Week 37 – Hospital again!

What a different a day can make – I am now back in hospital again!

This is the view from my new bedroom!  Well in fact it is my original room No 6, where I was first admitted to Ward 7B back in August last year.

These absolutely stunning dynamic sculptures are now outside each window on the west and northern side of the ward.  This resulted from discussions I had with the hospital way back in September when I spent a month looking at a blank wall!

You could now look at these sculptures all day and not get bored.

I am back in hospital for tests for GVHD (Graft vs Host disease) of my bowel.  This is due to the extended bout of diarrhoea that I have experienced without resolve.

Hopefully I will have tests on Friday (public hospital – long lists for procedures!) and the results will take a number of days.  This will be a colonoscopy and biopsy of the lower bowel.

In the meantime my medical team are tossing up if they should treat this event as GVHD and run a dual strategy of anti-biotics for an infection and steroids for GVHD.  At present I am just on anti-biotics (at this stage the actual type of infection has not been identified but tests are underway).

If the team put me back on steroids it will probably add another 2 months or so to my current treatment plan.  This is life in the world of cancer treatment and something that I will have to adjust to.  I keep on telling myself that another month or so will make no difference in the long run and it certainly is important that we get on top of the issue ASAP.

I will let you know what the results show next week.

Jan, Claire, Lachy and Dougall are now in Portland, Oregon having a few days before they return (well Jan and Claire that is – the boys are off to Utah riding motor bikes!).

Dougall has now officially graduated from Yale and has a degree in Liberal Arts majoring in Economics.  He has been interviewing for jobs back in Australia and at this stage has scored an offer with CBA agri-division based in Warrnambool, Victoria, starting next February.  We are very proud of him as it certainly is an achievement (on both counts).