Suggestion for Hungry Children

 So we have had "Clap for the NHS" (nothing changed) and "Clap for the carers" (nothing changed there either), so I have a suggestion.

Why not try out the 'third time lucky' principle and do something to help hungry children in the UK

At 8pm on Thursday, why not stand outside our homes and bang together plastic lunch boxes for 2 minutes then finish this event off with with a food fight 🥔🥐🍑🥕🥨🥖🌭🍔🥝

COVID-19 Response Regarding Face Coverings

My husband and I have been shielding since before the COVID crisis as we both have serious medical conditions.

I have been housebound for several years due to a compromised immune system so I really need people to wear face coverings around me. While I know that I am exempt from wearing face coverings, I also know that I can be an asymptomatic carrier so choose not to go to indoor public spaces. I cannot be around asymptomatic carriers either so avoid indoor public spaces for this reason too.

Back in 2015 I caught a cold and ended up with multiple organ failure, cardiac arrest and several days in a coma. I still have long term issues due to a related brain injury. It's vital that we don't risk infecting others.

Chicken Dinner Anyone?

 I was in hospital for 3 weeks in 2016 following a collapse at home with multiple organ failure. When I got moved from intensive care, I couldn't remember the names of foods but this lovely lady kept me fed in hospital because for some reason I remembered her. I lived on mainly chicken dinner for at least a week before I came home

Medical Update and Progress

 A few months ago I was told by the practice nurse that a recent blood test showed I had prediabetes. This was just before the weekend then a Diabetes nurse phoned me on the Monday to offer me advice.

Then a few weeks later my fasting blood sugar had gone silly as I was getting readings of over 12 mmol when it should be below 8 mmol. This indicates that I have developed Type 2 Diabetes withing a few weeks of the initial phone call.

So...I visited Diabetes UK where I discovered they had a half price offer of the Low Carb Programme which you can find HERE 

I signed up straight away and have now got my fasting blood sugars down to around 6 or 7 mmol, which is brilliant!.

Pictured above is my latest toy. Billy asked me if I wanted one after seeing it advertised on TV. I don't get commission on recommending this and there wouldn't be any point as the place where I bought it from has sold out. I am really impressed with this as it's helped with my fitness and circulation so much, I am getting a lot more done every day. The flat hasn't looked this tidy in ages.

So what with the new toy, the low carb programme and the love of my good man, I am doing wonderfully well :)

On Working From Home After Lockdown

 While nature has it that humans work better as part of a community, going out to work takes us away from our family and neighbours (local community) and dumps us in an unnatural environment in so much as the people we work with these days are less likely to also be our neighbours.

We don't now generally have an entire village employed by the same boss, so modern work environments are not natural extensions of our evolved communities. Contrived getting together of people from different backgrounds is not how biologically healthy communities work.

Science and social constructs are not the same thing

No Longer Seeking MS Diagnosis

Hi Everyone

I first asked a GP about my symptoms back in the late 80s and he told me he suspected a central nervous system disorder after doing the usual neurological tests GPs can do. He referred me to a neurologist.

The neurology appointment and consultation arrived early 1991 and he repeated the same tests the GP had done then said he was all for sending me for further investigations. He then asked me to wait in his side room while he took a look at my medical notes in case he missed something.

After 10 minutes or so he told me that after reading my notes he had decided that since all my symptoms were most likely due to mental health issues (anxiety because I was mum to 2 children with special needs),he felt further investigations weren't needed. I would no doubt get the same response now as I am currently caring for my husband who is terminally ill.

In the 30+years since, all of those symptoms have got a lot more noticeable and others have been added.My current GP knows about the new symptoms but I'm still know nearer getting a diagnosis than I was 30 years ago. 

I have had friends accuse me of malingering as I have no diagnosis (dumped friends now) and when I was in a coma following a cardiac arrest four years ago, hospital staff told my husband and my son on different occasions that they thought I was a hypochondriac. I can only assume that this is on my medical records as I hadn't talked to any staff at that point.

I am currently working from home as a writer and also run a bunch of on-line stores so it's not like I am just a lazy so and so.

I'm really posting to say that acceptance without fighting for a diagnosis has simplified my life so much and I am a much calmer and happier person for doing this. 

Why I Don't See My GP

Conversation in early 2016 went like this

Doctor: Have you got a cough?
Me: No I don't have a cough
Doctor: What is your cough like?
Me: I don't have a cough
Doctor: Do you cough up lots of phlegm with this cough?
Me: I don't have a cough
Doctor: Hand this test request into the nurse on your way out
Me: What's the test for?
Doctor: Don't worry,the nurse knows what it is

When I got home I did a bit of research and the test was for COPD which has a persistent cough as it's main symptom.

A couple of weeks later I ended up in hospital with multiple organ failure, went into cardiac arrest and spent several days in a coma in the ICU.