17/02/20 (2)

Limbo, I suppose, is the word for it.

I'm approaching the end of chemo cycle 4 (the last, if all continues to go well) on the 27th and the  next thing is the stem cell transplant but we're still no nearer having any firm dates - or even loose ones - for that. Prof.Cavenagh has referred me on to Prof.Gribben and we're waiting to hear something from him.

Dr.Ch (haematologist) is arranging full CT diagnostic scan and PET scan to be done in London but again, no dates as yet. I'm not yet entirely clear as to the difference between CT "full diagnostic" and CT "skeletal survey" (which I've had twice locally) but Dr.Ch seems to think that Chelmsford facilities aren't up to doing the best possible job.

Then there's the process of stem cell mobilisation (getting them out from the bone marrow into the general circulation) which is likely to involve several days of self-inflicted injections, and the harvesting process - one day in London if lucky and they get enough stem cells in one go, maybe three days if not.

And probably more. We'll be up and down to London all the time, so the truth is that it's not so much a "delay" between end of chemo and transplant as an indeterminate slow process that just takes as long as it takes... and at the moment of course, with the Chinese coronavirus around, the London underground system is somewhere we'd rather avoid. I am officially "immune-compromised", after all.

In the end it all depends on the availability of a room and other facilities at The London Clinic, and that just isn't very predictable. So we're left in this limbo state not knowing quite what's happening after months of chemo when everything has been controlled by a very tight timetable. It takes a bit of adjusting to.

Anyway, we saw Dr.Ch at Springfield again today before having some more bloods done. He's very pleased with things so far (so am I) and declared me to be in remission. So, if I've got it right, we stop the DVT treatment next week - no more dex!! - and continue with the anti-viral and anti-bacterial drugs. He says no significant risk of the PP levels going up again before the transplant. I wish I shared his confidence. I'm left feeling I don't quite know how to feel. Some of it is really good of course - my response to DVT chemo has been very good with only minimal side effects, but the approaching prospect of the transplant is more than a little scary. Perhaps I read too many horror stories on Facebook etc.. But it has to be done - short term pain for long term gain, and all that.

Finally: one finger split goes, another one comes. And this one's right on the end of my most important typing finger. Just what I need!