The Reason I Have Not Been That Active On Here Lately

You have probably noticed I have not been around much this year, especially the last couple of months.

Most people on here know that I suffer from arthritis in all my major joints, as well as some fingers on my right hand. Just after New Year my pain levels and stiffness started to increase, until they reached a level that totally put me out of action, as I was just trying to get from one minute to the next. It seems that my Dicolfenac anti-inflammatory was no longer working.

I was put on a course of steroids to try and get things under control, and for the first time in the 28 years I've had this condition (zero negative arthritis and spondylitis), they done nothing for me. They are usually a miracle, and have me running around like a lamb. I have to keep their usage to a minimum, as after a prolonged course 15 years ago they caused me to have osteoporosis, something I didn't need but am now stuck with.

Anyway, over the last 2 months I have been trying different tablets, all of them useless. During this period the disease has spread to both of my wrists, and this has made long typing very painful, so I have tried to keep it to a minimum.

I have had to go back on Dicolfenac and just put up with the additional pain and swelling, and hope that it eventually settles down and I build up some tolerance and learn to live with the new problems I have due to my wrists.

The good news is that I am still breathing, although some on here may not think that is good news. :biggrin:

I'll try and be on here a bit more to annoy everyone, but now you know that stories of me being abducted and probed by aliens are untrue. :ooo

You have my sympathies, Keith. My brother-in-law has the same problems, bit of an artist but can't hold a brush now!

Think I'd prefer the aliens. Be lucky,
Tov.:waver

You've not been "probed" by aliens, but by the next best thing!
Vegy's been "probing" you for years now. It's just your mind trying to block it out (presumably without success) :sex1:spank::whip

Vegy can probe me when he likes being a Honorary Scouser :wink:

Surprise, surprise....I'm still breathing too. But only just :yikes:

Eighteen months ago I turned yellow, got rushed into hospital, and was diagnosed with fulminant seronegative hepatitis. I was in and out of a coma for about three weeks, at which point I was told I needed a liver transplant. And it would have to be within a week! Fortunately for me, the severity of my condition meant I was placed at the top of every waiting list in the country and a suitable liver became available two days later. I got immediately transferred to one of the best liver transplant hospitals in Europe and wheeled straight into intensive care and then the operating theatre.

A month later, I was fit enough to go home but then contracted a virus via the donated liver which caused a few problems and another stay in hospital. Once that had cleared up, the bypass the surgeons had inserted to provide additional blood to the new liver sprang a leak, so that meant another rush back to the theatre and more emergency surgery.

So last year was one to forget. Things are a tad better now. I'm putting weight back on again (at one point I was less than 7 stones), and the new liver has been working splendidly. I'll need to take various immunosuppression tablets for the rest of my life, although they've dropped from 28 a day to a mere 7. I also have to attend regular clinics where they can confirm that the liver is still okay, that the dosages are correct, and they get to check other stuff like kidney function, etc...but I suppose that's a small price to pay for not looking like a Simpson's character.

Hope everything goes okay, Keith...and hello to any of the old members that still pop in.

Hi GlosRFC,

2014 sounds really bad. Strange that we are all 'created in His image' :doh ... broken!!!!

The good news about liver transplants is that they are classed as routine these days, as they've been doing them for decades. You were very lucky to get one so fast. Maybe it's off a young blonde girl :wink:. You can now live out your life as normal. :thumbs