Week of 11th February, 2019

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Monday, 11th February

Pre-chemotherapy consultation at Charing Cross Hospital, today. This is with the nursing staff who will actually carry out the procedure, and it's likely to involve lots of tests, and medical catechisms, before they mildly poison me on Thursday - the idea being that any cancer cells are more vulnerable to poisoning than I am.

On the day: Well, it was mostly a briefing from the clinic manager - a senior nurse. I mentioned, I think, that this unit is operated by nurses, under the general direction of consultant-level doctors. In the process of this, I discovered that the swabs they took last month, for MRSA, had come back positive. So I've got a script for medications to deal with that - I'm a carrier, not specifically infected. Tests done were blood pressure, and some blood samples. And it was confirmed that they would like me to be accompanied on my return home after the treatment on Thursday.

Talking of which... There was confusion about what time I should attend. The original appointment was for 10:30, but the computer also had me listed for 15:30, which is really too late, since the IV treatment takes in excess of 3 hours. And then the time got written in my treatment record book (that I need to bring to every appointment) Of course, for that late, Jane can't turn out to chauffeur me, because minded children and a recently-arranged exercise session.

I had to get the time snafu resolved - which it eventually was - back to the original time of 10:30. And Jenny will collect me, by taxi. I will text her once all is done, and she will come. Must make sure I have many $hekels in cash with me - the fare will likely be UKP30 or more - remember that Katy picking me up from St. Mary's, Paddington after the surgery cost in excess of UKP40. This isn't so far, but London black cabs are expensive. And no, we don't do Uber.

Side effects for the chemotherapy regime are many and various. You need to monitor your body temperature - anything above 37.5 Celsius is bad, and you should phone the helpline immediately. So I invested in one of the oral digital thermometers, and will add temperature to my vital signs observations.

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Tuesday, 12th February

The extra wheel for the scooter arrived yesterday, and Jane managed to fit it successfully. But that still leaves the rear wheels, which I did today. Either I've done this one before, or the manufacturer didn't use as much threadlocker on the axle retaining screw, because removal was easy, compared to the other scooter. No need to change the brake on this one, so I didn't need to unbolt the deck. Now there's just the scooter that needs its handgrips replaced.

Blood Pressure 129/74, pulse 81, SpO2 99%, temperature 35.7 Celsius. All good.

<Later>

Aaaand... it's Patch Tuesday. latitude is updated, waiting on inspiration2. Then I'll fire up tord.

There's another GPS week rollover on April 6th next. Any device built in the last 5 or more years should be fine. Which means most smartphones... and hopefully my AvMap 6.

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Wednesday, 13th February

tord is now updated to current, as is inspiration2. This month is, apparently, a big one - lots of bad things fixed. And Adobe have also offered patches for Reader. I've fixed that on inspiration2, but tord still needs to be done.

This morning comes a text from the hospital - they want to change my appointment time to 09:15. Barring the fact that that's inconvenient, because early, it has no major effect - pickup time may be earlier, but there's no problem with me waiting until I can be accompanied.

And then came a phone call. They've mislaid the consent form I signed last month, and need me to sign another. I'm supposed to get that done at 11:00, and take it up to the Day Ward on the 6th floor, after which there should be no impediment to treatment. But the woman couldn't guarantee that treatment would happen tomorrow, which discombobulates homegoing arrangements. I gather Katy may be turning out to chauffeur me, rather than Jenny escorting me by taxi. But just in case, I need to get cash for taxi fare.

But I want to know whether treatment will be given, not may be given. So I chased things up by telephone. And the displayed phone number gives a recorded message, saying that "this number cannot forward calls", with no option to speak to a person. But the Macmillan Cancer Support line has a warm body on the other end, and she gave me two numbers for the Day Ward - the first of which answered, and clarified everything.

10:30 for signing the consent form on the 1st floor, then hand-deliver it to the 6th floor, and wait for treatment at 13:30. That should finish at 17:00-ish, and I can then go home, probably by taxi.

It is reported that NASA will announce the abandonment of attempts to contact the Mars Rover Opportunity at a press conference, thus declaring the rover dead on Sol 5352 of its 90 Sol mission. Ars Technica has this report.

Blood pressure 132/72, pulse 79, SpO2 98%, temperature 35.9 Celsius this evening.

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Thursday, 14th February

Valentine's Day

And the hospital treatment transpired as I described yesterday. Three-and-a-half hours plumbed up to an infusion pump.

And there were (and still are, 6 hours later) side effects of the main drug, oxaliplatin. The actual IVs gave no problems, barring discomfort from the cannula in a vein in the back of my left hand (I'm right-handed) But the predicted neuropathy reared its ugly head, in the form of pins-and-needles in, initially, the fingers of my right hand. As I type this, at nearly midnight, it's spread to both hands, and is likely to persist for several days, according to the information sheets I've been given. And the forearm muscles of my left arm are sore.

I have masses of pills to take - 2 lots of anti-sickness, 2 days worth, to be taken with or after food in the morning and at lunchtime.

<pause>

Make that 3 lots of anti-sickness tabs, with different periodicities. Loperamide hydrochloride for anti-diarrhoea, as required, not for routine use.

And last, but by no means least, the second chemo drug, Capecitabine - 3no 500mg caps + 3no 150mg caps, twice a day for 2 weeks. That's 1900mg of the drug, twice a day. And don't touch the capecitabine caps - press them out of the foil packaging into a small cup, and take with a little water. And if I'm not supposed to touch the caps, what are they going to do to my innards?

Scheduling for subsequent treatment cycles, every 3 weeks, will be similar to today - attend clinic, to meet consultant and give blood samples, in the morning, and then upstairs to the Day Ward for the actual treatment in the afternoon. I may not actually need to be accompanied in future, and may be able to get away with  travel by Underground. Which will be a good thing - treatment finishes at about 17:00, right in the middle of rush hour, and minicab service is abysmal. Another lady, who was trying to leave at the same time as Jenny and I, had been waiting for 40 minutes, despite being told "20 minutes" when she booked her minicab, gave up and ordered an Uber, and she was kind enough, upon discovering that we live further away than her, in the same direction, to share the trip. We split the fare, of course.

I carried latitude today, since there's free wifi in the hospital, but I may not do it again, because of the discomfort of moving my left hand when it has a cannula inserted.. I did a bit of web browsing via the Nexus 5X on Vodafone - which doesn't work as well. Mobile sites often suppress the particular bits I'm in the habit of using. I was driven to this because I forgot to pack the Nook e-book reader, although I did carry the new music player, and my earhook headphones. Didn't use it though.

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Friday, 15th February

Blood pressure 122/65, pulse 86, SpO2 98%, temperature 34.9 Celsius just before lunch today.

The second chemo drug regimen starts today. I took the first dose, 3no 500mg +3no 150mg, for a total of 1,950mg, at about 10:00, after breakfast. Next dose will be at 22:00 - 12 hours later. And thus far, there appear no be no side effects. Of course, it's early days - that dose will repeat twice a day for 14 days.

And the number of pills is now officially ridiculous - that's 12 assorted this morning, 4 at lunchtime, and 9 this evening.

I need to check on what Dariusz, my tame clock repairer, has found with the Franco-German clock. I'll excurse to his shop this afternoon - first walk since the chemo started. I hope it doesn't turn out that I can't do these trips any more.

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Saturday, 16th February

Blood pressure 117/70, pulse 86, SpO2 98%, temperature 35 Celsius, mid-afternoon.

The first lot of anti-sickness pills concluded at lunchtime, the other two will finish this evening, even though one of then still has pills remaining. Those are for the next cycle, though, so I'll keep them under my hand.

It is noticable that the pins-and-needles go away when my hands are warm, but reappear very rapidly if I lose temperature - as it might be, under cold running water. Jaw muscles, and calf muscles, tend to spasm, quite painfully, after a period of repose, although this goes away relatively quickly. Which is a good thing, since it means I can still do outings on foot.

Dariusz brought the Franco-German clock back earlier this afternoon, and put it back on the wall. A quick running test confirmed all appears well, so I stopped it until time-of-day catches up to the hand position. I could just wind it forward, but that would be 20-odd hours, so I don't think I'll bother.

I had been rather puzzled by how the weight lines could get tangled, until Dariusz showed me a weight-driven movement yesterday. Apparently, the lines form 2 layers on their barrels, and it's not inpossible for the second layer to drop into a gap in the first, and be overlaid by another turn, particularly if the barrels aren't grooved to control the lay of the line.  If it happens again, suggestion is to wind more frequently, maybe twice a week.

And that movement came out of a very nice table clock, whose owner wanted to replace the clockwork with quartz - which I think is sacrilege. I got the impression that Dariusz agrees, but, "the customer is always right."

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Sunday, 17th February

Yesterday evening, we all went out to a local restaurant to celebrate Liz's birthday - a couple of days early, the event is actually Monday. We were 7, Jane, Liz, myself, the girls and Charlie, Sarah's boyfrend. It was a very nice evening, somewhat spoiled by my worry about whether I should drink during the chemo. I decided not to.

On our return home, at about 22:00, I decided to put the Franco-German clock to go. In the process, I noticed that the going train weight was not fully hooked on, and proceeded to try to adjust it. Big. Mistake. The clock fell off the wall hook, with a loud crash.

That does it. Proper fixing is necessary - 1 inch No 8 screw drilled and plugged into the wall should do the trick.

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