aha!

Hurray! Haemaglobin now 11.3, up from 10.6 in only 2 weeks! It hasn't been as high since early on in treatment, and I am thrilled that the epo is working so well, and so quickly! I didn't expect to see any changes at all so soon, and the consultant says it should continue to increase. He said I was looking much more 'pink' than last time he saw me when I was very pale. A few more red blood cells and some sunshine seems to have done the trick! It gives me some faith that my body is doing it's best to cope with all this, and just needs a little bit of help sometimes.

Had a good weekend, felt fine post-injection, which is so refreshing! Have been given part of someone's allotment at the end of my street - just enough to grow a few vegetables altho it is a little late for most things now. Will plant some green manure to improve the soil for next year. And my greenhouse has one pane of glass in it now - should be finished by end of next weekend. Courgettes aubergines, lettuce, tomatoes, herbs and rocket.

Watched Live8 - wasn't it great? I love music, and to see so many good bands on one stage, one after the other was amazing! My sister was in the special area at the front in london (she is a jammy dodger), and rang me at one point to tell me what it was like being there. I could synchronise her background noise with the tv, which I thought was very exciting. I played along (very badly) on my piano to the finale 'Hey Jude' - not often you get the chance to play live with Paul McCartney. Well, you know...

Another good thing - we have booked our post-treatment flights to Spain! My last injection is on 1st Sept, and we will be in Spain from 8th to 19th Sept. Hopefully I will be feeling just a little bit better so that I can enjoy myself. We are hoping to find a really nice place to stay, as it will be a celebration for us both. There is a healing arts festival in Nerja the weekend we go, so we'll be going there as we know some people who have stalls etc. I am really looking forward to it.

This week I have found such a lot of positivity, probably because I'm feeling less exhausted and have had the good news of the epo, but also because I'm heading for the end at last. I am making the most of feeling good, it is so nice to actually want to do things! I am even reading a book! It's a good one for me - 'Toast' by Nigel Slater - a biography through food, so there are chapters entitled things like 'Butterscotch Angel Delight' and 'Christmas Cake'. The beauty of it is that you don't actually have to remember the last bit you read! Which is perfect for someone with only half normal memory capacity! It also gives me ideas for what I might like to eat. I would recommend it for those on treatment as it is light, easy and engaging. I want to read the time travellers wife but will save this for my holiday. Wow, starting to think about the future...