Medication

As my kidney condition has moved towards its ultimate destination (End Stage Kidney Disease -ESKD) the range of medications needed to replace kidney function has both changed and grown. My morning pot of meds has now become quite a mouthful. In addition there are meds to take with each meal and meds to take at …

Wide Awake

It’s just before 4am as I write this. The middle of yet another sleepless night. I have seen each hour of the night so far and it’s been like this for days now. The sleeping tablets (Amitriptyline) had limited effect and I have stopped taking them. Basically they made me drowsy but did not result …

It’s rather irritating!

It’s virtually continuous and can strike anywhere on the body. It is often much worse at night, and has made it difficult to sleep. Imagine itching all over, the urge to scratch at the skin but with limited relief. This is one of the many effects of Chronic Kidney Disease. There are no obvious rashes …

Day 10

Today is the last day of Covid isolation. I return to work tomorrow morning. Thankfully I’m feeling a lot better. For me Covid has been similar to a heavy cold as far a symptoms. I am left with a heavy cough and blocked nose but little else. During the past 10 days the biggest issue …

Back To Work

The Alexa speaker alarm goes off. It is 5:45am, in my usual workday routine I will listen to the radio (UCB1) whilst coming round and jump into the shower by 6:45am. Downstairs to eat breakfast and make lunch whilst listening to Radio 4, before leaving the house at 7:30am. It takes 25 mins to drive …

Night Light

Could you sleep in a room which was as brightly lit as this? I imagine not. Yet this is what I'm supposed to do tonight. Some bright spark electrician decided to 'fix' the lighting this afternoon, The result, one of my lights does not go off. In truth that's not completely true. It does go …

Noises in the Night

Tick, click, whoooooooo The clock The drip The air filtration unit It's constant, rhythmic noise Not easy to sleep with all this racket Whoooooooo, Tick, Click, Whoooooooo Whoooooooo, Tick, Click, Whoooooooo Whoooooooo, Tick, Click, Whoooooooo Tick The clock marking time Tick Reminding me that it's late Tick Counting the seconds Tick One by one Click …

Rolling to the Right

The first manifestation of which I was aware of in Multiple Myeloma was the severe pain in my right shoulder. This became apparent in December. I naturally roll over to my right when I am going to sleep at night and I began to notice that this was becoming increasingly sore and uncomfortable. By February …

Day of Rest

In the English vernacular" I'm knackered". After three days out of the last four days on the road I'm exhausted. A sign of my illness no doubt as well as the variable sleep patterns over the weekend. I had enough energy to walk to the doctor for my weekly INR this morning  where my blood …

Dawn Chorus

The blackbird chirps away behind my window. Gladly greeting the morning. Regret not taking the sleeping tablet. It's been a steroid sleep. Wakeful hours. Toilet trips. Soon the midsummer sun will rise. A new day. An Abingdon day. Here to celebrate. A birthday. Nineteen Years on. Happy Birthday Son!

Sweet Dreams

I have a new ally in the fight against sleeplessness. Following several weeks of disrupted sleep I have got prescribed some sleeping tablets. So welcome on board a new drug to be taken as and when necessary. The drug is Zoplicone.  The drug has the advantage of helping me to sleep without leaving me drowsy …

Three AM

It's 3am. I should be fast asleep I am not. I've tossed and turned in vain. My stomach in knots. The morning is still far off. I await the grey of dawn. Another day. This is the longest I've been ill. A lack of feeling whole. It seems never ending Will I ever be well …

Drugs War

Progress is being made and I continue to remain  healthy and better than I have been for several months in so many ways. The chemotherapy is working but there is a battle going on, inside a drugs war against my very own mutant cells. The bad guys, Myeloma Cells, are being taken out but there …

Progression

A progress update at the end of the second cycle.

Sunday Summary – 28th May (Symptoms)

Three weeks on from my previous Sunday Summary and a chance to take stock of where things are. This is a summary which is a good stopping off point if you are interested but don't want to wade through all my posts. I am now very much out of hospital and undergoing chemotherapy as an outpatient. I …