As I said on the 20th in "And so it begins" that I was unwell for a couple of days being sick, which more than likely was just a bug but then I go on to say about not being "recovered completely and am seemingly picking up a few more problems". Well also in this post I did mention a few other things such as being sore and tired and being grumpy, what I didn't mention was that this is the same as how I felt when I first started getting sick back in May. The pain that I have in the different places is the same the grogginess is the same and even my chest, feels the same, the sporadic tiredness is also the same and the chills are the same, although maybe not quite as bad this time around so far.
I thought that the lymphoma was possibly starting up again about the 15th and since then the problems that I've been having have just been getting worse and more of them. It was always just a bit of a guess until Thursday 23rd when I really started to feel rough, so rough that I had to go to bed to sleep and evenly disperse my body temperature, as my core seemed to be extremely warm, but my extremities were freezing and making me shiver a bit. That evening I didn't seem to get much better at all, this time though I was extremely warm and sweaty and even that night when I woke up from a sleep and was drenched in sweat.
Friday was the day that I feel that things began to fall in to place and I was almost certain that it is the Lymphoma, after having spells of being cold and warm, and bouts of tiredness throughout the day, during the Arsenal match I was still having the pains that I would have, my neck, left arm and right leg, the same ones that had most of the pains in September when the chemo wasn't working and the lumps where sprouting up each day. I have a check around firstly in my neck and easily spotted a couple of glands either side of my throat, even though they were only wee small ones they were noticeable. Next was my arm, so had a good feel around my armpit and I remembered that previously when I had the pain down my arm it wasn't quite in my armpit but down a bit further, checked there and bingo, again, only a fairly small one, but one none the less. Then finally was my leg and found this one pretty quickly and it was just in my groin, same as before. During the Arsenal match I got very cold and started shivering again, so after, I went upstairs and wrapped myself up to try and warm up a bit.
That night though I was too warm, ok the house was quite warm, but not that warm. I was very tired when I got to bed only about 12 but I couldn't sleep and decided to tell someone what was going on. I wasn't sure what to do, should I tell people? Would it be any point telling them so they can worry for the next month until the results from my scan get back? I wasn't sure. She did help and put my mind at rest a bit, was more worried about telling my mum than anything else, I knew she would be much more upset than I will ever be if it is the lymphoma, and even if it isn't she will be thinking the worst.
Saturday morning I just couldn't wake up, but finally dragged myself out of bed at about 11 and felt pretty rough, mostly my neck and head, but as today went on I did get gradually colder and more tired and ended up going into bed for an hour or so which seemed to have helped and since then I have been picking up and up and now actually feel pretty much normal, for a while at least. The rest of the night I had felt pretty good but I did have a couple of stages where I did crash a little and I was quite glad I decided not to do anything and stay in.
Sunday morning when I woke up my back pains where there, exactly where the swollen glands where the first time around and as before getting up and moving around loosened it and it eased up. Later in the afternoon I once again had the cold but warm feeling, so I lay down for a while in bed and watched the football, it wasn't too bad this time around though and seemed to pass fairly quickly. The evening was much better, ok I was a little tired but I think that may have been just being tired rather than anything to do with the bug. But tomorrow I am up at hospital to see the dermatologist, so I think I will pop up to see my normal doctor too about the latest problems.
I struggled getting to sleep the night before but it was just down to having a sporadic sleep pattern lately and with the early start to go to hospital I knew I would crash later, first appointment went fine and in typical Alan fashion today I feel fine, no pains, no chills, nothing, but I was still going to go up to the normal docs and let them know what has been going on. They took bloods and had a feel for the lumps and could barely feel them and basically by the end they said what I was expecting, we'll have to wait for the scan, which will be in a couple of weeks. But generally today I have felt pretty good although feeling a bit naff that I had went to hospital, but I know it was for the best and I'm sure it has probably made me feel a bit better as well knowing that they weren't too concerned about it.
Tuesday I felt pretty much normal most the day, just a bit tired and did get a bit of a fever during the afternoon and again in the evening, but nothing too bad and nothing that I couldn't cope with.
Wednesday was quite a nice day, not weather-wise but I felt pretty good, and went for a long walk which in fact absolutely wrecked me, my legs were in pieces and by the end could barely walk for the rest of the day, I did have a bit of a fever again in the evening and had a fairly early night too. Thursday I was still incredibly sore and continued to have my fever and my chest was getting a little tight and the continued pain around my neck as if it was tight. Later in the day my arms and legs continued to be sore and rather than a muscle pain it felt more like the glands and lymph system that where blocked up and that it was that that was stretching rather than the muscles. Late in the afternoon and evening I had another fever and lay in bed watching a couple films and then suddenly with warming up in bed, all my pains went away, just like that, couldn't quite believe how sudden the change was, but at least it was gone.
Friday morning I was back up at hospital for my normal check up and all the counts seemed pretty good, I said to the doctor again that I'm still getting the pains and fevers and generally just not feeling well and he had a look at a lot of other counts that even I had never even heard of, I think it was the CPD count which was 5 three weeks ago, 30 on Monday and 50 today, apparently this is a sign that you have an infection, but doesn't help finding out which infection, so they have stuck me on some antibiotics to hopefully clear it up before the scan next Friday. Most of Friday I felt ok, bit of a fever again in the afternoon and then got quite tired in the evening just before I was going out. I think the best thing about today was that there were signs that it isn't the lymphoma playing up but in fact just a bug I guess I should be happy about this and maybe should just keep it quiet over the next couple of weeks.
The following day I spent most of the time lazing around watching the football and rugby before going to a friend's engagement party, there, I felt a bit rotten and my fever was really kicking in badly, so I left quite early, rather than taking any unnecessary risks and regretting it, got home, read for a little and finally dozed off.
Not been an easy few weeks but it hasn't exactly stopped me enjoying myself, but not long now until the chemo has all wore off and things do finally return to "normal" again and get back to work... just a couple more weeks.