After two months of searching, I have finally found a bone marrow donor match- but more on that later!
Its been about a month since my last post so there is plenty to catch up on! Ill pick up where I left off with the blood clot. I am pleased to say that the headaches have subsided and although I am no doctor, I think it is safe to say the clot has dispersed – Neil 1, blood clot 0!
Chemotherapy has continued over the last month, some of which required a stay in the Marsden until the chemicals were cleared from my system. Having gone in on the Thursday, I was optimistic that I would be out by Saturday, however to achieve this goal, I needed to take on a lot of fluid in order to flush the drug through. And of course, what goes in…must come out-I was never very far from the toilet! Unfortunately, the hours spent in the toilet were in vain – I hadn’t cleared the drug sufficiently on Saturday and another night in hospital was required. With my 21st Birthday on the Monday looming, I was anxious to clear the drug and decided to up the volume of fluid intake…I was pissing like a racehorse!
Fortunately my plan worked this time and I managed to get home on Sunday evening, the night before my birthday.
My original plan of having a big birthday bash had to be put on hold, for obvious reasons, however I was pleasantly surprised by my scheming best mate, Luke, and my girlfriend, Emily. My quiet night with the family and the aforementioned conspirators was suddenly changed when I opened the door to a load of my close friends! I did wonder why my mum had picked up an extra 8 steaks from Lidl. My Dad took control of the BBQ and asked how everyone wanted their steaks. He needn’t have bothered asking however as ‘really well done’ is his forte – and to be honest, it was the only option on the menu!
Nonetheless, I had a great night and not even the England result could wipe the smile off my face-thanks everyone!
I received lots of lovely presents from my family and friends, including tickets from Emily to see
Coldplay at Wembley – a fantastic concert and a memorable night!
Another highlight of my birthday week was being able to attend the filming of ‘A League of Their Own’ courtesy of my old mate Jack (Whitehall). The show was hilarious and at the end we were able to go on set and spend some time with him and his mates, namely Freddie Flintoff, Joey Barton, Jamie Redknapp and John Bishop- not that I’m name dropping!
One present that no one was expecting came earlier in the day of my birthday in the form of a perfect, 10/10 donor match for my anticipated bone marrow transplant later this year. To our surprise the donor, who must remain anonymous, comes from Brazil. I’m hoping that post transplant I will acquire some samba rhythm and new-found football skills, even though I already have both in abundance! On a more serious note, a lot can change between now and transplant day and because of this they are continuing to search the database for a further two back-up matches.
Finding my perfect donor would not have been possible without the Anthony Nolan charity. I am fortunate enough to have found a donor, however there are many others still searching. With this in mind I ask anyone who hasn’t yet ‘spat in a pot’ to please consider doing so. The more people there are on the database, the greater the chance of finding a perfect match for those in need. Please click here to join the register.
For those of you who are too old to register as a donor, don’t think you are getting off without contributing! For every young person that spits it costs the charity £60 to process and add them to the database. For this reason, I have set up a JustGiving page for the Anthony Nolan Charity and would be grateful for any financial contributions. Youngsters and wrinklies working together! Please click here to visit the JustGiving page.
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