swimming in treacle

we thought we were on the home straight as far as the operation was concerned, but true to form, life has thrown us a googly. himself started coughing last weekend and by monday morning was in a bad way. herself said he should stay off school. himself was worried that his colleagues would run into problems with their equipment if he wasn't there to sort them out. herself said he would have to worry about a different sort of equipment if he didn't behave. her maamship suggested that herself hide all his pants (for my american and canadian readers, this is pants in the british sense - ie underwear). fortunately, himself stayed at home.

the cough got worse. in the middle of wednesday night herself e-mailed the transplant coordinator to see if himself should have antibiotics. the transplant coordinator is a most impressive individual who gets things done. even the doctors do what she says. first thing on thursday she was on the phone. himself had to go into the hospital for a chest x-ray. luckily my boy was at school as this is the sort of thing that freaks him out.

after a fair bit of waiting around a picture of himself's lungs was taken and the peeps went in to see the consultant. the good news was that the lungs were clear. nothing was lurking down there. the bad news was that unless the cough gets better the transplant will have to be postponed. it will be too risky to do if himself is ill, as the anti-rejection drugs will remove any immune system that he has left.

so we are waiting and hoping that things will look up.