Conversations Down Under (6)

E-Mail Conversations with Alison Bevon – CBD Survivor South Australia

27 September 2011

 

Dear Ed,

 

I haven’t been in contact with you recently because I haven’t been well.  

 

I was put in our hospice for 3 weeks after i developed swollen legs and ankles with a very nasty rash on my right leg.

 

Our hospice is combined with the hospital here and they performed  some investigation procedures and they found I had small blood clots in the small veins in my legs.

 

Things went from bad to worse in the ensuing days.  I developed a chest infection and fever and lost quite a bit of my memory.I also lost my ability to swallow correctly and I could only move the food around in my mouth and could not talk properly.   Visitors came and went but I don’t remember who or when. But gradually the intravenous antibiotics started to work and it all took a turn for the better.

 

Only now I have lost the  use of my feet, my toes curl up and they put me off balance.  So now walking is impossible and i am beginning to understand how this disease works. 

 

It gives you a little bit of hope when things start going well and you feel like you are making progress, then the world comes tumbling down again and you have to start all your recovery over again. 

 

I was treated so well at the hospice that I know when the final stages of this disease takes hold that I will be very well looked after.  So my treatment now is rest, very gentle physio exercises and nothing to over stimulate my brain because it just cant take it.

 

You seem to be coping well with this disease and I hope you keep on doing so.

 

Love to you and your family

Alison