Do Sickly Children Make Successful Adults?
I ask this question because of a post on the UK-Coeliac list from a mother, who was worried that her coeliac child might have problems because of days off sick during his GCSEs.
I was always off sick at school, but I got to Grammar School and obtained good O and A levels, went to a good university and by all accounts I have been very successful since. I often wish that I’d been diagnosed with coeliac disease, when my parents and GP, were looking into my childhood health problems, but you can’t change the past.
Was it because of my many days off school, that my father took me to his printing works so often and my mother taught me household skills from cooking to making clothes? Or was it because I was the boy and was favoured by my parents and especially my grandmother, who lived with us?
I also became very reliant on my own company and this served me well, when I was programming, as that can be a very lonely experience.
Now is that self-reliance is my strongest defence against the trials of my life?
Kidney Transplants
They were talking about this on BBC Breakfast this morning.
A kidney transplant doctor once told me, that a surprising number of us are born with only one kidney and usually survive pretty well.
The Sun is Healing Me
I’ve now had four days of reasonable sunshine and I can feel my body repairing itself.
Strangely the closer to the brain, my pain is, it seems to go away first. My face and tooth pain improved, followed by my arm and hand, then the bottom of my spine and my left leg. None of these injuries were stroke related, but after the stroke I got a lot of pain in old injuries. Perhaps the stroke ruined the wiring and the sun-induced vitamins are creating new pathways.
I don’t know, as I’m no expert.
But my typing is certainly better since I’ve been in Greece.
Smoking in Greece
You can’t seem to get away from it. Even in restaurants, where it’s illegal.
No wonder the economy here is in trouble. They spend too much time smoking.
My Arm is Giving Me Some Trouble
mMy left humerus was broken by a bully at school and for the last few days, it has been giving me quite a bit of trouble. Or that’s what I hope it is. My left hand was terrible yesterday and I had difficulty tying up my shoe laces. I also couldn’t get the souvlaki off the skewer. But after a good night’s sleep it seems to be a bit better. I’m actually using the shift key with my forefinger easily this morning. Usually I make a few mistakes and have to correct them. But today it seems alright. It could also be better because the Caps Lock key on this computer isn’t so easily mis-hit. Who needs the key anyway? I never normally use it.
I suspect that as I haven’t had any physio on the upper arm and shoulder for nearly two weeks now, that this is the problem.
Getting Better
In some ways I am.
Yesterday, I went to my new dentist, who is in Notting Hill conveniently on the Central or Shopping line, rather than my last one who is in Felixstowe. Sorry Andrew, but it’s a bit far to go for pain!
I was asked to fill in a form and this asked what my occupation was. I said it was Getting Better, which raised a bit of a titter, even if it is true.
My new dentist is actually my son’s dentist. And he felt that I must have been very young, when I became his father. Was 23 really that young?
Anyway, the check found nothing wrong, except for a tooth I broke about thirty years ago, which has been giving me a bit of trouble since the stroke. The new dentist just X-rayed it and said that the root was fine, which is what my old dentist had recommended. It probably won’t last another thirty years, but will I?
I was just booked in for the hygienist and that was it.
So that was pretty painless!
You’re Not Too Old at 37
Congratulations to Helen Clitheroe, who at the young age of 37 has won gold in the Indoor European Athletics Championships in Paris.
With Ryan Giggs playing on at a similar age, does it say that we’re getting physiotherapy, diet and other important disciplines better?
If so then we’re all going to benefit.
A Better Way to Measure Blood Pressure
I do hope so, as the current method seems to cause all sorts of problems when healthcare staff measure mine using the traditional cuff, whether it’s connected to a high tech machine or a manual device.
In Hong Kong, they were very worried about my blood pressure and they were always measuring it. Sometimes they changed from the new to old devices.
My previous doctor too, often got a different result to her nurse and another doctor, said I suffered from a classic case of white-coat hypertension.
So a new blood pressure device developed at the University of Leicester is to be welcomed. Especially, as it can measure the blood pressure closer to the heart or the brain.
It also looks to me that after fully researching and sorting the medical principles, instrument engineers have applied modern electronic technology to the problem.
We shall be seeing more devices like this to monitor many bodily parameters in the future.
Melanie Reid on TV
The Times columnist, Melanie Reid, is doing a program on BBC1 tomorrow. She is appealing for the BBC Lifeline Appeal.
Calorie Counts on Menus
The government has agreed with the Food Network, that calorie counts are to be included on menus.
Surely, it would be better to have a special scanner on the entrance to establishments, such as McDonald’s and Pizza Hut, which decide whether you are allowed in or not!
On the other hand, some are so obese that they can’t manage the walk from their obese 4×4 to the door of the establishment.
The Anonymous Widower 