Howdy! It's time for some more action!
Upon hearing the news of my Leukaemia relapse, I was instantly met with support and encouragement from all angles. This enabled me to keep a strong attitude, and still remain determined to beat this disease. I promised my friends and family (and now to you too) that "I will beat this bugger, even if I have to do it 100 times over".
The treatment plan was for me to start intensive chemo, with a bone-marrow transplant to take place in 4 months time. I was told that I am likely to be spending a lot of time in hospital, with little immune system, I am probably going to catch a lot of infections.
In my first stay during the new "R3" plan (the R means relapse) I had a drug which was bright blue. This made my pee go blue... It was like turning into an Avatar whenever I went to the toilet!
Whilst I was staying at GOSH, the doctors suggested that I had a look at a local hospital called UCLH (University College London Hospital). They said it had a specialist Teenage Cancer Unit, which means it is designed for people of my age, in my situation. I went to have a visit with my family to see what was on offer.
After viewing UCLH, I was very impressed by the facilities available for me, however, I did not want to instantly transfer across, as I needed time to come to terms with the fact that I had relapsed. It was too much news, too soon.
Today (23rd April 2010), I went to Great Ormond Street for another lumbar puncture, and whilst I was there I made a very important decision. I had taken my time to think about the choices available, and what was best suited for me. A doctor from UCLH came to the hospital to introduce herself and to reassure me about my transition. It felt right for me to change hospitals, and "Start Something New".
So, that was it. My last ever visit to Great Ormond Street Hospital as a patient. The mixture of emotions I felt was unreal. I was excited at the prospect of a hospital perfect for my needs, but sorry to say goodbye to the brilliant people at GOSH.
This is a personal message to the staff at Great Ormond Street Hospital, who saved my life, and cared for me over the last 3 years. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for everything. You have all been like family to me, and I will miss you greatly. GOSH will always have a place in my heart, and I have many memories I'll never forget. I will try to stay in contact as much as possible and I will come back and see you when I get the chance (couldn't get rid of me that easily, could ya?)
Thank you so much.
Next friday I will be staying at UCLH for the first time as a patient and having some more chemo. I will keep you posted on my progress.
Who knows what the next chapter holds?...
Andrew
:)
Thanks for the memories. (Me and Ray)
Andyman!! I've been reading your blog with interest, you are an inspiration. I was on the Olympic Team with a friend of yours, Pete Lerpiniere. I was complaining about not doing enough exercise and moaning in general, now I feel totally humbled because you are such a fighter. All the very best, stay strong. Maggie Kelly.x
ReplyDeleteHi Andy,
ReplyDeleteI'm a friend of Pete Lerpreniere. He told me about your brave fight and I was impressed when I read your blog. Pete and I were Olympic swim team mates on the 1976 squad that competed in Montreal, Canada. My claim to fame was the 200m butterfly (but disappointingly never made finals at the games). Pete and I went on to be team mates again at the University of Miami in Coral gables Florida. We thought we had it bad with all the incredibly hard workouts but compared with how you are working on kicking the monkey off your back, well we had it easy by comparison. You are a total inspiration and I hope you wont mind if I join your friends as a supporter from over here in the US. We live in Massachusetts about an hour west of Boston in Worcester, but I've linked your site to my MAC Email and whenever you make a post I'll get a notification. Want you to know I'm in your cheering section and sending you tons of love.
- Sean