Bad to the Bone (or just slightly irritated)

The good news is that I am now down to one hospital visit a week - woohoo!

I do have to go in this Friday however, for an appointment with the Orthopaedic Department (the infection has suprisingly fractured my femur - I should be in agony I've been told!).

Also, I need a Chest X-Ray and Bone Density Scan so a fun packed day on Friday to look forward to. The knee isn't giving me much discomfort but my back is painful when I sit down or get up. Never a dull moment in life after a transplant operation.

I feel like old man Steptoe with all these aches and pains. I'm watching 'Dylan Moran Live' and episodes of 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' and 'Ever Decreasing Circles' to keep the humourometer in shape (yes, I made that word up) so I don't start acting like him.

Other good news is that we may get away for Easter. 'Hospital in the Home' are happy for Sam to administer the IV fluids for the weekend. We definitely all need a break and Flinders is a great little town on the coast; the kids love riding their bikes all over the place, using the swimming pool and hunting for crabs.

In AFL news we have Hawthorn vs Sydney to look forward to on Saturday.

Current Reading: 'Making Friends with Hitler...Britain's Road to War' by Ian Kershaw
Current Listening: 'Crack the Skye' by Mastodon (amps to 11)
Currently Eating: Digestive Biscuit (with a cup of Earl Grey of course)

Family of Badgers

Day +223

Hello again out there in blogland. Had a very busy day at the Alfred Hospital yesterday - lots of x-rays for both my back and right knee. At least I'm down to two days a week (Mon & Fri) visits to the hospital from this week. Let's hope the anti-biotics start to reduce as well. They are tapering the steroids, which have wasted my muscle mass, so hopefully I can start gaining some weight. Talk about baggy trousers; I could get a family of badgers down my jeans quite comfortably!

Looking forward to Hawthorn's first game of the season next weekend against Geelong. Also, great to see England crush France in the Six Nations rugby.

Current Reading: Lawrence of Arabia:'The Life, the Legend' by Malcolm Brown
Current Listening: Amor Vincit Omnia by Pure Reason Revolution
Currently Eating: Mentos

Back in Blogland

Like Lazaruss I have returned! I can imagine the anticipation that you must all have been feeling (cough!). But now the wait is over my friends. Blog 2009 starts here...

So, since November I've had a couple of hospital stays due to infections. One of them spread to the back of my left eye and could have resulted in me losing my sight and spreading to the brain - not good! A course of injections in the eye were worth it (yes, it's as creepy as it sounds) and have reduced the infection, though I'll still be on the antibiotics for weeks/months. I've since found out that I'm one of the few people in the world to have survived this particular bug - makes me wonder how many lives I've get left - I must be nearing nine!

The other problem at the moment is an infection in the knee. Septic athritis. They have performed a few wash-out operations to clean out the joint. I'm not hobbling around anymore and the swelling is gradually reducing itself. The docs have no idea of the long-term effect as some of the bone had been damaged by the infection. Never a dull moment in the post-transplant world.

Unfortunately, I'm still obliged to go in to the the hospital out-patients' clinic three days a week - which takes up most the day. Plus, I have hospital-at-home come every morning and evening to administer my IV antibiotics. So, basically I'm a slave to all these drugs at the moment.

I'm still struggling to gain weight, though I'm eating okay and reading - bizzarely - cookbooks. I recommend Delia Smith's grilled lemon chicken kebabs. Delia you are a domestic goddess!


Current Reading:'I Peed on Fellini' by David Stratton
Current Listening:'Secret World Live' by Peter Gabriel
Currently Eating: Tomato soup with toast and Homus