Rice pudding a classic dish for sure @Sisi
I definitely enjoy
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Haha @Sisi @DuncanB @Unclejack
Glad you all like! Itâs an old Delia Smith recipe and I forgot to say add some cinnamon and nutmeg! Itâs quite yummy and reminded me I should make one for myself as I need to put some weight on after a year of some bad gut issues! Itâs quite nice cold too! The short grain brown pudding rice is sometimes hard to find but maybe a local health shop can oblige?
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@Sisi @Erica @ChrissyD @DuncanB @lyndham and all.h
hi every one. Beginning to feel better. Due to attend orthopaedics Friday. Seems haematology not to concerned about the roller coaster blood counts. I believe it was due to the IV. Antibiotics. My taste has been badly affected. I do like rice pudding so will be scoffing everything in front of me. Actually went on the garden yesterday with wife. We have decided just to mow the lawns keep things tidy but not setting anything this summer. Hopefully next year back to normal if allâs well. The wound inflicted by the tube inserted into my throat seems to be slowly improving (dreadful experience) luckily for me I was asleep when it happened! I donât think the Chronic myelomonocytic leukaemia ('CMML') had any input to the weight loss just the rotten food on offer. But will discuss with haematology at next appointment. Hopefully I will gain a few pounds before then. NHS 111 were very good. The great painkiller I had was injected morphine not ora morphine. Absolutely totally effective. The hospital did give me a good supply of ora morphine when I was discharged but I have only needed it once. Once again thank you all for the support. Best wishes Unclejack.
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@Unclejack Great to hear youâve been able to enjoy your garden 
Itâs been lovely weather here in west London 
Sounds like your pain is easing, which is wonderful to hear. Take care of yourself. Best wishes 
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Hi @Unclejack @Lyndam @Sisi @DuncanB @Duncan @Erica
Thatâs very encouraging news. So many of your problems have been actually caused by investigations, hospitalisation and treatments - which is not what we want to happen! 
Hopefully the rice pudding diet will help put back the pounds and a spot of light gardening will bring joy and relaxation.
We went to the allotment yesterday afternoon and the weather was glorious. Planted 2 more rows of salad potatoes, and sowed beetroots and 2 types of shallots. Plenty of weeding to do of course! My bird call app (and sometimes my own ears) confirmed the presence of blackbirds, robins, great tâs, (haha not allowed to use that word!), sparrows, jackdaws, crows, pigeons and gulls. It was very noisy! 
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I am so pleased to hear this @Unclejack. Thank you for sharing the good news. You and your wife have been through so much! Wishing you renewed health and strength. Be kind to yourselves and go gently. Willow x
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Oh, @Unclejack thank goodness you are beginning to feel better, keep eating the rice pudding I say, and oh, keep taking the painkillers, when required.
For me just being outside in the spring sunshine really gives me a boost.
Slow and steady wins the race I reckon.
Let us know how your orthopaedics appointment goes on Friday and thinking of you both loads, be kind to yourselves.
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@Sisi @Duncan @Willow @Lyndam @Erica @ChrissyD . Hi all
Been discharged by orthopaedics. No bacteria found in any tests of knee fluid. Just caused by inflammation the swelling and pain. ENT the next port of call. Back of throat looks disgusting with what they call Slough, luckily not painful but very slow to heal. After all this I am scared of being admitted to hospital ever again! Best wishes to all Unclejack
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Oh @Unclejack and all. That sounds like better news to me, but I am not a medical person, and it is what it feels like to you that is important
I know when I have been discharged by some of my âologists I have felt a bit bereft, left adrift without a paddle. I hope your Slough heals up soon but as you say it is lucky it is not painful.
Take it steady you have been through so much emotionally and physically. As they say time is a great healer. Be kind and look after yourselves
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Thatâs good news @Unclejack, hope your throat heals quickly. And yes I can understand your reluctance to go into hospital again. My brothers wife was admitted to hospital recently with anemia and had to have 3 blood transfusions, due to her gp practice deciding to take away the iron tablets she has taken for some time due to an ongoing problem. Her experience was rather like yours with cleanliness and food. Well anyway she had only been home a few days and my brother was taken in with a suspected stroke, which turned out to be the affects of Covid. His wife had brought it home from hospital. It had to be from there as he never goes out due to a previous stroke disabling him, and did not even visit her in hospital as he can no longer drive. He was put in what he described as a dirty cupboard on his own, and the food was dreadful. He is diabetic and there was no food on the menu for this, and what he did order never turned up. Hope you continue to get back to normal for you. Take care.
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Dear @Unclejack Youâve had such a stressful few months. Please to hear youâve been discharged by orthopaedics & I hope your throat heals soon. Love & best wishes to you & your wife. Rest up & youâll be feeling more like yourself very soon
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Dear @Lyndam Gosh, this is horrible to hear 
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Dear @Unclejack and all
Glad to hear youâve been discharged but what is the final diagnosis on your knee issues then? All that unnecessary treatment and now another issue to sort out with your throat. It really should not be the case that you come out of hospital with more problems than you went in with ?! 
Hope that your throat issue is soon sorted out and that youâre overall feeling better for being at home?
And @Lyndam that sounds so awful too for your brother and his wife. Worrying that Covid is still alive and well and living in our hospitals! Is nobody tested on admission and isolated any more?! As somebody who is immunocompromised, Iâd be very fearful of getting Covid or any other infection whilst in hospital and struggling with something else! Wishing your brother a good recovery.
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Hi allâŚ.@unclejack I hope youâre recovering well now you are home and enjoying all the delicious foods you mentioned. Try to get in the sun for extra vitamin D too. Each day you will get stronger and stronger. A good excuse to eat those calories! What an awful time youâve had. I hope everyone else is ok? Roll on the summerâŚ
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@Sisi @ChrissyD @Erica @Willow @Duncan and all.
Thank you all for the tremendous support. Firstly although the clinicians decided that iv antibiotics was the best treatment for a suspected case of septic arthritis for 4 weeks at no time did they find any evidence of a infection. 3 knee aspirationd one knee washout and no evidence of a bacterial infection! They decided that my haemoglobin was slightly low and then administered a transfusion in preparation for a second knee washout. The second washout was then postponed until the following day. The following day arrived and it was permanently cancelled. As once again another blood test indicated no infection and inflammatory markers were falling. The consultant said the team eventually agreed another washout could do more harm than good.On reflection I believe 4 weeks of iv antibiotics have done untold damage to my immune system. The girations in my blood count the minute I started antibiotics were remarkable. The patient knows best section on my NHS app revealed almost unbelievable movement in platelets, monocytes, in the graphs tracing the movements. Platelets actually moved into normal range before nosediving into the 40s! Similar result on all full blood count levels. I only found out when I left hospital and returned home and checked updates on the NHS app. I have blood test next week in preparation for my next routine haematology appointment. I dread what that will highlight! I have been very stable for 3 years I now think that will change for the worse. The effect of the morphine was interesting. I consistently saw inanimate objects like smoke detector on the ceiling moving around! Worse than that several screw heads grew legs and turned into spiders. My wife pointed out that absolutely nothing was moving around the ceiling as did a passing nurse. Obviously the morphine has strange side effects! When I came off the morphine normality returned. Very strange experience though. At discharge I was given a bottle of liquid morphine for the pain.Luckiily not needed it. Anyway once again thanks everyone for the support. I hope my experience will help others who may have a similar experience. Best wishes Unclejack.
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Oh my @Unclejack
Your morphine experience sounds very weird! Note to self to not start taking drugs at age 75!
Letâs hope that your blood counts start stabilising again now youâre off the antibiotics and back on your good diet. Iâm still feeling the bowel effects of an inappropriate course of amoxicillin taken a year ago so I sympathise. Best you can do is try to get your gut microbiome back into shape by doing what you normally do and eat proper foods!
Let us know how it goes next week.
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Sounds really difficult right now @Unclejack
Low platelets arenât fun for sure.
Drugs sound a challenge too.
Take care and hopefully get some positive steps forward at next appointment
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Thank you for updating us @Unclejack. I understand your thoughts and feelings regarding the untold damage to your immune system due to the antibiotics. I was in a similar situation this time last year and felt miserable due to my gut being affected by the numerous courses of antibiotics - some IV and others oral. I honestly thought my digestive system would never recover. However things are much improved I am relieved to say. I added as many fermented foods and probiotics as I could, such as kimchi and sourdough bread, for example. Obviously itâs best to get advice about any dietary changes but that is what helped for me. Thinking of you. Warm wishes Willow x
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