And Now The Good News!
Well I suppose it’s good news, in that the hospital doesn’t want to see me again about the stroke! I suppose I should be pleased but I don’t think I showed much emotion as I was getting tired after the travel. In fact if I have any emotions now, it’s about going to London, hopefully for a new start! At least when it’s like tonight, I won’t have to stay inside watching nothing on the television.
How Am I Doing?
I’m going to see my Doctor at Addenbrooke’s tomorrow, so I thought I’d write down a few notes.
If I start with my body and move downwards from the top of my head, I can summarise it as follows.
I was suffering a sort of itch and a sensitive scalp, but that seems to have reduced and almost stopped since, I’ve started taking the Amitriptyline. I’m only on one 10 mg. tablet a day and I take that just before bed, so that it helps me sleep reasonably well.
My brain seems to think clearly and I’ve started programming again. I do think though, that some of my memory functions aren’t too good, in that I make a mental note to do something and then forget it a few minutes later. But the long-term memory is intact and I can remember funny tales from years back with ease.
My eyes now seem to be working better, in that I have no trouble seeing anything as I walk around. Although, obviously, I’m not driving or even cycling. I also find that I can’t see the ball when I try to play table tennis. But I can use binoculars to look at things like the moons of Jupiter, which is something I couldn’t do when I left the hospital.
I do seem to have gone a bit deaf, but then I was always going that way.
I still have pain in the left side of my face and it gets worse as the afternoon progresses towards evening. I suspect this is because the Amitriptyline I took the night before is wearing off. I find too, that typing on the computer gets more difficult from about three and my eyes are tired.
My mouth is a bit sore, as my teeth tend to catch the inside of my left cheek. It could be that I’m cutting a Wisdom tooth, but my dentist is a long way away in Felixstowe. In addition, my teeth never seem clean. I wish there was a walk-in dental hygienist!
My right arm is a hundred percent, but my left hand is still a little wayward and there is pain the wrist. I can though now wear my heavy Rolex again, which C left for me as her last Christmas present. It has the inscription “J Xmas 2007 and Forever C” and I feel undressed without it.
I do find trouble reading newspapers, as I find it difficult to separate the pages. I had thought this was due to the stroke, but my friend, John, at the football has the same problem and he’s a fit farmer, who’s about my age. He reckons it’s the papers and the ink they use! So perhaps it’s just old age again!
There is also pain in my left humerus in the old injury, where the bully broke my arm at school. Again it gets worse as the day progresses.
I have been working on my core strength and don’t seem to suffer any pain or reactions in my trunk at all.
I do however have a bit of a problem with a mixture of constipation and diarrhoea. That’s probably the best way to describe it, as sometimes I find going a strain and at other times it’s loose like it was for most of my life before I was diagnosed as a coeliac.
Incidentally, when I typed that last paragraph, I just typed diarrhoea right for the first time in my life!
My legs are fine, although I do suffer the odd cramp at night in my left shin and my varicose veins are getting worse. But compared to my parents’ ones, they are minor.
I’m eating well and I’m now just about the same weight as I was this time last year of about 58.5 kilos stripped.
One slight problem is that I always seem to feel a bit cold during the day. But as I said, I’m sleeping well and am very warm in bed.
As to getting around, I have no problems, that others don’t have like late or missing trains and taxis that take forever to come. But how many who are recovering from strokes, have travelling as far as Inverness, Edinburgh, Middlesbrough, Sheffield and Crewe without any special assistance? I can’t wait to get to my new house in London, from where I can really explore the country.
I’m also managing well with the Warfarin. But it’s a system that is so antiquated and ill-thought out, that something should be done to create a proper National Anticoagulation Service, possibly based on pharmacies and the Internet. But I’ve not missed a correct dose and save for the odd small nose bleeds, I’ve not had any trouble.
I also think I felt a bit better after last Wednesday when I had my three-monthly B12 injection.
So let’s face it!
I could be much worse.
I sleep well, get tired, cook everything I need, travel where I want, but just feel trapped living in the country with a bit of nagging pain.
I’m moving so the first problem will go and I hope that the pain will fade away with time.
Miliband is Very Much Old Labour
Congratulations to Ed Miliband and his partner, Justine, on the birth of their son.
But the announcement of the birth with his weight in pound is very much in the past and well into Old Labour territory.
When our second son was born in the same hospital, forty years ago, his weight was given in kilograms.
So get into the present day, Mr. Miliband!
One In and One Out!
I had a bone density scan some weeks ago and as I’ve not heard anything, I asked the nurse to see if there was anything on their computer, when she did my Warfarin blood test and gave me a shot of B12 today.
There wasn’t any news and judging by how I feel, my bones may not be tip-top, but they certainly aren’t in falling apart mode, as I would have hoped that I would have been called in for the bad news.
It strikes me that there could be a big increase in efficiency here, with possible cost savings!
If you have a test that can be quantified accurately and you are well on the right side of the problem level, surely, you can be told the results either by a more or less standard e-mail and/or letter.
With my bone scan, it might say that I’m reasonably fine, but I should come back for another scan in say six months. A copy could also go to my GP, so she would know as well. I have a feeling, that a lot of communications from hospitals to GPs are actually letters not e-mails and are scanned in the surgery. If I’m wrong, which I hope I am, about these letters please correct me!
There must be hundreds of instances in the NHS, where a sensible bit of automation could save money and redeploy staff to more important duties, than writing lots of similar letters.
We are seeing instances of automation, like appointments systems that text you reminders, but we need to see more. I personally would like to see a better system for anti-coagulant testing.
Are We Finally Beating the Common Cold?
There are two stories on colds and viruses, today, that give a cause for optimism in our long search for a cure for the common cold.
One says that the Medical Research Council has made a breakthrough in the understanding of how viruses work. The other says those who exercise regularly are less likely to get colds.
This is all good stuff, that might lead to something really concrete in the future.
It’s at times like this that I get optimistic.
Best Wishes to Danny!
My best wishes go to Danny Baker, who has been reported as suffering from cancer.
Let’s all hope he makes a swift recovery!
Some Good News on Pancreatic Cancer?
I think this article on the BBC web site may prove to be a glimmer of hope in the treatment of pancreatic cancer.
Pancreatic cancer may lurk in the body for many years before patients fall ill, US scientists say
Research hints at earlier opportunities to spot and treat the disease, which is fatal in 95% of cases.
Genetic analysis of tumours by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Johns Hopkins University suggested the first mutations may happen 20 years before they become lethal.
UK survival rates for the disease have not improved in the past 40 years.
The disease is often aggressive and unresponsive to treatment by the time it is diagnosed.
The study, published by the Nature journal, found that tumours appear to be slow growing.
In other words if we could find a test for pancreatic cancer, we might be able to catch people suffering from the disease very early in the growth of the cancer. I know of pancreatic cancer survivors, who were caught very early, so perhaps something might work.
I know that my old University of Liverpool is looking for such a test amongst other pancreas research, so perhaps they are on the right track, if not for a complete cure, but for something that might help.
Let’s hope so, as I wouldn’t want anybody to suffer the same death as my son did from an uncureable cancer.
Today’s Nottingham Card
friend has asked me to give him some pointers to the races at Nottingham today.
Here are my quick thoughts.
Race 1 – Neytiki as it’s got the most attractive jockey! She’s a coeliac too! Avoid Brand Bob as the horse has a bad draw. The horse is also owned by someone I know!
A general point is that it’s probably worth watching Richard Hughes mount in the first, but a PlacePot using all his mounts would be a good idea, as he’s closing in on the jockey’s championship.
I can’t say I can guarantee these selections, but my father’s ability to pick winners improved after he’d had a stroke.
Race 2 – Ittirad as trainer Michael Jarvis and jocky Philip Robinson are often dangerous in this sort of race.
Race 3 – Academy and Charles Camoin.
Race 4 – If Hayley wins the first, back Ace of Spies here. Make My Dream is probably worth looking at.
Race 5 – Be patriotic and back the Queen’s horse – Starshine. Seriously though it looks like a horse that gets a distance and few except the Queen run those.
Race 6 – Spinning is napped and should go close and Naddwah is my pick. But don’t underestimate Compton Blue because of Richard Hughes going for the championship.
Race 7 – Point North and Colour Scheme.
Race 8 – Kenyan Cat as trainer a great and honest guy and horse just missed a hat trick.
A CT Scan for My Sinuses
I’ve had several of these over the years, but yesterday’s to check my sinuses was the quickest and most efficient. It was also on time. I think it is true to say, that all of these checks are now getting this way, so at last health practitioners are getting their systems right, which will benefit us all in improved quality of health care at hopefully a lower cost, as expensive machines running 100% of the available time must be more cost effective.
I should get the results in a few days.
But I am feeling better, although I still have a fair bit of pain in my face. But it’s getting better, probably due to the small dose of Amitriptyline I’m taking before I go to bed. It’s certainly making me sleep longer and probably slightly better.
Gene Therapy on the Horizon
Horizon tonight was on gene therapy. It really did give people with genetic diseases hope.
As both my wife and our son died of cancer, it was thought that he may have inherited a faulty gene. He hadn’t, but I can understand how much something like that, would blow families apart.
On the other hand, I have an inherited genetic disease in coeliac disease. Would I want to be cured by gene therapy? Probably not now, as I control my symptoms through diet, but it would have been nice to know, I carried the faulty gene earlier and I could have modified my diet accordingly.
The Anonymous Widower 