Firstly, thanks to everyone for their kind messages having read earlier episodes. I must emphasise I am writing this blog not to fish for sympathy (ouch!), but with the sole intention of highlighting the dangers that lurk in our apparently innocent garden fish ponds.

Now read on …

The 10 days that followed the operation on MY LEFT HAND clearly demonstrated what I was unable to do with just one hand … remember, I’m a left handed south paw! Now I appreciate that my inconvenience is as of nothing compared to soldiers fighting wars and permanently losing their limbs when stepping on an IED, but I was not in the line of fire cleaning out my fish pond in Brighton, UK! Or so I thought …

Of course, I was now unable to drive, unable to eat without my food being cut up first, unable to write or sign cheques, unable to do the washing up (!), unable to applaud (‘ the sound of one hand clapping”) … in fact, the list goes on (luckily, I’d always used my right hand to pick my nose!!!) but I’ll stop there!

Wednesday 13 Feb was the day to have the stitches removed and the first time the dressing had come off since the operation. It was not a pretty sight … for the squeamish, be prepared to be squeamed …

Sorry about that!! And I used to play the piano WITH BOTH HANDS AT THE SAME TIME!

Now you’ve got used to that here’s another close up …

It’s clear to see that the surgeon had attempted to extract the growth from the first joint of my index finger down to the base of my palm. What she couldn’t remove was the growth around the first joint of the finger wrapped tightly around the tendons. The wet, oozing bit was where it had started to break through the skin (see earlier photo) and it was decided not to put a stitch in there (thankfully!). I have to say on first seeing the wound I was somewhat disappointed as I’d secretly hoped for a slimmer finger … and a cure. The consultant who had operated told me she had never come across anything like this before in all her years of surgical experience. The results of the biopsy had not been signed off so she was unable to reach any conclusions. Until the biopsy was analysed and the culture grown, I had no option but to ‘wait and see’.

It was decided it was too soon to remove the stitches (relief all round) and I should book in with the nurse at my GP’s surgery in a couple of days – must not leave it too late or the skin would start to grow over. On Friday 15 Feb The nurse unwrapped the dressing and was horrified at what she saw, and was not keen to remove the stitches at this stage. She called in the duty GP for a second opinion and he was in agreement … he’d been following my case since the ‘gout’ prognosis and was curious to discover exactly what it was. He was able to log on to the NHS patient’s website and, lo and behold, the biopsy results were in. He tactfully told me that it wasn’t anything sinister and was, in fact, a rare form of TB and very localised (don’t I know) and not in the rest of my body according to blood tests.

Well, in one way it was good to know it was curable, but I still didn’t know HOW I had contracted it and how I was to be cured …  Episode 7 coming soon …