Here we go again

 Well, here we go again!

For those of you that don’t know, my transplant didn’t go ahead as planned, however, I am now just over two weeks to go from attempt number two.

It all started when I had my PCR test 2 days before my last admission. I was found to have a low level respiratory infection and could not go ahead. This at the time seemed like no big deal as I was planning to go again a week later then originally planned.

Anyway, when I went for my next PCR swab, the doctor got hold of me and said there was a problem with my donor and I would not be going in as planned and provisional planning was made for around 6 weeks later. At the time, I found it very hard to take it all in and deal with what was happening, however, as they say, these things happen for a reason.

Whilst the reasons were not apparent at first, one quite large event happened whilst I would have been in hospital and I’m actually glad that I was home for it instead. We lost our beloved cat Dusty. Dusty wasn’t like any ordinary cat, he was a big fluffy ball of black fur that never seemed to stop purring. He would purr at almost anything, even if he got under our feet and we inadvertently trod on his tail and a multitude of other reasons. We really don’t think we will ever find another cat like him.

He passed away on a cold winter Thursday evening with my youngest son and I in the same room looking after him. It was a very sad day, however, at first we just made him look as much like he was comfortable and sleeping as we could until the rest of the family could say their goodbyes. I then took on the unenviable task of planning his cremation.

Three days later and we were all in the car taking him down to Chestnut Lodge Pet Crematorium in Sussex, it was in a lovely location in the middle of the Sussex countryside Near East Grinstead. This was our final chance to say our goodbyes and leave him in the caring capable hands of the staff at CLPC. Less than a week later, we received his cremation certificate and a lovely letter from the team.

In the meantime, I started a new project - I am making my son a flight case for his DJ equipment, (of course I intend to use it as well). This came about from throwing some ideas around with my Cancer Psychologist about how to help me get through the current time of waiting for the next try. This is nearly ready, however, I am currently waiting for some trims that are on back order and will hopefully have this finished within the next week or so.

Also I found out that my son is also in a school production of Romeo & Juliet on 13th March and I look forward to be able to go and see him play the role of Lord Capulet, which I would otherwise have missed.

I now have my new admission date of 18th March 2025 and hopefully things will go better than last time as long as I can keep these infections at bay, (although this is not easy if you don’t know that you have one, like last time). So now I am going back through the rituals of making sure that I have everything I need ready to go, it’s really strange having to make sure that I have it all again and hope I don’t miss anything this time.

For now, all I can do is sit and wait, hoping that everything goes as planned. Here’s hoping to more success this time.

It had taken me so long to find the words for this entry, that I now have 10 days before my admission. So far, so good and I promise I’ll write more shortly.