The 20th & 21st; I had the worst results he'd ever seen.
The 20th of April. Ugh well it has been rather a pants day. My breathing has been bad, Monica is gone, and Victoria Wood has died.
It started in an acceptable enough fashion; I did a blog post while trying to not bend my neck too much in any one direction, watched a wedding on This Morning, and spent a little time with Monica, having a little play and rubbing her belly.
Shaki arrived just before one, and we started filling in the paperwork for Monica's new home. When Janet, her new owner, arrived, I took the cat carrier in and put the blanket she sleeps on inside with some of her toys and a couple of Dreamies to try to tempt her in. We finished all the forms, then Shaki and I went back to the kitty but she was having none of it and went straight under the bed. Shaki went back out and after a little while, she emerged, but refused to come anywhere near the carrier. Then Mommy came to have a go, she even made a trail of warmed up chicken, but in the end, she just had to pick her up, get her in, and quickly shut the door behind her. She was not happy and started crying, putting her arms through the gaps, then I basically made them leave because I could no longer bear it.
Shaki stayed for a little bit so we could talk about some issues I am having with PetPlan, and she noticed my crochet. I'm now making a little version of her cat Charlie and some mice for the Cats Protection shop. People love my skills.
After she'd gone, I went to the gym, and had a fairly crappy session. I had to do most of it in the wrong order, and my breathing was difficult, then the Victoria Wood news broke, and it was all just very poor. I remember listening to a cassette of her 1997 show as a child all the time. If you don't know her, search out her work. Hero.
The 21st of April.
Oh, for fuck's sake, now Prince?! This year is the worst. It truly is.
I woke up super early for a very brief phone interview with Paul Ross that my friend Alex who produces him asked me to do last night. I just had to talk about my experience of cancer (loads of death) and what I do now (Anthony Nolan).
At the QE for lung function tests at half past ten, then Dr. Thompson. They've replaced all the machines, so the tests have changed, and they've got rid of the one I hate. We certainly got done more quickly than before, then I was back out where I found Mommy having a chat with a chap who had recognised me from haematology clinic. He's had a lot of the same GvHD as me, and his son and nephew have both had leukaemia as well which is very unusual. He told us about a drug that might be able to alleviate some of my symptoms but I need to talk to haematology about that. Dot, who is the sweetest nurse in the world, called me in, and told me how much she liked my hair before leaving us with Dr. Thompson. He asked how I'd been feeling, and I said I was generally okay, which surprised him because I had the worst results he'd ever seen. Kind of a kick in the face. He's prescribed me an inhaler I have to do twice a day and we hope that might make a difference.
Got home, had lunch, then went back out to Sutton. I needed to return an Ivy Park crop top that was too small, pick up some boring bits from Boots, and to see if Waterstones had Sara Pascoe's book but they didn't yet. They'll text me when they do. Then off to Tamworth to Hobbycraft so I could get some safety eyes for the mice but they had none, so I bought some wool instead. We also went to John Lewis to look at some garden furniture, but I ended up buying a blanket which had been reduced from £65 to £19.50, and I now might hide under it until this year is over.
