Another week has passed in this new universe of illness. It's now twenty days. The major medications are a week or so past and the most recent appointment was last Friday 16th January. I'm less of a burden on the NHS than I was back then! I'm still keeping Kym busy.
As the week has progressed I have generally felt less unwell. I was starting from quite a low point, however.
The appointment last Friday was for a CT scan. Quite an interesting episode. I'm hoping to be able to view the results; although I'm unsure whether my ticket buys such facility. The staff, as ever, were courteous, kind and efficient. The hospital was clean and tidy and the procedure was pretty much trouble-free. However the recorded voice in the CT scan machine needs to be louder. I heard and obeyed the "breathe in" command - but failed to hear the "breathe" one. Consequently I'm hanging on and thinking "it's a good job I've got good lung capacity". Just before my skin turned red and my eyes popped out I noticed the small operating light had extinguished! I paid more attention on subsequent cycles. After that all went well. I didn't admit my error.
Believe it or not; that was not the high spot of the last week.
I was very pleased that my brother Pete, took the time and effort to collect my daughter Sarah and drop in on us. In the best traditions of early Huxley family life we had a roast lamb lunch.
It's funny, of all the Sunday lunches we enjoyed; always around the dining room table accompanied by "The Billy Cotton Band Show" or "The Navy Lark" or "Around the Horne" - radio programmes from the late 1950's and early 1960's, we always seemed to have roast lamb. I guess we must have had other meats but it's lamb I remember most - with hand made mint sauce with mint from the garden, sugar, vinegar and boiling water. I thought myself a chef!
No need for that distant nostalgia.
We'd already had a visit from our friend and minister Phil. That was doubly interesting because he's recently been through chemo (and surgery) for something else. It was good to hear that although progress can be faltering there is always hope.
On Sunday we stayed at home, but were pleased to welcome our friend Cyril. He too has had some ongoing health issues; including having cataracts replaced and a terrible dose of flu.
I really loved having visitors; but did find it a little tiring. But on balance: great to see people.
Monday 19th was a poorly day. Head aches, dizziness and aching limbs. The Tuesday was even worse - same ailments and no energy but I woke with a rash. Light on my torso and thighs. A phone call to the Macmillan nurse Karen revealed it was most likely a reaction to one of the drugs. So was advised to stop taking the one that is supposed to minimise the risk of gout.
The next day, Wednesday, my mood was low and I felt a bit resentful at being indoors; but didn't have the energy to get out. So I decided to channel my efforts to sort out this laptop. By the way I had already crashed it and made it unusable - Windows failure. I wasn't too bothered as I'm a Ubuntu fan. So I plodded through the day and installed Ubuntu 14.04 and got all the apps and settings I need. By the evening the rash was rife - there were more spots and red flush than my normal lovely manly complexion.
Another positive during the last couple of nights I have slept quite well; one night with sleeping pills and last night without. I awoke this morning feeling better than I have at any point this year! I still have some light-headedness and minor headache - but feeling almost human.
I did a little web research on lymph-clearing exercises; including yoga - so watch this space for more news on that. After the exercises I felt a little cleared in the sinus areas.
http://blog.massagebyheather.com/self-lymph-drainage-massage/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPlEa33er_c
Best wishes to all
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