just had some good news Steve is now just out of ICU and is using his text
although still a long way to go he is on the right track
get well soon 
That is good news Angie, hope he knows we all have him in our thoughts and prayers.
due to a bug overwhelming the ward i was on they’ve kicked me out, so i’ll do a report on whats happened over the last two months when i’m up and about tomorrow.
That’s great news biggus, many of us are eagerly awaiting your update.
Please take it easy though… 
Glad to hear your out and about again, look forward to read said report.
Hope you keep improving
It’s hard to write this one because apart from the 1st day and the last 4 weeks I was asleep.
I’d had just over a week at home after my 1st chemo session, but on the evening 9th of October my temperature was starting to rise and once it reached 38, I called the hospital and was told to get myself down there ASAP.
I remember booking in at 00.30 on the 10th and being given a bed in the open ward and sitting on the bed wondering why I was there when I should in isolation, after that my mind’s a blank.
Apparently I was moved into a side room the next morning, where over the next few days I was gradually slipping into a coma.
On the 16th I was moved to the intensive therapy unit, I was comatose by this time and was given a 0.5% chance of survival and my family who had all travelled down from Bolton were told to go home and make funeral arrangements as I wouldn’t last more than a couple of days before my body gave up.
I held my own for a few days and was then put on life support, and still carried on holding my own.
I even had a spiritualist visit me on the weekend of 27/28th and do her hand over body healing and the funny thing here is she told Amanda and the nurses I would wake up on Wednesday.
Wed 31st and guess what?
No I didn’t die, I woke up and started to try and move about, although this was the last thing the nurses wanted because the life support was only pushed down my throat.
1st of November they cured that problem by giving me a tracheotomy and attaching the life support to that, apparently I kept moving about more and more until the 3rd before I woke up properly and realised who was around me and where I was.
It took about a week to fully clear my head and then they started to wean me off the ventilator, this involves a pipe with oxygen going through it attached to my trachy pipe and I breathe that instead of the ventilator doing it for me.
The schedule went as follows, 12/11, 15 mins on the oxygen, 2 hours ventilator x 5, 13/11, 30mins/2hours x 5, 14/11 1hour/2 hours x 5, 15/11 2hours/1 hour x 5, always returning to the ventilator for the night.
On the 16th the consultant challenged me to stay on the oxygen as long as possible saying I should be ok for about 8 hours before I’d get tired, I did 11.
The next day I was told to match the day before, I managed 15 easily and then back on the ventilator.
On the 18th the consultant explained that once I could keep the oxygen on for 24 hours I would be able to go on a normal ward, I told him that if he’d have told me that at the start I would’ve done it yesterday, and it was the nurse who put me back on the vent because it was lights out, so off I went and kept it on all night while I slept.
19/11 the consultant was well happy, removed the pipe and replaced it with a type of mask that fits over the neck with a slower flow of oxygen fed into it and had to keep that on for 24 hours.
20/11 and the consultant is well happy, I can now breathe on my own so I can go back to my original ward, so he tells me he’s going to remove my trachy, I thought he meant later but he just reached down and pulled it out, I nearly ■■■■ myself until he put a dressing over the hole, I couldn’t breathe properly and it felt like he’d pulled the whole of my neck off, and that afternoon I was back on ward 2Y.
the next 2 weeks were spent on the ward eating and exercising my arms and legs to start to build my muscles up again, my weight has dropped to 9 stone and its all muscle that’s gone, because the body eats itself and muscle is the easiest to eat.
i’ve been home for 3 days now and can walk about 100 yards unaided and look like something out of belsen, but i’m alive and happy with that.
Bloody hell, Steve, you don’t do owt by halves do you? 
Can’t say how good it is to see you alive and posting again…My Iveco has even written itself off in sympathy I was that worried about you! (Don’t worry, someone else was driving it, I have another one. 
)
Now TRY not to scare us like that again, eh?
((((((HUGS))))))
What can I add to that??
Not a lot.
I was looking forward to reading a couple of lines from a guy struggling to recover and what did we get??
An epistle from somebody who’s on a turbocharged journey back from the brink (And you nearly ran out of hours )
I’m glad you’re back and posting mate, but FFS take it easy.
You’ll won’t half cop for it off Lucy if you scare us again, so I wouldn’t do that again if I were you…
no chance dave, i don’t think i’ve got the strength to do it again.
if you remember at the start of this i went to the docs to check what i thought was an insect bite but that turned out to be luekemia bursting out of my leg, and they were treating that with steroids, only some of the steroids decided the infection on my chest was a better target and attacked there, which caused pneumonia and septicemia.
so when i’m fit, which should be between 3 and 6 months i’ll go back in and carry on with my chemo, but definately no more steroids
Good to see you back here posting again Steve
just try to take it easy for a while
just come back from a check up at the hopital, all my blood counts are ok, so thats me happy till wednesday when i’ve got to see the consultant
and i know i can do 300yds on my feet now, i misjudged the distance from the entrance to the clinic, it didn’t look as long as that from a wheel chair
Good to see you posting again steve. I bet you were running all the old roads when your mind and body went elsewhere!
Enjoy your christmas
Great to see you back on your (wobbly) feet Steve.
Just don’t try and run, yet.
When I said I was looking forward to reading the report that wasn’t what I was expecting.
Hope you keep recovering at the same rate. fight it all the way 10/10 for effort not surprised you are feeling knackered
hi steve pleased to see you back posting and are doin ok hope to speak soon take care
and plz dont scare us like that again
biggusdickusgb:
and i know i can do 300yds on my feet now,
So that’s further than “some” drivers you see these days
I guess you’ll be back at work next week
montana man:
biggusdickusgb:
and i know i can do 300yds on my feet now,So that’s further than “some” drivers you see these days
I guess you’ll be back at work next week
That’ll be just after he’s paid the mill owner for permission to work there
Biggus is doing really well, because I need a taxi for anything more than 300 yards these days
had my CT scan yesterday, and seeing as i was there anyway, i called into the clinic to have my bloods checked which were good
just as i was ready to go my consultant saw me and wanted to know where my wheelchair was.
i explained i didn’t need it and i’m going further and further each day unaided.
she sat me down and explained about how overdoing it won’t do me any good, when i told her distances i’m doing and that i go up and down stairs unaided she gave up and accepted i know what i’m doing (my brother was a power lifter and he’s giving me my exercises) although i’m basicly only doing his warm up and i’m knackered
the be all and end all of this discussion is i’m a lot fitter than i should be and if my progress stays as its going, they’ll have me back in to start my chemo in january.
thats a result, because it puts me 3 months ahead of schedule
ps dafdave, i can do half a mile unaided now and with ease, i tried a mile on tuesday but had to give up and be helped back, i’ll have the mile done by the end of the week though. 
biggusdickusgb:
i tried a mile on tuesday but had to give up and be helped back, i’ll have the mile done by the end of the week though.
FFS biggus, PLEASE take it a bit steadier 
that is good news Steve just be careful and take it easy
good luck with that mile
was good to talk on tues speak soon