Room with a view

Saturday, believe it or not its already on day 9 of my treatment!

Pretty good night sleep, breakfasted. Feel alright. Was told last night my bloods are now pretty low, which I can notice anyway just by walking around as I get dizzy with mild head aches. You feel like you must have run to the toilet, and got lost, rather than walked a few yards. I wonder if this is what altitude sickness feels like.

As well as chemo there is a lot in store for today. I am now due for the first red blood transfusions this morning. Haemoglobin was around 70, maybe dropping 5-10 a day. Good I think is 180 upwards. I had wondered if they would wait as I seem ok but I guess it makes sense to start before I bottom out. [ooo-err that sounds nasty!!] I on the other hand am the type who waits for the tank to hit red before filling up! So lucky I am not in charge.

I decide it’s a shame not to use my bod for a bit of experimentation, so after breakfast I jump on the cycle machine to see how my body copes with mild exertion while having with a haemo level of around 70. Settings: ez-resistance level 1, 10mins at 8 mph. Av heart rate 121, total distance 1.3 miles, 45 cal. Didn’t feel so bad, but was tiring and could feel my heart. Chris Hoy shouldn’t be worrying.

I hasn’t taken long, but I think I am already fully institutionalised. So maybe all those years at public school really did serve a useful purpose. Life really seems quite pleasant. I have a new room with a new view. Some ones looking out for me because its high up, and facing south-easterly so views over the city down to the sea. At last the Laird of Fittie can keep an eye on his minions from up in his tower!

It’s a shared room of three, again with a flat screen TV donated by ANCHOR. Each room on this ward has one, but the size seems to increase depending on how many of us share the room. The single rooms had perfectly respectable 22 inch, the double room where I spent the last few days an impressive 26, and now this one has an awesome 32 incher! If it got any bigger we’d have to wheel our beds down the corridor to watch it. Only slight down side at the moment is we cant find the remote! lol!

Seriously though, word up from the inside. You would not believe how the little extras funded by ANCHOR have boosted my spirits. Actually some like the TV are big extras. that have been added to these big C wards to make our stay more pleasant. There’s been a few extra tea time treats, the LCD free view TVs in the rooms, and quite a few pieces of equipments. Now I am not yet going to start on the politics, but some of this equipment you would naively thought was essential anyway. So good on you Friends of ANCHOR. A lot of this fight is about positive attitude, so I am told. So when you give money to these charities that add an bit of extra spice and garnish to a person stay in hospital, I am telling you now it makes a HUGE difference. Friends of ANCHOR is a local Aberdeen charity, and the main principle to you out there is that while a small donation may not seem able to find a cure for cancer, it WILL make patients stay on these wards much nicer, which in fact could make the difference for their personal fight to the other side. So what an easy way for you to make a difference. I am intending to set up a fund raising scheme for ANCHOR, so I would be delighted if anyone like me feels its worth supporting. Details will follow in later weeks. In the mean time start saving your pennies!

Finally back to me, of course. Just noticed my mouth is beginning to feel like i've been eating ALUM, its dry rough and now bitter too. I so am wondering how bad this will get.

Only one way to find out – time.

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evening update. Two bags of blood later, decided to take them for a test ride. So back on the bike repeating of this mornings workout. Av heart rate 104, total distance 1.5 miles, 47 cal.
So no need to send the new blood cells back, looks like they work :)