"There's a myth that anyone who has a liver problem has brought it on themselves" This quote is from a Crohn's disease patient living with a blocked portal vein hoping for a liver transplant (Independent 31st Oct 2010)

Wednesday 26 September 2012

Still undetectable while on reduced dose

Had my most recent viral load (VL) through the post today. Still showing my 'undies' at  <15 iu/ml, which classifies as negative.  So that's great news, as I've been on a reduced dose of the Tenofovir for 2 months.

Hopefully I can plod along with a 68% kidney eFGR.

I do have a slight problems with what the hepatologist calls lymphadenopathy. I have uncomfortable areas around lymph glands/nodes in the bit of your neck they call 'submandibula';  the 'posterior' - which is from your skull base down behind your ear, (both on the right side) and around the left armpit down my upper arm. Hepatologist assures me the Tenofovir doesnt affect the lymphatic system, so not sure what's causing this. Maybe a good time to get another FBC (full blood count) run to see what my immune system is doing.

Monday 17 September 2012

Great North Run

Somewhere among nearly 50,000 runners is my brother, who completed the 13.1 miles in under 3 hours

Well done! And congrats for fundraising for your local hospice.

Not much to report from myself.  A couple of appointment c*ck-ups but that's nothing new.  Pharmacy at Salford could only supply 2 instead of 3 months Tenofovir, so had to re-arrange 3-monthly follow-up clinic to become a 2-monthly one.  The missing meds arrived a couple of days after my September clinic, but I chose not to drive the 3 hour round trip twice in one week for the sake of 1 bottle of tablets.  I'll get another 3 bottles in November instead.

Letter arrived booking me into an ultrasound at Macclesfield next month.  In spite of a letter from my surgeon to Macclesfield asking for an MRI, the same old same old as 6 months ago has happened again, where they try to downgrade the imaging to a US instead.  Waiting to get that changed.


Monday 3 September 2012

Paralympics comes to Bollington

When J was at primary school, around age 7 or 8 I think, he had a friend called James who lived a few doors away. Here they are peeking through the glass of our back door.


Here is James yesterday, 2nd September (far right) at the Paralympics


James older sister Libby (22) is also a Paralympic athlete. Last night she broke the European record to win silver in the 100 metre T-12 to add to the silver medal she won in Beijing. For James (18) this is his first Paralympics.  He competes later in the week in both the 50m freestyle and 100m freestyle while Libby competes again in the 200 metre. Both have a congenital condition that causes their eyesight to deteriorate.