I've not said anything about my Leukaemia lately as it's basically been steady as we go. Last time I explained how my Leukaemia has migrated into Pure Red Cell Aplasia (PRCA) which has left me transfusion dependent; as my consultant said "that wasn't the plan".
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My calibrated slope!?
© Harveywetdog |
The treatment for PRCA is still work in progress as on balance the Doctors are keen for me to complete my course of CLL drugs first. There is a thought that the Venetoclax might have triggered the PRCA, which we won't know until I'm off the drug completely. The Venetoclax dose appears relatively small but is obviously mighty powerful. In the meantime there is concern that being transfusion dependent will lead to iron overload in my body hence currently the number one priority is managing my iron levels.
As always this will come down to more drugs but before you start on the drugs they like to baseline your hearing and eyesight, as both can be affected by the treatment. But not being particularly keen on having to take drugs for three nights every week I decided to take a slightly different approach and see if I could survive on less transfusions.
In December I was basically having transfusions every week. This was sufficient to keep my HB level around 90 and gradually increasing until one week I would drop from 2 bags to 1 bag. I asked if I could go to 2 bags every two weeks recognising that I would eventually need three bags to pull my average HB level back up to around 80. Obviously letting my HB levels drop like this is a draw on my energy levels but as long as I keep my HB levels above 60 I am confident I can survive. My reference is the slope up the field where I walk the dogs; if I can manage that without too much discomfort I'm doing ok.
In terms of medication well so far I've had my ears tested but I'm still waiting for my eye test. We all appreciate that the NHS is busy so I'm happy to wait. I'd had an ear test while I was at EDF so I knew what to expect although I do find those faint bings and bongs all a bit subjective. This was especially so at Cheltenham General Hospital where, although the test was carried out in a sound proof room, it was still possible to hear a lot of off putting background noise during the test.
I've also now had my fourth Covid jab, that's three primaries and my booster last week, and so far the fourth jab has not upset my HB levels as the third jab did back in November.
Videoing wise I've decided that I wont do any more assignments until I've got my new camera. Best estimates are that this will be in April 2022 as Sony are still struggling to get stocks of the PXW-Z280 into the UK. Added to this I was also left upset by my experiences at Prestige in November as I explained in my previous blog with the combined effect that I'm put off venturing out to video in the cold. I have been working on a remake of my 2015 Tweseldown video which has been great fun and made me appreciate the 1080 camera with its 5:1 sound. One thing I discovered was that I'd always thought the camera was operating at 50fps but I know realise that it was operating in a 25fps mode.
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Editing on the HP 32 inch A-I-O
©Harveywetdog |
It never ceases to amaze me how much I've learned across the last 10 years and things that used to puzzle then just seem second nature now. Having said that some of the videography on the 2015 video is very pleasing and it is responding very well to reprocessing with Premiere Pro 2022 on the 32 inch Hewlett Packard All-In-One.
I applied to Badminton, now under new management, for permission to video there this year but was quickly told that would not be possible. But at least my request was quickly and efficiently dealt with and without the arrogance and pomposity we came to expect from the likes of Julian Seaman and Hugh Thomas. One other success was selling a piece of video to the BBC; this is only a partial success however as I'm still awaiting payment. (Late news - I've now received payment from the BBC, so I'm officially "as seen on the BBC"). I'm reminded of the classic Morecambe and Wise joke "small checks!"
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£10/sec, if I get paid!
©Harveywetdog |
Other than that I've spent a lot of time revamping my security camera arrangements as my old system was beginning to get unreliable. I have blogged separately about that. Apart from that and a little bit of investigating what Keir Starmer got up to while he was Head of the Crown Prosecution Service it's wait for the end of Cycle 12 and hopefully a new camera in April.
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Fiddling with Security Cameras
©Harveywetdog |
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