Happy day

Oops, a day late updating my blog since my latest appointment was yesterday.  All is still going well and, joy of joys, my PICC line was removed!  It is so good to be able to wash my right elbow for the first time in 8 weeks!  I finally found out what PICC stands for - it is Peripherally Inserted Central Venous Catheter - but essentially it was one tube containing three separate fine tubes which ends in a vein at the top of the heart and emerge from the arm near the elbow.  For the past 8 weeks it has been the access by which blood has been taken from me whenever required, and to administer all intravenous drugs.  It has served me very well, and been very well behaved (I gather), but I can't say I'm sorry to lose it.  Blood tests will be taken in the traditional way (ie by needle) from now on.

In terms of my progress, there have been a few tweaks to my drugs to help keep my GVHD under control.  My cyclosporine has been upped slightly and I have a little more time on the steroids, but at a lower dose.  Nothing dramatic but a further reminder of what a juggling act the whole process is at this stage.  It is now 47 days since my transplant so I am nearly half way through the initial critical 100 days.

Anyway, having left this a day late I have to tell you what a delightful day I had today.  Our lovely friends Peter and Katie, who have been mentioned a few times in this blog and visited me a couple of times while in hospital, got married today and Dave and I were honoured to be invited and to be witnesses. They had 14 guests including us, all of whom had to be vetted to ensure that they didn't have any infections which I might pick up! It really was a special day and we left them entertaining more guests (time to exit stage left as I was pretty tired and had probably pushed my luck enough in terms of exposure to germs!).  All of our love and best wishes Katie and Peter.