Day 17 & 18 More Hospitals and wonderful friends.

Yesterday the 23 October was my Day 17 post  transplant. I was feeling much better after the fiasco of being sick and dehydrated. The IV fluids made me much better and I had been eating and drinking OK, but still need to drink more. I found that I can drink fruits of the forest cordial as almost everything else makes me feel a bit sick.

My sister Carol and her husband Mike came all the way up to Chester from Southampton and stopped off at our house for a few hours before going on for short breaks in various hotels.

It was lovely to see them and to catch up as we don’t get that much of chance to see each other, being so far apart. They didn’t stay too long, as they realised I was getting very tired and needed my rest, which I was grateful for.

Today (Monday) I had an appointment at Liverpool at 10am again and the Taxi/Ambulance turned up perfectly on time. The driver was a lovely guy and full of stories from his life and experiences. To be honest I could have spent ages just chatting to him. The only thing I was worried about the the cleanliness of his car, although he said he cleaned it regularly, I’m not sure how regular it was! Once a year is regular isn’t it!!! We had the same driver take us home and Charito fell asleep as usual, whichever vehicle she is in, she falls asleep, I can’t blame her, she does so much I’m not surprised she takes every opportunity to catch up on her sleep. Not quite sure how she managed to sleep through the drivers anecdotes, of which there were many, but she did.

Whilst at the Liverpool hospital, they took my blood and said I could go home, which I was surprised about, but they said they would call me if I need anything done and could come back in. I don’t think they realised how far away we lived and it wasn’t just a 10 drive in. As my bloods were relatively low on the last count, 8.1, I said I would rather wait and see if I needed any blood. Thinking that they would get the result and if I needed any blood, give it me while I was there, yet again though, I was wrong. My blood results showed that my HB level had dropped to 7.1 and I would need a transfusion. However they said I could come back tomorrow as they would need to do a cross-match and arrange the bloods. So even though I waited, they weren’t going to do the transfusion on the day anyway? Wish they told me that before I waited though.

Anyway with me needing blood and having to come back in, I asked if I could have that done in Chester as it is nearer to me, only 10 or 15 minutes away from were I live. So they said that shouldn’t be a problem and they would give them a call to see if they could arrange it. She went away and came back about 10 minutes later to let me know that would be OK and it’s been arranged for first thing on Tuesday morning.

I asked about my next appointment at Liverpool and that’s been arranged for Thursday at 11am. So I have tomorrow off I thought.

We got home safely and Charito woke up just before we got home, not quite sure how she does that, but she always manages to wake up just before she is supposed to, even when on a bus or train!

Not long after having something to eat, I got a phone call from Chester Hospital, it was one of the my regular nurses and it was good to hear from her. She was confirming the Tuesdays appointment and also wanted to know if I could go in today, so that they could take some bloods and do a complete blood test and match ready for my bloods. They have to treat me as a new patient now that I have a complete new blood system ( a working one hopefully). If I didn’t have it done today I would have been at the hospital for a very long time tomorrow.

So all I had to think about now, was how do I get there? I couldn’t arrange an ambulance at such short notice, I definitely couldn’t drive myself and Amy my daughter is on holiday this week. So I turned to my adopted family and close friends who live next door, Chris and Jodie. I wasn’t sure if they were in or not as their car wasn’t in the drive, but Chris was in but Jodie was out. I asked Chris if he could give me a lift to the hospital and without hesitation he said yes. They have always told me to give them a call if I need to, but I don’t like relying on people even though I know they don’t mind. Not only did Chris give me a lift to the hospital, he insisted that I give him a call when I finished and he would come and pick me up. Sometimes friends are better than family, but I wont go into that (I will write about that in my book, My Life with Myeloma the true story).

I can’t wait to win the lottery so I can thank Chris and Jodie for everything have done and do for me. They both mean the world to me and Charito and I hope they know how much we love them both.

Tomorrow I’m off to Chester, probably all day for two units of blood and then Thursday back at Liverpool. I must remember to book the Ambulance/Taxi for Thursday.