Allez, Wiggo!

All hail the incomparable Bradley Wiggins!

First ever British winner of the Tour de France in its 110 year history (99 tours cos of the war years).

And his teammates Chris Froome who came second, and Mark Cavendish, Super Sprinter.

Let's hope they can all recover in time for the Olympics.

British cycling is on a high and the medals are theirs for the taking... 

But enough of jingoism, what about me me me?

Er, nothing much to report actually.

I'm still at home and I'm still improving slowly sloooowly, as ever.

Which is also an apt description of my walking speed.

In fact my condition has improved to the point at which Julia felt she could entrust my overnight care to someone else, in the person of Dixie on this occasion, to whom many thanks are due for stepping in and giving Julia the opportunity to spend an evening and night with her Walking Buddies in Sussex. Dixie and I had a very nice evening together, though with less alcohol consumption than Julia's, I suspect, and happily there were no overnight crises to be dealt with.

Not quite up to a Tour de France yet, but still heading in the right direction.

Out and About

As I gradually recover some strength and energy, Julia and I are able to get out and about a bit more. Nothing too strenuous, except for poor Julia who has to push the wheelchair...

Following our outing to Westminster Abbey on Saturday, we went to look at the magnificent display of the flags of all the world's countries in Regent Street on Sunday.  Very impressed that Julia, who's a bit of a Flag Buff, could recognise almost all of them and attribute them to the correct country.  But then she wouldn't recognise a Carmine Bee-Eater (to pick a random example...) if it sat in her lap, so I guess we all have our own specialities.

Monday is Marsden clinic day, which always takes most of the day, then yesterday we went to see the newly-arrived young otters at the Barnes Wetland Centre and managed to get a very good view of them at feeding time which was a delight.

 And today we made a rather damp excursion to Battersea Park.

So, as you can tell, my energy levels are definitely improving, and it's very good to be able to get out of the house at last and do something other than the daily puzzles in the Times, though I'm still keeping my brain in trim with those as well. Last, but by no means least, it provides some relief for Julia too from the constant grind of meeting the demands of her Moaning Husband.

No news is good news

 

Nothing much to report this week, which is good news.
No crises, no emergencies, no traumas.
Or, in Stanley Holloway's best deadpan Lancastrian accent in his rendition of  'The Lion and Albert':
"There was no wrecks and noobody drownded, 'fact noothin' to laff at at all"
Which is when the trouble started for Albert of course...
But hopefully it's a good sign for me, and not the Lull before another Storm.

I even managed an Extended Outing to Evensong at Westminster Abbey yesterday

with Julia and cousin Eli, for which many thanks are due to Bob and Dixie for organising a wheelchair space for me and for entertaining us all afterwards in their house in Dean's Yard. Bob even threw in a free guided tour of the Abbey after the service. And the choir of course was magnificent. All very spirit-nourishing and memorable.

I'm gradually getting stronger physically and more with-it mentally, although the progress can only be measured week by week rather than daily. But progress there clearly is when I look back a week or two and remember how grim things used to be.

Julia is now encouraging me to try eating some solid food again, so I can wean myself off the NG tube, so we'll see how that goes over the next few days. I hope the recovery process will snowball and therefore accelerate gradually as I take each new step. Inshallah, as ever. We shall see...

Lettuce pray

Just got back from the regular Monday Marsden clinic visit, combined with visit to Sutton Eye hospital (handily next door) for check-up.

And I'm delighted to say that not only are all my blood counts moving in the right direction, but the Eye Doc professed herself v pleased with progress as well. As indeed am I!  Big Improvement in the last few days on the eye front and it's so good to be able to see clearly again, even though they still get tired and irritable towards the end of the day. But then don't we all?

And most of the time I feel a lot less like a Wilted Lettuce than previously.

Not only is this good news for me, but also for poor Julia, who has continued to support me so ably and selflessly through thick and thin, Cos she is a Little Gem (sorry, couldn't resist it). And I say again: I could not have done it without her. She is truly amazing. Here she is making good use of an alternative salad ingredient.




So both today's appointments confirmed what I've been feeling myself recently, namely that I may have Turned a Corner, although I hesitate to tempt Providence by saying so. We shall see, but the signs are all pointing in that direction.
Lettuce hope so...

Wet Wet Wet

What happened to Summer?
Rain, rain and more rain.
Almost as plentiful as the news reports about it:

... wettest June in over 100 years... inundation... massive clean-up operation... what a mess... widespread flooding... mud everywhere... water pouring in...  up to our knees in minutes... Biblical proportions... Emergency Services... overwhelmed... hosepipe ban... blocked drains... abandoned vehicles... rats on streets... media frenzy... hyperbole abounds... blah blah blah...

Not that it has affected me too much yet.
I don't get out a great deal anyway and happily our cellar remains dry to date...

Having said that, I did manage to get out for my first Proper Outing for aaaaaages yesterday. John Graves had very kindly included Julia and me when he bought tickets for an evening game of T20 cricket at the Oval some time ago and at the time I wasn't at all sure I'd be up to it. But it turned out I was!  Hurrah!  Progress!  Had a very good time, much enjoyed the cricket (particularly because Kent won at a canter) and managed to last the whole evening without wilting, Delicate Flower that I am these days.

AND the weather was very fine too...

ECP etc...

Well, another ten days have gone by and I'm still at home.
Hooray!

So far so good, but I'm still very weak and still suffering from dry eyes, mouth and skin (all symptoms of GvHD), so further treatment is necessary,this time in the form of ECP, Extra-Corporeal Photopheresis. Try saying that with your mouth full, or on second thoughts probably better not.

ECP involves taking blood out of the patient (that's me), separating out the white blood cells, exposing them to UVA light and then putting them back again.

The idea is that it restores the balance of T-cells (vital for immune response) in the blood which has been upset by the transplant and GvHD. It's a long-term treatment that means being connected to a machine for several hours on consecutive days every fortnight for something around 9 months. Happily I don't have too many conflicting commitments at the moment....

I had my first dose of ECP on Thursday afternoon and the second on Friday morning. Thursday's was preceded by the insertion of a Hickman line in my jugular vein in the morning to facilitate cycling the blood through the machine.

Not a particularly pleasant procedure, but at least relatively painless (with anaesthetic of course), especially compared with last week's cauterisation trauma. And Dixie very kindly stepped into the breach (which Julia couldn't cover for once), took me to St Thomas's early and stayed until the ECP had begun in the afternoon. Friday's was much quicker and I was back home again only about two and a half hours after leaving, so that's pretty good. I then slept for 15 hours on Friday night, so clearly it took it out of me a bit.

My general weakness is attributable to the long-term use of steroids apparently, so the dose is being gradually reduced week by week with no ill-effects so far. And I can still drag myself up the stairs, so no need for temporary beds or portable loos again yet. Long may that last!

Meanwhile, I'm still on a cocktail of other drugs to prevent various infections or complications from arising, but they seem to be working in that respect, so I have no complaints there.

As for my eyes post-cauterisation, they still need plenty lubrication in the form of various drops and have a way to go to recover fully and allow constant comfortable use. They tire very quickly, so reading for more than a few minutes is still out of the question unfortunately and I have to keep them closed a lot of the time which doesn't make for a very exciting life.

Julia has been and remains a Tower of Strength, Dependability and Love,

despite the fact that this whole ordeal has bee as much of a Trial for her as it has for me, if not more so. She is constantly juggling her responsibilities both at home and at work in order to support me, and any offers of assistance from Friends and Family are always very welcome with both of us, from a Flying Visit to an hour or two spent just Being Here so that Julia can escape the Yoke for a little while.

On the spiritual front too, all that rope-pulling you've been doing

appears to be paying dividends, so please keep it up!