Will you still love me to-marrow - John Mycroft and Multiple Myeloma

I mentioned my dud leg at my chemo session on Tuesday and the world went into Grey's Anatomy mode (which doesn't mean I hopped into a storage cupboard to have it off with a pretty nurse).  Instead, they sent me across the road to the ultrasound place where a pretty young lady ran an electronic thingy all over my legs while I thought of Donald Trump speeches, John Arlott commentaries and kangaroo courts with my boss to avoid embarrassing myself.  The ultrasounds showed no blood clots (which is what everyone was looking for) so that was a relief.  A week down the track and both legs still hurt despite my being as lazy as possible and slapping ice on.  I reffed a couple of soccer games yesterday in the hope of loosening something up and was rewarded with a nasty ripping feeling in my right buttock. I've taken some pictures showing my chemo pipes for anyone who's interested but Microsoft in their infinite wisdom have decided not to support SD card readers in Windows 10 ...

Well that weekend can probably be most accurately described as "interesting".  I spent it slowly falling apart.  It all started on Friday morning when I woke up with my lower right leg aching, a bit like cramp though it wasn't cramped.  As Ruth at Cancer Care always asks me if I'm hurting anywhere, I figured it may not be a good sign so I gave them a ring.  They weren't at all worried so I slapped an ice pack on it which helped more than a little.  It wasn't any better Saturday morning (notice that it didn't hurt enough to keep me awake) so, as I had a couple of soccer games to ref, I plastered it with Deep Heat (or CVS's cheapo imitation) and trotted off to ref. One of the teams didn't turn up for the first game so, as there were 13 people there (refs, players, coach) we decided on a quick game of 6 a side with me reffing.  All went well until I decided to play the last 10 minutes at which point both legs decided I should act my sodding age.  Fo...

Over the last few months I have looked longingly at my guitar (a La Patrie Concert CW) and at my shaky hands and thought "Maybe tomorrow," or strummed it a bit. Today I plucked it from its case determined to give it a bit of serious exercise. First I learned that tremelo is not an option - it's amazing how many incorrect combinations of 3 fingers your right hand can produce when all it has to do is pick 3-2-1 repeatedly.  Then on to some old favourites and not so favourites.  One advantage of not playing something for a while is that you forget that there are certain bits you can't play and, before you've realised it, you've reached such a bit and played it with no problem so you go back and play it again and again and grin like an idiot.  One such was the opening of Carnival - could never get from the harmonics to the chords convincingly and today it just happened without thinking about it.  Fortunately there was nobody within earshot to hear me play it...

Following the trip to Wake Forest, my meds got bumped majorly.  Instead of a Cytoxan pill, 10 steroids and a shot in the belly every Tuesday, I am now getting a Revlimid every day, 10 steroids on Tuesday and an IV drip on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.  Because Revlimid is a derivative of Thalidomide, I am not allowed to have unprotected sex with fertile women so there goes that hobby.  (The risk of doing it, other than getting belted by Susan, has never been proven.) What better way to test the safety of your meds than buggering off out of wi-fi range to England for a week.  It turned out that more of England is out of wi-fi range than anticipated - for example, my wi-fi gave up somewhere between the free connection at Starbucks on Exeter St Davids station and the free wi-fi on the train on platform 5 and didn't kick in again until I reached Heathrow 2 days later (via an overnight in Paddington the train wasn't that late). I took the Revlimid & steroids with me but ...

The soccer reffing season here in Asheville always starts with a bang - the Riverside Shootout tournament run over two weekends.  The first weekend (which was this last weekend) is for boys and the second weekend - you work it out.  I had 2 games on Saturday and two more on Sunday, both in 85 degree heat and 100% humidity so I think I held up pretty well.  Even better, my mind was up to the job - I've previously had trouble figuring out who'd done what and who should get a free kick or throw in.  A coach who'd been a nice friendly guy on Saturday decided to blow a gasket at my assistant refs on Sunday - I'm guessing he'd had a rough night or not won as many games as he'd hoped. Plans for this weekend are 3 games on Saturday and another 3 on Sunday so guess who will be as stiff as a board on Monday.    I then start a whole new chemo regime on Tuesday - still with the Revlimid and steroids but with a beefier intravenous drip with the option of having a ...

Off to Wake Forest full of hope and expectation.  Well, it was a nice drive.  It turns out that all the gunk I have been swallowing and having stuck in me has not been as successful as needed and anticipated.  So, while I feel better than I did, I am nowhere near remission which is where I should be by now.  The chemo is bumping off the nasties in my blood stream but it is also bumping off the good bits so we've got to get more aggressive while I've still got some viable marrow. This means the next step is to up the power of the chemo, filling me up through a vein infusion rather than a quick jab in the gut.  That's likely to give me a real taste of the traditional chemo side-effects of vomiting and diarrhea should be fun at school. I get this week off from chemo capsules which will give my body time to recover before I start the nastier stuff (whose name I can't remember but rest assured it will be branded on my brain as much as the others ere long).  As...

This morning Susan and I will take a drive (OK, she'll drive) to Wake Forest University Hospital to discuss a stem cell transplant.  We're not 100% clear on whether they are telling us what it's all about, if they are preparing me for one (ie checking my insurance is up to date) or saying "Hop up on the table while I drill holes in your leg".  All will be revealed.  I have had some generous offers of stem cells from some lovely people but the good news from them is that my own cells get taken, treated really nastily and then pumped back in again some days later.  This could all involve an extended stay in Winston Salem which isn't a bad place to get stuck - they like you to stay near the hospital, presumably "just in case".  Don't like the sound of that. At least it gets me out of a day of meetings at school including one about the new time and attendance management system which I suspect is going to be aimed at implementing the new overtime pay...