It's been a bit of an eye-opener to see that at least some friends and family genuinely believed my post on Facebook declaring that I had completed my first triathlon. I chose a snappy, attention-grabbing description in the expectation that nobody would actually believe it, but instead would be intrigued as to what I was … Continue reading Days +69 to +72: The invisible illness
Day +6: Uncertain manoeuvres and the flu
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
Day +3: Hospital life gets more revealing
I've mentioned before that when I am at my most tired, Mariacristina says I don't look tired at all. "I am tired!" I want to protest, just as I want to tell people I really am an inpatient when they see me step out of a wheelchair to try to negotiate my return to the ward. … Continue reading Day +3: Hospital life gets more revealing
Prevention vs cure, with Angelina Jolie
While playing the house-husband the other day I heard on the kitchen radio (it was probably Heart or Magic, which I blame entirely on my wife) that Angelina Jolie is planning to follow up the preventive double masectomy she underwent last year with further surgery to reduce her chances of developing ovarian cancer. It turns … Continue reading Prevention vs cure, with Angelina Jolie
Not long to go now…
All good things must come to an end, and my neutrophil-powered 'holiday' from treatment is no exception – although it has been extended from its original planned duration. Following the exciting news of my complete remission, the doctors had targeted this sort of date for my re-admission into St George's to begin pre-transplant induction therapy, … Continue reading Not long to go now…
Bring on the transplant!
Sixteen years ago, Mariacristina was happily tied up in a serious relationship with an Italian boy (and to give an impression of what a serious relationship means in Italy, you should know that Italians use the same word – fidanzato/a – for boy/girlfriend and for fiancé(e)), I was a shy English teenager living in Naples … Continue reading Bring on the transplant!
A sting in the tail… or two
Headlines first: I've finished this phase; I'm home again after a couple of inpatient stays (in different hospitals); I'm no longer neutropaenic; and my care has gone back to St George's, where I'll need another bone marrow biopsy to confirm how successfully the MARALL trial cleared out the leukaemic cells. After my last post, you … Continue reading A sting in the tail… or two
A satisfying letter
I remember St George's asking me once whether I wanted copies of the letters they send to my GP every now and then. I said yes, thinking they might be interesting, and it proved to be a good decision. Here's the last one I had, which I've been meaning to put up because it's quite … Continue reading A satisfying letter
In case anyone’s still out there…
You might be interested to hear that I'm hopefully going to be finishing my Maintenance treatment very soon indeed. I'm seeing my consultant on 7th February, and I think she'll declare that the end, or let me run on until the end of February. The end of Maintenance, of course, means the end of chemo, … Continue reading In case anyone’s still out there…
Harriet’s Ball for Leukaemia Research!
PS I'm very well! 2 more weeks of work at Training For Life, then I start my Masters at Goldsmiths on 1st October. I have a bone marrow biopsy on Wednesday (booooooo) but otherwise all is fine medically! Still on chemo tablets, and one more lot of intravenous and intrathecal, but still hoping to finish … Continue reading Harriet’s Ball for Leukaemia Research!