Isolation - video from the inside!

Finally I have got round to putting this video into a format that can go on the web. Don't know what the quality will be like but here it is.... It was filmed on a stills camera whilst in hospital having the second lot of radioactive iodine treatment and edited after I came out.

2007 nearly over....

Thought I'd better get one more post in before 2007 finally (and thankfully) bites the dust. I've been on the thyroxine for just over a month, all seems to be well, its taken a while to kick in, but I think it did just after Christmas. Unfortunately for my mum this was just as I was in London helping her move - I felt a bit like a manic weightlifter on speed, although my muscles aren't quite up to my expectations of them. I hope this means that my weight will now go back down again. My scales aren't very reliable or accurate but my belt notches are and I've gone up at least one in the past month. My sister in law - who strangely had her thyroid out for different reasons about two months after me said she put on 36lbs in the first 6 months on throxine. She was rake thin and needed some extra pounds, I look forward to seeing her in the new year and hope this isn't the face (or arse) of things to come.

Happy New year - it's got to be better than the last one...

no to revolution

I've just had a real life TV dilemma that made me think I need to get out more and watch less TV. Should I watch two fat men throwing darts at a board, or an pixie-like Australian being cute? Well - I went for the fat men in the end, and sadly found it gripping. See - I need to get out more.

I started my thyroxine today. This is it now for the rest of my life. I find myself worrying about a breakdown in society, drying up my drug supply. A Judge Dredd distopia where I can only get them on the illegal market for more money than I can raise. I know on a mild scale what it's like to be thyroid hormone-less and it's crap. So cancer has not only put me through the ups and downs of the last year, it's also compromising my revolutionary desires. Ok, so they were pretty armchairish anyway, but still.....

Keep our NHS Public!

This blog has been all about my treatment for thyroid cancer. Although I've got issues with the way I've been dealt with at different points along the way, my treatment has all been free and if I don't like the way the NHS is going politically I can - at least nominally - vote for a different party who will fund the NHS properly to do its job (yes, I know you can't get a blue Rizla between the political parties in the uk at the moment - but its the principle).

In the US healthcare is almost entirely determined by the publically unaccountable shareholders of the insurance companies that provide the healthcare - resulting in a grossly unequal health care provision and one of the highest infant mortality rates in the developed world. So - if you want to fight for the NHS to stay public and against the creeping privatisation that is invading the principle of free healthcare, come along to the Keep Our NHS Public demo on Saturday in central London - more details here - http://www.keepournhspublic.com/index.php the unions involved are funding coaches from different parts of the country - details on the website.

negativity

Well - I shouldn't be so negative. The consultant in charge of me at the Oncology Centre rang me in person on Friday morning to tell me that the whole body scan I'd had was clear, and that he'd be seeing me soon to sort out my T4. Fantastic! and thank you....I'll just wait for the letter. I'm happy enough on the T3 at the moment apart from having trouble remembering to take it. It's started to kick in again, and tonight I've actually been out for the evening and managed reasonably sensible conversation although I still can't take a drink.

freedom

I'm out. Got out yesterday afternoon in fact - time off for good behaviour? I'm fucked though, I was sitting outside the hospital waiting for my lift and I was thinking - is this the same person who cycled clear across the city only two weeks ago? - and if you knew this city you would know that would be mean at least one hill of moderate proportions. Walking up the the stairs is presenting a challenge at the moment. What would life be if you had an underactive thyroid? Lethargic and depressed I guess. Well - I'm back on the T3 and waiting for it kick in, got kind friends who are looking out for me, and my own comfy sofa in front of a fully functioning TV - who could want for anything more. And to top it all it looked as if the whole body scan they gave me before I left was completely clear! There certainly isn't any trace of thyroid left in my neck....Only change is constant as old Charlie would say. The next hurdle is going onto the T4 and dealing with another new consultants face, but I'm getting better at it - smile, and.....breathe!

rainy tuesday

it's been raining all afternoon, that special grey Bristol rain that looks like it'll never stop - and quite often doesn't for a few days. Kind of suits the mood. I watched Good Will Hunting, too schmaltzy for a hypo-so-low rainy Tuesday, I hate when Hollywood movies make cry, although it was well acted and kind of nicely underplayed really. I'm trying to make a very short film while I'm in here, but I'm running out of hard disc space. Here's a still from it.....