Hi, I was amazed at how long it has been since I last wrote. Lots of stuff has happened since then, with my son starting the tedious and expensive business of buying a house and my daughter just getting ready to go to Uni. Also, a sudden decision to build a conservatory and repave front and back, with all the usual hassle of builders not arriving etc etc.
Health-wise not too bad, although my daughter’s boyfriend managed to give me and Bob a cold on his last visit, so am hoping that I can keep it at bay and it won’t result in antibiotics. Everything fine at my last consultant’s appointment. I did have to have a colonoscopy to remove the polyp they couldn’t do the first time. It was definitely a worse experience than last time, as my digestive system is much more touchy since the transplant and it really didn’t like the laxatives, which left me with bad acid reflux, or the probing around. The sedatives didn’t really work anything like as well as before, so it was more painful, and left me sore for some days. However, the memory soon fades and they did get the polyp out this time and do a biopsy - it’s good that they are keeping an eye on things.
Still feeling stupidly feeble physically - I keep coming upon people with the same condition who are back to work or doing amazing things, which is depressing. However, transplants can hit people in different ways - I was warned that I might not get back to normal, so I need to adapt. I also had more chemo before the transplant than is usual, when they couldn’t harvest my cells the first time, which might explain my slow recovery. It does feel like what it might be to be old! However, I can’t complain, as many people have felt much worse for years and I can still get out and about and do lots of things.
Instead I am focusing on being useful in other ways. There’s lots of union work to do, letters to the paper to write and things to organise, most of which I can accomplish from my computer and phone. I’ve also spent time in the garden and have ordered a rather optimistic number of things to plant! Also there’s a lot of family support work to do with so much going on. It certainly helps to be at home, where I can field calls and help with paperwork.
I’ve got my application for early retirement through ill health started, but looks like it could take ages. I think I’m not really missing work as such, but do miss the social contact and the actual teaching - keep thinking of ideas for lessons!!
Not much else in terms of news, so will sign off now. Hope you all had good holidays and work is going well. If you want to visit or email, you know where I am. Sarah
