Bedside blogging

Some of you will know that I had a heart transplant about five years ago. That operation and its sequels have all been according to plan so far and I have nothing much to complain about. Life goes on much as usual - only you appreciate it more.

However, everything comes at a price. All patients that has had a transplant must be on heavy, life-long medication that suppresses the immune system to avoid a host-versus graft rejection. That also leaves one open to infections. Infections that are innocuous in you might be life-threatening to me.

I was hit by such an infection last week. The temperature started to rise Wednesday afternoon and by Thursday night it reached 39.5 degrees C - and still rising. Time for an ambulance. For us this is hospital-work only. As it is, we live a 20 minutes drive away from one of Norway largest hospitals. An important consideration for patients like us.

So now I am having two different kinds of iv. antibiotics, the fever is gone but the actual bacterium that caused the infection will not be known until tomorrow when the results of the growth-specimens are ready.

The weather outside is extremely beautiful and excellent for photography - I'll just have to avoid looking out. However, I include a picture ("Always carry a camera!") I snapped lying in bed and waiting for a new test at the ER Thursday night. The plastic bag contained Ringer's solution (a fancy form of salt water) - on its way into my arm . Not too bad for a person in high fever?