Well, it’s been a while folks, but to be honest, the last
couple of months have been the toughest I’ve ever had to cope with – and updating
the blog was way down my list of priorities.
When the lovely people at Royal Berks told me the stem-cell transplant treatment
was tough, they weren’t joking. Although
in reality, it’s the high-dose chemo you receive immediately before the
transplant that causes the problems - as I said in my last update, it felt more nuclear-dose than high-dose. Suffice
to say, I never, never, never want to have to go through that again.
Anyway, although I do still have to go through a series of
radiotherapy, I feel like I’m now on the mend.
This means I’ve now got a semi-reasonable level of immunity (enough to see people and get out and about) and am very slowly regaining my strength. Along with that, my desire
to return to some semblance of normality i.e. leave the house occasionally and
get back to doing some work has kicked in big-time. I've never been famous for my patience! I drove myself to the shop and back for the first
time last week, have started going on short dog walks with Kevin and the hounds
and even went out for a birthday meal on Saturday night (a friends, not mine –
that party will be in June!).
My taste
buds have started to come back as well which is fab – being able to actually
taste what I’m eating feels like such a bonus!
And thank the Lord, after pouring a glass and tasting it with much trepidation, I'm delighted to confirm that I do still love wine!!
So, I have also been enjoying the odd little tipple of a lovely NZ Marlborough
Sauvignon Blanc I found… ;-)
The only downside of all of this activity is that whenever I
actually do any of these things, I need to ‘have a
little rest’ afterwards, which makes me feel bloody ancient. I mean, I know I’m getting on, but this is ridiculous! I’m hoping that this
requirement for ‘rest’ will reduce as time goes on – after all, Spring has now
well and truly sprung, which means we’re approaching silly season in the Henley
neck of the woods and I’ll need to be fully recovered to cope with that…
