Category: Health

It’s Obvious Really


https://app.portsmouth.co.uk/full_page_image/page-8-1958/content.html

Read this article yesterday. I am always amazed that, so often, it requires a study to discover the obvious.

Only a few days ago, I posted that I felt my wife’s stenosis diagnosis was delayed by up to twelve months due to the lack of face to face time with a doctor.

Much of a doctors diagnosis has to do with “observation.”

You can not “observe” via a telephone consult.

We have been forced into using e-consultation tools. My experience is that they do not allow sufficient space to describe symptoms fully. On several occasions, when I have used the e-consult tool, I have found the questions leading you down a path to either diagnosis of a brain tumour or diabetes when you are suffering from a broken toe. Invariably, the tool tries to abort, telling you that you need to see a doctor, which is where we came in.

You can not “observe” via an e-consult.

Last year, we were told by a nurse practitioner that nothing had changed, that we were getting the same level of service from our GPs as we always had.

What total and utter nonsense.

Another issue with the current level of service is that there is no continuity. In the “good old days,” not only could you get a face to face appointment with a doctor, but it was the same doctor each and every time.

Continuity would allow the doctor to “observe” physical changes in the patient between appointments.

So, back to the article, anyone with more than a single brain cell could have seen that patients are not getting safe and accurate diagnosis under the current level of NHS care.

Eating Meat ?


What are your feelings about eating meat?

Meat is an essential part of my diet. A meal is incomplete if it doesn’t have some kind of meat.

I don’t mind the occasional vegetarian meal. In fact, I have been known to order a vegetarian dish to have as a side for a meat dish. But I could never, willingly, become a vegan/vegetarian. What’s the difference?

As children in the 50’s & 60’s, my sisters and I were brought up on a hugely varied diet. My dad grew fruit and vegetables but also raised chicken and geese. So there was generally fresh chicken at least once a week and always eggs.

Naively, the geese were given names, and when “Ethel” drew the short straw at Christmas, we all tucked into roast goose. All that is except Mum, who, although a participant in the preparation and cooking, pushed her plate away, saying, “I can’t eat Ethel”. That was the first time I was confronted with the emotion that can be associated with meat eating. Although I believe it was more that the geese, having been given names, became pets. That was certainly the case with the remaining geese. Ethel’s solo sacrifice saved the many.

No such sentimentality from me, Dad, and my sisters. We happily finished our meal. That episode did nothing to reduce our meat consumption, which, along with lamb, pork, and beef, was supplemented by wild rabbit and pigeon. The rabbits were usually obtained by my dad going off-road to run them down on the grass verges at night, while he was on night duty as a policeman.

Dad ran our garden like a smallholding, so we ate rather well considering the era. In addition, Dad got me into fishing, which in turn triggered something in him. He made our fishing rods, built his own push nets, set sand-lines with 200+ hooks. So we had fresh fish and shrimp.

My freezer is a reflection of me and my eating habits. It has seven drawers full of meat, ranging from chicken thru to venison. I do have another, small, freezer which has just two drawers filled with vegetables.

So I have no qualms about eating meat. If I have any concerns, it’s more to do with the care and treatment of the animals from birth up to and including their death at the abattoir.

There is no place for cruelty.

Now I’ve Seen Everything


For years, the tobacco industry spent millions advertising their products. Slowly, but surely, the world has woken up to the negative effects of smoking.

For almost as long as there have been cigarettes, there have been industries devoted to countering their addictive nature.

In more recent times, people have turned to vapes as the “healthy” alternative to cigarettes.

At the forefront of those trying to ween folks off the demon tobacco in the UK is Nicorette.

Earlier today, I visited my local pharmacy. Imagine my surprise when I spotted a large poster by Nicorette offering help to stop vaping ?

So vaping was seen as the safe / healthy alternative to smoking tobacco based cigarettes. 

Already, there have been articles in the press suggesting that vaping is not actually all that healthy, and with deaths being directly attributed to vape usage.

Now, the Nicorette poster is suggesting that vaping is also addictive, habit forming.

What’s next, a cure for Nicorette addiction ?

Back Pain – At Last A Diagnosis


Spinal stenosis happens when the space inside the backbone is too small. This can put pressure on the spinal cord and nerves that travel through the spine. Spinal stenosis occurs most often in the lower back and the neck. Some people with spinal stenosis have no symptoms.

For years, Gerry, my wife, has suffered back problems. Problems which were caused initially when Gerry was a trainee nurse. She was trying to help move a patient who wouldn’t comply with instructions. Bingo ! There then followed years of painful episodes.

Gerry tried various treatments ranging from putting a board under the bed mattress thru acupuncture and microwave treatments and on to the more physical chiropractor, osteopath, and physiotherapist sessions.

Some of these treatments seemed to work, and others seemed to do nothing much at all. Regardless, Gerry has suffered.

More recently and for some time, Gerrys ability to stand for longish periods has been diminishing. As has her ability to walk any great distances. This prompted me to obtain a wheelchair which did help some, and then after hiring one at a garden show, we bought Gerry a mobility scooter.

Last year, June 2022, Gerry started a particularly painful episode. The pain was unrelenting, mainly in her lower back, but also shooting down her legs.

We were due to go on holiday with family to Menorca and things were so bad I thought we would cancel. But Gerry was adamant, another word for stubborn. The holiday went ahead but only due to the use of airport services who transported Gerry through Gatwick and Mahon airports and loaded her onto the planes. I have to say the folks working in airport services were brilliant.

As for the holiday, it wasn’t the best. Although we went out for meals, we were pretty much confined to barracks with Gerry spending a lot of time laid on a bed. I suppose it was some compensation that it was warm and sunny.

Following the holiday, Gerrys back pain continued, easing a bit then increasing, then easing again but never really going away.

And so Christmas came and went, and to add to her woes, Gerry got a chest infection. I’m pretty sure she got one around the same time last year. We managed to get Gerry a telephone consult, and she was prescribed antibiotics without anyone seeing her or laying hands or a stethoscope on her. The chest infection seemed to clear up but came back again, so more antibiotics were prescribed. Still no face to face with a doctor.

Chest infection, finally, dealt with, and the back pain was still there. Gerry then got an ear infection. This triggered a face to face with a real doctor. The net result was more antibiotics but, big but, we were also able to discuss Gerrys back issues.

Following the doctors consult, Gerry got an appointment to see a physiotherapist who was a spinal specialist.

What a refreshing experience that was. He gave Gerry a thorough workup. Examining her mobility and discussing all aspects of her pain and additional symptoms such as continence issues.

Following his assessment, he told us that he suspected Gerry was suffering from severe spinal stenosis that, if untreated, could mean paralysis of her legs and further serious continence issues. He further stated that at no time should Gerry allow any physical manipulation, i.e., by a physiotherapist, osteopath, or chiropractor.

The physiotherapist referred Gerry for an MRI. Within a month, Gerry had the scan, and a few days later, the results were available. He called early one morning to confirm that, as he suspected, Gerry did, in fact, have severe spinal stenosis of the L3/L4 vertebrae.

Wow ! A diagnosis. You cannot know what that meant to Gerry. Up till now, she had always had the feeling that people didn’t believe that there was an issue. After all, it’s invisible. Now, with an official diagnosis, it seems more real.

So where to from there ? He told us that he was going to submit Gerrys case to the surgical team to see if they could operate.

Things moved quite quickly after that. We heard that the surgical team were prepared to operate, that we would be contacted by the surgeon.

Gerry then had an appointment to see the surgeon, Dr Davies, at New Hall Hospital, near Salisbury. He discussed the procedure and showed us the MRI images. The images showed very clearly what the issues were. In particular, they showed how the inside of Gerrys vertebrae had spurs, which were impinging on her spinal cord, the source of her continuing pain.

Dr Davies was very confident that he could operate and, at the very least, resolve Gerrys pain. This, in turn, would improve Gerrys posture, her ability to stand straight and to walk reasonable distances. Time would only tell if any spinal damage would be healed and alleviate the continence issues. So we left New Hall to await a date for Gerrys procedure.

We didn’t have to wait very long. Wednesday, the 1st of November, was the date set for the operation with a pre-admission clinic on Monday, the 30th of October.

And so Gerry had her procedure as scheduled. She was in theatre for around an hour and in a private room soon after. At around 17:15 she was visited by a physiotherapist who cajoled her into getting out of bed and had her walking down the hospital corridor. Shortly after that, I headed home with the intention of going back the following morning as early as I was allowed. Hospitals are not the most stimulating of places.

The following morning, I had already spoken to Gerry about her night, and if she managed to get any sleep. I had just cooked myself some breakfast when my phone rang. It was Gerry informing me that she could come home.

Wow !!! I was expecting Gerry to be kept in at least one more night. Obviously, she had impressed the medical staff so much that they felt she should complete her recovery at home.

Ninety minutes later I was loading a fairly tender Gerry into my car. One hours fairly careful driving and she was home.

And so, here we are, ten days after the operation. Gerry is fairly pain free. What pain she does have is from the surgery, not from the stenosis. All the signs are positive that the surgery has removed the pain. Gerry is able to get herself in and out of bed fairly well and she is definitely standing straighter. She is managing to navigate around the house with the aid of a Zimmer Frame. Time will only tell if her spinal cord will recover sufficiently to restore full continence. Such recovery could take up to eighteen months.

Gerry had an appointment on Tuesday at our local surgery to have the surgery site examined and the dressing removed. The wound is healing nicely, and it was not necessary to apply a new dressing. No stitches to be removed, just the glue which slowly disappear over time. And the best news, Gerry was told that she could have a shower, not having had one since November 1st.

On the 23rd of November, Gerry starts physiotherapy, which will speed her recovery and on to full independence. No doubt we will still be making use of the wheelchair and “Madge” the mobility scooter for some time. However the goal is for Gerry to, eventually, become separated from them too. Fingers crossed.

Gerry has already stopped using the Zimmer around the house.

Although Gerry was diagnosed with severe spinal stenosis this year and has been treated this year, I believe that she was exhibiting the symptoms over twelve months before. Two things delayed this diagnosis …

  • Gerrys on going back problems over so many years brought about a kind of “oh it’s just her back” kind of attitude. Just prescribe some painkillers but no real diagnostic investigation. Although Gerrys long-term back problems and the stenosis do not have the same origins, I am convinced that the former masked the onset of the latter.
  • The difficulty, post Covid, to get an appointment with a doctor, thereby blocking a proper diagnostic conversation and, of course, removing the visual aspect of a doctor actually observing their patient.

On the 14th December Gerry has a telephone consult with Mr Davies. Just over a month will have elapsed. What progress has been made remains to be seen.

So, that’s the story so far……

Curtailment


Your life without a computer: what does it look like?

Life without my computer !

  • No more blogging
    • Shock horror, I’d have to revert back to keeping a diary/journal
    • Or perhaps writing to people I know.
  • No more photo preparation
    • I take 1000’s of photos every year. That would come to a grinding halt. Perhaps I would revert to film and take up processing my own prints. I’m not sure my pension could support such a transition.
  • No more emails
    • I remember work life before email was invented. Communicating via telex and fax as well as good old hand written notes/letters
    • Emails were the bain of my life during my latter work years. Just too many to deal with each day.
  • No more social media
    • I think this might be a good thing. No more photos of people’s food or tiresome cat videos.
    • Also a positive thing, more letter writing. We recently received a letter from family in Australia. Amazing the joy it brought.
  • No more online retail therapy
    • I would be forced to go out to the shops ! I was ever the reluctant shopper before computers and the Internet. Especially while still working, when shopping was compressed into the weekend or even just a Saturday. I hated it.
  • Would we ever see a doctor again ?
    • Ever since the pandemic, access to doctors has become severely restricted. At least things like repeat prescriptions can currently be managed online. And there are econsults to bridge the gap when you can’t get an appointment. I dread to think what would happen without computers.

So Many Things !


What would you change about modern society?

What would I change ? So, so many things.

  • Have people be more considerate. To be more aware of the implications of their own actions and the impacts to other peoples lives.
  • Change the attitudes of our politicians. I’m sure they start their political journey with the best of intentions. But somewhere along the road, they go through a metamorphosis where, regardless of political party, they become self-serving liars. They also go through some kind of memory crisis whereby they forget that they were voted into position by us, the general public. That they are supposed to be our voice in parliament to reflect our wishes.
  • Teach today’s youth some manners and the true meaning of respect. Respect for their elders, their teachers, and the police. Teach them that everyone is entitled to respect until they show themselves unworthy. Teach them that they themselves have to show respect to earn it for themselves. This education should start at home with the parents, who seem to dispense with all responsibilities for how their offspring behave, once they step out of their parental home.
  • Put some proper investment in place for our NHS. With decent wages for our nurses. Surely the recent Covid-19 pandemic has shown us their worth.
  • More investment in our emergency services, get more bodies in place to relieve the workload on those already out there.
  • Put in place better support for our armed forces veterans. It seems like this country bends over backwards to provide support for so-called refugees while our veterans, having served their country, find themselves surplus to requirements.

These are just my initial thoughts with no priority implied by order listed.

Night Owl ?


What time do you go to bed and wake up currently?

What time do I go to bed ? Easy answer, around 02:00, sometimes earlier but very rarely before midnight. Why so late ? I’m usually watching movies, reading or listening to music.

What time do I wake up ? The answer to this is a bit more complicated. I know that I wake around 05:00 every morning for a pee. Just in time to view the sunrise from the bathroom window. Then I go back to bed and sleep for another couple of hours. However, according to my Fitbit, I have multiple wakeful periods throughout the night that I have no memory of.

This chart shows my sleep stats for last night. It shows that I was awake for 53 minutes. Well, I know what I was doing for a couple of those minutes ! What the hell was I doing for the rest of the time ?

I think, they say, you need less sleep as you get older. Not sure who “they” are. My dad used to get by on around 4 hours a night.

So, typically I get up at about 09:00 ish. So I’m getting about 7 hours shut-eye minus the mystery 50 minutes ….

My Prostate And Me – Part 12


Well here we are again. After another long hiatus, I thought it was time to update you all. The lack of posts on this subject is purely down to, in part, happenstance and in part, inertia on my part. So, for that, I apologise.

So, my last post was back in 2020, following a five year hiatus. Only 28 months this time, I must be improving.

My previous post ended with me waiting for various scans, which were duly carried out, as follows:

  • 1st August 202 – CT Scan
  • 3rd August 2020 – MRI Scan
  • 11th August 2020 – Bone Scan
  • 25th August 2020 – PET CT Scan

Much as I like playing with all the NHS toys, I could do without the palaver of driving to the hospital, searching for a parking space, then waiting for my turn in the scanning department. Don’t get me wrong, I am very grateful for the attention that I am getting. Anyway, the net result of all these scans was, overall, a positive one. The scans indicating that there was no sign of the cancer around the prostate itself, and, apparently, no sign of metastasis. Prostate cancer apparently tends to migrate to the bones, or so I believed. So also getting the all clear from the bone scan was a positive thing.

Or, maybe the prostate cancer was hiding ?

Although there was no sign of the cancer around the prostate or in my bones, they did discover something in my lung !!! I became aware, very recently, that Prostate Cancer can metastasise to the lungs. So my case became the subject of one of the hospitals multi-disciplinary meetings.

Apparently there was much chin and arse scratching, bone tossing and probably some discussion about how Pompey were doing in the football league. The net is that my urologist talked to the chest doctors. They, the chest doctors, suggested that, whatever it was, was in a difficult to reach place. They further suggested that “we” should wait for 6 months and then have another scan. Then decide what steps to take.

My man, the urologist, didn’t think that was such a good idea. He felt, if this was the prostate cancer, it would be better to be proactive and treat it accordingly. Consequently he decided to start me on a course of Prostap injections.

And so it was that, on the 14th October, 2020, I started my course of Prostap. One injection every 4 weeks. This continued until November of 2021.

During this time, continuing blood tests and a scan showed the “thing” in my chest had shrunk and my PSA levels were dropping. In the words of my urologist, the “thing” had self diagnosed itself to be Prostate cancer. So we continued on with the Prostap jabs until, following a conflab with my urologist, we decided that I should take a break.

Apparently Prostap, along with most medications, comes with its own baggage. One potential side effect is the impact to ones bones, increasing the possibility of osteoporosis. With everything else that’s going on I certainly didn’t need that in my life.

I continued having blood tests to monitor my PSA and each of those was followed up with a telephone consult with my urologist. Always a very pleasant few minutes chatting followed by wishing each other well until the next call.

Latterly the calls included a concern about the fact that my PSA levels were bouncing around up to a new high of 3.2. Thats up from the zero point something I was at once the initial Prostap course was well underway.

At the end of August 2022, during a telephone consult with my urologist, it was decided that I should restart the Prostap injections. I had the first of the new course at the end of September. This time round the jabs are on a 3 month cycle and my next one is scheduled for March.

Following the last blood test, the Prostap, after only 3 months, appears to be working its magic. My current PSA level is 0.4 Great news by any measure..

From initial diagnosis, Brachytherapy in 2015 and thru to Prostap it has been an interesting experience. If, in the future, I have anything significant to report I’ll post again.

Before I go, I would like to thank all of the NHS staff who have handled my various visits to and stays in the Queen Alexandra Hospital, Portsmouth. You have, thus far, been amazing.

The journey, certainly isn’t over, but for now that is it.

Taking The Edge Off


Merry Christmas to you all. And I truly mean that. I hope you have managed to have a great time, and that you have managed to stay healthy, despite Covids best efforts and those of the other seasonal diseases that tend to crop up at this time of the year.

Over past years Gerry and / or I have managed to contract one of the various bugs doing the rounds during the Christmas period. Being sick really does take the edge off things especially when it means not seeing the grandkids opening their presents.

However, an unexpected benefit of the precautions taken, during the Covid pandemic ,seemed to be a reduction in the number of these seasonal infections. Sadly, now that many of the precautions have been relaxed there are many bugs doing the rounds. And, of course, Gerry has gone down with the dreaded lurgy, yet again. I say yet again, as this must be the third bug she has contracted this year.

Usually we are scanning around for the culprit, hunting down patient zero, searching for the one that passed on their germs. However, this year there are several candidates.

On the Friday before Christmas we were visited by a friend who said her husband was suffering with something. On the Saturday, Christmas Eve and our 45th Wedding Anniversary, we were visited by our daughter Angie and her husband Jon. He was suffering with a sore throat, croaking well.

That brings us to Christmas Day itself. Our granddaughter Keeley was hosting us this year, and of course nobody wanted to call it off, but, Keeley and her eldest, were both suffering with their own lurgy variant. And we didn’t see her youngest as he was in bed all day doing battle with his own lurgy. Although we had a good time and the food was yummy, the day was a little subdued. The edge had definitely been taken off.

Obviously, the odds were not in our favour and Gerry started with a tickly, then sore, throat late on Monday, Boxing Day. And there we have it, multiple folks at which to point the finger of blame.

Our concern is, as always, that anytime Gerry contracts one of these coughy cold/flu things, it invariably travels down onto her chest and evolves into a chest infection. Earlier this year she had two such episodes resulting in three prescriptions of antibiotics.

This morning, wanting to get a jump on things, I started the marathon task of trying to get an appointment to see / speak to a doctor. To stand a chance of getting an appointment, you have to start calling Crookhorn Surgery at 08:00. I started calling on the dot, with the following results ……

75 Calls = Number of attempted calls when the line was engaged.
This is only possible when using a modern phone, hitting redial immediately the system drops the call. I can’t imagine what folks do that are still reliant on landline phones and those that aren’t au fait with modern technology.

7 Calls = Number of calls picked up by the automated system, where I had to listen, excitedly, to a message which informed me that they were busy and to call back later. At which point the call is cut leading to huge disappointment.

At 08:13, after some 82 redials, I managed to break through to join a queue where I was informed, regularly, that my wait time was one minute. After some time I actually spoke to a human. The net result, after just under 10 minutes, was that we had been triaged and informed that we would receive a call from a doctor by 13:00.

This is better than last time where we attempted to get through, and, after 40 minutes were informed that there were no more appointments that day and that we would have to call back the following morning.

The good news from this, is that we had received the call from the GP, who duly prescribed the antibiotics. At 10:21 I received a text from the pharmacy to say that the script was ready for collection. By 11:30 Gerry had taken her initial dose.

Obviously, this is an improvement over our previous experience. But it does not reflect well on the NHS. Covid regularly gets the blame for whatever ails the NHS. All I can say is that prior to 2019 we were able to get appointments fairly easily, that we actually got to see a doctor on almost every occasion. Since 2019, trying to phone for an appointment is a chore, which rarely results in a face to face appointment.

Today my wife was called by a doctor who prescribed antibiotics over the phone. He didn’t see my wife, didn’t take her temperature, didn’t listen to her chest / lungs. This is not the NHS service that we are used to. But it seems that we are going to have to accept this as the new norm.

News Article Should Carry A Warning


I have just read the attached article regarding Colchicine, a drug that could, potentially, be used to treat patients with Covid-19.

https://app.portsmouth.co.uk/2021/02/05/a-drug-used-to-treat-gout-could-reduce-covid-hospital-stays-according-to-new-research/content.html

Whilst I am supportive, of any additional tools made available, in this worldwide fight with Covid-19, I believe the author of this article has been delinquent, in not warning of the risks associated with the use of Colchicine.

I don’t mean risks associated with the proper administration under medical supervision.

What I am more concerned about, is the potential for Joe Public to self medicate, should they, like me, have this medicine in their cupboards.

Colchicine is a drug, used to treat patients suffering from Gout. The article says that use of Colchicine could reduce Covid hospital stays. And whilst that may be true, what the article does not say is that Colchicine is not safe for long term use.

As a Gout sufferer I have been prescribed Colchicine. It was prescribed to suppress my first flare up of Gout, taken over a few days. Subsequently, it was used to ensure that a second flare up did not occur, as I started my daily regime of Allopurinol.

At that time, it was made very clear, by my GP, that Colchicine was to be treated with respect.

Since then, I  have held a small supply of Colchicine in reserve, should the Gout return. Thankfully, I have not had to resort to the emergency tablets, the Allopurinol is doing its job.

My sister, also a Gout sufferer, can attest to the diarrhoea side effect, caused by the higher dosages.

My point is that at the time of the initial prescription I was warned of the toxicity of Colchicine.

From the NHS Web site ….

What if I take too much?

Taking too many Colchicine tablets can be very dangerous. It could be fatal.

Symptoms of taking too much Colchicine can include:

● feeling or being sick (nausea or vomiting)

● stomach ache

● bloody diarrhoea

●signs of low blood pressure (such as feeling dizzy or lightheaded)

Come on “The News” do due diligence and balance optimism with a required caution. There are folks out there who may just try self medicating if they start to exhibit Covid symptoms.