So, earlier this week, after 6 months… I’ve finished taking daily medication as part of my treatment for Hairy Cell Leukaemia. Another milestone… 26 weeks of daily and weekly meds… here are the numbers.. 3 daily – 546 tablets , plus 4 weekend – 208 tablets I suppose in the grand scheme of things, and the nature of Hairy Cell Leukaemia (being one of the least nasties), I got off lightly, given what I hear others have to endure! In…
City of London Symphonic Winds start their 2018 season with a program of music titled “Iconic Music for Winds”. There is a change of MD for 2018 this year with Alan Duguid taking the baton for the first concert of the year, David Smith having stepped down in style after Novembers performance of Nigel Clarke’s “A Richer Dust”. I know Alan for a number of years, having previously being MD at Regent Brass. The feature picture above was taken at…
For my first concert of 2018 I have been asked to play with the Corinthian Chamber Orchestra. I played with them in December 2016 ago as a very last minute 3rd Trumpet in Sibelius 2, which was a really good concert. For this concert, I’m only involved in the one work, the Stravinsky Dances Concertantes. Corinthian Chamber Orchestra St Martin-in-the-Fields
On Monday 8th January 2018, 176 days after diagnosis, I was declared in remission from Hairy Cell Leukaemia by my consultant. It is quite difficult do describe my emotions on hearing and absorbing those words. Relieved, grateful, thankful .. a time for celebration, well, not quite, it didn’t feel that way. Being mindful as we’ve learned during this process that 1400 (approx) people on daily basis are diagnosed with one of the 130 varieties of blood cancer, celebration of remission…
We are very fortunate to have a family holiday home nestled in the hills off the coast of Andalucia which we can visit as often as we like. Of course, we don’t get to visit as often as we like as day to day life takes over. It was great however this year to be able to get out and soak up some sunshine, given that I’d missed quite a bit of the good summer in London due to my…
One Hundred days ago I was diagnosed with Hairy Cell Leukaemia. 100 days… one .. hundred … days… Looking back, at times it seems surreal, almost like flashbacks from a novel I’ve read, film, documentary I’ve seen.. but no.. it was all real. The first 20 days or so were the “worst”. Reading about experiences of others my “worst” seems insignificant to the suffering of others with “other” blood cancers, remember we’ve learned that there are 137 types, and HCL…
An early morning call from the clinic at Chase Farm hospital informing me that I didn’t need to come in for a blood test that day was a great start to the week. My neutrophils were at 1.33 from the previous week and other vital components all moving the right direction. It was a busy week at work with 2 client visits. Fortunately I was able to travel to both outside rush hour, which for the next couple of weeks…
The week started as usual with my trip to the clinic for blood test. The good news this week was that my neutrophils were up to 1.33 so improving significantly each week. This was enough for me to decide that I was well enough to work from the office every day, travelling in at lunch time and returning home after rush hour. I’ve also started back practising trumpet on my pTrumpet to get chops back in shape. With 3 concerts…
At last a pretty uneventful week. Felt more fit and healthy than I have for many weeks. Monday’s blood tests show that Neutrophils are up to 0.73 which is really good. I have resumed daily yoga practice (a short 10 minute routine as I build up my strength) and trumpet practice on my pTrumpet. On Friday, I made an escape and went into the office for our monthly review meeting. It was great to get out and catch up with…
While on the Isle of Man recently for a family event, we took some timeout to visit the sights and do some hiking (well, gentle stroll for me due to my recovery from illness). It’s a bit odd for me not to have many pictures from the Isle of Man considering I lived there for 7.5 years! Pictures are from Peel Beach, a stroll from Bradda Glen up to Milner tower on Bradda Head, a reasonably gentle cliff top walk…