After an agreeable 2 weeks in the south of France – where an unusual large yellow disc appeared in the sky on most days (not seen in UK since one day in March 2012) –  it made for a very pleasant break indeed.

Here is the hand shortly after its holiday in France – you can’t fail to notice the exuding protrusion caused by accidentally catching the scab covering it on some shopping packaging, but otherwise getting better:

3rd May – an appointment with Infectious Diseases and a meeting with the only member of the team I had not yet met – in fact, he was the doctor who devised  my antibiotic drug regime. Again, two medical students were present and an in depth discussion took place about my current health. As I had just returned from holiday, I was feeling quite positive and the finger in question seemed to be reducing in size, albeit in parts of a millimetre. He was able to explain the results of the MRI scan, and was sure there was no damage to the bone at this stage. However, he was concerned that the antibiotics were not acting quickly enough due to the nature of the organism – ‘they were only nibbling away at the edge of the infection’ – and something more radical needed to be done … i.e… MORE SURGERY!! I had half expected this would happen eventually but when I asked how soon (hoping for a few more months grace) his reply was: ‘Next week, ideally!’ Apparently, because the drugs can’t get through to the centre of the infection for some time yet, the organism is likely to carry on eating away and could cause permanent damage to the tendons and bone. I had been warned I would never get my finger back to normal ever again, but they were hopeful I could get much improved movement from it eventually. Consequently, I was to be handed back to the Orthopaedic Department to look into the possibility of further surgery.

I returned home with  a heavy heart, but resigned to the fact that my health must come first. I had looked forward to at least a summer of almost normality, such as driving and carrying out odd jobs around the house that could be managed with one-and-a-half hands, though with open ‘sinuses’ I still could not get it wet.

My next appointment – with Orthopeadics (hand surgery department) – came through within 24 hours and by the time the date of 7 May arrived I had put together a convincing argument that surgery could wait till after the summer! This was the first appointment with the NHS where they let themselves down – hopefully just a blip on an otherwise perfect experience so far. After keeping me waiting 1 hour and 20 minutes I was called in to meet a consultant who had never met me before and did not have any of my notes. I gave her a swift resume and she was of the opinion that it would be best to operate sooner rather than later, but as this was not her area of expertise she needed a second opinion. With no one else in the surgery to ask and no one answering their phones, and with profuse apologies, I was told to return the following week when the Senior Consultant would be on duty. One useful thing from the meeting was that I was able to view for the first time my MRI scan on her monitor, and it was clear to see the amount of infection surrounding the lower and middle joint of the index finger. Other detail was not easily seen without an expert eye.

14 May – Another week on and I was back in Orthopaedics for an appointment with the chief surgeon. She was very clued up on my case and had experience of working with similar finger damage. After a thorough examination she came to the conclusion that it would be advisable NOT to operate just yet (HOORAY!!). She was sceptical about my suggestion of leaving it till after the summer, and wanted to see me on a monthly basis in case things changed … for the worse. I had to make sure I always saw her at future appointments and ask for her if I needed to visit the clinic urgently, as she wanted to monitor me herself, for the sake of continuity.

… And so I skipped happily out of the hospital knowing I would not be returning the next day for an operation. Meanwhile, I was told to exercise the finger every hour using passive physio to get the finger moving again. So I have been using my other hand to bend it regularly every day since, and already I do seem to be able to bend it slightly more than before. Left hand piano playing is still quite rubbish (no change there then … ha ha!) but with a bit of effort the finger is now touching the keys … watch this space. The sinuses are shrinking gradually and oozing less than they were a month ago … so all in all, I’m quite hopeful of slowly getting more use back, though I’m resigned to more surgery eventually,

Thanks to those who have been enquiring about my progress. I’ll keep blogging all the time there is something to tell you. This is not going to go away any time soon.