Why Should I Pick Up The Tab For The Vanity or Stupidity of Others?
It looks like the French breast implants are not fit for purpose and that the French government will pay for their removal according to this report.
The report also says that there are up to 40,000 women with these implants in the UK and 250 have already contacted their lawyers.
Obviously, there are two classes of women, who have plastic surgery on their breasts; those that have suffered from breast cancer or perhaps an accident and the vane.
I don’t see why I should pay for any rectification surgery for the latter. After all they were stupid enough to have the operation in the first place and should accept the consequences.
The NHS is the National Health Service and those that bring problems on themselves should make an extra contribution.
C once did a divorce for a plastic surgeon. He told her, never to underestimate peoples’ vanity. He didn’t bother, as it made him a fair amount of money and enabled him to do operations that mattered on cancer and accident victims and children with birth defects.
In the current case it would appear that in the end, the real winners will be the lawyers. Just as they were in this other case.
This Should Never Happen Again
The case of Dr. Eva Michalak should never happen again. Reading the story in The Times and on the BBC, it seems that the doctor did nothing wrong in her work, except decide to have a baby. That seemed to arouse the ire and vindictiveness of her colleagues and quite rightly, she has got a settlement to compensate for the career they destroyed.
My main problem with this case, is that it would appear that none of her colleagues, have been disciplined in any way. That may not be the case, but as in so many cases like this secrecy may have been used to protect the guilty.
Every person, who runs a large company or organisation, has a duty to all their employees to make sure things like this don’t happen. It could also be argued that they must manage the organisation, so that no employee is pushed into a position, that will cost their company a lot of money. Is the Chief Executive still employed by the Trust? I hope not!
Farewell Christopher Hitchens
I didn’t agree with everything Christopher Hitchens said, but at least he had it right about religion and was always worth reading.
The world will be a worse place without him.
Probably if he hadn’t smoked he’d still be here.
In some ways smoking is the most selfish vice, as it annoys all the people around you and then when it kills you, it leaves your family in total distress.
He was eminently quotable.
The governor of Texas, who, when asked if the Bible should also be taught in Spanish, replied that ‘if English was good enough for Jesus, then it’s good enough for me.
[Mother Teresa] was not a friend of the poor. She was a friend of poverty. She said that suffering was a gift from God. She spent her life opposing the only known cure for poverty, which is the empowerment of women and the emancipation of them from a livestock version of compulsory reproduction.
Owners of dogs will have noticed that, if you provide them with food and water and shelter and affection, they will think you are god. Whereas owners of cats are compelled to realize that, if you provide them with food and water and shelter and affection, they draw the conclusion that they are gods.
To terrify children with the image of hell, to consider women an inferior creation—is that good for the world?
There are lots more like these.
Was My Bad Tooth Causing Other Problems?
I’m still on a soft food diet, as the socket still aches slightly, but I was able to eat a piece of bread with some soup last night.
The biggest change though, is that my allergies seem to be decreasing. That can’t be right can it? Symptoms like my sneezing and itching are getting better and when I blow my nose, it’s much dryer. Except for the slight tooth ache, I’m almost feeling normal. I’m also having to correct less spelling mistakes in my typing.
But am I bothered? No! Of course not!
On the other hand when I was a child no-one could find what I was allergic too. And I had rather packed and mixed up teeth, which were only sorted, when my dentist took out four pre-molars to give the others more space. Was it about the same time, that the worst of my allergic problems got a bit better. But all my records from those days have disappeared so I can never find the truth.
I’m now certain now, that some of my problems about getting back after the stroke were due to that tooth. After all I broke it about twenty years ago and it has never been good since. One very good dentist I had sad that because of my gagging response, it would be impossible to crown.
I’ve also looked back at some of the posts of a year or so ago.
This post describes how I ended up in Addenbrooke’s with tremendous pain. They thought it was probably a blocked sinus. As they were certified clear a few months later, I suspect, as does my current dentist, that it was the tooth.
I also mused about coeliac disease and my recovery. This post talks of another incident, where the tooth seemed to be the villain.
And this is the incident, after which I was put on Keppra. Knowing what I know now about myself and especially the trapped nerve in my neck, I suspect that it was caused more by my nerve and arm damage than the stroke. But I’ve never had anything like another seizure since.
It’s all very strange.
The Carluccio Soft Food Diet
My after-care instruction sheet after the tooth extraction, said I should only eat soft food for a few days.
At home it’s been soup, yoghurt and honey, but the staple has been Carluccio’s.
By choosing wisely from their menu, I’ve ate well and haven’t had any problems. I think there should be some measure of praise here to the dentists, who seemed to have got the tooth out without collateral damage. They said they might have created some, but I don’t think they did.
In general in Carluccio’s I’ve stuck to eggs and mushrooms and gluten free pasta carbonara. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
They’ve also given me warm water, so I can rinse my mouth with salted water, after eating.
Am I Lucky Or Does The Devil Look After Me?
Throughout my life, I’ve often been described as lucky and several times, positive things seem to happen to me by chance.
For instance, I met my late wife at Liverpool University, when I manipulated a scheme for students to get partners for one of the guild balls.
I ended up in Metier, after a chance meeting outside an opticians on Great Portland Street.
I’ve also been mentored well, by a lot of friends, who would never be described as conventional. Some sadly are no longer with us.
and I could give lots more examples.
Even on Monday, when I had the tooth exorcised from my body, I did the right thing, as it needed three hours and three dentists.
So is it luck or do some quickly weigh up the chances and make the right decision? I do know that my late wife would never describe me as boring and is that because I never throw any possibly useful information away from my brain. Since the stroke, I have lost some memory, like knowledge of who did this or that. But there is always Wikipedia!
As I don’t believe in any religion and believe organised religion is just another way to screw wealth out of the poor, then I can’t think that a devil exists either. Although after my last few years, it is more likely there is a devil, than a loving and peaceful god.
But then I’m a London mongrel! And they have more fight than a wagon-load of pit-bulls.
In Your Face Advertising
I saw these leaflets on every table outside a pub in Islington.
In Your Face Advertising
It will be interesting to see if it works, as unlike the Wonga ads on buses, you can’t but fail to get the message.
Interestingly, when I had my tooth out, the after-care leaflet they gave me, said I mustn’t smoke. I think the only time, I’ll ever smoke is in the crematorium! And that isn’t certain!
Taking The Plunge
I have had a bad molar tooth on the left hand side of my jaw for many years. Various dentists had attempted to fill it, but since the stroke, it had always given me a sort of dull pain. Not too serious but annoying anyway. I remember I asked my dentist in Felixstowe to have a look at it about eighteen months ago. He thought it might be a root canal job.
My new dentist in London, looked at it a couple of weeks ago and said that if it was him, he’d have the tooth out. after all, I lost the one on the other side about thirty years ago and it doesn’t cause me any problem.
So we decided to do the dirty deed on Wednesday the 14th!
Well that was the intention, but because of problems with my Warfarin and different views about how to handle it, my dentist and I decided that perhaps it might be better to use the Emergency Dentist at either the Royal London or Guys.
To me it wasn’t a choice, as the Royal London is just four stops away on the Overground from Dalston Junction. Guys is South of the river and I didn’t have a posse handy. I also have a lot of respect for the hospital, as Vanessa Wright and her team, saved the life of my granddaughter, who was born with a severe hole in her diaphragm.
I got to the Emergency Dentist department at about one and after giving my details and outlining my story, I was with a dentist by two. I was then X-rayed and by three, they were preparing to take out the errant tooth.
In the end they were very mob-handed. A female Chinese student originally from Hong Kong and a more experienced one probably from near the hospital, did most of the work.
But it got difficult and the Senior Tutor helped by effectively cutting the tooth in half, so they could dig it out bit-by-bit. It finally was removed just after 17:15.
It wasn’t too painful and they didn’t use any stitches. It was probably one of the most serious operations I’ve ever had without a full anaesthetic. Although being stitched up after my mugging in Naples was probably a lot more painful.
I suspect, I self-hypnotised myself by concentrating on the student’s eyes.
I got home OK, walking after the train from Whitechapel to Dalston Junction.
I thought I needed some cash for the morning, so I walked round the corner to the little Sainsburys. However, I then found that I didn’t need the money after all, so I came home.
As I crossed the zebra crossing, an ambulance stopped and waved towards me. I thought they were just asking me to cross, so I did.
It was only when I got home, that I realised that they might have been worried about me, as I had a rather bloody face and I was dabbing it with a bloody tissue. I did phone 101 to tell the Police, in case the ambulance had reported a mugging or assault.
After the football, I couldn’t sleep and now I’m sitting here typing, as a doctor has told that to lie down, will start the bleeding in the pocket again.
At least I had a clean tea-towel, which I’m cutting into small squares to mop up the blood.
The only thing , I’ve eaten is a couple of bananas.
The Sharing of Patient Data
David Cameron is getting a lot of criticism about his plans to anonymously share patient data with private companies.
As someone, who has lost two close relatives to difficult cancers and suffered a serious stroke, I can’t see what the problem is about, if the patients personal details are kept confidential.
I was once told by a senior research manager of a big German pharmaceutical company, that only about fifteen percent of medical databases have been analysed to any great extent. He felt that it would take an increasing part of medical research.
My son was part of a major trial being coordinated by a renowned British University. I was invited to see their work and was totally impressed at the care they were taking to make sure the data was correct and properly safeguarded. They were also looking for patterns in the data, as any clue, however small, might be invaluable in the fight against disease.
One thing that has to be said, is that if you are looking at any database for patterns, then that database must be complete, with no errors in the data. I have come across researchers, who when they are trying to prove something in a field like archaeology, first clean the data of anything that doesn’t fit their theories.
That is the biggest problem in research.
92 Clubs – Day 45 – A Day Off
I had to visit the doctor for my Warfarin check, so I took the day off.
Perhaps, I’m slacking, but I only have three more clubs to visit.
The Anonymous Widower 