I'm back (again)..

Those who have been observant may have noticed the absence of any new Bytes items since Thursday of last week. Those of a deductive mind may also have inferred a possible hospital visit. They would have been right.

After a flying visit home two weeks ago when discharged from RPA for septicaemia, a matter reported on previously, I was admitted again with what is known medically as multiple pulmonary emboli, or in plain English, blood clots in the lungs.

I was in RPA for 2 weeks with this complaint in 2008.

Now that I have had it a second time I have been told that I will be on blood thinners – Warfarin – for good.

Warfarin, by the way, is an anticoagulant that was originally marketed as a pesticide against rats and mice. Although other poisons have been developed, it still remains popular for this purpose and works by causing massive internal bleeding. A few years after its introduction, warfarin was found to be effective and relatively safe for preventing thrombosis and embolism, the abnormal formation and migration of blood clots. It has remained popular as a medication for that purpose since the 1950’s and is the most commonly prescribed anticoagulant.

I was in a room with 3 other chaps at RPA. One was a young fellow, about 23, with cystic fibrosis. Another chap was older and I think he had the same. The third was an elderly gent with fluid on the lungs. A visit to a hospital is a great eye opener in making one appreciate one’s health and blessings.  You go in focused on your own ailment and leave grateful that that is all that is wrong.