MEDICAL MATTERS

[Stanley]

I feel so sorry for anyone faced with the problems of old age. Society is very good at keeping us alive longer but fails miserably when we hit the inevitable problems. Like anybody else at my age I wonder what is in store for me.... Waste of time of course. My family history seems to be to live long and die quickly, I hope it applies to me as well!

[Wendyf]

Went to see Mum in St James's yesterday afternoon. Her panic has calmed a little but she is in a state of confusion. She was fully dressed with her bag packed ready to go, but unclear as to where she was and seeing people and things that weren't there. Her sight is so poor that being out of her usual surroundings is just too much for her brain to cope with. She has had a heart "event" since arriving at the hospital, but is constantly walking up and down the ward unable to settle. Poor little thing, all I wanted to do was take her back to her home. My brother went in later and insisted on speaking to a doctor, no one seemed to realize that the demented little old lady had been mentally sharp as a tack when she arrived at the hospital. They have now done urine tests to see if she has a UTI and started her on antibiotics.
Must admit I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed by everything this morning....and just to make life a bit more challenging the ancient cattle grid at the end of our track (on our neighbours land) is being dug out and replaced, which means two days of not being able to drive out. I took the car up to the farm above last night, but it's a steep walk up a muddy field to get to it. I'm not looking forward to scrambling back down in the dark tonight when I get back from visiting!

[Stanley]

It doesn't get any easier does it! At least the weather isn't conspiring against you. All I can do is tell you that I'll be thinking about you and Tiz and Mrs Tiz as well. Not forgetting Colin!

[Wendyf]

Thank you Stanley. Latest report from Leeds is that Mum has fallen, but doesn't seem to have hurt herself. She is still walking after another sleepless night with no food to speak of. She will be undergoing a series of tests today to try and establish the reason for her confusion. The good news is that she now has a one to one carer who is looking after her all the time.
Col is both looking forward to..and dreading ...Thursday, which is catheter removal day.

[Stanley]

Keep positive Colin! You've got all summer to recuperate, deck chair on the lawn I think as you watch Wendy doing the work!
Fingers crossed for your Mum Wendy... time you and your brother got some good news!
Wondering how Moh is getting on with her eye.....
Reports of trial of Heparin against a far more expensive drug showed that the cheapest was more effective. (LINK)

[Wendyf]

Mum returned from her nightmare world yesterday and is back to her normal self, a little confused as to which part of the last couple of days was real and which nightmare. When I saw her last night she was more relaxed than I've seen her for a while, it's as if a huge storm has passed. It seems that this was all a massive panic attack which has steadily built up over the last week or two, culminating in breathing problems and then heart damage when she was admitted to hospital.
Steve is trying to get a 24 hour care package put together so that she can be looked after at home....she won't like having people in her house all the time!

[Stanley]

Glad to hear there has been an improvement, you must be relieved.....

[Tardis]

For the second time in my life I passed out as the study nurse tried to take a blood sample. He missed the vein and then tried to wiggle it back in. Very bizarre after so many years when I was a blood donor.

Big day yesterday. All my numbers are down, deterioration may have slowed as I only lost 1% of function since Christmas. Very, very happy, almost indescribably so.

Last verification sample completed, once it is analysed I go onto the 24 hour available list in case a match appears.

Plus, came out of the hospital after 5 (90 minutes of seeing nurses and consultant) and rang the GP because they want me to have a hepatitis B booster and they gave me an appointment today. I really like Earby surgery.

[Tizer]

Glad to hear you're getting successful treatment, Tardis. Thanks for the thoughts Wendy & Stanley. While Wendy's mum has panic attacks my dad hurls abuse at the carers and threatens to sue them because a failed light hasn't been fixed in his kitchen. It's not their responsibility, all they can do is report it to the council. It failed on the weekend and we got a phone call telling us we had to provide a replacement fluorescent tube but the council man had to fit it. We couldn't do anything until Monday when we got a tube and I teetered on a chair trying to fit it - the carers who run the home say they are not allowed to let me use their stepladder (elfin safety), and anyway some workmen have stolen it! The tube won't go in properly so it has to wait for the council electrician...but then they tell me that he's ill and it could be weeks before anyone can do the job (which may mean a complete new light fitting and my dad would have to pay for it). He's not in darkness, it's a combined lounge-kitchen and we've added two table lamps in the kitchen to make up for the lack of the tube. Also, he doesn't really need the kitchen himself, the carers provide what's needed. But still he rages and abuses everyone including Mrs Tiz and myself. Now he wants to go to Boots Chemists to get `proper' hearing aids because his don't work - they don't work because he hasn't the patience to put them in properly and he messes about with the batteries and ends up with putting old dud ones in. He made a big fuss yesterday about what a terrible life he has but that was a red rag to a bull to Mrs Tiz whose mum and dad are younger than him but in a much a worse state. He got a good telling off, but 5 minutes later he's forgotten and starts again...aaaargh!

I hope Tripps isn't too affected by the dust and pollution cloud. I'm much further west and should be safer but I'm sniffling and throat-clearing all the time since it began. Roll on the rain!

[Stanley]

They say it's treasures in heaven Tiz but I'm not too sure about the trade off for hell on earth....
We seem to have escaped the dust, or is it just because I haven't noticed...

[Tripps]

"I hope Tripps isn't too affected by the dust and pollution cloud. I'm much further west and should be safer but I'm sniffling and throat-clearing all the time since it began. Roll on the rain!

I very bravely drove through central Cambridge yesterday, and seemed to have survived. I'll be doing it again today - wish me luck. I must say that this current panic raises a smile with those who lived in Manchester in the 1950's. I have (as has SCG) seen the bus conductor walking in front of the bus, along the kerb to guide the driver. I can taste it now. We're a long way from that.
Hasn't he said it is Government policy to keep us in a state of constant anxiety about something or other? I'm beginning to believe him. For starters I have decide not worry at all, about the current outbreak of Ebola virus, or earthquakes due to fracking, or bird flu, or anything else.......

[Tizer]

It was bad enough in Blackburn in the 1950s, never mind Manchester! At least heavy rain has now arrived so that should wash out all the red dust and turn the local river into a Rio Tinto. I now have a red car and that helps hide the Saharan dust coating!

[hartley353]

Surprisingly we got non of the red dust which we usualy do in in Manchester ,ours came last saturday and was off white. The last bad smog I remember was in Nelson in 1963.

[Wendyf]

Good news, Col's tumour was small and on the surface so no further treatment required. He will have to have a cystoscopy under general anaesthetic every 3 months to make sure it doesn't come back but that's OK. Phew, thank heavens for the NHS. He is full of praise for the treatment he has received at Airedale.
I'm afraid I lost my cool with my mother for the first time ever when she phoned me this evening soon after I had recovered Col from his day at Airedale. My brother has stayed with her since we got her back from hospital and has now arranged for carers to come in three times a day, first and last visits from a lady she knows well and really likes. My cousin stayed with her all afternoon, neighbours have been visiting and the doctor came and reassured her that heart, lungs and blood pressure were all ok, yet after 20 minutes alone she was starting to get uptight and she wanted me to know all about it. After one of the most stressful days I have ever been through I just cracked and told her I couldn't deal with her problems tonight. The next carer visit was due 10 minutes later....haven't heard anything since.
We looked into getting 24 hour care, which she doesn't really need because she is up and about and can do all sorts for herself, and the cost would be £360 a day. That isn't nursing care, just normal help...it doesn't bear thinking about!

[Stanley]

I'm afraid I would have cracked sooner. Perhaps a good treatment would be benign neglect. Shades of Münchhausen Syndrome, gaining attention by seeming to be ill. I feel so sorry for you!
As for Colin, good! Give him my best, he must be so relieved!

[PanBiker]

Fantastic news about Colin Wendy but you must convince him that the kitchen can wait a bit. Your mums condition and her behaviour seems very familiar to our experiences with Sally's mum who is also of a nervous disposition and subject to anxiety attacks, she would often call in the middle of the night if she heard a noise when she lived independently at David Crossley House. We went down the support in the home route with carers. Sally took her tea in every day and we had three times a day visits but eventually it became all to much for her. She is now resident in Cravenside with 24 hour care, took about 9 months to sort out her medication regime for her genuine aliments but she is now settled and happy. We have the peace of mind that she is properly fed, and cared for. Sally and her sister share the visiting and take her out on town whenever they can. Car trips are out of the question in the main as she panics about getting in and out of the car in case she falls, irrational of course, but you can't convince her of that. She still jollies off on the coach trips with the carers from Cravenside though from time to time on her better days which is good. So there is some feigning going on from time to time of that we are sure.

[Tizer]

Wendy, that's great news about Colin and a relief for you too. As for your mum, your phrase "I'm afraid I lost my cool with my mother for the first time ever" sounds familiar to me. A few days ago I swore at my dad "for the first time ever" because he was being extremely rude and unfair to the carers. I'm unfazed by anything he says to me, or about me, but I don't like him treating other people so badly especially when they are giving him so much care and attention. I wouldn't blame them if they refused to deal with him, but they're so dedicated that they suffer in silence. I suppose the fact that I've never sworn at him before is one of those built-in `respect things' and I've always been able to avoid it. But now he seems to be getting out of control and the only way to get his attention is to shock him.

Mrs Tiz's parents had a brief period of 24-hour care until we got nursing home places for them and, yes, it's phenomenally expensive! It didn't work well either, and the environment of the nursing home and its services is much better.

Ian, the word feigning is a useful one. My dad's hearing improves suddenly if it's something he wants to hear! He's currently making various claims to support his demand for a new light in his kitchen - e.g. claims the carer spilt food over his trousers because of lack of light although it's not true. He says they throw away his good hearing aid batteries. If he can't find anything he says the carers have lost it but the real story is that he's putting things in strange places and we have to search the whole flat to find them! He gives himself away by elaborating the stories so much that they can't be true.

[Stanley]

I don't know whether it will have any effect but I'm building up a list of 'things not to do' as I get older! Actually, that might not be such a daft idea!

[Tardis]

I have the official letter.

I'm on the "active list", 24 hour call up, need to have a bag packed now

[Cathy]

I can only imagine that you are jumping for joy Tardis but feeling apprehensive as well. Good Luck

[Tardis]

Very excited. Any apprehension will disappear I'm sure.

Extremely emotional.

[Stanley]

See this LINK for a timely warning from Cancer research UK about the increase in cases of malignant melanoma. I know that the main element is exposure to UV from the sun or tanning saloons but I wonder whether there is anything else at work. Is there something in our modern environment that is increasing the risk? I have a healthy distrust of the plethora of chemicals used in things like air fresheners, increasingly powerful washing powders and even the host of sprays which 'kill 99% of all germs'. Old fashioned I know but best avoided!

[Cathy]

I have a similar distrust to you as well Stanley. Washing up liquid - I have to rinse everything after washing up. Hairspray and insect sprays - I don't spray them near my cat just in case some ends up on her coat and then she ingests it when cleaning herself.

[Tizer]

It's not just that we spend more time in the sun (or tanning salons) but that there is more `bad' UV in the sunlight now, even after all that work to avoid the CFCs that were destroying the protective ozone layer in the atmosphere. The ozone hole began to disappear but it's returning due to the surge in use of CFCs in the Far East countries as vast numbers of people become able to afford fridges and deodorant sprays. The ozone hole was worst in the southern hemisphere but it's now happening in the northern too and the effects are creeping down towards the equator. Have you noticed how few people in Britain wear hats when in the sun? Do you still wear hats in Australia, Cathy? I was in NZ in 1989 when the first ozone hole opened up and there was strong government advice to wear a hat - I think you had the same in OZ too.

Keep on avoiding all those chemicals on your skin. Like you, Cath, I always rinse things after washing them in detergent. I also prefer `simple soap' to shower gels etc. You only have to look at how many chemicals are listed as ingredients on the packs of toiletries to see what we are exposed to. Oily chemicals absorb easily through our skin and into the bloodstream. I don't understand why such products have so many different ingredients - I guess it just shows the power and influence of the ingredients manufacturers (remember, most manufacturers of food and toiletry products don't make the ingredients, they buy them from ingredients manufacturers who have salesman and advertising directed at the product manufacturers to make them believe they `must' use all those chemicals.

[Stanley]

Sensible stuff Cathy. I think it's the aromatic chemicals I distrust most. Why do people want to cover up a bad smell with exotic chemicals? Just do a bit of cleaning!