Caring for yourself in isolation
COVID-19 “Holiday” Journal – 19 March Days are long when you can’t go anywhere or see anyone. I’ve become quite well-practised at coping with those kind of long days. So, here are some of my thoughts to try and help you think it through if you end up in a similar situation, so that you…
Going away for a while
COVID-19 “Holiday” Journal – 18 March Well, after saying that the current situation with the coronavirus didn’t worry me, it still doesn’t. But, in order to cause less stress for my family, I’ve agreed to separate myself for a while. And I’m trying to keep a video journal to keep track of some reflections during…
Thoughts on COVID-19 from one of the “weak and vulnerable”
My Allograft 2018-20 – 36. 16th March 2020 By Andy Burrows, 16 March 2020 I guess with all the news going around about the coronavirus and COVID-19 you may have been wondering how I was feeling about the whole thing. I mean, when they talk about the “weak and vulnerable” or those “with underlying health…
Home isn’t where I thought it was…
My Allograft 2018/19 – 35. 7th February 2020 By Andy Burrows, 7 February 2020 I’ve been pondering this for a few weeks. I think I’m coming to a point where these allograft updates need to fizzle out (although I “never say never”!). But to be honest, it’s a struggle to know what to say. Why…
Strength for today
My Allograft 2018/19 – 34. 7 December 2019 By Andy Burrows, 7 December 2019 Just after I last came home from a stay in hospital, almost two months ago, I was feeling emotionally fragile. I was wobbly, shaky, fuzzy-headed, and the fact that there seemed to be no end to it was getting to me.…
Getting physical
My Allograft 2018/19 – 33. 23 November 2019 By Andy Burrows, 23 November 2019 When is the crowd the loudest? In endurance races, have you ever noticed when the crowd cheers the athletes on the most? And personal trainers and sports coaches – when do they give the most encouragement? When do they shout, “you…
And, at last, onwards again
My Allograft 2018/19 – 32. 10th November 2019 By Andy Burrows, 10 November 2019 Living with limbo I’ve been holding off posting an update until certain things played themselves out. And the fact that it’s now a month since my last update gives a measure of the limbo I’ve lived with during that time, day…
Trying to break the cycle
My Allograft 2018/19 – 31. 12th October 2019 By Andy Burrows, 12 October 2019 Something’s just not quite right I must apologise up front for such a long update. It felt like recent events unfolded quite subtly and slowly, and I wanted to see how things played out (and whether they turned out to be…
Humbled
My Allograft 2018/19 – 30. 14th September 2019 By Andy Burrows, 14 September 2019 Finally home I finally made it home on Wednesday (11th Sept). I didn’t make a big deal over it on the day, given what happened the last couple of times I was due to be discharged! That’s one full month in…
Stuck in a moment you can’t get out of
My Allograft 2018/19 – 29. 7th September 2019 By Andy Burrows, 7 September 2019 Everest descent vs Snowdon I have now been in hospital 25 days. To put that in perspective, the hospital stay for my autologous stem cell transplant at the end of 2015 was 23 days. And that had been built up into…