::Griffblog::

‘What a difference a day makes’ are lyrics from a well known song and never have they rung more true for me than over the last 24hrs.

Yesterday I blogged about my op and my rather optimistic hopes for my post op mobility. Last night I was sat on the settee quite relaxed and as bedtime approached I got up and, with the aid of crutches, made my way to the stairs.

The moment I got up my leg started to throb badly and as I left the lounge I felt a severe chill and started to shiver. This wasn’t just a slight chill, it was a full on, teeth chattering and body shaking uncontrollably type shiver.

By the time I had negotiated the stairs and been helped into bed my leg was in considerable pain, I was shaking so badly and my teeth were chattering so much I could barely speak. I felt as if I was stood naked in a deep freeze with a strong wind blowing!

This lasted for about 10 minutes and then eventually my body temperature rose and the shivers subsided. However, as before, I awoke a few hours later soaked in sweat, my hair damp and my quilt and pillows wet through. A thoroughly unpleasant experience all round I can assure you!

When morning finally arrived my wife got up to get our daughter ready for school and she helped me move to her side of the bed and under her dry quilt. My side was completely soaked in a shadowy outline of my entire body like some crime scene photo!

I fell asleep again and sometime later we decided I should try and get up. Given the pain and the fever and chills I’d had I was not looking forward to it, fearful of what would occur.

But as soon as I got out of bed I was delighted to find I was almost entirely pain free. My leg wasn’t sore, the muscle pain had reduced considerably and I actually felt good!

So much so that I was able to enjoy a shower sat on a bath seat with my leg wrapped in cling film to protect the pin sites and I was able to walk around with neither crutches nor stick. I can lift my leg with ease and I have for the first time dispensed with the small table and pillow that has been my leg rest
for the last five months.

Mid-afternoon I took a call from my hospital. The result of the pre-op swab had returned and it transpired that I have another nasty little bacterial infection which needs antibiotics to treat. The funny part being they thought I should start them ASAP so that they could get into my system before my op. The op I had last Friday!

Of course the good news is that the infection is almost certainly at the root of the fever/chills once again and not merely my body having a delayed reaction to the op and anaesthetics. So I’ve just taken my first dose and if we can cure that then I’ll be well on the way to recovery.

Happy days and as I said at the beginning, what a difference a day does make!