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While no where near as bad as The Prof's issues (which I hope he gets over as soon as possible) in about 6 hours I start my colonoscopy prep. Good taste prohibits me from posting the details of that openly, so only open "spoiler" text from me today if you really want to read about poop

Hospital Update Monday 7/12/2021: I spoke to my podiatrist's partner doctor this evening (my podiatrist himself is on vacation), and he described my toe as "very angry." To make a long story short, he's going to run a white blood cell scan on me. He said that's where they take some of my white blood cells, "tag" them (I'm guessing radioactively), and then inject them back into me and trace where they go. If they concentrate around my toe, then there's a strong possibility that I might have a bone infection, which would mean they'd have to remove the screw they implanted to fix my hammertoe and try to get the thing to heal naturally. On the other hand, if the white blood cells *don't* concentrate around my toe, then it would mean I just have something called "cellulitis," or a soft tissue infection, which they'd treat just as they're treating it now. In either case, they're going to have to scan me with some sort of equipment to see where the tagged white blood cells go. That'll have to be done over the course of a couple of days, so that means I'm not leaving the hospital any time soon. In other news, somewhat related to the above, I'm going to have something called a PICC line inserted into my left arm tomorrow morning. That's a larger version of an IV line that stays in your arm for a longer period of time and allows the doctors/nurses/techs to draw blood as well as give fluids and medicines from the same site. It hurts like hell going in, but in general it's slightly more comfortable than an IV once it's inserted, plus there's the added benefit that you don't have to get poked every time someone wants to draw blood from you. It's more or less worth it, especially over a long period of time. Speaking of blood, there is one other issue that the doctors are checking into. As it turns out, I'm anemic. I've also got an iron deficiency. We don't know why I'm anemic, but it sure explains why I've been so tired lately (aside from the infection). My wife has been cleared to bring up my multivitamin-plus-iron supplement from home so I can take it while I'm hospitalized, but that alone isn't going to fix the anemia or the deficiency. The podiatrist partner, who is taking point on my treatment now, says he may call in another doctor to take care of this problem. We shall see. Sorry for the long update, but it's been a very busy couple of days. I'll have more info for you as I get it. In the meantime, thanks to everyone who bought a copy of my "Ant Farm Melee" song since yesterday. I really do appreciate it!

"Bleeth" - Explorer the Cat