Tubes 'n' Bruises

Bit of a busy ten days on the medical front since I last posted and nothing much else to write about, so if you can be bothered to read on you're going to get another dose of tiresome, and sometimes unpleasant, medical procedures, I'm afraid. At least I managed to watch the climax of the World 20/20 cricket Cup on tv as well. Both semis and the final were all cracking games.

However, to return to less agreeable topics, last Sunday night my NG tube went on strike and declared itself blocked. This, if you've been attending, you will remember is the tube that goes into my stomach via one nostril and carries overnight the only nutritional sustenance I currently get, since my mouth is too dry to allow me to eat in the normal approved fashion. So I had to go without my grub on Sunday night and ask the nurses at the Marsden on our usual Monday clinic visit to replace said tube. Unfortunately this was not as straightforward as it should have been...

A happy NG tuber

The first two attempts wouldn't go past some unexpected obstruction in my nose, probably an unsavoury combination of snot and blood clots (I warned you it wasn't pleasant), so the unfortunate nurse unwillingly causing me this discomfort decided to try the other nostril, which happily proved a better bet and the tube went in smoothly. However, having a tube pushed up your nose once is bad enough; three times was really a bit beyond the pale.

While at the Marsden, after the NG tube excitement, I also had a CT scan on my chest to see if there was an identifiable infection causing my phlegmy cough which won't go away. Happily we learned at clinic yesterday that it revealed nothing serious and the cough is gradually improving anyway. The docs have also removed Ponsaconazole from my lengthy list of drugs as the one most likely to be responsible for my low Blood Pressure, as correctly identified beforehand by Dr Julia after reading the blurb in the box! Only problem with this is that I now have to have an hour's infusion of a different drug through my new LTS line (see below) every week instead.

Going back to the subject of new tubes, you will recall that the LTS line in my shoulder, which carries the blood to and fro during my fortnightly ECP treatment, pulled out some weeks ago when the stitch broke. It should have been replaced two weeks ago, but had to be postponed because of my sudden and unexpected admission to King's Camberwell in the TIA episode reported in my last post. So it was replaced last Thursday instead. Happily the shoulder was anaesthetised and I was sedated, because there was a lot of pretty heavy pulling and pushing and the shoulder is now sporting some handsome bruises.  But at least the new line works well and the bruises (and soreness) are slowly diminishing.