was looking for this blog today so I gave him the address!) – so I didn’t have too many hours flat out and plugged in, though the anti-fungal took six hours. Today I’ve been pretty plugged in, though, what with my morning mostly taken up by the ultrasound, then breakfast, shower etc, before getting the intravenous chemo (half an hour), followed by anti-fungal (over a mere 5 hours this time) and now a unit of blood (taking 5 hours) as my haemoglobin was a bit low again. It’s good to be getting the blood boost, as I was very weary last night and again today: this should give me more energy.
My room, thanks to several lovely people, is now looking much more festive. I’ve got two stars: a stained-glass one dancing from my drip stand and a glowing one wobbling on my table. And then there’s a lit-up wooden nativity scene above my radiator, as well as an advent calendar sitting on my bedside cupboard, and festive paper chains hanging above all my windows. Cards I’ve received since having come back in are now up, and I even have a Christmas tree, with presents underneath it! So I’m feeling a bit more Christmassy, having missed out on things like Christmas lights (apart from the terrifying house displays in the backwoods of Southbourne) and Christmas shopping, though the more religious among you might point out that they’re not really the important parts of Christmas. I think the provisional plan for Christmas Day, assuming I’m OK to escape the hospital, is for my family, who are coming up to Tooting on Christmas Eve, to come to Mass at St George’s on Sunday morning, frogmarch Father Peter up to my room to bring me Communion, then bundle me in a car and take me away! I haven’t really checked with the doctors what they expect the plan to be, though, so must try to remember to do that tomorrow.
