Tuesday 8 October 2013

Hickman Line Day

I go in tomorrow for the transplant, but today was mainly about getting my Hickman line put it. (I have a dear friend whose name is also Hickman)
The line is pretty uncomfortable to put in. The target is the jugular vein below the top dressing next to my neck. The next one down the chest is where they start a tunnel to put in the line. The keep it well away from the vein to decrease the likelihood of infection tracking to the vein. After it was done, they X Rayed me and it was put in perfectly.

This line will be brilliant, as it can be used for regular blood tests, giving me chemo, blood, platelets,antibiotics, saline, etc and even food if I cannot eat. Mind you I could live of my body fat for quite a while - I could do with losing a few pounds.

My last bits of farming were bring some sheep from 4 or 5 fields away to have suspected fly strike dealt with - we caught it very it very early and the ewe is fine. The sheep are just going into the barn, with my lovely sheep dog Josh behind. The sheep never do anything slowly, so I could not catch up with them for a closer shot - click on the picture to see it better. Josh is going to miss me while I am away - he tends to sit at what ever door I am going to go through to ensure he never misses going out with me.

This evening I also held the torch while Barbara and a friend caught lots of cockerels who we think would look much nicer in a plastic bag in our freezer!! Well it is a farm.



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  1. Anonymous8 October 2013 at 23:25

    Richard, good luck with the transplant - we'll be thinking of you!

    By the way, your comment about the cockerels reminded me of a joke:

    A man buys a parrot that is supposed to have a significant vocabulary. However, when he gets it home it turns out that its vocabulary while broad is unfortunately made up mostly of obscene and scatological words! He tries everything - scolding, withholding treats, etc. to try to cure the parrot of swearing, but nothing works. Finally, after an extended bout of obscenities, he loses his temper and grabs the parrot by the neck and stuffs it into the freezer, slamming the door shut (and figuring to give it a minute or two to cool down). At first, a furious bout of swearing issues from the freezer, then after about a minute all goes suddenly silent. After another 30 seconds or so, he opens the freezer door and the parrot staggers out. He says to the parrot, "Did you learn your lesson?" The parrot answers, "I promise on my honor I will never, ever swear again. But, please, just tell me one thing." The owner says, 'What do you want to know?" The parrot answers, "Just tell me, what did the chicken do?"

    With love, Bruce

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