Wednesday June 17 - Tuesday June 23. RELEASE DAY!

Due to my reaction on Monday I was still on a lot of antibiotics, as well as my growing collection of pills and steroids. Wednesday was quiet, just a lot of observations and checks.


On Thursday I had another magnesium transfusion. The magnesium transfusions I always find quite odd as they make you feel really warm. Again, there's no pain or nausea but just a fairly strong feeling of heat which can be quite weird. Thursday had a brief but very good anomaly in my treatment, for the first time since this all started in April my red blood count actually rose without the need of a transfusion, from 82 to 88! Obviously this is far too early to mean if the ATG treatment is working, its likely to just have been effected by all the drugs and stuff I'm on, as well as the fact that I've literally been doing nothing physical. But it's surely a good sign. My red blood count has since gone back to falling as it was 86 on Friday, but still to have a fairly large jump can only be a positive.


While I have been at hospital I have been trying to not be too lazy and just watch tonnes of youtube and TV. I was told when I was first admitted on Wednesday June 10th that the biggest thing I would struggle with would be boredom. I've got to admit, the doctor was not wrong. When you're limited to one room for a long period of time you can go a bit stir crazy. I didn't want to waste my time in hospital and tried to do a lot of reading and if possible some writing. Incredibly the Anthony Nolan Charity got in touch with me and offered me a chance to write a post for them, which I really enjoyed doing especially for such a good organisation (http://blog.anthonynolan.org/2015/06/patient-stories-adams-blog-about-his-aplastic-anaemia-treatment/). This went up online on Friday.

Top Job.

By Saturday I was off the majority of antibiotics but I still have a lot of steroids and pills to take daily. I also had the top stitch of my Hickman Line removed on Saturday which is a lot cleaner and simpler than I thought it would be. It's literally just a small snip and then it kind of falls out. I was expecting something a lot more climatic and dramatic. In the evening I had a transfusion of platelets as my count had been 6 that day.
Saturday was probably the most boring day at hospital. The days are incredibly long and there is only so much music and reading you can do in a day before you start running out of interest. The days are made longer by how frequently the nights are broken up by having my ops checked. Each night at hospital I'd be getting woken up at 2am for my checks, then again at 6am. At 7am I would then have blood taken and then at 8am breakfast would be served. As such it is really difficult to have a proper sleep as realistically the longest period of uninterrupted sleep I''ve had in the past couple of weeks is about 4 hours. I don't want to complain as I know the staff have to monitor me in order to make sure that I'm OK, but I cannot begin to describe how excited I am to have my own bed and sleep without being woken up.

Hello Ladies.

I. AM. HILARIOUS.

Olly and his sister came to visit on Sunday which was really good especially after how excruciatingly bored I've been the last couple of days. A few hours after they had left I received a unit of blood as my red blood cells had dropped below 80.


Freddie from University came down on Monday followed by a few mates from home which was great. We took over the ward common room which gave me the opportunity to leave my room and use my legs. I didn't have any transfusions that day and I was told that I would be leaving hospital on Wedneday.


Today after breakfast I was informed that I wouldn't be leaving hospital on Wednesday but that I would in fact be leaving today! Because of this I got topped up with blood and platelets etc so that I can go home. Chris came today and helped me pack all my stuff away with my mum. The staff at King's and my ward (Davidson) have all been incredible. Their kindness, patience and professionalism goes above and beyond what I expect of anyone. They all really are fantastic, I've been treated so well. I can't praise them all enough. Even the food has been really good, seriously. I was surprised too, there's quite an extensive menu and I strongly recommend the Chilli Con Carne if anyone ever finds themselves as an inpatient at Kings.
I will be back frequently at Hospital as an outpatient as there is still a lot to do, and I won't know if the ATG treatment is working for 3 months. As such my blogs may be a lot less frequent as it'll be back to the normal routine of transfusions.
Most of all I'm excited to have my bed tonight and to not be woken up at 2,6,7 and 8am.I'm going to sleep like a log. I wonder if I'v been institutionalised and will struggle in the outside world...

Final door sign.

Still going to have the Hickman for at least the next few months, maybe up to a year.

Friday June 12 - Tuesday June 16. Finished ATG treatment

The ATG treatment which is an immunosuppressive, is designed to stop my immune system attacking my bone marrow and consists of 4 long transfusions. The first bag which lasted 18 hours on Thursday June 11 went fine. I did have some minor side affects to it on Friday. Mainly consisting of itching and some small rashes, but this has since stopped. My blood sugar also rocketed to about 11.9, it should be within 4-7, but I think this may be because of all the sweets I've been eating since coming to hospital. As a result I was being monitored closely.

Almost as soon as I was up on Friday morning, after my breakfast and pills, another bag of ATG was being set up for me. Before I could have  the ATG my platelets needed to be above 30, mine weren't, so I had a quick bag of platelets before the ATG started. As Thursday's ATG had gone well, without any real problems apart from the itching that Friday morning, it was decided that the ATG could be sped up to about 15/16 hours. Once the ATG bag finished, which was just before 2am I had to have more blood samples taken from my Hickman Line, to ensure everything was still alright.


Before the transfusions on Saturday I tried to have a shower, as it would be nigh impossible to do so while hooked into a machine. Thankfully I have a Hickman Line protector that helps to keep it dry and clean for showers. It can be difficult to keep the part of the line that goes under my skin dry. As a result I had my Hickman Line dressing changed before my treatment continued. My blood tests that night had shown that my Magnesium was fairly low. I didn't even know there was magnesium in the body, I think it helps the muscles contract and stuff. Don't quote me on that. As such a magnesium transfusion was required while I had my 3rd bag of ATG. In a weird way this was quite cool as my Hickman Line has 3 lines coming out of it, meaning that I can have multiple transfusions at the same time. Now was my chance to have 2 transfusions simultaneously. This is how my life has become, I get excited about having simultaneous transfusions. The ATG bag was sped up to 13/14 hours as I've been coping well so far. The magnesium took about 2 hours. You can't really feel anything during transfusions apart from a slight coldness on the base of my neck/upper chest as they enter my blood stream.

My friend Jui kindly came up to see me on Saturday for a couple of hours and met my room mate Alvin. After my ATG was finished in the early hours of the morning, a bag of platelets was brought out for me, as they've been dropping quite fast during the treatment. I eventually went to bed just before 3am.

This has at least doubled since.

Sunday 14th was my 4th and final bag of ATG treatment! I woke up, had my breakfast and my ever growing collection of pills to take, as well as antibiotics and steroids. I required another platelet transfusion before I could get started on my final ATG bag. I had a couple more visitors in Olly and Smizz who came to see how I was doing.
My friend Alvin who I had been sharing a room with for the past few nights was going home that day so we said our goodbyes before he left. I was then moved to my own personal single room where I am now, which has been great so far. The final bag of ATG was scheduled to take only 12 hours. From now on I would be dealing with (hopefully minimal) side effects.

ONLY 1 MINUTE LEFT ON MY FINAL ATG BAG!!

Hadn't felt like this since my Birthday.

In terms of my physical well-being, Monday 15th has been the worst since I was originally taken to Lincoln Hospital on April 23rd. I woke up several times throughout the night with really bizarre dreams. I was up by 6am for more blood samples and the usual ops to be tested; blood sugar levels, pressure, pulse, temperature etc. My temperature had gone up fairly high to 38.9 and I was feeling really grim. The only way I can think of to describe it, is to imagine having a really bad hangover while having stomach cramps.

My recollection of yesterday morning is very hazy as I was continually slipping in and out of sleep, as well as an increased dosage of drugs, antibiotics and steroids. Because of how I was feeling extra samples were needed from me. This consisted of attaching fairly large vials which were already half full of solution to my lines, which would then take blood from me to be tested for infections. As they were already half full before they were connected to me, you could hear my blood going into them which was quite disturbing, but funny at the same time. It's strange sitting there with a nurse when you can both hear my blood spurting out. I then had another magnesium transfusion, this time sped up to 1 hour, as well as several more antibiotics transfusions. Because of the reactions I was having I also needed to have blood taken from my arms, which is disappointing as I was enjoying not being prodded with needles since I'd had my Hickman Line fitted. For some reason my veins were refusing to give any blood. The first 2 times the needle went in nothing would come out, but the third time was the charm. I was absolutely unable to even contemplate eating anything till late that evening.

I'm very observant.

My mum came up to see me at about 4pm while I was having a blood transfusion and left soon after my sister Grace and our neighbour Sam arrived to see me. Grace and Sam stayed for a couple of hours and left as another bag of platelets was brought out for me.

At around 11pm I was taken downstairs through the hospital for an x-ray to make sure I had no infections. The porter taking me wanted to push me in the wheelchair but I politely refused. The last few days I haven't walked any further than my bathroom and I wanted to use my legs. The x-ray only lasted a minute if that and I have since been told that everything is good which is pleasing. I didn't have a porter to direct me back to my room and ward after the x-ray, so I had to go find my ward (Davidson Ward) on my own. This was all going really well until I got into my ward and accidentally went into the room opposite mine, where I had a strange stand off with an elderly lady. I thought she'd came and stolen my room and I think she thought I was a nurse. I slowly backed out the room and went into the correct one where I soon had another transfusion of antibiotics.

Hickman Line holder has been a lifesaver.

As bad as I felt yesterday, I was in reality alright. It's more a feeling of strong fatigue and grogginess (just like a hangover) than any real pain. There's been no point where I've requested painkillers or anything. As well as this the staff were all very considerate and caring and certainly helped. I'm hoping that yesterday will be the worst that I feel during this illness. I've felt absolutely fine today so far, had more and more drugs, another antibiotics transfusion and currently waiting on my tests to see if I'll need any more transfusions today. My mates; Tom and Conor also came up to see me for a few hours. Bringing even more sweets and snacks. After my mates had left my mum arrived as well as my neighbour Barbara. I may be having another transfusion or two before I go to bed tonight.

Who makes pills this big?

For anyone reading this who ever needs to have a Hickman Line fitted. They can be quite uncomfortable and getting a Hickman Line Holder certainly helps. It also helps to keep them dry in the shower. I've used this site so I definitely can reccommend: http://www.centrallineholder.co.uk/

There's also pictures of me in the site if you can't get enough of my dashing good looks under 'Patient Blogs/Stories' and 'Patient Gallery'.

Wednesday June 10th - Thursday June 11th. Started the drug ATG treatment.

OH hello

On Wednesday afternoon I received a phone call from Kings Hospital stating that a bed had become available for me in a shared room with another patient. I was told to arrive about 7pm in order to move into the room.

The room is fairly big with two beds separated by a curtain. The other bed was occupied by a lad around my age. My family stayed with me for a while and I had the dressing changed on my Hickman Line as it had got fairly bloody. I also had more blood samples taken, this time from one of the lines on my Hickman instead of another cannula. Woooo no more cannulas for a while. I also had my blood pressure and temperature taken. My temperature was 37.9 which is a bit higher than they wanted so the staff said they'd keep an eye on me.

After my family left I remained awake till 11:30ish when the night doctor arrived to ask me about the drugs that I'm already prescribed to and to inform me about the coming day.

Weird innit.

I didn't really sleep that well that night, which I put down to being in a different environment. I was woken up around 4am to be told that my blood tests had showed that my Neutrophil (I think that's spelled correctly) had dropped below 1 to 0.63. It's something to do with my white blood cells, which means that my immune system is now even weaker. The nurse told me I would be having even more regular check ups in order to monitor the situation, but it shouldn't be too serious. Unless I somehow  come into contact with someone with the flu or something.


I began Thursday morning with a shower, trying out the waterproof Hickman Line holder my mum had got me. Its basically just a pouch that goes around my neck and holds the line.

That's my heart apparently.

At about 11am I was taken by a porter down to a cardiac ward in order to have an ultrasound of my heart. I had to lay topless on my side as a nurse and her intern (I think) used one of those ultrasound jelly pens over where my heart should be. I had a couple of stickers linked to their machine placed on me in order to help their monitoring. The jelly was quite cold and every so often I would turn my head to try and look at the screen where you could see my heart beating. I could barely work out what was on the screen and yet the two staff were easily spotting and discussing different parts of my heart. I felt a bit like a pregnant woman having an ultrasound. Once it was over I was told that there didn't seem to be any problems with my heart and if I had any questions. They kindly allowed me to take a couple of photos of the screen, and even tried to put the best images on the screen for me to photograph and film.

One day I'll be photogenic. (bag is ATG)

A porter took me back to my room afterwards as King's Hospital is huge and there is no way I'd ever find my way back on my own. I had a nurse and doctor almost immediately come into my room to inform me that I would be starting my ATG treatment soon and that all I needed first was a unit of blood. While I was being given blood my mum arrived to spend some time with me, and by that I mean annoy me. As the blood was finishing the nurse began putting medicines and other liquids through my Hickman Lines to get me ready for the treatment. My clinical nurse, Nana, also arrived which was good as I hadn't seen her for a few days. She told me about the treatment outlining how it came from a horse and that ultimately it was hoped that it would suppress my immune system which was attacking my bone marrow. There are of course possible side affects but because of my youth I should hopefully be alright. As I write this I have yet to feel any negative affects. As they don't know how I will react to the treatment they began with a test, this would input just 5mm of the ATG (which is diluted with saline) into my system over the space of an hour.

At least it's really quick. OH WAIT.

The hour came and went and everything seemed fine, so it was set to its normal pace and the rest of the bag was put to go into me. It will take a total of 18 hours for this bag to go into me. The 2nd bag (when I get it) will take 14-16 hours. So really short transfusions. I will be having a total of 4 bags I think. There is currently 15 hours 17 minutes remaining of this bag.

After dinner, I had my updated drugs brought out for me. So if I work this out correctly, I'm on: the ATG bag, 3 ATG capsules (2X day I think), spoon of Noxafil (3X day), special mouthwash (4X day), Nystan (4X day straight after mouthwash), Ciprofloxacin (2X day) and Aciclovir (2X day).
I hope I've got that all correct. I imagine tomorrow will be a fairly quiet day.

There isn't really that much for me to do at the moment except hang about and try and get comfortable despite being rigged into the machine. When I was having transfusions over night on my first night at Lincoln hospital I found it difficult to sleep, I doubt tonight will be any different.

Riveting read

More drugs than a pharmacy.

Tuesday June 2nd - Tuesday June 9th. Hickman Line Surgery.

This week has mainly been preparation and trying to sort some stuff out before I go into hospital as an inpatient. So nothing really happened this week.


On Tuesday I went with my parents to a restaurant up London.


I was back at Hospital on Thursday where I didn't have any transfusions. I was told that my next visit would be Tuesday the 9th (today). Where I will have several transfusions and have my hickman line put in. I will also be staying as an inpatient for several weeks if they have the bed available. If it's not available I'll have a bed by Thursday the latest apparently.

2 BAGS? WHOA! MAD!

Over Friday, the weekend and Monday I saw some more mates and my Grandad, as its my last weekend before going in as an inpatient. I also fed a dog a crisp which was hugely exciting. Been having mad weekends recently.


Before going in to Hospital today I had to shower Monday night and Tuesday morning using a special kind of antiseptic soap. I arrived early in the morning and was immediately given 2 bags of platelets straight after each other, as I needed my platelets to be over 50 before my Hickman Line surgery. Before the transfusion they were 9, which isn't the lowest I've had by a long way.
After the platelets I had some time to kill and went to the cafe with my mum before heading back to the hospital for about 1:30.

I was soon taken to an upstairs ward and given a place to wait before my surgery. I had to get changed out of all my clothes into a stylish hospital gown. A surgeon came and spoke to me describing the procedure to me and informing me of the risks. Conversations like that are always loads of fun. After waiting half an hour or so I was taken into the operating theater where I sat for 5 minutes before being taken back to the waiting room again as they were running a bit late. This was a bit disappointing as I'd been getting myself ready by listening to music when I was previously waiting.

Waiting for my modelling career to take off

15 minutes later I was taken back into the operating theater which is a surprisingly large room. I, understandably, wasn't allowed to take my phone into the theater so I don't have any photos from that. The surgeons and nurses were all extremely nice and friendly and instructed me to lay on my back on the bed. I had to have some of my chest shaved (obviously, as I'm bare hairy), so that it reduced the risk of infection from the surgery. I had all these blue sheets pulled up and over my face only leaving my left eye clear. I could only look at the wall while the surgery went on the the right hand side of my neck and chest.

I could feel markings being made on my skin where they were planning their insertions. The surgeon said that I would feel a slight scratch followed by stinging as he applied a lot of local anaesthetic to the region that he would be operating on. The application of the anaesthetic didn't hurt at all because I'm hard as nails. After that I could feel the wires being inserted into me from the base of my neck which would go along my veins and rest just above my heart. As the wire was being fed into me the bed would move around slightly so that the surgeons had better angles to manoeuvre the wires through me. Like when I had my two bone marrow biopsies, the weirdest feeling is feeling liquid running across you and realising that it's your own blood. There were parts where a lot of pressure was being applied to me in order I assume to make sure everything was secure. At the end of the procedure I required some stitches in order to keep the Hickman Line secure and to ensure that there is no risk of it coming out. As my skin was numb due to the anaestetic I could feel the needles going into me and pulling the rope(?) with it. It was odd as I could hear it all as its happening to your own body. It's also weird as you know that without the anaesthetic it would be horrifically painful, but instead I'm lying there joking about how I feel like I'm in an episode of 'Scrubs'.
I was soon allowed to sit up, and have a look at the results. I look like you could get access to the internet if you plugged your laptop into me. I wasn't allowed to sit up until all the blood was cleaned away.
I then took a load of pictures, I can't really photograph it without getting a load of my hairy chest in, Sorry everyone.

Having so much fun.

I was told that the Hospital had been unable to get a bed ready for me today, so I'll be back in hospital tomorrow. I will definitely have my room this week and will be remaining in hospital for the rest of the month, maybe a bit longer. This will definitely be my last post from home for a while as a result. I will have internet in hospital so as long as I am able, I will continue to post blogs from there. Thank you to everyone who has been keeping up to date and messaging me as well as coming to see me. It's all been very appreciated.
I'll leave you all with this very special picture to show my thanks.

So Sexy.

A huge thanks to all those who have signed up to the Anthony Nolan register. It's a great thing to do and very easy too. As well as those who have been donating blood and platelets to the NHS, especially as I am draining the NHS of all it's resources.

Thank you Jui and everyone else.

Freddie obviously had to do a selfie.

Monday May 25 - Monday June 1. Transfusions and a CT scan

I didn't do a post last week as it was a fairly quiet week, with only one transfusion of platelets on Tuesday the 26th and just some blood tests on Thursday. I saw a couple more of my mates at my local pub on the Bank holiday. I was then back at Kings Hospital on Tuesday. My cannula on Tuesday for some reason was leaking a lot of blood, probably a good thing I was getting platelets.

Need those Platelets yo

Bare blood.

On Thursday I went back to Hospital to have more blood tests. The results showed that I didn't need any transfusions that day so I was able to go home soon after.
My Friday night was spent with my parents, a growing trend in my social life. We went to the IMAX cinema to see Mad Max. I don't think they enjoyed it as much as I did.


Over the weekend I saw my mate Tom for the FA Cup final, curry and Fifa. One day Charlton will make the final.

Tom's 'Spielberg-esque' directing and narrating of my medicine taking. I hope that works. If not,  it's just 10 seconds of Tom talking in high frequencies while I try and have medecine.


Yesterday was a far busier hospital day. Upon arrival I had the usual; cannula inserted and blood tests taken. Due to some earlier cancellations my CT scan was bumped up from Thursday to Monday. In order for this I would need to have some kind of isotope pumped through me so that the healthiness of my organs could be observed. This required a larger cannula, so I ended up having a cannula in each arm.

Get your Cannula out.

Before having the CT scan I was told to drink several glasses of water in quick succession. I assume this is so that the scans can accurately see my kidneys and bladder.

In the CT scan room thing, I was made to lower my trousers to my knees and lay on my back on one of those scan machines which move you in and out of the StarGate looking arch. I probably could of been wearing less embarrassing boxers for the scan as I was in bright yellow LMFAO 'Sexy and I know it' boxers. Because I'm classy like that.

The larger cannula was hooked into something just out of my eyesight and I had to lay with my arms behind my head. One of the doctors told me that after a few minutes of scanning they would start running a liquid through my cannula that would make me feel very hot, and that a lot of patients think they wet themselves. I asked if anyone had ever wet themselves and she said no. I said 'there's always going to be a first.' She said she would let me know when the liquid would start going into me, but I requested ignorance as usual. I don't really care what happens, and seeing as I have no control over what happens, I'd rather it just happened, instead of it being continuously announced and counted down to. It's one of the reasons I still haven't bothered googling any of my illness. I know my mum has, and she didn't particularly enjoy it. So now I was paranoid about not only my classy boxers but also making sure I didn't piss myself.

I went through the machine a few times and a robotic voice would sometimes state 'take a deep breath', 'hold it', 'now breathe'. There was a little picture of a smiling face holding in its breath and then breathing normally that would light up on the machine with the commands, which I stared at the whole time and for some reason found hilarious. Suddenly I felt and even heard the liquid shooting down the tubes and cannula into my arm. Its a weird noise, like when you squeeze a Capri Sun. Immediately I clenched my bladder, no way I'm going to be the first to piss themselves. I felt quite hot and there is a really strange sensation that you've wet yourself. A few minutes later it all finished and a doctor came out, asked if I was alright and sent me on my way.

I went back down to the Hematology ward where I got a load of medication before my platelet unit which again made me really drowsy. After that I was given two units of blood in quick succession (4 hours or so) before my cannulas were removed and I could leave.



I'll be back at hospital on Thursday for some more blood tests, maybe a platelet transfusion. It looks like I will be beginning my treatment on Monday (possibly Tuesday) where I will have to remain at Kings for basically the whole of June.

Wednesday May 20 - Sunday May 24. More Transfusions, Lincoln and the Anthony Nolan Register

Looks like I have a sock puppet.

Wednesday was a non-hospital day. I went for a really nice meal with my mum and sister.


Thursday I was back at hospital for a few transfusions. I went through the usual procedure of blood tests being taken from me and a cannula inserted into the crook of my arm. I was told that my platelet count was 11, normal is roughly 150. I think the highest mine has been since all this started was 30.
The nurses told me that I had an hour or so to kill before the transfusions would be ready so they gave me some sleeve thing to go over my cannula, and I headed off to a cafe by the station with my mum for a bit. I also asked to see the wards/rooms that I would be staying in when I am in hospital for a few weeks undergoing my ACG treatment. The rooms looked fairly small, but had WiFi (wooo), I will effectively be in quarantine and to enter my room requires people to scrub up before hand and to wear aprons and gloves. I'm not currently sure how easy it would be to have visitors.

Once we were back at the hospital I was pumped full of medication for my platelet transfusion to make sure that I didn't have a reaction. The medication makes you really drowsy and it can be hard to concentrate and focus. Platelets take about 30-40 minutes before they finish, soon after I was brought my first of two units of blood, each one takes a couple of hours which makes the whole process very boring. Thankfully there was very little wait between each unit and I was out of hospital by 7pm.


Not much happened Friday, I'm getting used to staying in and being in bed by 11pm. I'm starting to feel old, even my sister is going out to parties and staying out later than me.

Saturday was an early start as my parents and I were heading to my student house in Lincoln to pack up all my stuff. It was great to see my housemates and a lot of my friends who were still at Lincoln. They helped me pack and clear out my room and we had a couple of hours in the student bar before I had to start leaving. It felt weird properly leaving Lincoln and all my mates, officially moved out of my house and yet I still haven't finished my course.

Look at that lovely bunch.

Sunday was a lazy day. I saw my mate Suneel, watched football and had a glorious roast.


In the last few weeks I have been receiving countless texts and messages, even from people who I have never met, it's amazed me how considerate and caring the majority of people are. A common pattern among these messages is that people want to know how to donate blood, bone marrow, everything. I've been surprised by how selfless people are.
If people do genuinely want to try and help, a great thing to do is get on to the Anthony Nolan register. This is a register that connects people all over the world in their search for bone marrow matches and donors. To do this please go on the Anthony Nolan website (www.anthonynolan.org), from there you can sign up to become a bone marrow donor. All it requires is answering a few simple questions and the organisation will send you a spit kit. You just have to spit in the equipment provided and send it back to them. It is extremely unlikely that you can donate straight to me, but there is a chance that you could help someone else, and requires very little effort on the part of the donor.
You can also donate blood, or platelets. This just requires a quick google search to find your closest donation center and any information needed. I think I'm draining the NHS of its supplies.
I'm very grateful to all who have done any of this, and contacted me for information etc and who knows, maybe it will come to me. I'm always looking for fresh blood.
Thanks especially to Tom, Chris, Olly and Anna who have already done this. Amazing.

Absolute star.

Saturday May 16 - Tuesday May 19. Finally officially diagnosed.

I spent most of Saturday in the beer garden of my local pub with Tom and Sam, before heading back for some Fifa at mine. Sunday was the same as all my Sundays are, football and a roast.


I was up by 07:15 Monday morning in order to start getting ready for the hospital. My mum and I got a cab to the station and got a train to King's at Denmark Hill arriving at 09:00. First I had my blood tests, which I now expect as soon as I arrive at hospital. We then waited for our appointment with the doctors where I should hopefully be officially diagnosed.

We were soon taken into a room where there were were two doctors, one who had flown over from Canada as well as my clinical Nurse Nana, she is absolutely lovely. I was asked the usual questions of 'How are you feeling?', 'Have you been having any problems?' etc before the meeting properly started. They began by telling me what it is that I have been diagnosed with, which is aplastic anaemia. I had expected this. There are three classifications of this illness; non-severe, severe and very severe. Mine falls between severe and very severe. Apparently my illness is very rare, with about 2 or 3 people a year getting it in the UK.

The booklet doesn't get cheerier.

I was then told about the possible treatments, sadly my sister's wasn't a bone marrow match with me. She should have tried harder in my opinion, #letdown. This means that the hospital would have to try and find a match for me via the Anthony Nolan register which could take months, and seeing as my immune system is extremely low there is the possibility that I could get a potentially dangerous infection during this waiting period. As such I will instead be getting a drug treatment called 'ATG'. This means that I will be in hospital for a few weeks receiving treatment, some of the possible side affects aren't great but could make for some really cool pictures. King's are hoping to begin this treatment as soon as possible, likely to be in the next fortnight, so the beginning of June. But before then I need to have lots of organ scans to make sure my body can cope with what is going to happen.

The way I've understood the course, in it's simplest terms, without getting techinical about all the stuff going into me (apparently a lot of it is horse. Seriously. Horse.). 7 out of 10 people finish the course, and of that 7, 20% of them it doesn't work for at all. So the odds are in my favour which is good. I will be in hospital for roughly 3 weeks, as most reactions happen in the 2nd or 3rd week. I will then be going back to being an outpatient, visiting hospital 2 or 3 (maybe more) times a week. 3 months after the treatment is done, the doctors will know for certain whether it is working or not. It's a cure of sorts, but its not called a cure as the old ill cells will still be in me, but I will have new antibodies. This is of course if it all goes well, there is still a chance regardless that I may have to have a bone marrow transplant as well, but hopefully this will all go well.
I think I have explained all this correctly.

PS3 taking the piss out of my transfusions. HP+1

After all this fun, my mum and I went for a meal before going home where I played PS3 for the rest of the day.


Today I've been writing this and have no plans bar chilling out.

On Saturday I will be back in Lincoln to collect the rest of my stuff from my house which I am really looking forward to.







I would like to take this time to point out how terrible a prediction my mate Chris made on New Years day. I'm not convinced this prediction could have been any more wrong.

His balls lied.

Monday May 11 - Friday May 15. More needles and transfusions

They put a bag straight over it:(

Currently I'm having to go hospital two or three times a week to have continuous blood tests and transfusions.

Monday I was at hospital being prodded by more needles. The amount of blood samples I've had removed are uncountable by this point. I was asked if I would allow a trainee nurse to attempt to jab me with a needle to take blood and insert a cannula (when I've been saying catheter, I've meant cannula) into me. So I agreed, as I would like to try and help when I can. I didn't make it easy for him though as he was struggling to find anywhere to jab me, as there are lots of marks on my arms from where I've had needles and he didn't want to weaken the vein walls. So attempted to go for my hand which is a bit more painful, sadly he missed the vein so I had to have to someone else come over to do it for him, she managed to find a decent place in my arm. My hand ended up swelling quite large for an hour or so which was funny.

Look at this monster!

A couple of hours after my blood samples were taken, I was given another bag of platelets. About five minutes after the platelets were hooked into me I started going really weird and having a reaction to them. I went all red and was struggling to breathe and my stomach hurt, but I didn't throw up which is good. I got unplugged from it and a load of medication was put into me to prevent reactions, which I now have to have before any unit of platelets. Not too long after, the platelets were reinserted back into me and there was no trouble. Once the platelets was finished they were unhooked from my cannula but a load of blood came up through the cannula and went all over my arm and leg, but thankfully missed my new trainers, so that's good. I was also given a new tablet to take which is basically calcium which I have to chew. It's not particularly nice.


I didn't really do anything on Tuesday and Wednesday. Wednesday was probably the hardest day that I've had personally since I originally became ill. This was the day that I would have been finishing university. The rest of my friends and English course were taking their final exam and posting on facebook, twitter, snapchat, instagram etc about finishing university which was tough as I don't know when I'll be finishing. It's unlikely to be this year. But I am pleased for everyone and hopefully I'll be doing the same at some point.

#Brave 

I was back at hospital on Thursday for, you guessed it, more blood tests. When the blood test tubes were removed from my cannula, some excess blood pumped through again and went all over the pillow. So I got a new pillow. Win Win.
I ended up having to have a 3 and a half hour wait for another unit of platelets. I was filled up with medication before I was rigged into the unit and didn't have any reaction. You'll also be proud to know that I requested not to have a bag over the platelets because I'm so brave. I am now a man who can take his platelets without them having to be hid behind a paper bag. I'm making giant leaps.


Friday was spent lounging around before my mate Simon arrived for some strong Fifa sessions and pizza. #Lad


The next time I am at hospital will be on Monday where I am to expect a very long and serious meeting. And hopefully will finally be diagnosed with whatever it is that I have. I already know what it is likely to be. I haven't wanted to say what it may or may not be as I don't want to tempt fate. There are 3 illnesses that it may be, none of them are particularly great. Hopefully in my next post I will know for sure what it is, I do know that I will be needing a bone marrow/stem cell transplant. At the moment I am in a strange kind of limbo where it is all a bit confused.

My thoughts regarding the upcoming Monday.

Wednesday May 6 - Sunday May 10. Blood transfusions, visitors and a fun bone marrow test.

Look at dem bad boiz

Wednesday was a day of shopping, seeing as I will no longer be going to a festival this summer my parents kindly got me some belated 21st birthday presents.


Thursday was a busy day. Arriving at King's Hospital around 10:00, I was met by a doctor who proceeded to discuss the bone marrow test that I would be having shortly. I previously had a bone marrow test the day after I was admitted to Lincoln County Hospital, but King's wanted to perform their own tests and be in full control. The process would be a needle punching through my bone and taking samples from inside, as well as taking a physical part of my bone marrow too. I was then asked if I would allow for extra samples to be taken from me for research purposes, including a sample of my skin. I of course accepted. If there's any chance I can help others in a similar position and help doctors learn more about illnesses then I want to do it,

Some of the blood from the test

I was then taken into a room and had to lie on my side with my knees to my chest. This time the biopsy would be taken from the left side of my hip as the bone marrow test at Lincoln was taken from my right side. They began with applying a hell of a lot of anesthetic, sadly I wouldn't be getting any Gas&Air this time. After the anesthetic, I had the skin/tissue sample taken. This involved the doctor using a scalpel and carving out a small part of skin. It's a bizarre sensation as I could feel the scalpel cutting into me, and I could even hear it, like when you can hear yourself chewing but no one else can, Then came the bone marrow test, it takes a lot to get a needle through bone, and its really strange having someone applying so much pressure to yourself and eventually suddenly breaking through, which was slightly painful. It then vacuums up the liquid within your bone which was a really uncomfortable feeling, I could also feel blood running down my back during the test which is strange as it takes a moment to click before you realise what it is. For the part where a piece of my marrow had to be removed, it had to be twisted 360 degrees in both directions by a straining nurse before it was finally yanked out of me.

Get your samples out.

I'm pretty sure my mum who was in the room with me was in a lot more pain than I was, and I don't think she found me making jokes and laughing during the biopsy that funny.

Following the test, I had several more blood samples taken and a long wait for a blood transfusions, which was made more bearable by having a visitor from university. Cheers Jui for sitting around in extreme boredom with me while I waited for blood.
Soon after Jui left I finally had a unit of blood provided for me and eventually left the hospital at 7pm, meaning that I had been at King's for 9 hours.


Friday was a bad day for lots of reasons, I was struggling to sit properly due to the ache in my hip, but like a lot of people I woke up to the disappointing news of 5 more years of Tory government. Hopefully this won't affect my treatment at the wonderful NHS.
I was back at hospital by 11am to receive my 7th unit of blood and was then allowed to go home for the weekend. I wont be back at hospital again till Monday.

7th unit.

On Saturday Freddie and Olly from university came down to visit me at home which was great to see them again. We played some table tennis and headed down to the local pub for a few drinks (I'm allowed to have the odd drink, just can't get drunk). A couple of other lads from home met us there and we all sat in the sun in the beer garden. After that the three of us went back to mine for a curry before we said our goodbyes.


Today has been a lazy day, spent watching football and having a roast dinner. I'm back to hospital tomorrow.

Ooooo table tennis fwends