Sams birthday

Sam blows the nine candles out!

I took off to Edinburgh on Wednesday at midday in order to take my time. I hadn't driven that far since the operation, but it wasn't a problem and I got there just as England kicked off in the deciding Group game in the World Cup. It was also Sams birthday, he was nine and so after the match we all headed to a pizza place for his Birthday Tea!

Abbie & Steph

I arrived early at clinic and was seen first. Two my drugs were ended. Everything else they were happy about, with the kidneys function improving but the potassium is still high. Then I was told I didn't need to return for a month, which pleased me no end!

I then had a meeting with Professor Forbes about a potential participation in a trial, but he was concerned that, with my activity in contact sports, it was not suitable for me. He did imply that there were other trials that might be of interest and that I was an ideal candidate.

I made it home ok but was very tired later on, even falling asleep in the bath . In the morning I awoke feeling sick and spent a good part of the day in bed, perking up in the evening.

That must have been good medicine as today I went on a bike (Triumph) ride. Just an hour on some of the back roads, not too fast and getting used to the movement and feel again. I had a grin on my face when i got home. My old leathers fell off me when I tried them on first thing so they'll go on Ebay and I went and got a new set from Bert at Ecosse Honda, a set from BKS.

King of the Castle

Dalhousie Castle

Caz and I set off to Edinburgh on Wednesday, taking advantage of a deal and staying at the plush Dalhousie Castle. We had Kali with us and the place wasn't busy, so the cheap deal had us in the Lodge, separate from the main castle. As it wasn't busy they had moved us into one of their themed rooms (four poster bed - the lot), but as we had the dog, we got a basement room instead. We took advantage of the spa for 50 minutes, which degenerated into a water fight between Caz and myself! We still nipped round to see Rob, Steph, Abbie and Sam though!

Dr Andrew Bathgate saw me in Clinic and has just phoned me on my return. There is still concern about my potassium levels which are high at 7.9 and the creatinine levels are still at 200! They have told me to reduce the Tacrolimus and increase the MMF to try and solve the issue. The kidney issue is caused by the Tacrolimus. My hand has tremors and right now i am very salty in the mouth. It leaves me feeling that I have no energy and giddy at times. There will be several blood tests next week to measure the progress.

On my next visit, which should see the medication greatly reduced, I will meet Professor Forbes and discuss my involvement in a trial. Once i have digested the information I'll discuss it in a later post. I also had an ultrasound scan which seemed to go well.

It was a good clinic and I bumped into James who had been in for the weeks assessment with me. He's 4.5 weeks post transplant and looking very well. It was great to see him in this state as when i was in with him, he was struggling with it all.

I asked about the size of the tumor at the time of the removal of the liver. I was told that there were in fact THREE tumors which if that had been known would have discounted me from Transplant immediately. The sizes of theses tumors were 3.7cm, 20mm and 5mm. There was no intrusion into arteries or veins, meaning that there is virtually no fear that the cancer spread.

Monday I went up and took the Filipino Martial Arts class. I really enjoyed it but Tuesday i was tired. I made it back to the gym to work on the roller door that has broken but was exhausted at night.

World cup starts tomorrow. I'll enjoy that. I'll support England but the African teams will no doubt excite. Argentina should be great to watch depending on the Maradonna factor - genius or madman - but the favourite, Spain, I don't think will win it. Watch out for the dark horses Holland and Brazil. It is going to be a good one I think!

Mother Theresa once said: "Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person."