February update week 4

As you will all have realised I didn't do a week three update. There was nothing new to say. There still isn't anything to say this week other than Mike says he is getting more and more tired as time goes by. 

All seems well each morning as he sits in bed drinking his coffee. All is well until he actually tries to get out of bed. The process of actually getting up and getting dressed takes about an hour, there is a lot of stopping and starting. 

The days are spent sitting. The walk to trip to the car wears him out. He can no longer leave the car to even put fuel in it, I have to do it for him. I do 99.9% of stuff now.

February week two update.

Mike is pretty much the same, but I went down with a bad cold on Wednesday, which doesn't help when you are trying to take care of someone else almost 24/7. I am feeling slightly better today, the nose is still bunged up and I have a cough, but my energy levels are improved. 

We saw Dr. B. for the last time on Thursday, (that in itself deserves a separate entry), the results of the bone marrow aspirate showed that the cells that produce the platelets are reduced and that there is some dysplasia resulting in reduced red cell production too. The good news was that there is no myeloma, so it is merely the side effects of treatment that are causing Mike's ill health. In my opinion it is still ultimately the myeloma that has lead us to the situation we now find ourselves in. Without the harsh chemo and gruelling  second SCT Mike would still have a relatively health heart and lungs that worked. There is nothing to be done and no point in being bitter. So we are continuing to try and make the most of the time we still have, that's when Mike can stay awake long enough. :)

February week one update.

I thought I would update the blog so everyone knows what's going on. Mike was only in hospital Monday night. They drained his chest on the Tuesday after which he decided he wanted to be at home. The doctors tried to argue with him, but the reality, whether we like it or not, is that the nursing staff just haven't the time or possibly inclination, to be constantly checking up on people. Mike doesn't like being left alone in a side room for eight hours at a time, unable to walk further than the bathroom and with nothing to occupy him other than four blank walls. No TV, no radio, a newspaper that he has finished reading. They couldn't say where the infection was, it wasn't his chest as that had been x-rayed, Mike reckons it was more to do with the eye infection he had been suffering from for a month. At home he is comfortable, gets fed when he asks, and has me running around after him. 

Amidst all the sadness however we do still have moments of laughter. On Friday Mike went to see a funeral director to get a quote and begin to sort out what he wants. While we were sitting there Mike said that the one thing he regretted was not being able to get to Australia. The lady said that it was possible, if I take his ashes to her and get them officially sealed, I will be given special paperwork which will allow them to be taken through customs. I can take him with me. So at some point we will be going to Australia, with Mike in my luggage, that's one way to save on airfares! Mike says I must take photos of him while I'm there.