The wrong side of the fence

In the day’s last sunshine at the top of the Cliff, a cow was on the wrong side of the fence and searching for a way back through to rejoin the herd.

I was tired and had been tempted to miss my daily walk up the hill, but I overcame the inertia and I was glad I did to see the sunset in the Plain of York (see extra).

I have been debating several days whether to post this blip, but finally decided I wanted a record of the day, and also that I have friends here who might want to know this latest news.

As some will remember, in 2016 I was diagnosed with a chronic form of leukaemia. There followed a period of watch and wait while the haematologist monitored my changing blood markers, waiting for a threshold to be passed before chemotherapy would be administered. During this time, my energy levels dropped - first slowly, then increasingly quickly. We were on Raasay for a couple of weeks when it became obvious that treatment was needed imminently. The course of chemotherapy was initiated the week we got home.

We always knew that, although the disease had been put into remission, there would come a day when it returned, and treatment would again be needed. The haematology team in York hospital have been monitoring my blood markers since we moved here in January last year. Today I had an appointment with the consultant and there was good news and not so good news. The results of a CT scan done two weeks before were good, nothing untoward was found. This means though that the tiredness that has been growing this six months, together with the declining levels of white cells, platelets and red cells indicate that the leukaemia has become active again.

The next step is a bone marrow biopsy in the next two weeks, followed by increased frequency of blood analyses and consultant discussions.

It wasn’t a surprise to hear the news, I have had more time than the medical staff to scrutinise the trends in the blood results, and I had already seen the change which was beginning to accelerate six months ago, and had linked this to the change in my energy levels and general wellbeing. It was reassuring though to hear the consultant’s opinion confirming this, while ruling out other possible causes. We have begun the discussion of treatment options this time round, as well as likely timing. I am hopeful we can get through the winter and all the respiratory infections that become more numerous, and into the warmer months of Spring when there is less risk of picking up an infection after my immune system has been temporarily blitzed by chemotherapy. But that depends on factors beyond our control. The good thing is that so far at least, I have been clear of bacterial infections, when last time round, it was a particularly nasty infection which first highlighted that something was wrong.

So here we are. That is why I pushed beyond the inertia to go for the evening walk. And I shall keep up the exercise regime to maintain as high a level of fitness as I can. Last time round I used to take Gus for his morning walk every morning over Arnside Knott before breakfast, as well as a lunchtime and evening walk. I’m convinced that helped me to stay well as long as possible, and then recover quickly afterwards. Alas, we no longer have our lovely Gus, and I miss him every time I go for a walk. But I shall keep walking, and hopefully take a few more photos to post with progress updates over the coming months.