30 June 2007

30th June - Day 6

What a wonderful quiet day today...

The kids went off excited with Uncle Steve and Auntie Toni... leaving Jon and I to watch TV and relax. We even went out for a pub lunch in town. Was great to have time alone together without being stuck in the hospital room.

Alan popped round for a few hours in the afternoon, were very lucky he lives so close by and can stop by anytime, Jon always likes spending time with his dad.

After Doctor who.. the final chapter.. wow what a finale today eh.... the.. oh won't spoil it in case people haven't seen it yet. The boys returned home. They have had a fantastic day, a muddy walk over the marsh, played some board games and then went bowling and to McDonalds. They were still full of energy when they got home though, wish I had half their energy.

While I left Jon and the boys bowling on the Wii, I gave into Gemma who has been whimpering by my feet most of the day, its been either pouring or drizzling with rain all day, but we both put our coats on and braved the rain, felt kinda good to get out and do some exercise... I still think its Gemma who takes me for the walk!

29 June 2007

29th June - Day 5 - Surprise!

Hi... Jon here......

Well here I am at home which was a supprise to me today. The Doctor said this morning that if my blood count wasn't too low then I could come home for the weekend, so here I am.

Lizz brought me home tonight in our new car which was nice, apart from the air-con not working. GRRRRR to Gowrings. It will be nice to have a few days at home with peace and quiet, and not having nurses waking me up every four hours to change my fluids.

Well I thought it would be different if I did my blog tonight and give Lizz a break from it. Hope your all well and thankyou for your kind words of support that you have been giving me.

All my love and best wishes to you all


Jon.

28 June 2007

28th June - Day 4 - New Car & Online

Yay.... finally the new car arrived, I drove it to the hospital today and got Jon to look out the window took him a few min's to realize I was stood next to the new car rather than the old red estate. (see he only has eyes for me hahahaha) I only stalled it once too which for me is an achievement with a new car.

Took the kids to visit Jon this eve, was lovely to all spend some time together, I think we tired Jon out a bit, but to see him and the boys smiling was great.

Bob... I cant begin to thank you enough... Jon is now ONLINE from his room.... we have borrowed a pc card for the laptop, from Bob for the couple of weeks Jon has left in hospital, by tomorrow I will have him set up on MSN, he can already jump on Teamspeak, and view any web pages, forums and blogs. He will also be able to access his hotmail email if you want to send personal messages or jokes. It will make keeping in contact with the children via the headset and teamspeak totally free and as long as Jon's online, and wants to talk, they can talk anytime for as long as they like. Again Bob & Emma thank you for lending this to us.

27 June 2007

27th June - Day 3

Jon's finished the chemo and steroids again for this session, now its a case of letting the drugs do their job. He has been struggling to sit up today for too long as it sends pains down his neck, but this maybe due to fluid retention and its being monitored, normal pain killers didn't do much good earlier today, but late afternoon he was given stronger ones and they dimmed the pain a little more.

Jon seemed a bit lower today with the fact he was unable to move about so much, didn't stop him sitting up and eating some of the Lardy cake my mum had got him, I treated the nurses/doctors to cakes today too, nice to thank them mid treatment as well as on the days we leave.

I managed to not have any cake... was soooooooooooooooo difficult but I stuck to the pack of strawberries and pineapple that I took in. (not the same!)

Thanks for popping in on your way home today Bob, was great to see you, also big thanks for the gadget for the laptop you've given us, will hopefully make things a lot easier.

26 June 2007

26th June - Day 2

I went to visit Jon today as his mum was unable to visit at the last moment, hopefully Jons cold will clear up soon so you can come visit. We both understand it would have been difficult.

Jons a bit brighter today, I think yesterday I got the after affects of the lumber puncture and he wasnt so chatty, today we got to talk a bit and went for a wander to the day room so Jon could read the blog and tag forum.

The dreaded headache's are back, hopefully they will be able to give Jon something stronger to help relieve the headaches, they were going to be giving him extra fluid this eve so maybe that will help too.... only problem is the fluid only lasts for 4 hours so this means disturbed nights sleep at 1am and then up at 5am... be prepared for a very tired Jon, for those who visit over the next few days.

Oh, and my news - its Tuesday night... weigh in night... I won "SLIMMER OF THE WEEK" (a box of fruit and tins that people add to a session and the winner takes home weekly).. sorry had to shout that out... have lost another 2lb this week bringing my total to 5lb... cant say Im finding it easy am missing chocolate and crisps but I know the end result is worth it!

25 June 2007

25th June - Day 1

Well it was an early start for Jon today, it was left to the night staff to tell Jon his wakeup call was at 5am to have his Steriod's attatched that needed to run for 12 hours, he also had some Chemo this morning.

Alan popped in this morning, dropping off the "said" items of clothes that Jon forgot to pack, and I went in for the afternoon.

Just after I arrived they did a lumber puncture on Jon, giving him some more Chemo at the base of his spine, he then has to lay on his stomache for an hour... (saved me from the snores ). He didnt find it painful today but after a few hours his back has started to ache and he feels really tired. Think he will have an early night as its a 5am start again tomorrow.

24 June 2007

24th June - Back to Hospital

Back in...

After a day of packing and sorting bits out, we went out for lunch with Alan, and all too soon the time came to go back to hospital.

We took the boys with us so they could remember where daddy is staying, thankfully they have Jon back in the same room that he was in for the final 2 weeks last session (Room 5). So his telephone number to ring direct to the room has stayed the same. (or call his mobile).

Thanx everyone for the support we have had so far... here goes for the next session!

23 June 2007

23rd June

Jon's cold hasn't got worse which is great news, hes still very snuffly but the temp has stayed down all day today.

After a morning on the pc, Steve and Jon's Dad visited for the afternoon, for a cuppa and chat.

I finally got to take Gemma out for a long walk this eve, she really doesn't like the rain, its been such grotty weather for the past couple of days, but I needed to post a letter for Jon so slipped out in between rain showers.

Final day home tomorrow for a while, prob going to spend morning with the kids, pop out for lunch, pack Jon's bits up in the afternoon to take him in early eve tomorrow with the boys.

22 June 2007

22nd June

Grrrrr Jon has a cold, for all our efforts to stay away from bugs, hes got himself a streaming cold, I guess with his immune system down slightly it was going to be hard not to. Am pushing drinks into him all the time and checking his temperature isn't going too high, or I need to take him into hospital. (we phoned to check what to do)

We unfortunatly decided with Jon's cold not to attend the party for Gavin and Fiona, sorry guys but it was just too risky. Hope you had a wonderful wedding party. Best wishes from both of us for your future together.

21 June 2007

21st June

This week is going way too fast...

Had another trip to the hospital today, Jon had a Hickman line put back in, he was sedated while they put it in, they have put a slightly different one in to last time, It has a thicker tube to it, fingers crossed this one will work better.

He's pretty tired now, we got home at about 4.30pm was a long day, but the nurses were great and realized Jon had been starved pre treatment so made him a big plate of Toast with a mug of tea. (They offered me the same but the diet made me say no ). I think we are both nervous of this new line but the Pic line just wouldnt be "man" enough to get all the chemo into Jon within the time limit, he now has the 3 lines back, but no beads at the end more like taps.

20 June 2007

20th June

A lovely quiet lazy day today, had an appointment with local doctor this morning just to update him on the progress, a walk down the market and a quick shop for some food.

In the afternoon Sarah popped round for a while, was good to see you Sarah cheers.

This eve we walked Rob down to young firefighters much to his disgust... "why cant we drive?"... cause were keeping fit!!

Oh yeah forgot to mention yesterday 3lb lost this week for me, the diet goes on....

19 June 2007

19th June

Just a quick early note to say the appointment with the consultant has gone well, the hospital are pleased with Jon's progress and how well he coped with the ida-RAM chemotherapy, its a very intense treament and they feel considering he had the infection in his line he has coped remarkably. The consultant congratulated Jon on how well he looks now and informed us the hospital has decided to continue with another course of ida-RAM which may then be followed up by some Radiotherapy or some more chemotherapy.

He will also have another Bone Marrow Biopsy with some chemo drugs being put into the base of the spine, as a precaution to stop the cancer spreading.

All in all a very happy visit to the hospital, we cant thank them enough for the speed of the treatment and how well weve been looked after.

18 June 2007

18th June

Nothing much new to report today, I went into work for a while and Jon secretly practiced on the Wii, (I could tell as the controller had moved!).

This eve Jon had two visitors, first his best mate Chris and daughter Chloe popped round, Then later in the eve Jerry Allen popped in, hes a ADO at Newbury Fire station, at last someone liked one of my cups of tea, I must be improving, thank you Jerry for the compliment, Jon says I'm hopeless at making tea. I drink herbal tea so I forget how much milk to put in normal stuff. Thanks both of you for visiting.

Its great that people take time out to come up and visit Jon, its not so easy to go out too much with Jon trying to stay clear of infections, and just the company of me and the kids will turn him stir crazy.

We will be out tomorrow though.. Hospital appointment to see the consultant for results of the treatment so far and whats going to happen next. Its worth just giving a quick ring to check were in if you want to pop up.

17 June 2007

17th June - Fathers Day



Jon woke up to a menu from the boys for breakfast... from the huge list he sensibly chose food we actually had and had Grandad Pop's honey on toast with a cup of tea, which the boys made for him.

The morning was spent with the kids on the Wii, with Jon and I watching.

At lunchtime we went for a meal at the Tuttipole, with my parents, it was a beautiful meal and was great to catch up with Norman and also had a chat with Fiona. After the meal mum and I (with our diet and fitness on the mind) walked down the the shops to buy milk with the dog rather than jump in the car... we left Dad, Jon and the kids playing on the Wii.

After a few games of bowling,then dad having a game of Tennis with a lesson from Chris first, I then attempted boxing, haven't seen dad laugh so much in ages, I wasn't that funny was I?

The evening was spent with Steve and Toni and Grandad Alan, we had again a lovely meal, shhh about the cream pudding Toni it was too nice to refuse. The kids had a great time with Jon playing bubbles in the garden.



We also posed for a few photo's the last one sent to us by Steve is nice (not sure what kind of face Rob decided to pull but going to post it anyway!)

16 June 2007

16th June - BBQ Time

After a quiet morning with the kids playing on the Wii and Jon and I just chilling out we had a fun packed afternoon/eve at Dean & Tina's

Thanx for the great BBQ both of you the food was fantastic, the kids especially liked getting lots of Watermelon quarters for pudding.

Its great getting together with friends and forgetting things, in the whole time I dont think we mentioned Brian at all... he was gone... it was a group of friends and thier children. Cheers Shelley & Andy & the boys... great fun was had by the kids considering the age range we had there it worked out brilliant. Dean sorry but you still havent converted the boys to Arsenal... they are Liverpool through and through! Least Scotty has the right idea.

The support we have from our friends helps us more than we can say Deano that email you showed me still makes me have tears welling up, I do hope you get a reply, but for even sending it I thank you so much. Wont say anymore or questions will be asked! Keep a copy so you can show it to Jon at a later date please.

15 June 2007

15th June

What a wet n drizzly day...

Our day started out with a district nurse arriving to take out Jon's pic line and she gave him a perscription for hibiscrub and some cream he needs to start using this on sunday for 5 days pre getting another hickman line, its to try to stop another infection happening. The pic line only had 2 lines, Jon will need 3 lines for the chemo he has.

I went to work and gave Jon a bit of peace, I'm pretty sure he spent it practicing on the Wii, because at lunchtime he thrashed me at golf

In the afternoon an old workmate Simon popped in for a quick cup of tea, and his dad popped round a bit after.

This eve we had a bowling tournament on the Wii, Rob is so Jammy on it, he doesn't win but hes pretty consistent at getting spares! We had a good giggle playing this, much cheaper than going out bowling! and the controller is a lot lighter than a bowling ball so no aching muscles tomorrow.

14 June 2007

14th June

A quiet day all round today, I spent the morning at work, and Jon got some peace n quiet at home with the kids also at school. He had one visitor this morning Neale Marney M.B.E (had to add that bit )This guy is amazing hes always busy helping others how he fits in being in the ambulance service I don't know.

This afternoon we popped to the garage to hand some paperwork in, and the boys went to Mo & Lisa's for tea, they went swimming and had Mo playing football, I'm sure Mo is looking a lot thinner since looking after the boys these past few weeks.

We got a phone call this eve from a nurse to inform us she would be round tomorrow morning to take out Jon's Pic line ready for a Hickman line to be put in Thurs next week, we hadn't been told any of this, seems to have been a break down of communication, hopefully the hospital will phone us tomorrow to let us know the times etc. So much for a week off.

Oh must say Thanks to Sue & Natalie who rescued Jon at the school today, we walked up to school to meet Chris but 3/4 of the way there it started to rain, we had no coats and I didn't want Jon to catch a chill so they squeezed him in their car and got him home safe and warm.

Have been challenged to another round of Golf this eve, Jon cant understand me winning 2 games yesterday must be beginners luck! (Wii golf that is not real golf).

13 June 2007

13th June

Busy morning today took the car in to have MOT, and had my eyes tested, thankfully they (my eyes) have got no worse but my glasses are a tad scratched and twisted so have got a new pair (but they don't fit as comfortably so need to take them back).. oh and the car passed the MOT.. yayyyyyyyyyyy

We had a bit of money saved up to buy some new carpet, but we kinda spent it today, we finally got the "yes" reply when we asked in the local store "do you have any Nintendo Wii?"

Its great fun, energetic but not too much exercise, talking of exercise, I did have a quick bounce on the trampoline this eve when no one was watching and Jon was on the phone so I got some real exercise but.. hes spent most of the eve on the phone. So I got plenty of practice on the Wii as well, hence I beat him at golf.. when I'm at work tomorrow am pretty sure he will be practicing for a rematch! (will hide the remotes)

Had a little scare this eve when Jon got very upset at meal time, he couldn't eat anything, he was feeling bloated and a little sick, he assures me its not my cooking personally, but felt it would upset me not to eat it. "Jon for now.. and only for now your allowed to refuse my food... in a few months your to eat it all !!!" After a short rest and plenty of fluid Jon felt better, he still didn't eat but we will try a smaller meal tomorrow. He did let on he ate a huge pasty at lunchtime while I was having my eyes tested so he has eaten today.

Rob had fun at young firefighters this eve, and is looking forward to a treat next week when they visit a different station.

12 June 2007

12th June

We spent the morning sorting out paperwork for trading in our two cars to just one car as unfortunately Jon is unable to drive for a while and its not doing either car good to just sit and not be used. Going to one car is the best option. (saves the pennies too). The local garage was great and we should get a new car within the next 2 weeks.

We had a wonderful afternoon being entertained by Enzo our youngest nephew, hes a cracker, he found our water fountain in the back garden, and realized if he stuck his thumb in the hole at the top it squirted the water in all sorts of directions. He got soaked and so did anyone else close by. Laughter is a good medicine well we certainly laughed today, thanx Sarah and Megan for popping round.

Alan came round for a while early eve while I popped out with my mum to a slimming class to give me support(hope you don't mind me mentioning that mum) I have eaten so much junk food at the hospital, have gained many many extra pounds on top of those already there. I'm not going to publish weights here but I might from time to time give the target weights I manage to lose. My first goal is to shed half a stone.. need lots of luck.

Apart from the snoring last night its great to have Jon home.

Extra - How to leave comments

I have a few people asking me how to reply or comment to the blog . I am fairly new to this myself so if this has confused you more sorry,I will ask a seasoned blogger to help.

Firstly write a note in the "leave a comment box" by clicking where it says 0 comments or 3 comments etc at the bottom of each blog.

After you've written your comments you need to choose how to sign it. there are 3 radial buttons to click.. (maybe 2 if you don't own a blog of your own)

either a "blog name" if you have one, "other" or "anonymous".

the easiest is to put a dot in "other"

Then write the name you wish to be known by either own name or a nickname in the name field (it asks for a web page you can leave this blank if u don't have one to share)

If you tick the anonymous radial button the post says "anonymous says:" so you will need to write your name at the end of your comment.

It may ask you to copy some letters and figures into a box this is just to stop people spamming the site.

Then click the orange button saying "publish your comment"

I really do hope this helps, we both really appreciate the comments.

Its great to hear from people to help Jon on his journey, on days he cant get to a pc I print them out and read them to him.

11 June 2007

11th June - Home Time

Well after waiting all day to come home... its 8.40pm and we just walked through the door, off to spend some time with Jon will blog later.

Hi back again...

Its soooooooooooooooooo great to have Jon home, the kids hugged him for ages and asked lots of questions. Its fantastic to be a happy family back home again.

The hospital has been wonderful, I know today was alot of waiting around and we did feel a bit impatient, but we knew the doctors would need to speak to Jon first and we had to wait for the 10 boxes of diff tablets to arrive to bring home. Hes going to rattle. If you see Jon over the next few days just ask him if hes taken all his tablets were neither of us very good at remembering.

The boys were really excited yesterday about Jon coming home and wanted to make him a big banner to hang outside, with only having about half an hour to make something last night with them we chose a A3 poster instead.



The poster says it all....

10 June 2007

10th June

Wooooooohooooooooo last day in hospital for a while.... Jons jumping around in his room, can't get him to sit still, weve been on a few walks today, we have got to the stage we leave a note on his door for the nurses "gone to the shops again".

Everything is still going well and on track for coming home tomorrow, hes still having a headache in the morning, but goes once he has painkillers.

I asked Jon what he wanted for his first meal at home tomorrow... almost dreaded the answer was expecting him to ask for a 3 course meal which he got used to in hospital but no.... "A toasted sandwich please" was his reply... easy... he's missed the simple pleasures.

will be making the most of last night laying diagonal across the bed, been strange having so much room and no snoring, where did I hide those ear plugs? only joking hun missing your snoring lots really I am!

Cya tomorrow xx

Extra - Homework

Just wanted to share with you a piece of homework from my eldest son...
Am unsure what the objective was but the piece had to be called

"I think, therefore I am"


I think, therefore I am a 12 year old boy that does his homework and helps his family do jobs, for example doing the washing, doing the dishwasher and getting my parents a cup of tea in the morning. I am with my mum only because my dad is in the Reading Hospital because he has Cancer, but our family has to try hard, and I always think of him. I always phone him before I go to bed for 15 min's ore more. I really miss him so much and so does my brother and my mum and so does the rest of the family. Thats all I want to say.

I have corrected the spellings but not the grammer as I wanted to show you his work as it is. It made me very emotional to read it, hope you enjoy it.

9 June 2007

9th June

Going to stop counting the days now as Jon is over this first bout of treatment apart from antiboitics still to finish off the infection he caught in his original Hickman Line.

Jon looks amazing, and the staff at the hospital have done a fantastic job, he looks like my old Jon again. We know theres more to come and "Brian" is still there but slightly smaller.

Came home with a bag full of stuff today from the room and theres still lots to take tomorrow, so much for not filling the room too much, I see what they mean by it collects up.

To phrase it as the kids have "2 more sleeps till daddy is home," they are so excited.

Been out for a few walks today the weather has been fantastic. Stayed out a little longer today to savour the fresh air, but it was actually nice to go back into the air conditioned room after, he will miss that when hes home, back to fans until the weather turns cold again.

P.S - Happy 2nd Birthday Archie (BladeRes's sons birthday today).

8 June 2007

8th June - Day 19 - Happy Birthday Mum

First before anything else Happy Birthday Mum, Hope you had a wonderful day. Jons Mum's Birthday today.


Well its a good day today, we found out Jon will be allowed home on MONDAY morning and they dont think he will have to go back into hospital for the next set of treatment until the 28th June, but we will find out the plan on Monday morning.

Jons Dad visited him this morning, and I popped in for the afternoon/Eve, Jon is no longer neutropenic so he can leave his room, so we went for a walk outside as it was such a beautiful day, he then went to the dayroom and read the blog and the TAG forum.

The kids had a surprise day out with Steve and Toni today, they all had a fantastic time on the rides at Chessington, They all went on most of the rides a couple of them were too big for Chris, Steve and Rob went on what they thought was a slow train which ended up being a megga fast roller coaster not sure who came off the ride the whitest!

Thanx Steve and Toni for giving them such a great day they still havent stopped talking about it, they especially liked the water fight when they got back to yours.

Steve and Toni also popped the boys into the hospital on thier way home to show thier dad the photos of the log flume and vampire rides. Was a very cheerful room today with lots of laughter about the day out.

Last visitor of the day was Richard (BladeRes TAG) he travelled up from London, that was lovely of you to visit. (Even if I did have to rescue you from the parking ticket :p )

All in all an exciting day for all. Lets just hope Jon keeps doing well and is allowed home Monday. fingers and toes crossed!

7 June 2007

7th June - Day 18

A very quiet day...

Jon had a very quiet day today, a small headache this morning, but a visit from the doctors who were all pleased with his progress, they have warned him that his bone marrow as well as his red blood cells will be reforming, and this may cause pain in bones and joints, and true enough this afternoon his back has started to throb, but they are great at the hospital and gave him painkillers once he admitted to them he had pain, why is it men try to pretend theres nowt wrong?

We had a visit from one of his work mates Glenn to collect his next sick certificate, he stayed for a while and we really did have a good laugh. Thanks for that. Next time we need some work gossip though! was lacking today.

Have left Jon a bit early today, as I have parents eve for our eldest son at 8.10pm, I think I'm more nervous than he is.

6 June 2007

6th June - Day 17

Hi all, was greeted by a grumpy Jon this afternoon, He had nothing to eat today as they thought his Heart Echo was going to be at Midday, then it was going to be one o 'clock they finally came to get him at nearly three o'clock.

The wait was worth it though, they gave Jon the results straight away, he has no infection around his heart area, and no calcium deposits showed up today. This was a relief, so they now think the headaches hes getting every morning only is due to the blood cell injection too boost his blood count up.

Jon finally got to eat at 5.30pm but only soup and crackers, his appetite keeps coming and going, hes ordered a better lunch tomorrow I checked!

We did have some good news though from Jon having a CT scan recently to check that there were no bleeds causing the headaches, there have been no bleeds and the results from the scan show the lymphoma is responding to treatment, they dont normally scan to check at this early stage, but through having the scan for other reasons its shown to have responded.

But....

Learn to hate that word, but.... to totally clear the lymphoma it may take more than the 2 planned treatments (doctor mentioned 3 - 4). Jon's looking positive on it though and hopes that he can with positive thinking clear it by the end of the second bout.

5 June 2007

5th June - Day 16 - Surprise

Jon had a headache when he woke up again this morning, the doctors decided this needed looking into so he had a scan and there doesn't seem to be anything showing to cause headaches so its something they will keep an eye on.

Jon had a wonderful visit with his mum today, they spent all morning chatting, He says thanks for the drinks and crisps. Its nice that his mum can travel to see him. Its approx 82 miles away, I know he appreciates the distance his mum has to travel, hence I came in later today to make sure I give them plenty of time to catch up.

When I arrived he was reading the paper, Jon doesn't look too bad, haven't seen a huge improvement since the blood transfusions (not sure what I really expected )but the good news is his blood levels are now rising again but very slowly.

After a little while Jon's surprise visitors arrived, the look on his face, Rob and Chris were finally allowed to come visit, just for a short while. It was great to have all the family back in the room together again, Mum had brought the boys up, so we went for a walk to give Jon and the kids time to chat. When we got back they were all watching the cartoon channel on TV. (just like home). I got mum to take a pic of us all together. I think its great, so sorry to post yet another pic but I wanted to share it.



When I left Jon was having some more platelets, and he will have some more tomorrow before he goes down to have a camera inserted in his throat to check for infections around the heart area, this can sometimes happen with Lines, calcium builds up. Just a routine check.

4 June 2007

4th June - Day 15

Jon had a really quiet morning, which he didnt seem to mind, I popped into work for a few hours, so Jon got to play a few games on his laptop, again he had a headache this morning but it improved as the day went on. The doctor is watching this, if it continues he may not be allowed home next week, also his blood level hasnt started to rise yet, thats another factor, but he does have this week to build back up.

He had the physio lady visit him today, she's really pleased with his progress, his balance is much better and his weakness is now only marginal, she joked that Jon needed to get on the exercise bike a bit more to get things pumping again. Not sure he will unless I take the laptop away.

Toni was in the area today so she popped in for a visit this afternoon, don't think Jon got too many words in with us women gossiping about work etc, but we did have a few giggles.

I think Jon's finally got his appetite back, he is ordering a medium meal for midday and a small meal for the eve, but thats better than its been for a few days.

I popped into the firestation on the way home as Jon's car seemed to be wobbling a bit, being the totally un car minded I had no idea, thankfully Jimmy came to my rescue and told me my back tyre was only half inflated, will have to keep an eye on that,he checked all the rest, also checked all the oil and water, lights etc for me as Im hopeless at all that sort of thing. Finally realize why I cant see anything when its raining too, the wipers need replacing, big responsability looking after cars, I knew I had Jon around for a reason am missing his skills.

Hurry up and get home need your help!

3 June 2007

3rd June - Day 14 - Blood

Hiya didn't go in till late today to see Jon but on all accounts hes had a good day, suffered with a headache this morning, but didnt last long.

Had a few visitors today, first Kim and Karl, Thank you Kim for making Jon eat all his lunch, see Jon I have my spy's! Next visitor's were Dad and Sarah. Me mum popped in but he was busy with other visitors she was dropping off her neighbour who's dad is ill in another ward.

When I arrived apart from looking pale, Jon was pretty chirpy, he had sent me a text to come visit him... ahhhh hes missing me... nope. 5 min's in the door... "can you fix this laptop game I'm playing I cant build the paths right" sheesh and I thought I was loved.

During our laptop lesson on path building (roller coaster tycoon2 for those trying to guess) the nurse came in with a bag of blood, hooked him up and we watched as the clear tube into his arm turned a really dark red. 3 hours to go through, he hates being hooked up to the drips etc, Just phoned him to see how he was feeling, we had a bit of a joke this afternoon about who gave the blood and how Jon would maybe pick up trates, athlete or talkaholic etc I asked him if he had started exercising but alas no, hes had another bag for 3 more hours fitted, It will get better Jon, have heard a lot of people say a blood transfusion perks you up.



Thought it was about time for another photo.

2 June 2007

2nd June - Day 13

Jon had a quiet day today, His brother Steve popped in this morning and I visited in the afternoon, he hasn't had anymore nose bleeds. which is great news. They did still do a platelet transfusion into his beads. He's still on antibiotics for the infection and paracetamol for the fever, but today he's only got cold the once. Its still early days but he seemed a bit more cheerful today, a bit cheeky at times but still looking pale. Nice to see a spark of fun back in him, hopefully were on the road back up, am touching wood and crossing me fingers.

What a beautiful day its been today, only wish Jon had been able to get outside the room, mind you we were greatful for the air conditioning in the room. Yes Mo I did water the grass this eve, its looking great!

1 June 2007

1st June - Day 12

Well Jon sounds really well on the phone, no temp and nothing to report from yesterday, hes doing fantastic.(edit this was news at 9am)

Myself I have been to the doctors, he sees no sign of a cold, the fact my eyes are feeling dry and my nose was a tad drippy yesterday is prob down to Hayfever, have never really suffered from it before but then you work in a school you assume you catch colds, maybe I have had it before, He also said it can be worse on damp days, which yesterday was. Have woken up today with a dry nose but scratchy feeling eyes. prob to go with my temper from yesterday.

I may pop in and see Jon later today, I will see the nurse on duty for their opinion but I have taken a Hayfever tablet. They may suggest I wear a face mask. (no there wont be a photo!)

(news from PM) Hmmm well I saw a different Jon when I went in this afternoon, he had been taken off for a heart echo (think thats correct, all routine stuff), but when he got back to the room he looked totally shattered. We watched a tv program together quietly, food was served he ate it all but again its tiny portions and he doesn't really feel like eating, but with a little encouragment he does.

We sat and talked for a bit, Jons now starting to find this hard work, hes done fantastic up to now and we did know there would be low points. He was tearful and tired, He had a biggish nosebleed this morning that he hadn't told me about but he is down for platelet transfusion tomorrow, but not sure what time. This should help.

Jon has asked for visitors to be prepared for him to be very sleepy and not too talkative for a few days, I think now hes really needing rest, I'm getting lots of crossword puzzles done while he dozes.. maybe I can win us a prize. He just doesn't want people to be disappointed that hes sleepy, I told him not to worry we all understand. Rest and recovery from the Chemo is whats happening at the min.

It may be worth giving Jon a ring before visiting to check hes going to be in his room and upto visitors. Cheers.