We're heading for the magical Day +100 when all is revealed as to the state of my health. From where I'm sitting (more about that in a minute), I have never felt better though I am still not all that physically fit. This week is Susan's spring break so Sam and I were left to our own devices while she swanned off to Arizona for some very hard-earned R&R. Our weekend started at lunchtime on Friday when we drove up to Danville in Kentucky for Sam to experience a bit of immersion at Centre College, one of the two colleges that he has narrowed his search to. For some odd reason, I managed to wind up on my own for dinner at a definitely not Michelin-rated barbecue joint (Brothers in 4th St) for the most excellent half rack of ribs I've ever had. I shared a table with a family from Greensboro who didn't seem at all perturbed when I wiped the table down with hand sanitiser before joining them. They were good company, the food was excellent and my guts haven't given me any cause for concern since. I was even feeling OK enough to do a sideline ref assignment on an adult game on Monday. The teams were absolutely gentlemanly, only briefly calling my ability into doubt on two occasions. (One joy of wearing glasses when you ref is that it defuses the most common "witty" remark that players make.) We were watched by a ref assessor who informed me that I didn't keep up with the play as quickly as I could. I thanked him for his comments.
Susan returned to civilisation late on Tuesday night and on Wednesday we drove once more to Wake Forest Baptist Hospital for more tests. I even drove there - the furthest I have driven this year. My numbers all look good though still a bit low, especially the white blood cells. As part of the day, I was injected with radioactive sugar and then spent half an hour in a PET scanner to find any nasty bits in my bones. I don't know the result of that yet. (In case you're curious, being injected with radioactive sugar doesn't make your pee glow in the dark).
The real fun part of the day (which explains the title of this post) came from my last appointment. I hadn't expected it but I had to have a bone marrow biopsy. This involves supposedly numbing your backside and then drilling holes in your thigh bone which I would describe as somewhat painful. Then they stick a needle in there and suck out a dollop of marrow - this is well up there on the "bloody painful" scale.
It also triggers a bizarre reaction akin to zapping frogs' legs with 12 volts only on a much larger scale. It was so much fun that they did it twice. I rate the experience as the third most unpleasant medical procedure I have ever had, surpassed only by having the port inserted in my chest for the transplant and, the Oscar winner, having the port taken out again a week later. So I am now sitting in my favourite big squashy armchair trying to ignore the huge padded plaster on my left buttock.
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