02 October 2012

Good news in the hospital

Clouds over the Dublin mountains above Tallaght waiting for the bus this afternoon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2012)

Patrick Comerford

I was back in Tallaght Hospital – the Adelaide and Meath Hospital – today for a barrage of tests to monitor my sarcoidosis.

The most painful part though was the waiting, and the queuing, and the waiting.

It had been a few months since I was in the hospital and there was the usual round – lung tests, breathing tests, sitting in a chamber with a grip between my teeth, waiting for X-Ray results, a one-to-one with my consultant, more breathing tests, a report to my GP and a prescription.

But the news is good. My sarcoidosis is “quiescent,” and there is no indication that my intermittent but irritating cough is as bad as I think it is, or that my joint pains, particularly in my knees, show any advance in sarcoidosis or any sign of a threat of arthritis.

I suppose I’m just going to have to put up with that cough and those joint pains, and take medicine.

But the news is good.

I don’t have to go back on steroids ... and that is a major relief.

The sarcoidosis is acquiescent, which means it could return with a vengeance. But that is unlikely ... so unlikely, that the consultant was happy to let me go without making another appointment and to hand me back to the care of my GP.

I was talking to a colleague on Sunday who had been so badly hit by sarcoidosis a few years ago that he thought he was losing his sight. But he too is in remission, and his present state of health and positive disposition were encouraging.

I celebrated with a double espresso in the Interval, behind the Civic Theatre in Tallaght, and headed home delighted with the good news.

And said a payer to thank everyone of you who supports me with your prayers, your love and your encouragement.

Now ... if only that cough would ease off and those joint pains would also go into remission.