Tuesday, May 01, 2007

unexpected hospital stay

I've been AWOL since last Thursday, in hospital.

I checked in for a routine test (prostrate biopsy) and something went dramatically wrong. I became the one in a thousand statistic that is mentioned when these tests are suggested and which you think will never happen to you.

I was bleeding uncontrollably for many hours and needed a blood transfusion and a couple of operations to fix it.

Many thanks to Queen Elizabeth Hospital staff for their expertise and help. And to friends who visited and left phone messages.

I'm continually amazed by our progress in medical knowledge. I feel I'm on the road to a full recovery.

I was thinking of creating a separate blog to discuss some men's health issues in more detail. Will keep this entry short though.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow, Bill, I'm sorry to hear that but glad that the hospital was able to get you through. Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Wara said...

Jeez Bill, get a wriggle on. We need you on the programming camp project. Good to hear you're getting well again.

Anonymous said...

get well soon
Tony

Anonymous said...

Hope your doing alright Bill and I wish you a speedy recovery.

I'm looking foward to your classes and teachings for this term and hope to learn and achiveve even more then term 1.

All the best!

Thanh

lucychili said...

!ack! get well soon.
Go easy on the green tea.
Take care
Janet

Anonymous said...

Bill I am glad you are out - there is a downside of standing out from the crowd when it comes to health

Being vulnerable in a hospital is different from being vulnerable in school - but both are interesting.

Just watching how they both function throughout the day (and night), changing with each team of medical staff/ teachers and each wave of visitors/ students who arrive armed with bunched flowers,bagged grapes and cartons of KFC or canvas satchels, cellphones and bottled water is worthy of its own blog.

Your experience makes me interested in searching out some hospital blogs

Anonymous said...

A bit of a scare for all of us Bill! Seperate blog for men's health? I think men's health issues in this blog would be great to see.

Bill Kerr said...

hi arti,

I agree that hospital culture is amazing, diverse, the variation b/w shifts and nurses being quite fascinating

I hadn't realised that female nurses have special training camps in which they practice how to rip the max number of hairs, most painfully, out of men ... swap from one arm to the other and start again

LOL, but on the way to full recovery it seems, even the many bruises feel good

Bill Kerr said...

hi leigh,

thnks for comment re blogging about mens health issues

I suppose I've come around to a view that it's a bit confusing to mix issues too much in blogs - was thinking to keep this one mainly about education with a focus on computing

men's health is an important issue and I'm thinking it might be best to keep all of those posts concentrated in one place

eg. I did write a long blog about my recent experience - still not certain whether to publish - but on balance anything that gets men talking more about their health is necessary and good, especialy those issues that don't get talked about much

Bill Kerr said...

my prostrate biopsy results

I don't have prostate cancer :-)

I celebrated by eating two well done T-bone steaks, with lots of salt, and going out for a chess night

Life is good

I do have benign prostate enlargement and are due to have a TURP towards the end of July

Anonymous said...

Right on Bill! We do need to learn how to talk about health more. In New Zealand, there is an excellent campaign for men's mental health going on - using a famous sportsman who manages depression. The TV adds are great - they are baisc tips for dealing with depression.

I think you already have a big readership here on this blog. Perhaps you could do both, or use catagories more. I think it would be great to see more of a range of subjects in many blogs... so we can see the full dimensions of the people writing...

I keep multiple blogs though.. but I often wish I have only one :)

Anonymous said...

Hi Bill
I'm so pleased to hear of your results :) sorry I'm behind the 8 ball. I've been fortunate to not be one of the statistics so I was unaware that nurses training camps and bruises can bring some sort of pleasure!
The idea for a specific mens health blog is a good one. You have already got me searching. EG I never knew about Andropause before
http://www.usenature.com/article_prostate_health.htm
Here is another site that is based on knowledge/experience sharing, in this case , TURP - all the best with that procedure. In the meantime life IS good ... I still hope to see you in Melbourne and T-bone steaks would have to be one of the best celebratory foods around. Cheers, Al

Anonymous said...

I spoke with Bill today, he was readmitted to hospital yesterday (Monday)with side effects from his transfusion. He hopes to be back out this weekend in good health
Tony

Ethics and Transparency In Politics said...

Get well soon Bill!

Unknown said...

Bill is currently still in hospital on blood thinners because of clotting from the tranfusion. Unfortunately they have discovered a tumor on his kidney. He expects to undergo surgery for the tumor after his blood clotting is stabilised.

Get well soon!

Anonymous said...

I hope you get well soon. Bill.

hospital data