Wednesday was my first visit back to hospital as an outpatient and this was for blood tests and to see a doctor. All went well although the wait times at the hospital were something that I had almost forgotten about.
Thursday was a hospital free day spent at home with a few walks and catching up on some business matters, although with my Chemo brain at the moment I am certainly having trouble keeping concentration for more than 5 minutes or so.
The biggest issue I am having at present is lack of sleep. My routine is completely upside down and I can remember when I first came out of hospital back in Sept it was much the same. I struggle to get 4 hours sleep a night and on some only 2 or 3. This is not good as it leaves me in a complete fog the next day without the energy to do much.
Friday’s visit to the hospital was for more blood tests and my Day 30 Post Transplant bone marrow biopsy, which will see how well Tony’s Stem Cells have engrafted and if any leukemia cells are still present. The blood tests were out of the way early but as before there is a lot of waiting for the biopsy – about 1.5 hrs in fact.
This was a relatively painless operation with mild sedation and took about 30 minutes.
Following that I had another appointment with a doctor to check on the morning’s blood results (yes they can get them through very quickly – within 2 hours if needed). We discussed the lack of sleep and he gave me a strategy with some sleeping tablets to see if I can change my sleep pattern. I am still on 3 hospital visits a week for the next week but hopefully will move to just two a week after that.
In the meantime I am keeping up with exercise each day, drinking two litres of water each day and taking my 44 tablets each day. What a routine!
Geoff Beats Leukemia 
44 tablets. How does one know what the other is doing. Reducing trips to the Hospital will be a relief. Keep thinking of you and backing the GH I know to beat it
Pykie
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Firstly Geoff . Thank you so much for sharing your journey with us. Such a complex disease with so many factors and fine tuning in the treatment process. I really admire your positivity, persistence and also your fantastic attitude. It’s a privilege to be included in the Blog.
Just to jog your memory, I’m Rachel Scarlett’s mum and she has sun your praises for so very long.
The man reason for this comment is to let you know about a podcast available on ABC radio.
Last week Richard Fidler on Conversations interviewed Professor Mike Prince , a Haematologist and he was so interesting and seems to be the guru on blood cancers and how treatments are decided you each individual patient.
I thought you would be very interested in hearing him. It will be available on their podcasts through the App or their website.
All the very best for a continued progression of your recovery.
Regards Fran
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