Nothing To Report Here 😊

Now it really has been quite some time since I have written my last post. Each time I went to start writing I realised that I really didn’t have very much to say. The days of chemo going wrong and my physical health going downhill appear to be behind me. Or at least in the short term. I did think about writing a post about how I still don’t glow in the dark after my 6th PET scan last week but thought I might be better to wait for the results, which I got a couple of days ago.

Things continue to improve in almost all areas. While I am not in remission yet it’s closer with every scan. Just the area of my first left rib is proving to be a stayer but my haematologist had said that this would be the slowest area to respond to treatment as it’s in the bone rather than a lymph node. One surprising result was to see the activity in my Arytenoid (vocal cords) this can be clearly seen in the above photo, the white/blue spot in the middle of my neck. The pet scan report puts this down to being most likely an inflammatory condition. I hope that’s the case as I have been coughing more than normal over the last couple of weeks. I guess the next scan which is scheduled for eight weeks from now will reveal more.

Yesterday I had infusion number six of the expected twelve in my Glofitamab trial so a small celebration at now being halfway through. Things were in a bit of a state at the hospital yesterday with the announcement that New Zealand was going back into a level four lockdown from midnight the previous day. there was some confusion the day prior, after the announcement when I received a text telling me that my appointment had been cancelled. Knowing that in the past Chemotherapy had continued during lockdowns I texted my research nurse who told me that was a mistake and to come on in.

Driving to the hospital yesterday wasn’t quite the lonely experience you can see that it was back in 2020 when New Zealand experienced their only other level four lockdown. It was much more like driving early Sunday morning than after an apocalypse. Once I arrived at the hospital I expected the full Spanish Inquisition before being be allowed entry but there was just a couple of security guards who asked me was I here to see a patient. Once I told them I was here for an appointment after telling me to keep my mask on throughout the hospital, they just waived me through.

Arriving at the Auckland Cancer Trial Centre which is located on the sixth floor I expected there to be more security at the corridor entrance. The cases that they had announced the previous day included a nurse who had worked four shifts in ward sixty five and the ACTC is located just across the corridor in ward 62. Knowing how aggressive the Delta variant is I found this a little surprising. On the positive side the nurse that was attending to me during my visit had only returned that day from a five day break. So she hadn’t been in the hospital whilst the other nurse was infectious.

Treatment continued as normal although the ward was short staffed. A couple of the nurses had reported cold/flu like symptoms and had taken the day off to be tested. I know that’s a good thing and all nurses in the ward are fully vaccinated but so was the nurse who tested positive. I am also fully vaccinated although I only had my second shot last Friday and I know it takes a while to be effective. That’s assuming it works as well as it should with some studies showing that people like myself with blood cancer don’t develop the immunity others do.

So now with the level four lockdown in place and my treatment done for anther three weeks I think I will become something of a hermit for the next few weeks or until the lockdown is lifted. I will have plenty of time to work on my new project, my second attempt to write a book. The first attempt was abandoned after I lost my way twenty five thousand words in. This time I have I think a much clearer idea of the story line. I broke through twenty thousand words at the hospital yesterday so only another seventy thousand too go, to get enough to publish a book. Those of you who know me will know that punctuation is not exactly my strong point so rest assured I do intend to get it edited once finished.

One thing I feel could be helpful was if there was someone who had the time to read what I had written so far and point out any drastic failings in the plot. Interestingly the book is a fantasy novel which is not the sort of thing I normally read but this story sort of developed in my mind and seems to be flowing reasonably well. Of course others may well think differently and I certainly don’t think I am the next Raymond Feist. Drop me a line if you think you can help mail@johnpedersen.co.nz I would love to hear from you.

So my blog title of nothing to report didn’t prove quite correct, its amazing once you sit down and start writing what comes out. Until next time stay safe.