The tryanny of medication

I know I generally take a break from posting for a couple of weeks each summer but this year it has really been the result of my post-operation recovery that has caused me to spend less time at work (working) and less time at home (not working) which has impacted on my computer activities.

A week last Friday (2nd August) I visited my district nurse, as I have done every week day for the past fortnight - the first week I wasn't allowed to leave the house and at weekends I have a home visit. The area under the protective layer of plastic/bandage etc had been irritating the hell out of me during the hot weather and whilst the nurse was, and still is, pleased with the progress I am making she was concerned about the reddish colour of my skin around the 'wound' and asked a doctor for a second opinion. This doctor is the one who months ago told me the small cyst was nothing to worry about so I didn't have much faith in her opinion to be honest.

She looked at the back of my neck and said, "The hole is healing but there is a problem with the skin around it, are you allergic to anything?"
"Only anti-biotics," I replied.
"What happens when you take them?"
"Nausea and diarrhoea," I replied.
"They aren't allergies, they are reactions. If you collapsed and were dying we wouldn't hesitate to give you them if required."
Ten minutes later I was leaving the surgery, prescription in hand, four tablets a day for five days, heading for the pharmacy. I took my first tablet when I arrived at work at just after 9 a.m, without going into details by 1 p.m the 'reaction' had begun.

I didn't manage a whole day at work last week, Thursday I didn't even make it to the office. I saw the district nurse, who I must say has been brilliant throughout, every morning before work and by the end of the week she was beginning to be concerned that I was still suffering from the effects of the tablets. From last Tuesday onwards I have only been able to eat dry toast, supplemented by a banana, making sure I've kept my fluid intake up. When I visited the nurse again yesterday she asked how things were going and she was genuinely shocked that I was still suffering the aftermath of what supposedly just a reaction.

The good news is that my neck is healing very well and I now only have to visit for a change of dressing on alternate days, the bad news is that there are so many days when you can look forward to a dry toast/banana combination with any great enthusiasm.