Four months for intermission

I had the appointment with my infectious disease specialist this morning.
I am so fortunate to have my mum with me for most of my appointments - I freeze when I see my doctors. Half their words fly over my head while the remainder swirl round my brain, leaving me muddled and confused. Being a nursing student and learning how hospitals and therapeutic nurse-client relationships function has not helped this. My mum is there to ask the questions I forget, or the ones I purposefully don't bring up because I don't want to know the answers.

We talked about several things:
Bone pain and discomfort (not to bad at the moment although it was pretty bad last week) - might cause some issues when my 12 hour clinical shifts start next month. Will have to see how it goes.

Night sweats - ID specialist said that they can occur with chronic infection, but doctors do not have an explanation for why. This doesn't help me. I am waking up drenched in sweat several times a week - really affecting the quality of my sleep, causing a lot of extra laundry, and an outright nuisance.

CT scan (couldn't see is because computer keeps glitching; will get to see it next week when I see my orthopedic surgeon). ID specialist said that the scan shows a deformity in the bone, about the same location on my tibia as the spot on the MRI from December. It has shrunk a bit since the end of last year. "Yay!" I think - great if it is a tad smaller, but boo for it still being there.

Antibiotics - will stay on Doxycycline until the end of May and then stop taking it. I need to call my ID specialist if my leg flares up or there is an increase in pain. Stopping the antibiotic is exciting news because Doxycycline increases photo sensitivity. I have already experienced this several times. I will be out in the sun for about thirty minutes and feel perfectly fine. A couple hours later my skin will become red and hot and burn. Several hours later it is as if nothing ever happened. While on it I need to stay out of the sun, which is not so fun after surviving a Canadian winter indoors... I need to be outside! I will be put back on antibiotics if anything happens, and before, during, and after the proposed surgeries.

Surgery - I have the go ahead from my ID specialist to schedule surgery when I see my surgeon next week Friday. She stated that the surgery is elective because it is not an emergency, but it does need to be done at some point. This gives me the opportunity to schedule it into my life. My mum an I are going to ask for late August (after the 14th when final exams end) or early September. This would hopefully put the second surgery (the bone graft) in November. My mum had a lot of questions about surgery regarding how invasive it is, other options, etc. We found out the surgeries my orthopedic surgeon proposed would make it possible to make my legs the same length (one is almost two centimeters longer than the other. This is not a very large difference and does not causes many problems, but I do notice it when I walk, it causes some discomfort when I stand for long periods of time and it has made my hips and shoulders a bit uneven). The chance of the bone graft taking is very high because I am young and otherwise healthy. There may be some alternatives to using a metal rod to hold the bone graft and the edges of my tibia together. We are a bit apprehensive about putting more metal in the leg given our previous experience with hardware. We could also potentially go with a less invasive surgery (same as last time - simply scraping away the affected bone). While this sounds great - only one surgery, smaller incision, much shorter recovery time - I am leaning toward the bone graft. We tried the simpler surgery before and it obviously did not work. In February the surgeon said that doing it again would likely not fix things for good. The bone graft option just seems to offer the best chance for me to beat this thing for ever, which is what I really really really want.

Always being cold - ID specialist had me get blood work today to make sure my thyroid is working properly. Mum and I are a bit baffled that this has never been done before. I have been mentioning how I am constantly cold since I was referred to Hamilton in 2011. This is not "put on an extra sweater" to get warm cold. This is "I have 4 sweaters and 2 blankets on and I am still shivering" kind of cold. Freezing to the point that I feel my eyelids are cold when I blink; feel that the tip of my nose is cold from the inside out, without touching it, shivering under a mountain of blankets in bed, toes hurting from the cold, etc. etc. Hopefully we can figure out why. The cold, along with bone pain and night sweats, makes for one grumpy miserable person.

There were several things that really stuck out about today's appointment:
1) My ID specialist said that she does not understand why I was misdiagnosed/sent away by my previous doctors for so long. Given my symptoms it should have been obvious to the doctors that I had osteomyelitis. It is important for me to hear this from her. The physical pain and emotional distress my family and I went through when I had surgeries, saw me become ill, and were continuously sent away from appointments being told we were worrying to much was avoidable which resulted in the infection getting as bad as it did in 2011 was completely unacceptable. What could have been a routing case turned into something that has affected my life for over nine years, and will continue to do so as I have more surgeries this fall.

2) The ID specialist said "We are all affected by this, your doctors and your family, but it is the worst for you." I have been struggling to cope recently. I feel guilty toward my family for needing their support and causing them stress and anxiety. I feel bad for requiring them to take time out of their lives to care for me everything I have surgery. It helps me to know that my doctors and family recognize how hard this is for me - physically and emotionally. I am so fortunate to have the family and doctors that I do have. On the drive home, mum and I talked about my feelings of guilt; how I was afraid to say that I really want the surgery this fall because I don't want to inconvenience anyone. I explained how I feel we are all in this together so I try to consider how everyone feels, is affected, and experiences things. My dear mum looked at me and said "It is not nice to hear sometimes, but this is actually all about you, and that is o.k." I could have cried when she said that - she understands how hard this relapse is for me. I want to do something to shoe her how much I appreciate her and how she is forever standing by me.

3) Everytime my ID specialist pulls up scans, she explains that my tibia is much thicker than it should be because of all the trauma and surgeries. Today was not different - she commented on how my tibia was deformed, I immeditely replied "I know, I think you tell us every time we are here." I was not trying to be rude. I think my ID specialis ti s fantastice, but we have dones this so many times now... I am tired. There is nothing new to say. We know what the problem is - been round the block before. Which leads me to my next point

4) As we were walking toward the care in the basement parking lot, mum and I did not say much. We are usually excited about good news or a bit upset or distracted while we digest not so great news when we leave appointments. Today was just about acceptance... we knew that this was what it was coming to (surgery) - I think we are tired of dealing with this infection and sad it had returned. I just want to get the surgery done with so I can get on with my life. I won't say it is indifference per se, but I am ready to get it over with. I am fed up with having this thing take up so much of my time and energy. Something has to come to a head, and that means surgery. So we just accept it.

5) Last but not least, I was not upset that the CT scan showed something. Even the ID specialist said not to be surprise - that we knew something would come up on it. This is probably part of the last point (acceptance). I just hear the news and went with it.

On May 1st I will see my orthopedic surgeon to discuss (and see!) the CT scan and my surgical options (although I know which I will choose). We will also ask the surgeon to schedule a date for the first surgery. This scare the hell out of me since I have never had a multi-step plan like this before. It also fully set in today that between the surgeries I will not be able to walk on my leg at all... bummer. I will then have about four months to wait. Four months intermission to get on with my life before we hit pause for eight months. At least without the antibiotics from the start of June onwards (if nothing goes wrong) I can enjoy some sun and enjoy the summer!

Tiny Update

On Tuesday I have an appointment with another orthopedic surgeon to get a second opinion. I am pretty confident in what I want to do. Both my surgeon and ID specialist agree with each other about what needs to be done - surgery to remove the infected part of my tibia and packing the space left with antibiotics beads, followed by a bone graft from my left hip 2-3 months later. It sounds like a good plan. It is a good plan... I don't really want to go through with it, but I want to get rid of the infection, and that ultimately trumps not wanting more surgery. But second opinions are not bad; my surgeon says I have a right to get one , so I might as well take advantages of it... and it can never hurt to get more input. I am hopeful that a date for surgery will be scheduled soon. I would like to have it done as soon after second semester ends (August 15) as possible.

In three weeks, first semester ends. I was going to treat myself to a Lego set (three birds you can build and put on display) as a reward for making it through first semester, which the instructors say is usually the hardest semester, but I have decided to wait now until I have surgery - will be a nice reward and way to spend an afternoon. I have done so well in school that I don't think I need a reward to motivate me to keep going... surgery on the other hand... I will need all the motivation I can get.

My leg has been bothering me more the last two weeks. I wouldn't necessarily say it hurts more often, but I have been getting more strange tugging or tingling sensations in it ( peers in my clinical group say I look like I am definitely favoring the other leg), and when it does hurt, the pain is deeper and stops me, kind of takes my breath away. I am super tired all the time (I know I am working very hard for final projects and exams, but that is only part of it), and the chills have increased.

I am still on Doxycycline - likely will be on it at least until surgery. The headaches it was giving me thankfully went away, but it is causing some stomach issues. Oh, and staining my front teeth - it did this last time I was on it as well. Despite brushing my teeth really well at least twice a day and flossing, it still came back. Usually going to the dentist for a good clean fixes it, so I will try to book an appointment during the two weeks off between first and second semester.

There is more I would like to mentioned, but I have an early morning tomorrow. I have moved back home for April before my lease for second semester starts in May, so I am carpooling to school with a classmate. If we don't leave super early we get stuck in traffic. I will try to post more this week once I get some more projects done and I get my second opinion.

Tired

I am tired - really tired.
I am not sure why, but am confident it is one of the following, or likely a combination:
- the semester is almost over, with final projects and exams looming ahead, keeping me super busy
- I have been on an antibiotic (Doxycycline - 100 mg 2 x day) for four weeks now. Long term antibiotics can cause fatigue. I will probably be on Doxycycline until I have surgery, which is hopefully only five months away.
- the bone infection itself could be taking a toll on my body. My leg has been hurting more the usual since I ended up in the emergency department twice at the start of February. Not constant pain, but still there on and off throughout the day. It ranges from dull, achy pain to short bursts of stabbing pain (I think bone pain) to tingling in the skin over the scar on my shin where there is the most scar tissue/damage.

I wish I wasn't tired anymore. I came home from my lab class yesterday just pass noon. I was asleep by 1:30, and slept until 7:30. I was up until 2 am, then I slept from 2 am until 12:30pm. So the math - that's 16 1/2 hours of sleep. I woke up, and I was still tired. No. I did not sleep too much. I sleep to little and I wake up tired; I sleep exactly eight hours a night, and I wake up tired; I sleep a ridiculously long period of time, and guess what? I wake up tired!

I saw my infectious disease specialist again on February 26. I ran out of antibiotics on the 24th, so I called her office to see what she wanted me to do. Her assistant called back later in the day and asked if Thursday was o.k., so my mum and I went (with you appointment with IKEA on the way home... seeing the doctor is only a detour!). I have started to dread these appointments. At the back of my mine, as usual, I worried that nothing was wrong and the doctor would dismiss everything as one big mistake and send me home. Typical me - always worried that I am overreacting or in other people's way. I think that is still the results of doctors denying that something was wrong for so long. My ID specialist actually agreed with my orthopedic surgeon that I would need more surgery. She looked back in my records, all the way to 2008 when I was still being seen in St.Catharines by another surgeon. The swab samples taken in 2008 were the only ones to ever grow something - Staphylococcus aureus and staphylococcus negative coagulase. Yay! Know I have a name to put with this monster in my leg! She said, given that stap. negative coagulase is very sticky organism, it kind of makes sense that the infection could still be around (not that it should be after all the surgery and antibiotics, but it makes some sense...). Mum asked the million dollar question "Is it o.k for her to be off antibiotics?" to which ID specialist responded "No! I actually want her on more." which is why I am indefinitely on Doxycycline. My only response to that is to start collecting pill bottles again. I still have all of them from when I dealt with this bastard infection last time. ID wanted me to get a second opinion from another ID specialist, until she realized she was about to go meet a whole group of other specialists and other doctors. Every Thursday they meet for "Tea", which is where they discuss all the really interesting cases. I guess I am part of that now... don't know if I should cry or be proud! It is great that she does this, because it saves me waiting for another appointment and trying to schedule around my classes.

 I was upset when mum and I left the appointment - my mum took me too the gift shop - I got the McMaster plush Pickles the Pig and a beautiful red bag with  white rabbits on it. My mum does everything she can to cheer me up; I do not know if she knows how much I appreciate it! I couldn't get through this without her... I was quiet on the way to the parking garage - I only do that when I am really deep in thought or upset. My mum said "I don't know what goes on in your head right now." I replied "I don't know either." Saying that, and now reflecting on it, makes me sad, but worse than sad. I don't know how to describe it. I want this to be over. Haven't I been through enough? Can't it be someone else's turn? Nine years since the initial break and know waiting for surgery to take out a piece of my tibia, cutting it in two, essentially re-breaking it! De Capo! Back to head! From the beginning! as the marking on my piano sheet music would indicate. I can't do this. No, I can. Can I? I don't want to. I want to be normal; whole? Does that makes sense?  In my book, this really has become a chronic illness. I want to be healthy and ignorant like my friends. I am too young to think of pain, surgery, health issues; to know pain an uncertainty; to not have energy.

My next appointment is in March 31, to have a second opinion from another Orthopedic surgeon. Then I see my ID specialist on April 23 so that I don't get lost in the system.
I should probably call my surgeon next week to make a follow up with him as well for after I get the second opinion.
I keep telling myself, if I can get through the rest of the semester and exams (only five more weeks!), past the two week break between semester, and into May, then I can make it to surgery (hopefully late August/early September).

I need to get to bed now... clinical in the morning. Being assessed on vital signs!

Infection free, but...

As ecstatic as I am that my bone infection is gone, I am slightly frustrated by how I feel today, making what I said in yesterday's post seem especially true - I will continue to feel crumby until the antibiotics are stopped in three months. Last night I had terrible stomach issues, and today I am exhausted. I don't know how to describe it... but it is that horrible exhaustion you feel all through your body and into your eyelids, as if they are trying to force themselves shout. I'm actually a bit nervous about how cruddy I feel. After a year of antibiotics I am afraid what my immune system is like, and am a bit skeptical about how well I will hold up once classes begin in seven weeks. I don't want to catch every bug and cold going around campus.

Speaking of school, I have decided to take only two courses first semester - Latin (because I am a nerd), and Astronomy (because I still need to fill my science context credit). This year will be a kind of catch up. It is almost convenient actually... both Latin and Astronomy have 3 lectures a week, compared to the usual one, so they make it hard to fit in other subjects on certain days, so I don't have to worry about any of that. So my schedule, once I am allowed to register on Tuesday should be 1-2pm Astronomy, 3-4pm Latin on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and one seminar fit in somewhere which means I have plenty of time to feel better and finish of last year. In the second semester I will add two half history credits, which fit well with the Astronomy/Latin schedule. Phew! What a relief.

I should have taken last semester easy, but I didn't, so I will have to do it now. Now if my stomach would just feel better...

Oh, just a last minute note. The picture on the left shows what I was taking before today, and the one on the right shows what I take now. Back to pre-surgery doses! The white pills are the Septra, and the orange are Cehpalexin.

Moody

I'm not in a good mood. It's a crumby kind of day and everything feels kind of off. You know those days, when nothing you do makes you comfortable, when you can't sit down to concentrate on anything for more then five minutes. My father is here today 'cause he wants to fix the house up a bit now that the divorce proceedings between him and my mom are imminent, so until he leaves I have locked myself in my room with a mountain of school work and my guinea pigs.

Have a mentioned before how terribly far behind I am on all my school work? I was so exhausted in December that I missed all my exams. I had to write them, plus a few essays at the start of the second semester in January, which pushed me really far behind on all my readings and assignments for second semester. By the time I had finished the first semester work it was February and we (my doctors and I) got to the point where we knew surgery could not be avoided. I did my best to hand in some assignments but didn't get nearly enough done. By the end of  March I gave up, exhausted and ever more anxious for the looming surgery. After surgery the 8 weeks of IV antibiotics hit me like a stem roller and I was completely flattened. Only now, two weeks after the IV antibiotics were stopped, have I turned my mind to anything school related (well, except for Latin, which I have been reviewing every few days. Yay! for being a Latin nerd). Now I have four exams and four 8-10 pages essays to write. In order to do anything I first have to get caught up on all the readings, which, may I add, is a shit load of reading. Sigh. I need to email the registers office to sort something out. There is an option were they would give me until December to finish all last semesters work. I am considering this as my best option, and would then only take three new courses next semester. For the foreseeable future I will be on a tone of oral antibiotics and they make me exhausted. I want to take an easy year to get back to normal. Besides, we don't even know yet if my bone infection is gone or not.

Once more I am waiting for scan results, which doesn't  help anything either. I could see the screen with the pictures taken by the gamma camera while the scan was going. Lying there I tried to figure out what the pictures meant, but the effort just made my brain hurt as it ambled through all the possibilities. I will leave reading the images to the professionals and wait until July 12 for my next appointment to find out the results.

As I mentioned earlier, I am exhausted. I have headaches from the antibiotics every day - apparently Cephalexin is notorious for making people feel like death... go figure how I feel after a year. Plus I am on more of it then ever before. My leg hurts. I have had some bone pain which I like to think (and hope) comes from bone healing. Part of my shin is still numb from surgery. The area around it tingles a lot which is really irritating. this strange sensation feels like mildly warm water running over you skin, but kind of from the inside out. This is something I might feel for the rest of my life.  And one spot on the incision continues to leak fluid. Yesterday what looked like puss came out of it. And just in case you don't think it is TMI, my stomach hates me. I wake up everyday around 5:00am and feel like my stomach is trying to eat itself, and then I get terrible cramps but nothing happens. Really unpleasant.

PICC Line Dressing Changed

The dressing change for the PICC line was this morning. It went, well, it went, and not uneventfully. Thankfully the dried blood came off easily, although there is still one tiny spot of scab that is sticking on for dear life. The insertion site also decided to bleed again. Today's home nurse said it is because there is still bruising around the insertion site. The damn thing won't stop bleeding 'till the bruising goes away... who would have thought almost three weeks later?

Half way through the dressing change I was struck with some pretty intense nausea and dizziness. I was so light headed I thought I would faint. I asked my mom for a bowl in case I threw up (thankfully I didn't). Only afterward did I realize how silly I must have looked, hunched over a bowl, trying not to hurl while wearing a mask, and with my harm stuck out waiting for the cleaning stuff to dry! When the line was put in, the PICC nurse at the hospital put the guide wire in before she numbed my arm. None of my home nurses understand why it was done in this order, as, which is a reasonable, the arm should have been numbed first to avoid any pain (it hurt, a lot). I think that because of the way it was put in, I have somehow, unconsciously, become afraid of the dressing changes. I can deal with it being in my arm, I am fine with the dressing changes on my leg and looking at the incision, and have a really high pain tolerance (I can be at 5 out of 10 without needing pain meds, and then my 5 is a 8 to some of my friends). I went unphased by the puss coming out of the incision from my surgery in 2008, and was fine with the abscess on my shin and the bone fragment that came out of it in early 2011, but for some unknown reason I can't deal with the PICC dressing change. But anyways, the dressing is changed and I have a glorious week before it has to happen again.

In other news, I feel pretty shitty. I think that the ten months of antibiotics have really fucked up my insides. I would ask you to pardon the swearing, but I want to blog exactly how I feel, and how I feel is fucked up. In other words, lets just say that the bathroom has been my best friend this past week. Thankfully I see my infectious disease specialist this Thursday, so I can ask her for some advice. My biggest concern with the antibiotics is that there have been several c-difficile outbreaks in the region over the last year. Chances are I don't have it, but because I have been on the antibiotics so long, and have been to several hospitals quite a lot for appointments, I want to make sure that everything down there is as fine as it can be at the moment.

I have also been insanely tired, increasingly so since surgery, which I attribute to all the antibiotics and the shock of surgery itself. I feel like I am back to where I was last summer e.g. sleeping ten hours, waking up, eating and then going right back to bed. Again, hopefully infectious disease has some way of helping me with this.

And lastly, health wise, I slipped a bit down the stairs today. I caught myself, but the muscles in my leg do hurt more than they did before. The outside of the dressing on my leg still looks good, so I am going to assume that everything is o.k. and will as the home nurse to look at it in the morning.

Today was a nice day when I ignore how I feel. My mom and I went to a plant center and we bought some purple/black petunias, and some yellow ones as well. Then we took a nice long drive in the country (the Niagara region is beautiful, even though everything has already blossomed), and found a very, very hidden but still used cemetery. We will go there for a picnic one day as it is right beside a small park/hiking trail. We cam home and had lasagna, hot dogs, and chips for dinner (yum!). And now I am here, typing this all out and about to go read in bed. Hopefully I feel better in the morning.

Almost There!

Six days until surgery! and only 148 hours until I leave for the hospital; 152 until the surgery itself! Hurray! O.k. I know this is overdoing it, but I have been waiting for this for nine month now, and as afraid as I am of surgery and its risks, and the dreaded PICC line, I am also ready to get this over with.

I have one big concern which I do not know if my doctors have been completely truthful about. I have been on 4000mg of antibiotics every day for the last nine month, and am about to start IV antibiotics, most likely combined with, and then followed by more oral antibiotics. The doctors have said that this will not effect my immune system. However, I have had a cold for several months, one that just won't go away (alas, it was not allergies to the hay I feed my guinea pigs, although that does seem to have contributed to the severity of things). I think it is finally going away, which would be great just before surgery! How can they tell me that, what is likely to be at least a whole year of antibiotics, won't effect my immune system? Perhaps I will press them a bit harder when I have surgery.

On a lighter note (cause the last few posts have had heavier content), my mom and I were joking today about me finding a boyfriend. I told her that I should just ask my Infectious Disease specialist if she is working with any hot, 20-some-odd year guy who has a bone infection. That way we could at least have adjoining hospital rooms, if not beds! Hell, we would have enough in common as my wonderful friend Beth said when I told her. She said we (this hypothetical man and I) would have more understanding for one another than anyone else!

When (I refuse to use the word if at the moment) I am better I should write a post about all the best and funniest experiences I had through this ordeal.  For now, I am almost there, just a little bit more waiting.

I should note that this was posted on Thursday just after 1:00am, but blogger is making it seem like I posted this late Wednesday night. That is why I am saying six days (especially since I will probably sleep until 3:00pm) and note seven.

Abhoring Boris

"You shall not pass!" That is what Boris is yelling at me. He is telling me that I will not get rid of him; I will not complete my task in annihilating him!

Today started off better than most days do, and that's really saying something. Take what is a really bad day for you e.g. having the flu, or, getting soaked in the rain, missing your bus, forgetting you essay due in class, stepping in dog poop, missing another bus and then losing twenty bucks before you finally make it home only to find out your in laws are coming to visit for two weeks, and imagine feeling that bad for months on end and you end up feeling what I usually feel like every day. My good days are likely the equivalent of your so-so or mildly bad days. So you can imagine that I usually feel pretty blah. You can also imagine that on a day like today when I wake feeling good, yes, good which is much better than so-so, I am ecstatic. Why?

1) It is the final week of classes... who could be unhappy about that? I am a nerd and even I am excited!
2) The sun was shining beautifully through my window, bathing my room in soft orange glow. Really takes me back to my childhood when I would visit my oma and opa in Alblasserdam.
3) It is warm enough for my window to be open, which allows me to hear the birds singing outside. A better sound than even my piano, and I love my piano!
4) The cold which has been plaguing me (No, I do not actually have the plague), for the last two months is almost gone. It turns out is was never a cold at all. I am actually allergic to the hay I feed my guinea pigs, Luna and Lumen. If you are into Harry Potter and Dexter, you will get the names and how extremely nerdy I am. Two months ago I switched hay brands to save a few bucks. However,the new brand was of worse quality...ie, really dusty. Which has been causing my sniffles. I simply switched back to the old brand and my runny nose went away... as well as all the itching! and least but definitely most important (drum roll... heck, throw in an entire marching band please
5) Surgery was only a week away!

Not even the strike at the university could phase me, or the fact it would cause me to take extra time to get to barely populated classes. I had just showered and dressed and was finishing doing my hair when my mom called me from her room. The hospital had called. My surgery date has been mover from April 10 to April 18. I know that is is only an extra week, but when you have been ill for 6 years even this seems too much. After 8 1/2 months of antibiotics I am tired, exhausted, cold, shivery, fed up to here (miles into the sky). I had been waiting for this date, knowing it would eventually come for 9 months, slowly preparing everything. But I guess everything that has so neatly been arranged by the hospital could be undone even faster. Forget that I was going to get a PICC line the morning of, that I was going to meet my home nurse for the first time several days after surgery, the I was going to have the dead bone taken out of my tibia, that I went to all my appointments and got all the tests and scans done as asked. It could all be changed by someone who has, which I say with 99.371% accuracy, never had a bone infection. I think it is fair to say that I was more than slightly pissed. I burst into tears. It made me miserable. It made me have to re plan the nest two weeks of my life. First world problems I know... but 6 bloody years... so I do feel a sense of entitlement to this surgery. I understand and respect that there are reasons, unknown to me, for why surgery was canceled, but I am still a bit down hearted.

I am also really abhorring Boris. (Get the word play there...I am such a nerd!). According to Google, to abhor means to regard with disgust and hatred. It is a word interchangeable with detest, loath, abominate, despise. Oh! and let's not forget my favorite - execrate. Boris needs to GTFO, but he is being a tough little bugger. I am going to wager he is eve worse than the plague. The force is strong with this bone infection, and I don't think leaving him in my leg for an extra week will do anyone except him any good. I hope the IV antibiotics when I finally start them in two weeks after surgery, kick his a** all the way to Serbia.

And that was my monologue (I mean rant for the day). I thank you for listening (*reading*) and wish you all a good night. Bow, as the curtain closes.






Sticks head out of curtain, peeking out. Ahem, that was your cue to leave! Don't make me get management!.

Treasure Chests

Below are some picture of my pills and pill boxes aka "treasure chests". The big black one in the image below is the one I wrote the previous post about. Before I got it, I was carrying a days worth of pills with me in the little "one up" mushroom from Mario. I thought it was a fun way to carry around something that is not so nice to take/need to take, but then a friend pointed something out to me. The Mario mushrooms come with candy inside them, so if a child is snooping in my bag and finds it, he or she might mistake my pills for candy and eat them. I take almost 4000mg of antibiotics a day... not something you want a child taking all at once. So my mum got me a pill box. At the drugstore they did have ones with seven columns and four rows, for people like me who have to take medication four times a day, but I really didn't feel the need to carry a huge box around with my everywhere I went...plus it would rattle a lot, and that would be awkward walking across campus.

The big black one is the one I use at home - I find it easier than using the bottles the pills come in, and it makes it easier to see if I have missed a dose or taken everything I needed to. I found the smaller ones yesterday at Shoppers, a pack of two for $2.99. I might go back to get another pack that has a different pattern and colour so that I can mix things up a bit.

This is what I was keeping my pills in whenever I went out at the start of the first semester, with a big note in it that said "DO NOT EAT, these are NOT candy, they are my pills!"

And these are my pills boxes together with this months pills. I have almost twenty bottles now, and want to see how many I will have to go through to get better. I purposefully didn't take a picture of the labels on the bottles because some personal and contact information is on them. The one on the left if Sulfatrim DS, aka Septra. Those ones are chalky and taste extremely bad. The bottle on the right contains Cephalex. Those pills are orange and smell like sewage.

I know that some company somewhere is making a load of money by selling funky pillboxes, but it is nice to have something that makes me smile a little every time I have to take pills. I feel so odd when I have to take pills during class time and people are staring at me as I pull out my pill box. With the little ones it is not so awkward. Sometime I feel like I am poisoning myself every time I take a pill. i know I need them to make me better, but they can make me feel so terrible and exhausted. That is another reason for why it is so nice to add a pit of 'sunshine' to the whole process. I really hope that I can avoid the PICC line.