It's been far too long since I was here. I had a bit of a bad month in August/Sept, and since then I've been recovering and doing other things.  Blogging is subject to some parallel of Newtons laws of motion.  If you're blogging regularly it's easy to continue, your mind turns to it, topics suggest themselves, and you find the time.  Once your momentum falls to zero you tend to remain in that state and will rest there unless acted upon by an outside force.
 
Well today I was stumbled upon by an unexpected outside source.  Herman at lamma.com.hk was obviously having a quiet day, and decided to devote his front page to the disappearance of my rock pile, and it's replacements.  This was unexpected, and saves me the trouble of writing about it myself :) - and (in the words of Forrest Gump) that's all I have to say about that. Though I will add a picture:
When I said above that I had a bad month it wasn't too serious.  Because things had been going smoothly they cut my drugs perhaps a little more than was wise, and as a result I got my first real symptoms of GVHD.  Scabby rashes on my arms and neck - a little like severe eczema, though I'm happy to say without too much itching.  Swollen hands, stiffness, achy joints and muscles, problems sleeping, and general malaise and tiredness.  Eventually I realised the symptoms weren't going to subside by themselves (as they have before) and went back to the hospital, where they jumped my immunosuppressant dosages back up to where they were a few months ago, and add some steroids to the mix. 
 
That was nearly 3 weeks ago.  The steroids are doing their job, and the aches have mostly gone. I've adjusted the times that I take the pills, which is helping with my sleep patterns, and daily gentle stretching and walking is helping me get some level of suppleness back.  It's still taking me a few minutes of very gentle pushing to touch my toes etc, but that's a 15cm improvement over where I was last month!   The fact that I've actually got the energy to take some exercise at all is enough to make me happy.
 
And there have been other interesting things happening! I rescued a snake that was trapped on a pot plant on the main path. The Doc's have given me the all clear to take on a little more non-strenuous part time work as I feel up to it.  I've started seeing a life-coach as a way of re-assessing where I am, and how I want to spend the next few years of my life.  My flat in the UK finally sold, just before the financial crisis really began to bite!!!!!  I've paid off all my debt's (bar one, and that's coming).  I'm finally a year post transplant (Sept 19th if any of you were counting).  And lots more that escape me at the moment.
 
Now all I need is the momentum to continue posting.  So if you read this and haven't emailed me for a while, or realise I haven't been in touch with you then move yourself too. Drop me a note or give me a call.  My energy levels fluctuate - but I'm building myself a routine that includes booking time to reply to all my (few) emails on a daily basis - so you will get a reply!