Working from home.

When done occasionally its a joy to be free of distraction and an opportunity to get a lot done.

When its compulsory its a different matter. You feel constrained by it and miss the distractions and interactions that an office brings. With no immune system though the dining room table is now my desk, Skype my only pipeline into the office chatter and a slow VPN the only way I can get at my files. Now though, at the end of my first day of work in a week, most present in my mind is a dull ache in my lower back. An ever persistent reminder that last Friday I had some bone marrow removed.

Blood tests it would appear can only tell the experts so much. To confirm that I have what they think I have two more things were needed: A core sample of one of my bones and a sample of the bone marrow itself. Neither of these are quite as simple to get at as blood.

It's a undignified and uncomfortable procedure but as my GP informed me before I went in "It's not the worst thing we could do to you!". The dignity was lost when I was asked to drop my jeans and lay on the bed in a ball. At times like this I feel you just have to give yourself over to the medics and let them get on with it. There's no room for embarrassment or bashfulness; your body is no longer your own.

Adopting the foetal position on a plastic bed with a tissue sheet the Consultant moved my boxers out of the way and duly swabbed my hip with iodine as a nurse made her way round to the side of the bed I was facing and offered up some distracting conversation.

We all waited the customary five minutes for the local anaesthetic to take effect before the doctor began to dig in. First there is a needle for the marrow, then there's a needle for the core. Bone as you know is pretty firm stuff so both require some force. This was the first time I'd had this done and I am told that how the process feels depends very much on the doctor that's doing the digging.

Expecting a searing pain I have to commend my Consultant for her expertise as, in this case, neither needle was painful. Well not as such. Both were however staggeringly uncomfortable. The closest thing I can liken it to is being shot with a Paintball. At close range. For ten minutes. Constantly.

Once done the discomfort lasts for days. It makes a small hole but you can't sit on it, lean on it, and allow anyone to touch it without at least one grunt or swear word passing your lips. Yesterday I had pretty much forgotten the whole affair but after a day of working in our dining room the ache is back. I never thought I'd miss my old office chair.

The normality of getting up and going to work every day can often seem tedious. Causing us to long for a more interesting lifestyle where there's no office to go to, wild times are to be had and anything can happen. Now that I live in interesting times I long for that routine. Seeing the same people everyday; doing the same things; knowing you'll be back there tomorrow is a situation that everyone should relish and delight in the simplicity of.