Week 5 post op

Monday was a blast. I was full of energy after a relaxing weekend and so I went up with Caz to the gym. Unlike the previous week where I found it very hard to deal with it emotionally, I was relaxed and empowered by being there.

Tuesday saw me a little bit more tired as I had done so much the day before, and so I spent most of the day taking it easily. It was during the night though that I awoke with a stabbing pain in my side.

This continued throughout Wednesday and I nipped into the Dr's to check it out. There was no infection but it was a kidney issue, or thought to be. When I breathed in, yawned or - the worst - hiccuped then I had a stabbing pain right through the kidney. Maybe it was inflamed, but at least it wasn't the liver!

So Thursday we set off as usual to Edinburgh for clinic. Paracetamol had taken the edge off the pain but it was still there. I took a bag in case they kept me in. Clinics up to now have been with the same doctor and Transplant Coordinator. This time though is was a new Dr, not yet up to speed with the ways of the clinic.

I found myself less engaged than usual, almost sulking that I didn't get the normal Dr who to be honest has been good for me in that she always promotes the positive. I had blood and urine tests taken and also a scan of the chest. I haven't heard from them so there can't be anything seriously wrong.

We went around to see Steph and the kids (Sam and Abbie) and had a bite to eat and a cup of tea. The kids played with Kali while we discussed their recent Dutch trip. Rob had assembled the shed that he'd picked up on the previous Friday. Then we set off on our way home.

These trips take it out of me so Friday was a daze. Caz has been working a lot so I have been walking the dog a lot, gently stretching the distances. Boothy - who lives just down the road and used to work on the doors with me in the 80's - came round on Friday and took me to see his Dads hen set up. It wont be long before we have some egg layers our selves.

Kali in the meantime has been chasing the deer in the woods, which has become a daily event. We walk down to the Dee and soak up teh warm sun before going round to an area where the deer are usually hanging out. Kali, being a boxer, usually goes in the wrong direction if you point, so I have got her used to her running in the facing direction when I crouch down. She'll never catch them but it gives her a blast and she comes back and sleeps contently.


So it's Sunday today, I've been up early with anticipation. Nothing to to do with the DemCon
talks but the fact that we are going to be 90 minutes away from winning the Title. Chelsea are playing Wigan on the last day of the season and simply need to win to be crowned champions!

If I was down there I'd have gone to the Mona Lisa on the Kings Road for breakfast, for a fry up
and a mug of tea. I'll then wander down the New Kings Rd on my way to the White Horse at Parsons Green. But i'll pop through Hortensia Rd to get onto the Fulham Rd and walk past the Black Bull and then the ground taking in the atmosphere. Right along passing and taking a nosey at the badge sellers, with the fried onions and sizzling meats filling the air.

Past the So Bar where the crowd have already spilled out onto the sunny pavement, voices raised in excitement, upto the stalls with tee shirts, fanzines, books and scarfs, before turning down the Cedame Rd, cutting through the Walham Green and eventually getting to the pub.

Its busy and everyones outside so you push through the crowds looking for a familiar face........

After a pint or two of Fullers, I'd leave to get to the ground via the stalls again getting to the ground before the last minute rush. Standing at my seat, I'd look around at the stadium that isnt simply a concrete bowl, despite being rebuilt from the old stadium, full of atmosphere that many stadiums have lost.

and then the game begins...........................

It's just past the 40th anniversary of the FA Cup win where we beat Leeds in a fierce encounter. My pal Ben was there yesterday to see them get promoted to the Championship.

I hope they get back to the top tier not only for the six points we'll get but so that I can join Ben in a trip both Home and Away! He'll have to stay off the pitch though!

My Surgeon who did such a great job!

Professor Stephen Wigmore
Consultant Surgeon at Edinburgh Royal infirmary Transplant Unit

MD
FRCS(Ed)
FRCS

Stephen Wigmore graduated from King’s College School of Medicine and Dentistry and after two further years in London moved to Edinburgh to undertake his basic and higher surgical training with Prof Sir David Carter and Prof James Garden. His thesis on hepatic acute phase protein expression in cancer was followed by a visiting post doctoral scholarship at the University of California San Francisco, as a Yamagiwa Yoshida Fellow of the UICC with Dr Bill Welch and on his return he was awarded an Advanced Fellowship by the Wellcome Trust. He held this post as a senior lecturer and honorary consultant surgeon at the Scottish Liver Transplant Unit, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. He was appointed Professor of Transplantation Surgery at the University of Birmingham and Liver Unit, Queen Elizabeth Medical Centre in 2005. Returning as Professor of Transplantation Surgery in Edinburgh in 2007.

His clinical interests lie in liver transplantation and resectional surgery and his principal research focus is on the cell and molecular biology of organ pre-conditioning and stress protein expression. Other research interests include the Kupffer cell, innate immunity, endotoxin handling and functional assessment of the liver in the context of surgery and transplantation.

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