Playing in the Dirt

One of Drew's passions is gardening. My late sister-in-law Trudie, was a certified Master Gardener. During holidays and other gatherings with my family, my brothers and I would be hunkered down at the computer while Drew and Trudie would talk gardening. Drew became a certified Master Gardener in 2007 because of this. You can see a little of his handy work on the April 20, 2008 entry in this blog.

At Drew's doctor's appointment yesterday, Drew asked when he could go back to playing in the dirt (what I call his gardening). The doctor said it will be quite a while, from the very beginning they said Drew would have to stay away from bacteria. This means sick people and dirt. Right now is prime gardening time (I think) and he is disappointed about this. I am thinking about a "gardening party" where Drew would make a list of things he needs (or wants) to get done in the yard and vegetable garden and invite people over to help get things done. We would provide all materials and refreshments. Just a thought.

Achillies Tendinitis

If there was a possibility of a complication Drew has experienced it. Just when Drew starts to feel better another complication hits. Drew started experiencing heel and lower leg pain. Since he has not been that active he knew he could not have hurt himself. His ankles started swelling- which I attributed to the high dose predisone he is on. So he spent two weeks with his legs propped up, which helped the swelling but not his pain. Drew went to see an orthopedist and the diagnosis was Achilles Tendinitis which was due to one of the medications he was on from his transplant! I have never heard of a drug causing tendinitis (shows you what little I know). Luckily the solution was to stop taking the offending drug which in this case was Bactrim. Bractrim is an antibiotic which targets bacteria which grows in the urine. Drew has not had any Bractrim since Wednesday and already his pain has gotten better.

Back to Work

I have been back to work for a week and a half. It felt like I never left. I kept up with my work (as a manager) by staying on top of my emails and attending managers meetings when possible. I could have used a another week or two off, I feel I worked the entire time off. Drew did not really start feeling good until the week I went back to work. Physically I feel great.