Ice cream

The family stopped by the hospital during the weekend and we had some ice cream Marjo picked up from the hospital kiosk. I asked the kids what their favourite ice cream were. The oldest kept a specific twister ice pop (saftis / mehujää) as his. The youngest had strawberry ice cream in a cone (kroneis / tuutti) as his favourite. By the way, it happened to be exactly the one he was eating. It's wonderful to watch your kids eat ice cream. You realize how much technique really is needed if you want to get it done without making a mess.

I've just been allowed to leave the hospital. The infection is on decline and the pipe solution has been working (up until now at least). I'm now waiting for some papers and after that I'm off into the free world. The doctor said there is a department meeting tomorrow afternoon where they'll discuss my case and how to continue treatments. She promised she would call me up on Thursday morning with more information.

Back in hospital

Things change fast in my situation. On the very same day as my previous blog post (Thursday a week ago) I had to check in at First Aid. The drain solution seemed not to work as it started leaking liquids in various colors, also some blood. After many investigations during the evening I was sent home again and asked to come back if it got worse. During the night it did really get worse and on Friday morning I had fever and felt lousy. I checked in at First Aid again and this time I was sent to the surgeon who changed the pipes. According to him it is not unusual that the drains get stuck and need to be changed.

I was allowed to leave First Aid around four in the afternoon. Summer waited outside with lovely sun and +25 degrees. I had a pretty good weekend and even managed to go out with a friend on Saturday. We played mini-golf and had something to eat in a restaurant.

Unfortunately, the good times didn't last long. On Wednesday morning the drain started leaking heavily again and wise from experience I went immediately to First Aid. The pipes were changed and this time they increased the dimensions of them. Hopefully bigger pipes will do the trick.

As if all this pipe hassle wasn't enough, I naturally came down with some fever Wednesday evening. When I measured my temperature in the morning (yesterday) the meter showed 40 degrees and there I was off to First Aid again! The doctors spent all day on investigations but didn't really come to any other conclusion than that there may be an internal infection related to the drain change. At eight in the evening they transferred me to the cancer department for monitoring and further treatment. So, I'm back at the same place as I was at the end of April. Room 8 this time.

Sunshine in between

The days since the hospital exit about two weeks ago have been pretty challenging. In general I can't remember I've been this sick since I got the diagnosis in 2008. Though I've had some good times in between, most of the time I've felt crap (nausea, bad appetite, insomnia, itching skin, tiredness). The 10 days long antibiotics treatment (pills) after the hospital was pretty hard and I think that caused some of this but possibly the condition of the liver also plays a role. The liver values in blood samples have been going up and down and we’re not sure if the tube and drain solution they put in works as it should. I'm scheduled for further investigations (ultra sound) on Monday morning, which also happens to be Norway's Independence Day. Maybe I should bring a Norwegian flag with me to the hospital? The doctors won't put me back on chemo either until the liver works properly again.

The CRP (infection level) has come down to almost normal level so some progress in that area at least. The pain from the surgery is also on retreat.

I've felt pretty well after ending the antibiotics, in other words the last two days. After giving a blood sample at the hospital this morning I went downtown for an errand and stopped by in a café for a cup of cappuccino. I haven’t felt like drinking coffee for weeks, but today it tasted really good. Maybe the ice-hockey world championships have also had a positive impact on my recent well-being. Denmark and Norway have had some surprise wins and finally tonight Finland got their play together and beat USA. Tonight's match was a thriller to watch though.

We had otherwise a fantastic warm and sunny day today. The temperature hit 20 degrees (Celsius) and all of a sudden nature has come to live. Maybe an exceptionally long and cold winter will turn into an equally long and warm summer? In the afternoon father-in-law, the kids and I went downtown to buy ice cream at the harbor market place. Marjo is on a business trip all week and in-laws stay at our place to help out.