ICON9 Trial - Check up the second - 2 March 2021

Here I am again.  (Was again - late post)

Have done all the usual - BP, weight (creeping up, but they like that here), temperature, oxygen saturation, grilling by trial nurse, quality of life questionnaire, seen Dr M. Next cycle's pills ordered from clinical trials pharmacy but they won't be ready for at least an hour so it's hot choc and banana time.

Symptom-wise I reckon I now feel sick only half the time. There's a tiredness but am pacing. 

Have had a second urinary tract infection in the last week which is annoying - I do hope this is not part of the new normal. Has cleared up quite quickly with nitrofurantoin. There was a related cartoon-like episode that will take a bit longer to get over. The scene -doing some slash and rot-down-in-a-big-pile work in the overgrown orchard of an elderly lady at the allotments. Nitrofurantoin started but not fully effective and I found I needed a wee NOW!!! If you've had a UTI you'll sympathise that there was no time to make it to the composting loo 75m away, so I repaired to the brambly rear of the plot. It was probably fairly predictable from then on, but I was doing quite well until my boot caught in a tripwire bramble. It could have been worse - I didn't actually land on the viciously-evolved things but several looping hook-thorned stems made a synchronised attack on my backside as I floundered around. Newly-revived platelets mean it's all healing up nicely but cycling is still out. Back to being driven to the hospital today (for which I'm very grateful) at, shall we say, an earlier hour than we're used to. I can't bring myself to call an 8am appointment ungodly, as the hospital staff are all up and running, but practically, it is a bit tight to fit in breakfast and dog walk first - well, OK, just breakfast for me.



I get dropped off north of the Euston Road and toddle down to the Macmillan Centre under my own steam.  Pic is of the new Proton Beam building - featured under late stage of construction in the 2 September 2020 post.  I am very doubtful of the bike stand design. I did use one without incident when I cycled down in mid-Feb but they shout SCRATCHED FRAME and PINCHED FINGERS to me.

So, no bike ride home; I'm going to try walking. The Regent's Park, Primrose Hill, north, the Heath.... we'll see how far I get. 


This was the view from Primrose Hill - no idea who these people were but they were in the way of the misty view.


Still had some energy left to put my best foot forward, shod in my still-almost-new-made-from-ocean-waste-Christmas-present trainers. Citymapper route led me through some quiet back roads and I made it to the boating pond on the eastern edge of Hampstead Heath before thankfully accepting a lift home the rest of the way. 



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