Tuesday started early. I woke up at 5.00 feeling stiff and with pain in my back and pins and needles in the legs. All the symptoms of a slipped disc. I got up and mooched about, started to read the paper and got in and out of the shower in good time to be collected by Sue to go to the hospital. We arrived at the Pathology clinic to see the biggest crowd waiting for tests. Because my appointment with the specialist is dependent on having up to date blood tests, I was given a different waiting room number to those who just turn up and wait their turn. Usually this means that we can be in and out of the clinic in five minutes. I sat down and heard the number 27 called. I looked at my ticket- number 33. This meant 30 minutes wait at least. Oh well, I'll be late for my appointment at the clinic. I read the paper and was eventually called and they took my blood.
We then walked through the miles of corridor to the Centenary Wing. When we arrived the place was full as well. Every seat was taken. The receptionist said that they were running about an hour and twenty minutes late. Some more chairs were found and we settled down with the paper. I read the paper from cover to cover and also completed the crossword and the codeword puzzle.
Sue went to the Outpatients Canteen and returned with a coffee. It was almost three hours before we were seen. My doctor apologised for the late running. They were trying to see all their patients before Christmas. I think one of the doctors was off sick as well.
The consultation went well. My blood tests were encouraging. The leukaemia cells were once again negligible, and my white cells were low, which means that I'm still susceptible to infection. I explained my slipped disc and he thought that it'd probably get better on its own. He was surprised to see that I'd put on half a stone in the past fortnight. (I'm not. I've been eating like a horse, and gorging on Cadbury's Dairy Milk, and taking no exercise.)
So that's the story for now. I'm going to have my next round of chemo on schedule, starting on December 22nd. The doctor said that I could put it back a week, but I know what to expect now, so I'm happy to get on with it.
I ought to get out more. The doc says I should be OK as long as I stay away from large crowds of strangers.
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Dave Clemo's account of living with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. Don't forget to add your comments when you drop in.
Followers
About Me
My recommended reading
- "The Stars my Destination" by Alfred Bester was published in 1956, so it stands as the last of the pre space-age sci-fi novels. The hero is Gully Foyle and he is a man on a mission. He is out to exact retribution to the occupants of a space liner who ignored his distress signals and left him to die in deep space. It's a brilliant epic story, and is Bester's best novel by far. Neil Gaiman writes in the forward that it stakes a claim to be the first cyberpunk novel, albeit thirty years before the genre was established. I've read it at least four times in the last forty years, and I can highly recommend it. 10/10.
- "Stand on Zanzibar" by John Brunner. First published in 1968. This is a stunning book, written in the 1960s but set at the turn of the 21st century. The title refers to the fact that if every person alive was given a space 2ft by 1ft, they would all fit on the island of Zanzibar. By the time the novel ends, they have overflowed the island and are standing in the water. It deals with the pressures of conflicting world ideologies, overpopulation, how advertising and propaganda can shape our worldview, and features a character called Chad C Mulligan, a socioligist who was so appalled at mankind that he just dropped out. But not before publishing a book called "The Hipcrime Vocab" which was duly banned by the authorities. Brunner predicts legalised recreational drug use, intelligent computers, politics by assassination, and a state of war between conflicting ideologies. And spontaneous riotings and "muckers"- people who just go beserk and run amuck, killing as many people as possible. Spooky. 10/10
- "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand. First published 1957. Over 10 years in writing, this is a stunning read. Set in the near future (from a 50s viewpoint), it sets out what inevitably happens when socialism is allowed full rein. Eerily prescient. 10/10.
No comments:
Post a Comment