T + 854 Happy New Year

It seems an age ago but New Year's Day was just under 3 weeks past so a Happy New Year to all my readers.

Before moving on to other things just a quick medical update. I went to the transplant clinic last Wednesday and it is very much steady as she goes. I've tolerated coming off the ciclosporin fine and apart from a couple of patches of dry skin the GVHD seems to be lying low.

The ciclosporin caused my blood pressure to rise when I was first put on it back in September 2008 so I was put on a blood pressure tablet called amlodipine. In theory now I am off the ciclosporin I can come off the amlodipine as the chances are my blood pressure should go back to normal. The consultant I saw suggested I check my blood pressure at home a few times and take these readings in to my GP and get him/her to manage my withdrawal from amlodipine. So I've started drawing up my little spreadsheet of readings and will be off to see my GP next week.

I mentioned a while back that 2011 will be a year of change and it has already got off to a flying start because last Friday I handed in my notice at work as I have got another job to go to. I've been where I am for the last six years but my job is being outsourced to India and the new role my current company suggested I do was not very appealing. It has also been 6 months since the new role was mooted and there has been no sign of a job title or job description.

I've made some good friends where I am now and enjoyed working with lots of people there so I will miss that, but the new role, as well as being something I'll enjoy doing, has better terms and conditions and is about half the travel distance so that will save me time and petrol money.

Looking back over 2010 I started the year thinking I was close to coming off ciclosporin but it turned out to be nearly another 12 months away. I also had a little hiccough with shingles in the middle of the year which whilst not unexpected was still another small setback to deal with. All in all though my health has been pretty good over the last year and that perennial theme of achieving normality looks ever closer to fulfilment . ( Though maybe my trajectory towards it is asymptotic :o).

Highlights of the year just gone would be self-publishing my novel, Reunion to raise over £300 for Cure Leukaemia, and getting the vegetable garden established.

On the subject of writing I have a new short-story up on abctales.com that was written as an assignment for my creative writing course.


It's the poetry section of the creative writing course next. Heaven help us all. :o)

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