Hi everyone, the last I left off was that I was just back home from my 5th cycle of chemo, now 4 weeks ago. I guess in those four weeks a lot has happened, but really nothing of much note. I have a bit of a routine, which I’ve had for a while now but at least I’ve been able to continue it. I’d get up about 8 and get a wash or shower and then go downstairs and get some breakfast and from there basically see how I’m feeling for what I’ll do that day. Normally this would be reading and catching up on tv that I’ve recorded and thrown in some organizing something around the house. One thing I’ve enjoyed is a bit of gardening, and I do mean a bit as I’ve only some potted plants and not an actual garden, it’s nice to have something to show for it and to see the growth of the plants.
In regards to reading, I’ve probably read a lot more than I’ve realized over the last while, I know I’ve finished a few books but none have really stood out and probably won’t read them again. I’ve been reading books that I’ve got for free on kindle over the years and never got the time or interest to read them and now I know why.
For TV each week I go through the Radio Times and set up either series links or record a single show, some of my favorites are the documentary shows, engineering and science, and how food is being produced and shipped to supermarkets, although I’ve been watching so many that I’ve found a lot of overlaps where different shows are using the same video clips and pretty much the same wording used when describing things. I’ve also been watching Boy Meets World and the Simpsons on Disney+ and the Mandalorian, although I’m a bit disappointed with it, that’s pretty normal for shows that are really hyped up.
I’m also doing a bit of Sign Language, I completed Level 1 BSL about 7 years ago so it’s mostly scratching up on that. I know one day it’ll be very likely that I’ll need it as my hearing is already pretty bad and getting worse, I can’t go to noisy pubs and clubs and generally places that have a noisy background as I can’t make out individual voices and suffer badly for days after with my tinnitus being extra bad, it’s just generally a pretty unpleasant experience. And then with all this Covid stuff, I don’t see me doing that for a long time again. Even talking about it has made me focus on the tinnitus and it’s getting louder and louder so I’ll move on from it.
I’ve also been making silly videos, they’re so stupid and crap which is part of the plan behind them that they’re so rubbish they’re good, or at least that’s the idea behind them anyway.
I’m trying to think of other things that I’ve been doing to pass the time, but can’t, even writing this is a bit of a struggle, I keep losing concentration and switch off and end up blinking and losing a few hours and not having a clue as to what I’ve done, it’s really frustrating at times that you think oh great I’ll certainly make the most of today and then the days half over but then at the same time I think it can only be a good thing that the time is going in so fast. It’s almost as if I’m half asleep all the time.
Last week I spent a couple of days going through old family pictures and scanning them to get a digital copy of them all, I think there are three bags in total and I’ve only finished the one but will give me something more to do when I get them. With the clearer nights, I’ve been able to get into the yard to do a bit of stargazing, with the Skylink satellites and Lyrid meteor shower I got out for maybe 30 mins to an hour a few nights in a row to have a nosey, seen a few meteors but nothing too much, not bad for in the city but I did time a picture on my phone well for a satellite that went over and got quite bright as it reflected the sun really well and seen a few of the Skylink satellites too. The week prior I got the camera all set up, or at least mostly to be able to do some deep space photography but it needs to be aligned properly with the north star which is a challenge as I cant see the north star from the yard and will need to rely on phone apps to get it, but that will not be accurate which will in turn not be good for the deep-sky photography. I’ll work this out eventually, the pictures will be good once I do. I should make this a priority as the clear nights will probably not last much longer and not have the opportunity to get anything.
So on to actual health stuff, the mornings are rough, my cough is continuous and has been gradually moving into my lungs, the mornings are definitely the worst I’m so bunged up and any time I lie down I’m really wheezy and crackly, it’s not pleasant and bar the breathing exercises there’s nothing I can really do. At the start of the week what I was coughing up seemed to go a stronger green and was also a lot thicker than what it had been but that seems to have settled a bit compared to what it was. My chest is also a different sore than what I had, the numbness is starting to clear up and I can feel more which also includes being sore in those parts but the parts that were sore before don’t seem to be as sore. It will take a while for this to ease I’m sure but it will eventually and hopefully the cough as well I’ve had this for about 3 or 4 months now and it just seems to be gradually getting worse but never really getting to the really bad enough to do anything about and considering I’ve no temps and mostly not green, I doubt there is very much that can be done and if it is anything it’s most likely to be a viral infection for which there isn’t anything that can be done. It would be nice if it just shifted though.
As I was due to get my last chemo this week I phoned the hospital to confirm that it wasn’t going ahead, just on the off chance that they might have been able to go ahead with it. They didn’t get back for ages and I thought they might actually be looking into getting it set up for me to get, but it turned out they were just really busy and didn’t have time to get back to me about it and had said that it definitely wasn’t going ahead. A bit disappointing but understandable. And so I have finished my last planned chemo, for now anyway, not back with them again for another 4 weeks for a checkup but I’m not quite sure where exactly I’ll have to go for that or what’s happening with the PICC line, or what’s happening with the bone marrow transplant or what. All I DO know is that I got another 2 letters from the hospital telling me I had to isolate for 12 weeks, when I first read it I quickly went through it and left it a few days and wondered if it was a reset of the 12-week timer and it specifically stated “12 weeks from today” so I guess that’s at least another 3 months in the house. Apart from the essential stuff I’ve pretty much been in isolation for 222 days now so it’s all pretty much normal by this stage and don’t see any of that changing any time soon.
Generally, everything has been pretty “boring” and noneventful, that in itself is good but it doesn’t make for good blog writing, this has probably taken me about 3 hours to write as I kept getting distracted but it’s done now. I hope you are all keeping well and are not struggling, I think we’ve been very lucky with the weather, can you imagine how everyone would be feeling if it was miserable out there? Or in the middle of winter when there’s barely any sunlight!!? It’s certainly made people appreciate what we have around us a lot more and people are noticing things in nature they never did before, but they haven’t just started doing that, you’ve only just noticed they have. Anyway keep well and stay safe.