I thought I'd keep a bit of this momentum going, while I'm feeling it.
Monday, the 13th of January was a big day in my early treatment and is when things really started happening,
One of the advantages of being (relatively) young, fit and healthy is the medical wizards can attack Leukemia aggressively. It's like being broken down to be built back up again. My Consultant had a very good idea about the condition we were dealing with, from my blood results and symptoms. To get a full picture and target my treatment specifically,a biopsy of my bone marrow would be necessary.
One of the disadvantages of being (relatively) young, fit and healthy is that you have strong bones. I think I may have the dubious honour of breaking some kind of record, as the first two needles bent and broke on my hip bone! Cue the consultant scratching her head and muttering: "This is the first time this has happened in 25 years." She then sent for a colleague with a drill!
I spent the next 40 minutes or so in the foetus position gritting my teeth and being drilled from behind. We even had a bit of Post Malone playing in the background and chatted about running. Not a bad first date. When the sample had been removed, it was stuck in the syringe and comedically fired into the air. I assume he caught it.
It was one of those bizarre moments where a bit of humour got me through. I later told one of my mates about this experience and he had to have a lie down on the floor. We nearly called a nurse for him!
I then went to X Ray to have my PICC line put in. This is basically a sturdier Cannular that helps administer my life-saving drugs, monitor by blood, etc. It's not that obtrusive but feels weird until you get used to it being there all the time.
My Daughter came to visit that evening and I was having some treatment through my drip. I explained I'd got "bad potion" in me and the Doctors were helping me with "good potion." That seemed to make sense to her (I should probably add that she's nearly 6.) I showed her round my room and we played together, trying to keep some sense of normality. She didn't was to leave when it was time to go and that was difficult. I just about managed to hold it together.
We spend as much time together as we can. My Daughter is top of the tree when it comes to my priorities in life and being away from her has been one of the most difficult things to deal with. I'm just trying to see it as a short term thing, hang on to the prospect of making a full recovery and being able to do all the stuff we could do before. I hope that her resilience and spirit will mean she barely remembers this when she's older.
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