As one set of physical problems gradually fade something else pops up to replace them !! It seems I’m in an endless exhausting cycle which has gone on for weeks and weeks. First it was the Noro Virus, then the C.Diff bug, then the drug side effects, now I have some mysterious fever - probably viral - which has so far lasted 10 days but shows no sign of abating. They started me on penicillin VK on Tuesday but that has made no impression on the temperature after 4 days so not very hopeful it’s going to make much difference.

However the good news is that it is not total wipe out. It’s not a fever so high that all you want to do is languish in bed shivering. It starts off the day up a little and only as the day progresses does it get steadily higher. When it hits 38.5 C (101+F) in the early evening I start to get shut down and need my bed. So life carries on the rest of the day as long as I don’t stress the system too much (I have to sleep in the afternoons still) - it’s running with it’s batteries permanently flashing ‘low power’ and seems to need every ounce of ‘juice’ to fight what ever is going on in there. After over 6 months on immuno-supressants they have finally come to an end this week; but this rather pathetic new body I’ve been given hasn’t got a clue how to fight infections yet. This is it’s first practise run at how to do it all by it’s self; it may take a while to get it’s self organized.

Meanwhile Spring progresses quickly. The procession of the trees from the winter underworld is almost complete and all are standing in attendance in their greenery awaiting the king and queen - the Ash and the Aspen - to make their stately appearence.

Well last week proved to be a bit of a struggle. The drug (Metronidazole) took three or four days to calm things down but I have to take a full 10 day course to reduce the risk of re-infection. The trouble is that the drug appears to be causing unpleasant side effects; dizziness, nausea, watery swollen eyes and a general lack of energy. At least I think it’s the drug - they did not want me anywhere near the hospital last week in case I brought the C.Diff with me, so no blood tests done for a fortnight.

I would have liked to have been feeling a lot better than I was for the trip up to Edinburgh to hear Rokia Traore, but despite the dizzy feelings I was rocking in my seat to her music; a brilliant performance by her and her excellent backing group. (Unfortunately the support group who came on in the first half were a complete embarrassment with no stage presence whatsoever but at least I could keep my watery eyes closed for most of it).

It was suggested that I should start taking Domperidon, the anti sickness drug, to see if it reduced the side effects of the first drug; so I’m trying it for the rest of the course. Too many damn pills for my liking; can’t wait to get off this cocktail. Tomorrow will be the last of the daily ciclosporin, it is then reduced to every third day for the final fortnight. I suspect that the watery eyes business may well be a manifestation of GvHD and nothing to do with the Metronidazole . If it’s not one thing it’s another; but still there is life at the end of the tunnel. What a long drawn-out business this is ! Just over half way now (6 months) and probably more surprises waiting round the corner.

I saw the first pair of swallows arriving a couple of days ago; very late this year. Meanwhile, in the glazed link between the pottery and the house, the first cactus bloom has cascaded over Christine's 'Acrobats cake stand'.

May 1st. - Spring really getting underway at last. Almost a fortnight has gone by since I got out of hospital; felt rubbish for first few days after 5 days confined to a wee hospital room hardly big enough to swing a cat. I suppose I should have tried to exercise in it somehow but it wasn’t very conducive and I wasn’t feeling all that brilliant anyway.

However a bit of fresh air and a gentle bit of pottering around the garden soon revived and de-institutionalized me. The visit up to the Glasgow clinic the following Monday was fairly routine; recommence reduction of the ciclosporin was recommended. Another 3 weeks or so and the immuno-suppressant will be stopping completely.

The 2 units of blood have been making me feel a lot better; so nice to have enough energy to walk up the hill without gasping. Even tried a short loop of the mountain bike route (pushed it up the steep bits - didn’t want to overdo it first time out). The new grass is suddenly enriching the green fields...
and the first birch leaves are showing....
.....meanwhile the ash remains a ghostly skeleton.

Unfortunately, mid way through the week, the gut problems reared their ugly head again. I held off for nearly 36 hours but Christine insisted we left it no longer. Tests showed it really was C.Diff this time; so I’ve been started straight away on a 10 day course of Metronidazole which should slow the little blighters down a bit. In a normal person the other gut bacteria would keep them in check but my internal workings are far from normal yet. However, I haven’t had a temperature with it, so as long as I can keep my self hydrated it shouln’t cause too much of a problem - more an exhausting inconvenience.




Way back in early February we booked seats for a concert in Edinburgh to hear Africa’s Rokia Traore. The fourth of May seemed a long way off then but next Tuesday sounds suddenly close. Hope it all works out.