Now it's Louis Turn

Early last week we noticed that Louis had a problem with his left rear leg and was limping intermittently.  This was countered by his normal behaviour on his morning walk when he was tearing around the park with J's two kelpies.  We took Louis to the Vets where he had X-Rays taken.  These showed that he had injured his Cruciate Ligament in his left knee and had arthritis in his right knee.  We decided to try conservative treatment and he is now on anti-inflammatory medication and limited to non-strenuous exercise for the next six weeks.  If this doesn't work we may try surgery.

Louis is still quite happy as the two photos taken in the back garden show.

He is looking quite clean at present as he has just been clipped.  Normally he is a scruffy little devil.

I am beginning to improve and my reaction to my medications have settled down. In particular I have stopped having dizzy spells.  I went to my computer club last Wednesday and it was good to catch up with old friends.  

I also went out with my cycling club on Saturday.  Apart from my fitness level having dropped a bit I had no problems so I will gradually increase my rides over the next couple of months.  With a bit of luck I should be able to go on my South Australian tour in October.

I have also had a bit of a windfall concerning my Warfarin medication.  The last blood test showed that my INR had dropped which normally would mean back to blood tests every few days.  Instead my GP has registered me on an introductory trial of a drug called Pradaxa which is targeted at lowering the blood viscosity in patients with Atrial Fibrillation induced stroke risks, e.g. me.  At present this drug is not on the Australian Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and is very expensive.  On the trial I will get it free for the next 18 months  by which time it should be available on the PBS at a reasonable price.

Pradaxa is registered elsewhere and is the first product to really replace Warfarin in the treatment of AF induced strokes.  It does not require blood tests and it had no restrictions on diet.  With Warfarin I would have had to have a blood test immediately before going on holiday and one on return to check my INR.  Now I just pop two capsules a day and eat what I want.  My medications are now taken at breakfast and dinner which is easy to remember.

I am about to phone Meals On Wheels to get back to doing something useful again.  I have been signed off by my Rehabilitation Clinic as sane, fit and ready for work!!

Some Side Effects From Medication

Over the last week I have been having some side effects from my medications.  These are not serious but make me feel rotten. The culprit appears to be Diltiazem which is used to control my heart rate which it does very well.  At times my resting heart rate drops to 50bpm but I don't notice it.  A more annoying thing bouts of dizziness which start about an hour after taking my morning medication and gradually reduce throughout the day.  They don't affect my cycling or driving but make me feel nauseous and I rest for a while until I return to normal.  This means that I can't do my MOW round as I sometime don't feel normal for up to and hour and my clients want their meals on time.  I am going to talk to my GP to see if there are alternative medications avialable.


On the brighter side I appear to have achieved a stable INR with my Warfarin and my blood tests are now only once a week.  If I am lucky they will reduce to once every two weeks soon.


Apart from this life goes on normally.  Helen is still here but has been not too well herself and has just gone to see Margaret's old GP.  If things are OK  she will probably go home sometime next week.   The medication problems aside,  I am feeling OK and hope to go cycling with my club on Saturday.


We are going out to lunch today at B and J's then on to a Cocktail Party to celebrate a mutual friends eightieth birthday.  As it will finish after dark Helen will drive me home and I can have a drink or two!


I will attend my local computer club tomorrow but have deferred my talk for a while.

Regaining My Independence

The last three weeks have been very quiet.  I have spent most of my time having blood tests and attending rehabilitation sessions.  It has all been successful.  Yesterday's blood test results indicated that I had achieved a stable INR of 2.3 which should reduce the chance of another stroke as a result of Afib.  I have been declared OK by my Physiotherapist after several sessions to help with minor balance problems.  My occupational therapist was pleased with my presentation on Open Source Software and although it took longer to prepare than normal for me things have improved a lot in the last two weeks.

The only thing which is lagging is my short term memory.  In particular I have great difficulty in doing mental arithmetic.  Even counting out small change is quiet a challenge.  I can still do the arithmetic but I have to write it down or organise things in an orderly manner.  For example I paid for a snack after my blood test yesterday using a handful of small change.  I knew that I had enough couldn't sort out the coins so the lady at the till did it for me.  The irony is that as she selected the coins I was able to add up the amount as she did so.  I also have trouble with dates and write things in my diary or on the calendar.

I has been very cold, by our standards, and I have only been out for a couple of rides on my bicycle.  These were between 12 and 18Km.  I have absolutely no problems riding and still have my confidence.  I hope to do a 30Km ride with the club this Saturday.

My computer skills are returning and I will try and give a talk at the club next week which I had to cancel following the stroke.

Finally my GP has given me permission to drive my car again which means that I regain my independence.  Helen has been very good driving me between appointments and to do the shopping and I have also used the local bus service but the convenience of just jumping in the car is one I have missed.

In the mean time I have had several trees cut down in the garden,  the gutters cleaned and yesterday the house was given a full treatment against termite infestation.  I guess this means that I intend to stay.