31/12/22 NYE

A few random end of year thoughts. First, delighted (and not a little surprised) that the Ring video doorbell is keeping going on solar power only this far through the winter. It's on 79% of full charge as I write and has never dropped below the mid-70s. I fully expected it would need two or three full recharges (by taking the battery out and charging it inside) to get through the winter. The only problem is that we won't be able to take it with us when we move. They have a door camera system there but it works through the TV, so not much use if you haven't got that on!

Good dinner last night - salmon fillet with blowtorched skin, buttery sauteed new potatoes, and pea, mint and garlic puree:

Nothing new on the myeloma front, but in three months time it'll be the third anniversary of my non-transplant. Still doing well without it!

Continuing (very) slow improvement in my left hand, but can't say the same for my left thigh problem. Will get the NHS onto that as soon as I get an appointment.

A strange thing - despite the cold weather I haven't had a single finger (or thumb) split yet this winter. First time for many years. Something has changed, but I have no idea what.

Another "weather station" died the real death a few days ago - the outside temperature sensor stopped working and I couldn't bring it back to life with new batteries or anything else. It's off to recycling and we'll do without one now. It always read two degrees low anyway, and a digital thermometer really shouldn't do that.

I've just counted up as this blog moves through the last hour towards its fifth year - one thousand two hundred and fifty six posts so far...

Finally, a very Happy New Year to all who read this. 2022 was certainly a strange one, let's hope for better times in 23.

26/12/22 Christmas Lunch

Really good Christmas lunch at the Horse & Groom:

https://www.chefandbrewer.com/pubs/essex/horse-groom/

Turkey moist and tasty, gravy thick not thin and watery (one of my pet hates), veggies properly cooked and not too al dente.

I started with the goat's cheese and fig tarte tatin and the first glass of red since last January, and a glass of water to help it along....

25/12/22 Eye drops

Eye drops finished at last! 

New eyes are as good a Christmas present as any. Still a little less than 100% happy with full distance but perfectly liveable with and very much better than before. Seeing optician on the 29th and have a feeling they're going to want me to get some glasses for driving...

And of course, a very Merry Christmas to all who read this! 

23/12/22 Blood test results

Back to myeloma. The results from the blood taken on the 15th are in, and all is good again. Paraproteins still undetectable which is the most important thing of all, one of the free light chains a fraction low which pushes the k/l ratio a little high, but nothing far enough from normal to cause any concern. Everything else is good.

However, the tiresome left thigh pain is still there and getting slightly worse by the day although still far from as bad as it was a few months ago. Dr.Ch observes that what we really need is an MRI of the left thigh, and perhaps I'll be able to talk the NHS into that in due course. Perhaps.

And I scored another 100 on the CPAP machine a few nights ago. Would have done it again last night if the sleep time hadn't fallen a couple of minutes short of seven hours.

22/12/22 Moving

I haven't blogged for a while, and now I can reveal what's been keeping me a bit occupied for the last couple of weeks. After twenty years here in Margaret Roding, we're moving. This place, much as we love both house and garden, has become too much for us and it's time to downsize and go while we are still reasonably capable rather than wait until it's too late and we won't have any choices left. We're planning on going to a 2-bedroom retirement apartment in Chelmsford (a short walk to the bus station, and a bus route straight to Broomfield Hospital). More about all that as and when.

17/12/22 Letter

I had an NHS letter yesterday. Somehow it managed to get through the postal strikes and the mountains of undelivered Christmas cards (we've had very few this year so far, way below the usual numbers). It didn't have an NHS logo on the envelope so I doubt it had any priority delivery. Anyway it said that my referral to Broomfield Haematology has been received and is being reviewed, and I should 'phone the central bookings people if I haven't heard anything by Feb 1st. So that's some sort of progress.

16/12/22 Last time...

 ...at the Springfield Oncology Centre yesterday for them to take some of my blood. Quite sad really, as for a while when I was going in regularly for Velcade and Zometa it felt almost like a second home.  Not quite the last myeloma-related visit to the hospital because I have a last face-to-face with haematologist D.Ch on the 19th (but that's in the main building not the cancer centre) and then a final 'phone call on the 29th to deal with the blood test results. And then it's back to the NHS.

12/12/22 Overnight snow

We're following the advice and not going anywhere today!

11/12/22 Snow

The long-forecast snow has arrived:

Both Sue and I need to go out late tomorrow morning. Might be difficult, depending on whether we get more overnight.

09/12/22 Stairs and triage

I just climbed the stairs, alternate feet, no hands. First time I've done that since well before the neck operation. Other things such as general balance and bendiness slowly improving as well and I'm starting to be able to cope with buttons with my left hand, as long as they're big and not too tight. But left handed typing is still very hit and miss. Mainly miss...

I spoke to the haematology secretary at Broomfield and she says they have received the re-referral letter from my GP. It's now in the process for "grading" / triage, after which I'll be contacted with an appointment date. She couldn't tell me anything about the likely time scale for that to happen.

08/12/22 Catching up...

Freeview. A few weeks ago the TVs in my study and downstairs both started behaving badly on Freeview:

I tried everything I could think of, with no lasting effect at all. We found a couple of slightly loose connections to the splitter/amplifier box in the loft, but tightening them up didn't work, although we thought for a few hours that it was a miracle cure. Eventually, not having a signal strength meter of my own, called an aerial man in. Result: the TVs and Freeview recorders were being overloaded by a signal too strong for them. It seems that our local transmitter had boosted its output without bothering to tell anybody... So he removed the amplifier and replaced it with a simple splitter box. And all is wonderful again, although the Freeview in my room still needs an attenuator to bring the signal strength down a bit more. Never would I have thought of that explanation, if anything thought the signal must have been too weak, perhaps that amplifier was giving up the ghost...

Batteries. Had to change my mouse battery after far too short a time. It was an Energiser. In my experience, Energiser batteries are invariably cr*p. I've replaced it with a Duracell Max, which will last for ages. Why do Energiser keep their market share with such a poor product?

Axe & Compasses, now our nearest pub. Went for lunch a few days ago. Had a game pie - pheasant, venison, rabbit, smoked bacon, and figs. The figs weren't detectable, but the flavour was magnificent. Too long since I've had a good game pie, really enjoyed that one. Spent the afternoon sleeping it off...

Rangemaster. One of the control knobs for the induction "rings" has started to lose the silvery material around the edge, showing the white plastic underneath. Can't find an identical match online, the cooker is probably too old (2010). I've emailed Rangemaster to see if they have a few old spares in the back of a cupboard somewhere. If they can't come up with one I may be forced to replace all five.

Eye drops. I'm running low on the steroid ones for my right eye, and I'm supposed to keep them going four times a day for four weeks until after Christmas (although the surgeon did let me off them for the left eye after two weeks as it was doing ok). Had a lot of trouble getting him to prescribe me another 10ml bottle. All the nurses would say was "It's supposed to last..." Obviously my technique was over-generous and wasteful. I've been working on that with some online help from a cataract surgery facebook group (which is full of horror stories from people who've had it all go wrong), and I think I've got a better method now. It seems to be working.

Here's a photo from my study window of the moon rising late afternoon with a delicate pink sky behind:

Now at 00:45 it's -2C outside, and the promised cold spell has clearly started.

And the most important thing of all. AXA's private health premium last year was bad enough, and close to unaffordable. This year there's bound to be a big increase for all the usual reasons not to mention my neck surgery claim as well as the "Comprehensive Cancer Cover" and it's clearly going to burst the budget. So I've decided not to wait for the renewal in March. I've cancelled AXA after this month and will start the New Year by returning to the tender mercies of the NHS at Broomfield, and the haematologist who diagnosed my Myeloma and organised my first treatment plan. Wish me luck!

06/12/22 Notes

Haven't blogged for a week and it's late at night - I've managed to bring my normal bedtime forward by an hour - so just some notes to myself about things to write about later if I get the chance.

Freeview

Batteries

Axe & Compasses

Rangemaster

Eyes and eye drops

and a Margaret Roding photo taken on a rare sunny afternoon while taking the scooter to post a letter (also a rare event these days) and take a trip round the triangle: