OK well I know I've been a little lax in putting posts up, things kind of got on top of me, and I was finding talking about things more and more difficult,

But hey I'm here, Tuesday was a good day for me, It seems the leg is healing, there is a portion of it that's giving a bit of trouble, but it does now look like it will heal eventually, and the skin graft now seems a lot less likely,

Things must be getting better, I've been in a lot of pain since yesterday, Not from the wound, but in both legs from my USUAL peripheral neuropathy pains, being in pain isn't fun, but it does mean things are getting back to "Normal !",   

I also don't have to go to the hospital so often, 3 weeks (That's now 2 weeks tomorrow), and the consultant is hoping I'll pretty much be healed by then, I think that's optomistic, but hey we'll soon see right ?

I want to thank you all for your support, without it I'd never have managed, there have been people who have done so much, too many to name, but John, Jayne and Stephen, John and Dot, Fortunate, Leicester Radio Society Members, The folks on Mobile Read, Vicki,  Mum, Wendie and Dayne,  If I haven't named you, please forgive me, I'm a forgetful old soul, and all support has been very very much appreciated,

Stick with me, forgive my ups and downs, we are getting there,

Thanks Again 

Rae, I will be in touch, just a bit down right now,

Sorry I've not kept up the posts, Tuesday went really well, But right now I'm struggling for mental energy, and don't feel a lot like talking, give me a few days folks, I'll bounce right back, Don't really have a choice right ?  

Generally very stiff and sore this morning,

District Nurse Clinic this afternoon, dressing will get changed, and I'll see if it's any worse !  

Tuesday is Judgement Day, Review and Assessment by the Orthopods at the Hospital,

What will they do ?  

Nervous (Slightly),

REPRIEVED ... Not kept in, Swabbed, Cleaned thouroughly, Redressed,

District Nurse Clinic Tomorrow,

Hospital to see the Orthopods on Tuesday .... They will decide whether I need admission and further treatment, !   
Fingers Crossed Please that I stay a free man    ...    Here's hoping anyway !!!!   

While I'm waiting to go to casualty, I want to post, not about me, but about standing firmly with the People of Syria against the goverment there, and it's violation of human rights,

Like lots of the middle east tghe ordinary people of these countries are fighting for thier very survival, please lets let them know we are with them in any way we can!

Nurses took one look, and are sending me to Casualty for review, luckily it was the same ones as yesterday so they could seer the level of deterioration,

Wish me luck, Hoping against hope they wont keep me in, or need to do the Skin Graft !  

May be a while before I can post again, if they don't keep me in I will post later,

Thanks for your support,

Waiting for district nurses,

Dressing is already a mess after just 24 Hours, Wound leaking badly,

Keep fingers crossed all will be ok,

I Really DON'T want to end up back in hospital !

Today was bad, The wound is now rather painful, it's opened up even more, and the oozing is looking distinctly nastier, I am being monitered daily now, and it looks very much like I will go back into hospital, there the wound will be cleaned closed and a skin graft applied to help closing/healing, they had warned this might be needed due to the secondary closure and the problems of healing as a diabetic,

I hate the idea of going back in, but needs must, and it's unlikely to be before tuesday when I'm due there for review,  

I will keep you informed as and when I can ! 

I was unfortunately right, the wound has opened up too much, luckily nothing nasty coming out, but as a pecaution the GP has put me back on 2 Antibiotics, in case anything gets into the wound, plus I developed a reaction to my dressings, and they had to change what was being put on it,

Also I now have to see the District Nurses daily,

They want to review daily, and if need be put me back in hospital, not a prospect I relish,

Todays been ok, but I'm so tired,

If only I was "NORMAL" !  

The healing process appears to have had a slight set back, I'm leaking badly from the wound, it's increasing NOT decreasing, they had warned that SECONDARY CLOSURE in other wards re-opening then re-closing might cause healing to be much much slower and less effective too,

I'm having problems because I can't get the dressing re-done every 2 days as per the surgeons instructions, the District nurses can only do it every 3 or 4 days, soi a very wet dressing against the wound day after day, it dries and hardens, thyen gets soaked again, this becomes very very uncomfortable, and irritates the skin, plus the dressing becomes far too tight, hurting the leg,

They still haven't sorted my Potassium levels, or explained why, or what thier plan is, they haven't even discussed diet with me, and I have heard nothing more about having colonoscopy and or endoscopy done to find a reason for my Aneamia, the source of a bleed ? etc etc!  

I really wish this was over, I'll grin and bear it, but I wish there was an ending to look forward too,

Unhappily, I have also just resigned from the committee of my local amateur radio club, Leicester Radio Society, over the last few years this club has been my whole life, beibg involved, learning, taking part, meeting the few friends I have, the only time I get out for weeks on end, but with my recent and long term health issues, and certain changes and dissagreements within the club, I felt it time to step back from the committee, It's heartbreaking,

Not my best day, but hey, my dearest friend, and in my mind my adopted sister, always makes me smile, one way or another, every few days, in her emails, I also get a kick in  the pants from her if I'm wallowing too much in self pity, so smile or boot which is to come, I'll soon see, LOL,

Stop by soon, I'll keep you up to date with all that happens,

My Long Absence !

OK Sorry everyone for the long absence, It’s rather a long tale,

You may have picked up I wasn’t feeling great in my last few posts, well it turns out that there was lot’s going on with my body, lots of not good stuff, some of it my fault, some of it was not preventable,

Anyway, having felt generally unwell for several weeks, and being rather down mood wise, I developed Cellulitis in my lower right leg, and after 2 or 3 days it got bad, the weekend stopped me going to my GP,  so now the swelling and pain was horrendous, and I woke Monday planning to go see the doctor, but found I was unable to weight bare, or stand, walking was certainly out!

We called an ambulance, and I was rushed to hospital, well sort of   …   as I’m over weight, the Paramedics were unable to take me down the stairs to our flat, so unable to walk, I was forced into the indignity of coming down the stairs (2 large flights) on my butt!

I was virtually in tears, and hated every inch of that journey,

In hospital, they treated me for the cellulitis, an in growing toenail, and discovered I was Keto-Acidotic as well, this was caused by my blood sugars being very high, I’m a type 2 Diabetic, treated with Insulin and Metformin,

I responded well to treatment, but started to Hypo a lot, they seemed to think I was overdosing on my insulin, after 16 – 17 years as a diabetic! So they took over control of my insulin, this did not solve the problem,

Then a bright spark SHO (Senior House Officer) decided to STOP my insulin all together, not gradually but all of a sudden, Great idea, I then developed Hyperkalaemia, High potassium levels in the blood, due to lack of insulin, they hooked me to an ECG machine all day as they feared I would drop dead from a heart attack at any moment, they were slightly worried as they had caused this condition,

My bloods were messed up too, suddenly I was low in Haemoglobin levels, and Iron, I was anaemic my day was getting worse, I only went in with cellulitis and an ingrowing toenail, now I was about to die,

My very poor history health wise complicated everything, and when they started to cure my pain, they thought that was it, except the pain came back much much worse, and no-one would listen, for four days no-one listened,

The Nursing assistants, blindly made me get out of bed each morning, despite my protest of extreme pain, they even started NOT making my bed to keep me off of it, the qualified nurses didn’t listen, nor did the junior doctors, for four days I was tortured with agonising unbearable pain, I cried, begged, even got on my unmade bed that was raised far too high to try and avoid the suffering,

On the fifth day, I finally managed to get the consultant to look, I begged, I explained the pain, showed her the leg, after a few seconds, she said, YES, something’s not right there!

At last, someone listened, and after investigation, it was found to be a COLLECTION, a very very large ABSCESS covering the whole front of my lower right leg, they cut and drained, cutting from knee to ankle, and let out more than half a litre of PUSS, after the operation, complicated a lot by my breathing, heart,and lung problems, Chronoic Sleep Apnea and epilepsy etc,

I was in recovery for over 4 hours,

They told me it was the largest leg abscess they had ever seen, half a litre of puss hanging from every nerve and blood vessel in the front of the lower leg explained my extreme agony,

My leg started to heal well, they sewed it up, but next day opened out many of the stitches to allow drainage, then over a number of days stitched it back up in several stages,

With all the problems I was in hospital 3 ½ weeks (25 days), but I came out on Friday evening, Monday I was due to see the GP, oh the whole episode was laughable, but my potassium levels scared the doctor, and I’m in and out of hospital and his clinic for tests , reviews and re-dressings,

Oh, the consultant who listened told me she was glad I drew her attention to the problem, as left for another 2 or 3 days the leg would probably have developed gangrene, and I would have lost it below the knee at least, she commented I should have said something earlier   …   EARLIER; they took nearly 5 days to listen, my life hung in the balance, as did my leg, and they still haven’t cured my potassium problem, even though it was caused by them, they did restart my insulin, exactly as it was before! And I am in control of it,

Where my leg should have healed in 2-3 weeks, being Diabetic means it could take months to heal properly, it will be a long road to recovery, I am still very weakened, and very wobbly on my legs,

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not really moaning, and most of the staff was fantastic, but I was suffering agony for days, and absolutely NO-ONE listened, it was a form of Torture!   

I have my leg, my life and I’m getting there, so in reality, I’m happy,

Forgive my absence, I hope you understand why, and in the 9 days since I left hospital, I only just felt ready to put all this down,

Thanks for dropping by, come back soon,