Archive for January 2016

Kicking AML’s Ass: Counts recovery

Posted by on January 26th 2016 in Health, or lack thereof
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Well, I stayed at the crease for long enough to save the match. If you were in the crowd then I'm raising my bat to you, your support is much appreciated.

The fungal infection never revealed itself despite being hunted via x-ray, CT scan and then bronchoscopy. Maybe we scared it away?

My neutrophil count stayed at zero for a few days and then on Jan 21st I had an inexplicable feeling that something had changed for the better. I mentioned it to the consultant during rounds, he was kind but sceptical. Nevertheless, a few minutes later he was back, telling me that my neutrophils had indeed gone up from 0.00 to 0.12 - that was good enough for me. The next day it was still at 0.11, so still looking OK.

The next day there was no value for the count, so when the consultants did their ward-round I asked for the reason why. Apparently at the weekend the bloods are subject to a different team/process which doesn't give a neutrophil value. I said that I was tracking my progress and was disappointed at not having a count, but the lead consultant haematologist rebuffed me with something dismissive, something like "0.11? It's just a blip. If your counts are really rising after such a short period, you'll be the first person we've ever had who has started to recover so soon. You'll need another week for the counts to start to recover for real." I wasn't overjoyed - she wasn't very inspiring, and I told her so before she went. I also told her that I thought she was wrong, I could feel that I was getting better.

Sunday went by with no count and no problems.

Monday, however, was a peach. A different consultant was at the desk when I asked the nurse for my neutrophil count.

0.31

I asked the nurse to repeat it louder, as if I was having trouble hearing.

0.31!

Nobody dared to stop me celebrating (wandering the ward supping a pint bottle of Magners).

And the counts have continued to rise every day  🙂

For some strange reason, the disparaging lead consultant hasn't seen me since.

 

This post has been backdated from 2nd Feb.

Kicking AML’s Ass: It’s what we call a “Shake ’n Bake” colony

Posted by on January 23rd 2016 in Health, or lack thereof
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Well, there I was, breezing through the days, padding away all of the bugs, when I was informed by both umpires and the TMO that I had picked up a fungal infection. The docs suspected that it might be the cause of the slight wheezing in my lungs, and weren't really open to the idea that the wheezing might be a natural purging reaction to my packing in the cigs after 30+ years.

So the docs decided to give me IV antifungal treatment. Amphotericin B. A low dose for an hour to see how I coped with it, and the rest of the 100ml bag over the next hour. It went down well, no bad reactions but it did make me a bit nauseous and my temperature started to spike. That was enough for them to decide to change weapons. Out with the Amphotericin, in with the Caspofungin, to be preceded by IV Piriton to prevent any nasty allergic reactions.

Well, all that went well for a dose or two until, for some reason, I was given the fungicide without the Piriton...

My depleted body started shaking violently, and I still don't know where it found the energy to do so. I had to bite the sheets in order to avoid breaking my teeth and biting through my tongue. During the shakes I managed to snag a cannula, resulting in much spraying of blood. High temperatures and shaking chills (leading to the medical slang term "shake and bake"), vomiting and a totally-warranted session of Coprolalia for at least 15 minutes all led to me being a right mess with headaches, aching limbs and drained muscles by the time the antidote and oxygen had fully kicked in.

I remember thinking that I'd reached the end of my mortal coil and was hanging there staring the Devil in the eye. I'd never experienced such uncontrollable pain, and was sure as hell not going to go through that ever again.

Or so I thought.

Unbelievably. a day later it happened again, with almost exactly the same results. At least I knew which words to bellow out as loud as I could while descending to Hades:

"Where's my fucking Piriton?"

Or something like that but less polite.

Kicking AML’s Ass: No needle in my haystack

Posted by on January 10th 2016 in Health, or lack thereof
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My latest blood test results say that I now have full-on chemo-induced neutropenia.

The generally-accepted healthy reference range for absolute neutrophil count (ANC) in adults is 2.5–7.5 x 109 cells/L of blood. Any ANC of <1.5 x 109 cells/L is considered neutropenia, but <0.5 x 109 cells/L is considered severe.

I have 0.00 x 109 cells/L - none - zilch.

So I'm open to any infection that nature bowls at me, I have a broken bat, and I need to stay at the crease for another 3 weeks. If each yorker, carrom ball or googly can't be padded away then my stumps will be uprooted, the bails will be off and I'll never play for the First XI ever again.

It's a sobering thought. I'll sleep on it.

Kicking AML’s Ass: In Room 101

Posted by on January 8th 2016 in Health, or lack thereof
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"You asked me once," said O'Brien, "what was in Room 101.

I told you that you knew the answer already.

Everyone knows it.

The thing that is in Room 101 is the worst thing in the world."

 

 

The trademark beard has started to fall out.

I might need to rename the blog.

Kicking AML’s Ass: The eyes have it!

Posted by on January 7th 2016 in Health, or lack thereof
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Well, yesterday the ophthalmologist assessed my eyes and found minor damage to the retina in the right eye. It's nothing to worry about and it's not the cause of the photophobia - she couldn't pin down a cause for the increased sensitivity but she will continue her investigations. Basically, it's a "wait and see" scenario 🙂 with an outpatient appointment (LOL) two weeks hence.

I spent the afternoon and evening with huge pupils due to the dilation drops, the nurses said that I looked like the cat from Shrek.

 

Kicking AML’s Ass: Squint – squit – quit

Posted by on January 5th 2016 in Health, or lack thereof
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They all say that I am reacting well to the treatment and that my blood-counts are on the up, so that's good news.

The not-so-good news is that for some reason I have developed a selective photophobia. I've had a similar thing a few times before when accidentally exposed to welding glare, in the trade we called it arc-eye, the proper term is Photokeratitis and that is due to exposure to strong UV emissions. Anyone who has ever had it will know just how excruciating it can be.

This time, however, it's different. I'm fine with most light sources, but the strip-lights in the ward corridors and rooms are driving me crazy. The Wikipedia page for photophobia lists chemotherapy as a cause, and the docs are going to get an Ophthalmologist to take a peek at my mince-pies. I thought that their interim advice for me to "keep an eye on things to see if they get worse" was a tad droll.

Oh, and the combination of high-sugar, high-carb, high-protein drinks, antibiotics and a new dietary regime (at odds with the diet recommended by the cardio peeps) has given me the raging trots. I tell you, I could shit through the eye of a needle!

So you can imagine the scene... a temporarily blinded man racing down an obstacle-filled over-lit corridor to get to the over-lit toilets...

Some you win, some you lose  🙁

Can you tell that the prescribed NiQuitin Step 2 nicotine patches aren't quite cutting the mustard? Still, they are better than nothing - I had to wait 3 or 4 days for the first lot of patches, and when they arrived they were Step 3 when I really should have been started on Step 1. I'm down to 2 ciggies a day, I think that's a major reduction and I feel quite triumphant. Others have their own opinions, but generally they have never smoked and don't understand how difficult it is to kick a 30+ year habit in such a short period of time.

I would like to give up completely, but the boredom here now, and the prospect of another 4 weeks of it, are not exactly conducive to a measured, managed and controlled withdrawal from the ubiquitous South American herbal remedy. Oddly, the staff here consider e-cigs to be a total no-no due to the lack of scientific evidence of their safety, despite the lack of tar and particulates found in "proper" smoke.

Apart from that, I'm fine. Honest!
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