I've mentioned before that I have a variety of anti-this and anti-that drugs to protect me while my immune system is down, but that was a bit generic. So, in all its glory, here's the list of what I'm currently getting (as far as I remember): Aciclovir – anti-viral, like, erm, Norton Anti-Virus, though in … Continue reading A cocktail of defences
On the balance of probabilities
88.2% of statistics are made up on the spot (Vic Reeves) Imagine a parallel world, where estate agents are truthful and reliable. In such a world, Mariacristina and I were incredibly close to getting the beautiful house we now own for a considerably lower price than we ended up paying. Having had our first bid … Continue reading On the balance of probabilities
Eine kleine Nachtmusik
It's amazing how quickly we can get used to our circumstances. I'm generally a pretty good sleeper, but – as you can imagine – a hospital ward is far from being the quietest place to try to get a decent night's kip. There's a veritable orchestra of sounds every night: the clatter of the observations … Continue reading Eine kleine Nachtmusik
Looking forward to Friday 13th
Walking home after enjoying a delicious pizza at the truly Neapolitan Bravi Ragazzi in the days between diagnosis and my being admitted to hospital, Mariacristina and I were confronted with a road sign held up by two poles on the pavement. For years now, I have avoided walking below such signs, after Mariacristina told me … Continue reading Looking forward to Friday 13th
The English patient’s patience
Patience is a virtue; virtue is a grace. Grace is a little girl who doesn't wash her face There's a remarkable phenomenon regarding our microwave at our home in Streatham: like most microwaves, it usually displays the time, but on a fairly regular basis I find the time has been replaced with a single number … Continue reading The English patient’s patience
God bless the NHS
The other day, one of the lovely nurses appeared at my door to ask whether I wanted a cup of tea, or coffee, or anything else. Always – and usually unnecessarily – reluctant to put someone else out, I scrunched up my face so it would say 'I'm really sorry to ask this' and requested … Continue reading God bless the NHS
The stress-relieving power of now
It was at the birthday celebrations – with fireworks – of a fellow leukaemia patient, when talking to the partner of yet another friend of leukaemia (we had a little network), that I first heard of Eckhardt Tolle's The Power of Now. I had been explaining my bacon theory, when Bridget delightedly piped up to … Continue reading The stress-relieving power of now
Forza Italia! / Go Italy!
(Scroll down for English...) È un po' di tempo che non scrivo su questo blog in italiano; scusatemi! Non scrivo/traduco molto velocemente, e dopo aver scritto un articolo in inglese, di solito mi sento troppo stanco per riscriverlo in italiano – e Mariacristina è molto impegnata, sopratutto al lavoro. Però, ieri sono successe due bellissime … Continue reading Forza Italia! / Go Italy!
A strong sense of justice
When I was far smaller than I am today (I realise that's very small indeed), somebody drew a couple of lines with a crayon on the cream, lightly patterned wall of the playroom at home, and subsequently attemped to hide the misdemeanour with some inexpertly applied sploshes of Tippex. My parents were understandably disappointed, but … Continue reading A strong sense of justice
The trouble with anticipation
As far as I remember, my very first bone marrow biopsy took place on the evening of 31st October 2005, an ambush manoeuvre not long after I arrived at St George's for the first time. It's not the most comfortable procedure, and it quickly went to the top of my list of least favourite medical … Continue reading The trouble with anticipation