I've been very slack in updating the website over the last couple of months, but please bear with me. There hasn't been anything of great interest to report on since I've just been getting on with my life and working, so there's not alot to be said.

However in the last month, I've had to go back to hospital to have my second round of DLI (donor lymphocyte infusions). The first 'loading' dose back in April hadn't had any significant effect on the residual leukaemia, but that wasn't a surprise. Infact that was what I was told to expect. The main issue with the first found of DLI was to ensure that it didn't kick off a chronic graft vs host disease (GvHD). In that respect I've been successful, however the PCR count has been slowly creeping upwards, and it was the right time to have a second shot.

The second dosage contains approximately ten times the number of lymphocytes from the initial dose. If this was given six months ago, a GvHD reaction would have been more likely. Anyway this round also went pretty smoothly. The only problem was that our parking ticket lapsed as I was on the machine and when my dad went to renew the ticket the parking warden had just started issuing a parking fine. It's appalling how the wardens make no effort to understand that at a hospital there are situations that often arise that m result in parking tickets running out of time. We're in the process of appealing against the fine.

I've had no reaction this time round to the DLI, instead I've succumbed to the flu that has been spreading round London in the last month. This was my first big flu since the transplant, and it showed. I was off work for a week trying to overcome it,but in reality it took just under two weeks to recover. The positive sign is that it defiantly shows that I'm capable of handling a virus and it was about time that the immune system was tested a bit.

I'm pretty sure this was a direct result of the commute by train to London. I was recently assigned on a project in London which requires a daily commute on the trains. For those reading that don't live in England, you must understand that our train service isn't the best in the world, with overcrowded and delayed services. This is the prefect environment to catch colds and other nasties as everyone is packed in the carriages with coughs coming from all directions.

I've been back last week for another blood test, and we'll know the results in three/four weeks time. From the next results we'll be able to see if the DLI's have had any effect. In the meantime, I'm still trying to stay as fit as possible, but when you're day is so long and involves a lot of travelling, it's a lot harder. I'm looking forward to December when I'll be taking four weeks of to go back to the Middle East and get some sunshine and warm weather.