How to live a bonus life
BE LIKE TIM. SAVE A LIFEWhile browsing a forum for stem cell transplant patients, I was fascinated to read about one woman who has absolutely no memory of her transplant or the days before and after the procedure. She was looking for reassurance that there was nothing untoward in her lack of memory, particularly given the detailed stories being recounted by … Continue reading Day +14 (and +13): Selective memory
I reluctantly decided not to go ahead with launching a #selfiewithmyplatelets campaign, partly because I'm not sure anyone in the country has any money left after donating generously to various cancer charities as a result of the #nomakeupselfie campaign on Facebook. I expect you'll have heard of it even if you've avoided the social network, … Continue reading Day +12: Charity case
1. I said last night we'd celebrate the last few hours of Day +10 ("engraftment day"). And we did. 2. Oh yes, my hair started falling out to a serious degree yesterday; rather than let it get patchy, we thought it time to take to the clippers. 3. Today (Day +11), Fred came up to Tooting... … Continue reading Day +11: Show and tell (but mostly show)
About a week ago, a clearly excited transplant fellow Dara poked his head around my door and told me, among other things, that the lady in the room three doors down from mine had engrafted on Day +10. A few days later, he told me she was going home. On the one hand, it was … Continue reading Day +10: Expectation management
Mariacristina writes... Two days ago, one of my favourite colleagues at work asked me to go out for lunch to our "usual" place, Pronto – a really great Italian place I was introduced to by the Raleigh gang when the office was based in London Waterloo. She asked me how things are with George and I gave … Continue reading Day +9, by Mariacristina: Between shameful truth and hidden strength
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ri2YxP-lR24 A quick summary of the video, for those who can't (or can't be bothered to) watch it: Hello... Day +8... no biblical plagues... mucositis worsening... hard to swallow... soup and ice cream... palatial room... opposite nurses station... night-time chatter... good for gossip... getting farther away from Day +0... hopefully engraftment soon... earliest would be Day +10... … Continue reading Day +8: Ice cream, cars and mucositis
I'm not sure whether it's something I've provoked, but there's been a run of events over the past few days that have started to resemble the plagues of Egypt, which is slightly concerning considering the originals included frogs, dead livestock and the massacre of the first-borns. We're not quite at that level, fortunately, but it's a … Continue reading Day +7: Blood arrives with the plagues of Egypt
Once Mariacristina and I had ridden the first bumps in our relationship and come out stronger than ever, the question arose as to where we were going to live once she finished her studies. After all the challenges we'd faced in the first year or two, it was no longer suitable to stay in different countries … Continue reading Day +6: Uncertain manoeuvres and the flu
It's been a tougher day in many ways, but there have been some great moments, too... First of all – wonderful Jimmi Jamms from the lovely people at sustainable charity AfriKids, which inspired and guided Mariacristina when she spent six months as an intern there back in 2009. The pyjamas, produced by tailors and seamstresses in the … Continue reading Day +5: Ups and downs
My brother-in-law Duncan has a grand passion for creatures of all shapes and sizes, and his talent for and love of birdwatching have resulted in his spending many a cold, wet morning peering through binoculars to spot and count his feathered friends. Fortunately the cold, wet mornings are fewer now he lives in Malaysia rather than Scotland. When … Continue reading Day +4: A flying guide to anticipating side-effects
