And so I waited for the phone to ring.

After what turned out to be a reasonable night's sleep this morning we made the slow journey through Richmond Park to the hospital on the other side. The first visit was to the matter-of-factly titled 'blood room' for yet another blood test. Sharing its waiting area with the anti-natal department the room was packed to the rafters with sick looking individuals and pregnant women. A combination I wasn't entirely sure was a good idea.

Having been called up I acquired the third hole in my right arm this week and more vials were taken. The nurse recognised me and asked how I was, miraculous I thought given that she is jabbing a different person's arm every two minutes every day.

Test complete it was then through to another, far more sedate, waiting room for the result of this latest test versus all those that had come before:

My red blood cells are up, although not to a normal level. Another blood transfusion may be in the offing. This is clearly the closest I'll come to making a long haul flight for some time. Sadly it has all of the boredom without any exotic destinations.

I am going to require a week long course of chemotherapy. After which I will then need a six month course of antibiotics. The drug I am to be given is called Chlorodeoxyadenosine and, compared to some chemotherapy drugs, the side effects are mild. Headaches, vomiting and skin rashes being the most common external effects.

Internally the effects are more pronounced. My current level of immunity is low: I need to avoid crowded places and specifically people who I know are ill so as not to risk falling ill myself. Should I fail to manage to stay well a trip to A&E would be required for a heavy dose of intravenous antibiotics. The chemotherapy drugs would however reduce my immunity to infection to zero. Whilst dealing with the effects of my Leukaemia it would leave me with no ability to fight even the slightest infection.

Best then, you would think, to start the treatment straight away. Strike while the iron is hot! Get back to normality as soon as possible. If only life were that simple. If only we weren't heading for a possible flu epidemic. A time when, if it ever comes, would not be the best time to have zero immunity.

The number of new cases of swine flu in the UK is doubling every two weeks. Last week 27,000 more people caught the infection, up on 18,000 the week before. If I catch swine flu in the first five weeks of starting chemotherapy it would kill me. It may be better, in the long run, to wait for the Pandemic to pass or fizzle out as a non-starter.

And so I waited for the call. The call from my Consultant who was going to discuss this quandary with her colleagues and let me know just when we could start to put an end to my Leukaemia.

And the call came.

And they want to wait.

So now I'm in limbo. I know what my treatment entails and how long it will last but I do not know when it will start. Until it does start I need to find a way to make what I thought was a temporary lifestyle change a more permanent fixture.

This in itself is not going to be easy.