update after surgery from hospital

Hello Friends,

Thanks to everyone that has come over, called, e-mailed or sent a letter. It is has been great to hear from everyone, and all the small pinkie toe jokes have really made me smile. I want to thank Sarah for bringing the twins to the hospital to see me, I still have a big smile on my face!

And a special thanks to everyone that has contributed financially, it really is going to come in handy since its going to be about 3 months before am able to be back on my feet (minus my pinkie toe, ha, ha).

I had my surgery on Monday (August 31), and everything went very well. They thought they might have to cut more than the pinkie toe at first but as it turns out it was only the pinkie toe and a small portion of the foot, to balance the rest of the foot. They think they have removed all or most of the infected bone. I have been on intravenous antibiotics for about 17 days, and will probably be on them for six more weeks. I do not have to spend all six weeks in the hospital but because of the Chemo treatment I took in the past, my immune system is compromised. For this reason the doctors are being extra cautious and they do not want me to leave until the infection is completely under control, and the wound is on its way to healing. So I will probably be in the hospital for another 7 days. Then when I go home I will be on intravenous antibiotics for another six weeks. It is a great thing that Revolution DVD is now online, and I can watch it when I have time.

The stay in the hospital has not been so bad, my old roommate was an interesting woman, who had a lot of experience with police brutality and was glad to hear about Oct. 22 and came back to visit me to tell me she really liked Revolution Newspaper. The nurses on my floor all know about Revolution Books, and think it is "the craziest" thing for me to be a communist, given all the anti-communist slander they have heard. And from a scientific point of view, this infection and the cure is completely fascinating. The infection disease doctor thinks its great, that I say "well I have a lot of faith in science" when he explains the next step in the treatment.

Thanks, again for your calls, e-mails and visits, and I will send another follow up when things change. I have been moved to the 17th floor (which is an isolation floor) to room 1701. You have to wear gloves and a gown when you come in the room. Am not contagious and you are not in danger of catching anything, it is a precaution mostly for other patients that also have a compromised immune system because of Chemo. Oh, yeah I almost forgot my room phone number is 212-639-4555 or you can try my cell phone.

Hope to see or hear from you soon,
Quetzal

PS. If you want to contribute financially you can send a check made out to my sister Maria Ceja to 530 west 157th street Apt. 2D, New York, New York 10032....Thanks