September 14: Looking good

Upon arrival at King's hospital I was taken into a small side room for my 3rd bone marrow biopsy. A trainee nurse asked to stay during the biopsy which I was fine with. I then had to sign the usual spiel about volunteering extra bone marrow samples for research.

I had to lay on my side with my trousers slightly lowered so that my hip is visible and accessible. This time I was prepared and wore Calvin Klein boxers instead of embarrassing robot ones. Again I didn't have any gas and air like I did at Lincoln. The most painful part of the ordeal is the application of local anesthetic which can sting as it spreads and numbs the area that is about to be used. There's a lot of yanking and digging around with a needle in my hip as it sucks out some of the liquid marrow. Once that was done, some kind of needle clamp thing was then stuck in which, after lots of twisting, a piece of marrow core was pulled out. Such fun we had.

After the biopsy I had a clinical appointment with my doctor. He believes that my treatment is working. I will be getting the full results in a fortnight's time from the bone marrow biopsy. He expects the results to be very positive and that I will also be having my hickman line removed! My blood test results showed that my counts had basically remained the same since my last blood test on September 7th which is fine, as I'm not expecting huge and fast increases. Just slow and steady.

I look forward to getting my biopsy results in a couple of weeks time and getting my Hickman Line out. The end, I think, is on the horizon.