A four year battle with kidney cancer has led Kevin McKiernan to try every kind of treatment going but to no avail. Now the father of five-year-old twins from Carshalton is awaiting a stem cell transplant. He will be only the second person in Britain to have ever undergone it. In a rare and special collaboration, Kevin will be writing a weekly diary entry for the Comet from his hospital bed at Birminghams Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Here is the first entry.

I had my Hickman Line fitted on Thursday last week.

The procedure went relatively well although I have had a fair amount of pain since then. I am managing

to control this by taking painkillers.

I spent the weekend with my aunt and uncle who live in Walsall just outside Birmingham.

My daughter had a virus so I decided not to go to Carshalton this weekend in case I got infected. This could have delayed the transplant that Im due to have.

My aunt and uncle have spoilt me rotten anyway, so I had a very restful time.

I am returning to the hospital this afternoon to commence hydration and the chemotherapy will begin tomorrow.

My sister Angeline also arrives from Ireland tomorrow and she will begin her growth factor injections.

Next Wednesday is Day Zero, the day they carry out the transplant.

I had a very interesting interview lasting four hours with the Tonight with Trevor MacDonald team.

This is due to be screened around mid November. They are coming to film the transplant next week as well. I also had an interview with the Daily Mail.

They were supposed to run the story today, but because they did not get my photo in time, they will be running it next Tuesday instead in their health section.