A quick update

I seem to be in a holding pattern at the moment.
I've had confirmation from Dr D'Souza that we will start mobilisation of my stem cells in early January. This means I'll probably be re-harvested about two weeks after that. There was no mention of salvage chemo in his email but he did say that he would discuss the finer details at next Wednesday's appointment.

I finally managed to extract the documentation out of the Doctors at the Leonardis Klinik in Germany. They seemed to use every excuse they could find to avoid sending it. Considering they originally told me it was all ready to go when I left Germany two months ago you have to wonder what they are up to.

As soon as the cryopreservation people at Wellington Hospital let me know when they are ready to receive the stem cells, I shall organise with World Couriers to have them shipped back. I have a suspicion that the cells will turn out to be not viable once tested. We shall see...

Health-wise I'm in good shape. I have been walking with Sarah most evenings and on others I either run or walk on the treadmill. Every morning I try and do as many push-ups as I can and I've gone from struggling to do just one push-up two months ago to now being able to complete twenty most mornings.

I no longer suffer from night sweats or back aches and the only obvious sign of my disease is the constant cough. I remember back in December 2006 when my stem cells were being mobilised for the first time, I had exactly the same cough. My breathing was a lot worse back at that point and my health was worse too. I think it's a real blessing to be feeling this good two years down the track. If I had not undergone any of the treatments I've had, despite the fact that they have all ultimately failed, I'm fairly sure I would be dead by now. So at least they have kept the disease relatively at bay, if not actually made me better off than I was back then.

I'll post again on Wednesday after seeing the Doctor.