Today, December 13, 2012 is the first anniversary of my stem-cell transplant. I want to thank all my family, friends and the care staff at St. James Hospital for their prayers, love, care and support, without […]
It is early Sunday morning (09 Dec 2012) and I’ve just dropped my brother Mahesh at the airport. Mahesh came over to see me this week-end. The house is quiet and a great time to write […]
Dear Lesley-Ann, this is the second of the two missives from the Prophet. I was re-reading the book again this morning. It is a bit like reading the scriptures. My take-aways from this missive will be […]
I said that my next post was my speech on Saturday. A change of mind. Instead I am writing a letter to my daughter Lesley-Ann, before her big day! These are not my words as I […]
The celebrations had begun as we thought it is all plain sailing from here. We were on the home stretch we all thought. Well, the cancer cells said otherwise; “you may have won the last battle […]
Barre Fitzpatrick interviewed me for the Decision Magazine, Summer 2012 edition and this is the result. What do you think? My blog is moving away from my illness to my new journey after the ‘System Reset’. […]
A few weeks ago, I was asked to pen a few thoughts on the ‘Road to Recovery’, an article for the Sunday Independent Ireland newspaper. I am posting my thoughts first in my blog to get […]
Day 144. I haven’t visited my blog in many weeks. ‘ All things must pass’ and yes I have made it to the other side. Did you know that this phrase comes from the bible? “see […]
Day +82. It must be over 3 weeks since I last updated my blog. Today was a red letter day. Though, it is fair to say that there have been a few red letter days since […]
Day +54, I am getting closer to the first hundred days. It has been tough going for the last couple of weeks and it seems like I am battling with my mind. Just trying to deal […]
Day 35. It is a few days since I last updated my blog. I find that I am very tired these days. They gave me a booklet on ‘Coping with Fatigue’ at the hospital today. I […]
Day +30, still no sign of the GvHd. Though, I was tired today and spent most of the day either sleeping or watching TV. I got a break from going into hospital. Back there again tomorrow. […]
Day +28, but who is counting? No sign of the dreaded Graft versus Host disease. The creatanine levels are still high, it was at 122 today up from 118. I got an extra 2 litres of […]
Thank You Today’s post is a thank you to the doctors, nurses and staff at the Burkitt’s ward in St. James Hospital, Dublin, Ireland. First an update. It is Day +25, a quarter of the first […]
It is my new found freedom at home that has prevented me from updating my blog. We take home life for granted, it is only when we lose that, we come to appreciate the benefits of […]
Day +19, New Year’s Day! Back in the hospital after spending a lovely night with the family and seeing the New Year at home. Amal, Rohan & Shereen decided to miss out on their New Year’s […]
Day +17, today is exactly four weeks since I was admitted into hospital, and here I am writing my blog post from home. Who would have thought that I will be home before the New Year? […]
Day +16. surprise, surprise, I am writing this blog at home, while playing a board game (The Logo Board Game) with the family. It is difficult to concentrate, but I’ll give a short update. The blood […]
Day +15. Another good day in the office! The blood counts continue to go up. The white cell count (wcc) is at 1.4, the neutrophils are 0.9, the platelets are 99 and the hemoglobin is at […]
Day +14. Great news today. Professor Paul Browne came in today with his hand outstretched to congratulate me. Yes, the goal of getting the neutrophil count up to 0.5 was achieved. It is way ahead of […]
Day +13, St. Stephen’s Day. Met with Professor Paul Browne today. He is the head of the department. Both Paul Browne and my consultant Eibhlin Conneally trained in the US having spent over 5 years in […]
Day +12, it is Christmas Day! Wish you all the peace and joy of Christmas. I had great news today. The white cell count is now up at 0.4 and better still the neutrophil count is […]
Day +11, Christmas eve. Had a good night’s sleep for a change. The pillow case is covered with hair, as I am loosing my hair. This is another side effect of the chemotherapy. There is some […]
Day +10, I am at the half way mark. Three weeks in hospital, another 3 weeks to go. The mouth is very sore today. The donor cells haven’t started to build my immunity. This will take […]
Day +9. The mouth is not as sore as before. This is very strange. It is meant to get worse before it gets better. So much for my saying, “pump up the positives” yesterday. I seem […]
Day +8, roll on the days! My mouth is sore it’ll be difficult to eat and I won’t be talking much today. That is a shame as Susan will be my care nurse today. She is […]
I don’t think we can ever be well prepared to hear the news that someone very near and dear to you has been diagnosed with a ‘terminal illness’. The focus almost immediately falls on the patient […]
Day +6 is another good day. Got more sleep last night. Finally I will get down to write about the treatment before the transplant. Today, I asked my Consultant if this procedure, stem cell transplant is […]
Today I am going to write about by illness. First let me give you a quick update. Day +4; two weeks in hospital about 4 more weeks to go. My energy levels are good and I […]
Today is Day 3, Friday, December 16. Now we start to count up. It is awhile since I last wrote and there is much to share and I will go back to Day Zero but before […]
This is Day -2 for me in Denis Burkitt Ward at St. James Hospital in Dublin, Ireland. They count down to Day Zero (which is Tuesday December 13th, 2011), the date for the Stem Cell Transplant. […]
It is early Sunday morning (09 Dec 2012) and I’ve just dropped my brother Mahesh at the airport. Mahesh came over to see me this week-end. The house is quiet and a great time to write […]