🙂 I sent you one specially… his name is Josiah.
Great news… take care.
Dai.
I'm glad we are doing this again. 😀
My name is Thomas David Crowther but apart from my mother (who calls me David) I am known as Dai…a Welsh diminutive of David. I am married to Janet and we live in a village 12 miles south-east of Nottingham. After 15 months of mis-diagnosis and. frankly, fourth-rate care, I finally saved my life by leaving my beloved Pembrokeshire and finding some wonderful medics here in the midlands.
We used to run a pub/restaurant and a story-tape publishing business in Fishguard but now I write full-time and at present I am at the delicate phase of contracting an agent for my first novel. The second is a work-in-progress.
I started my post Velcade remission in October and I hope it lasts until after the Olympics – I believe my consultant thinks that I am being optimistic… but we'll see.:-)
Dai.
Hi Gina,
Excellent photos, a lovely collection in remembrance of the day. I appreciate why your mum couldn't attend the service but it must have been lovely for her to have you leave from her house… it was a beautiful way of including her as part of your special day.
Well done and congratulations on your wedding… I wish you nothing but love and contentment in your marriage,
Dai.
Hi Jo,
If they can offer you Velcade sub-cut then demand it… there is no comparison – sub-cut has far less side-effects, is easy peasy to administer and has none of the kerfuffle about finding a vein and butchering the back of your hand with cannulas.
Every new Velcade patient at my hospital is being treated this way – so don't 'wait and see'… start with sub-cut and keep it going. 😎
Dai.
Hi all,
Well this started as a test for the picnik software but ended up as 'Guess Who'… in any case the prize goes to Min… I am second from the left with curly hair and flyaway trousers… although I was a mature student (25) at the time of this photo there are at least 4 Phd students at or about my age in the line up… as a matter of fact there is only one 1st year student in the shot (Richie Roberts – 3rd from left, looking down at Paul and Alan who had set up the camera on auto before jumping down onto the tracks and up the other side with literally 2 seconds to spare).
Gill, you would be right if you were basing your guesstimate from the subjects viewpoint but…
Well done Min… I've hardly changed… apart from losing my hair and gaining three stone :-0
Good game… anyone else with a photographic blast from the past? 😀
Dai.
[b]INT[/b] leads me to:
[b]KNITWORK[/b]
… leaving you [b]ORK[/b].
Good morning all 😉
Dai.
HI ted,
I think we are in for another cold and frosty winter… have you had your flu jab… and your pneumonia jab for that matter (the latter will last for up to ten years or so I am told.
Keep warm and well
Dai.
It is very frustrating to be pulled up by something taken out of context and like David I have sat scratching my nose wondering where I have c*cked up. :-/
Personally I would rather that there was no such software applied… while I understand that people could be genuinely offended by coarse and inappropriate language I don't think that it should apply to people who have either reached the end of their tether or consort to swearing because it is the only way of showing the depth or extent of their pain or frustration.
I think we are all old enough to police ourselves and if someone is genuinely offended they could always drop a line to the web team who could ask the offender to tone the language down in an edit or, failing that, remove the offending post.
Just a thought. 😐
Dai.
Thanks for that Wendy – it certainly sounds the part and it was interesting that the test case they chose just happened to be connected to the feet. 🙂
I'll certainly mention this to my consultant… in fact I think I'll ring my lead nurse tomorrow and ask her to chase it up. 😎 My life would be totally different if I could get a 50% reduction to my PN, so its certainly worth following up.
Dai.
Hi Eve,
I am certain that the staff's unease will soon go away but the benefits of your complaint will last much longer, hopefully permanently.
Without being too simplistic I do believe that if you feel better and look better you generally are better – after such a long and drawn out period Slim deserves to look feel and be better – and I am sure that you feel the same and that Slim's general well being will be reflected in and on you. I would be a fool not to notice that on my 'good' days Janet is far more cheery and upbeat… which is why I love 'good' days. 🙂
As for planning a holiday we are both satisfied to stay at home and venture out to do anything considered 'normal'… after the past 6 weeks of chest infection (on its last legs but still there in the background) we are both delighted that i now feel able to start normalcy… its a great feeling and we both enjoy the results. We are both looking forward to the Xmas break , my favourite time of the year.
I saw my consultant on Monday and she doesn't want to see me until the 9th of January (in for bloods on December 20th so the results will be ready for our january meet) so God and body willing we can relax and enjoy all the goodwill and seasonal get togethers and jollies. I will allow myself a beer or two and the occasional glass of wine… I haven't touched a drop since last Xmas and the few drops I had then had no bad side effects so I'm looking forward to repeating the process – moderation in all things and enjoyments in the bag.
My son's birthday is on the 1st December… and that is the signal for the start of the Xmas season for me. I will be 58 on Xmas Eve and I aim to celebrate it quietly but meaningfully… I love Xmas. 😎
Dai.
Hi Paul,
I make a point of trying very hard not to long for past abilities… my bone damage and PN limit my mobility although I walk unaided and generally 'look the part'… I accept and I am grateful for this existence and treat it as phase 2 of living.
Saying that I can quite happily reminisce about happy times and achievements in or from phase 1… without wishing for it or regretting its passing. I am 57, with a current target/goal of reaching 60… if I get there then I will set the next target/goal etcetera. It works for me. 🙂
I played Hockey for 18 years and enjoyed it immensely… it just happened to be the sport which suited my talents the best, although I would gladly have swapped it for rugby or football if my skills were transferrable. During that phase I also enjoyed walking and hiking… a habit picked up from my local Boy's Brigade unit which specialised in outdoor pursuits for the Duke Of Edinburgh's Award Scheme. I got my silver but life, music and girls intervened and I got too old to try for the gold. Still, I managed about 4 or 5 good hikes a year, mainly on or about the Pennine Way during my 20's and early 30's but from the age of 15 to 20 I virtually lived in Edale, spending every other week-end there, walking, camping and enjoying the delights of the Nag's Head… where I was introduced to Folk Music which, amongst other genres, has remained a lifelong passion. A good folk singalong after a day's hiking, accompanied by 2 or 3 pints of real ale in the pub was, for me, at that particular time, as good as it got… a truly immeasurable pleasure.
There was a group of 5/7 of us, all garnered from that BB unit, that hiked parts of the Pennine Way and most of the Lake District (including a 2 week camp at Sedbergh, North Yorkshire, which the BB unit still attend each year). Our best achievement… and I have to admit the least enjoyable, was doing the 3 peaks… Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike & Snowdon, over one long weekend… starting out from Mansfield, Notts early on Friday morning and ending on the top of Snowdon at 8pm on the Sunday evening… we all missed work the next day. We had 2 non-walking drivers and a 17 seater mini-bus with 6 walkers, myself included… It was a gruelling yomp and it put me off hiking for a good 6 months or more… but we did it. 🙂
These day I get the same sort of elation when I manage a day out shopping in Nottingham followed by the cinema and supper… expending the same amount of energy and the same amount of tiredness at the end of the trip… but far more enjoyable. 😎
Enjoy the holiday and look forward to completing your SCT and the sense of freedom to plan ahead as you recover. 🙂
Dai.
Hi Gill & Stephen,
I can't help with this combo… but on the subject of wind, which is often thought of as somehow comical but in reality is not funny at all.
A strategy I find helpful in public places, particularly supermarkets, is to find a little old lady (I find that you are spoilt for choice with little old ladies in supermarkets, whatever the time of day). Stand behind your LOL, pass wind and gently waft your trousers (ensuring quick distribution and forcing the issue into a general area). When you become aware of the perfume look down at the LOL from behind and shake your head slowly and sorrowfully with a faint smile of acceptance and understanding. I find this works on the majority of occasions… if the LOL looks around for the culprit catch her eye and nod to the front… once she turns to the front repeat your first strategy, shaking your head a little more vigorously and increase your smile.
Sorted. 😉
Dai.
Hi Paul,
Great news that your CDT treatment has done its job, great news indeed. 😎 😀
I had my CDT treatments over the summer of '09 and after a hitch or two I had my SCT in March '10. The hitches prevented a pre-Xmas SCT (I would have been due out on or around the 20th December)… which meant I was in remission for the Xmas holidays… and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute.
I was in good health for Xmas '10 and I am in remission for Xmas '11… bliss. The times in between have been… interesting… but Xmas's have come good. 🙂
[b]Prescription:[/b] Enjoy yourself enormously over the whole of the festive season, try your hardest to put the damned disease to the back of your mind and only turn your thoughts towards your SCT on the 2nd of January… and not a moment before. 😎 😎 😎
[b]Doctor Da[/b]i.
My condolences for the grief you must be feeling for your lovely niece David.
I had a cousin Mandy who was devastated to hear my news re: Myeloma… she sent me messages of support on Facebook and the occasional email whenever she heard of minor or major successes. I hadn't seen her for many years (25 or more) and yet she responded with wonderful grace and garnered similar support from other long lost Crowthers. Mandy contracted liver cancer earlier this year and died within 8 weeks of being diagnosed. We never did get the chance to meet.
Since leaving Fishguard in May '09 I have lost 2 acquaintances and 1 good friend… all from cancer and all quite quickly. Each of them offered me support in my troubles and yet here I am… I fully appreciate your Doctor's missive about this unexpected bonus from MM… and I fully intend to make use of it.
My respects to your family.
Dai.
I wouldn't worry too much about the apparent 'cold shoulders' Eve. My nurses actively encourage complaints from long term patients… I believe that they are confident that their care is professional and generally A-OK and that the problems are almost exclusively those related to processes and procedures… if they are addressed then the overall effect makes it better for everyone involved, patients and staff alike.
The news that you have made a complaint is bound to provoke raised guards until the nature of your complaint is perceived… once the staff realise that it is a procedural complaint and not related to general care then I am sure that they will silently applaud your actions.
Well done either way… when I think of all those times when you have been battered and beaten down by such tardiness and thoughtlessness I am moved beyond frustration to anger. Each time that I have suggested minor procedural changes to help the input and output of patients they have been listened too and acted upon… where they have not been acted upon I have been given good reason (which I have understood and accepted) why the changes would not be helpful.
More power to your elbow Eve. 🙂
Dai.
