snakes and ladders

Hallo to all in badhairday blogosphere (and cleveland ohio). I should be frolicking like new spring lamb (bounce bounce), but sadly am not. Got hit with mega cold bug last week which floored me and had me in bed all over weekend with raging temperature and hacking cough. Crawled into clinic this afternoon for my blood test - which has tumbled somewhat from the last lot of sparkling results. Now white count has dropped to 3.2 (4 and above is normal), platelets down and neutrophils too - they have slipped from 3.1 to 1.9 which in my book seems pretty dramatic - though still just within normal range. Consultant says it is result of cold virus and weak bone marrow. So he has slapped me on antibiotics and I have crawled back to bed. I am hoping that immune system can buck up soon and sort itself out and start to produce everything normal again ( I used to hate the word "normal" - now I love it). My appointment with neurological consultant is on April 12 - so doesn't seem like 'elevated protein' can be that problematic. Appointment with ENT department on April 11 but dIzzyness slowed down and pins and needles less. Steroid injection had some positive effect on shoulder - and I now have a bit wider range of movement - but still unable to put my arm above my head or out by my side. Exercise everyday and still physio once a week. Would love a holiday and some sun. Seems like Luigi been an age back in Italy. Japanese nightmare. Unfolding horror. Lost for words. How do you move on from that?

No peace for the wicked

Ha! no sooner do I think I am outta the woods free, when along comes another path to stumble down... got a call from the hospital 3 days after my last entry to say that given my symptoms of dizzyness and pins and needles they wanted me to have a lumbar puncture to check that my spinal fluid was ok. Now get this, my sub type of leukeamia can migrate into the brain (oh lucky me!)...so they where checking for cancer cells along with viral and bacterial infections. Had a few dark days. Luigi flew over from Roma and accompanied me to the hospital for lumbar puncture - painful procedure so very glad to have him there (my poor back is so covered in holes from bone marrow tests and lumbar punctures - they made three attempts before getting any spinal fluid out - and hit a nerve...). Results show no cancer cells, hurrah and phweee and praise to all the gods. However there is "elevated protein" - so my haematology consultant is now packing me off to see a neurologist. I am waiting for an appointment. Meantime I am refusing to get onto the internet to find out what "elevated protein" could mean. The internet is just the worst experience for trying to work out what is wrong. All it manages to do is just scare me witless. I hope they are just being thorough and there is nothing sinister going on. By the time I am finished with Guys I reckon I will have been through every bloody department. Talking of which, my mammogram is all clear. Time to get in the garden and do some early pruning. Rooney scored a corker last night. Shame Chelsea managed two. A presto tutti. x