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"What have you eaten" Parallel Chat

Yay for unadventurous polyps, non diabetic hba1c's and various other good results!
I'll keep my fingers crossed for the blood count test results, but very happy to hear it doesn't look like we're getting rid of you any time soon!
 
Just had an e-mail from my brother. The John Radcliffe hospital phoned him this morning to say that his operation has been put off! An influx of emergency cases, apparently. I would have thought they would have dealt with any emergencies by Thursday, otherwise if they were that urgent, people would have died by then.

He's frustrated, of course, but it's more than that. He and his wife have been making time related arrangements to get him to the hospital (he's not allowed to drive himself so his son has to take time off work to get him there), his daughter has arranged time off work to stay with her mother for the duration, and to collect him and bring him home.

He's had his PCR test and has been self isolating, but that's not so bad because he's too vulnerable to be going out and about.

But most of all, he had to stop taking the Warfarin that keeps his blood from clotting around the old heart valve, last Friday and get on to another drug, which is less effective but is just a stop-gap. Now he will have to go back onto the Warfarin which, in his case, is a slow and dangerous process and then come off it again at a later date.

And all the time, they are telling him to keep checking his blood pressure (3 times a day) and do nothing at all because his aorta is in such a fragile state. He is beginning to get stressed because he has never been one to sit back and do nothing - he tells me it's driving him mad and he's actually doing things he shouldn't because he can't bear not to. (Hates to see his wife doing everything around the house and going by bus to do the shopping and carrying home as much as she can.)

I would have thought that his case was pretty urgent, especially as he's had to change his medication to a less effective one for the duration.

I don't swear, but honestly, I felt like it when I got that e-mail.

NHS Western Isles phoned this morning to arrange my PCR test for next week, so maybe they know something I don't about a date for me to go to Inverness.

Em was off school today (and staying with me since both mum and dad were on early starts), with a cold and a nosebleed. Plus she was pretty shattered - her bedroom is in the roof and she couldn't sleep with the noise that the wind was making. She had a cup of tea and I cooked some bacon for her, but she fell asleep sitting at the table and it all went cold. So I settled her in the big chair with a blanket and she immediately dropped off again.

When she woke up she did some work on a project she is doing for school - an investigation into Stirling Castle. She had some pictures off the internet and some notes to write up. Then she was having another cup of tea and sneezed. Whole project ruined and she had to start again. Probably just as well - Neil had a look at what she had and found an error, so explained that to her, and then I found another one and explained that. She was fascinated by the subject. It was about Stirling Castle and people associated with it - all those kings, queens, princes, battles, killings, army, Wallace and Bruce. I used the term "freedom fighter" in relation to Wallace and she needed to know what that meant, so we had a little chat about being a freedom fighter if you eventually won and a terrorist if you didn't. I think she got the idea. Nothing wrong with her concentration when she's interested in the subject. She doesn't even mind being lectured by Neil.
 
@Annb , I would have send you a 'hug' symbol for your poor brother, but the story on Em and her homework really cheered me up so you got the 'winner' one instead!
 
@Riva_Roxaban glad to see so many good results. Fingers crossed for the blood counts. That brings back memories of waiting for the paraprotein counts in my brother's blood. It was always a hold your breath moment until you found out if the mix was keeping the little beggars in check. At least we got almost 6 years where it worked.
 
@Annb so sorry about the delay with your brother's op. Nothing worse when you are all geared up for something. Hopefully it won't be too long. Em is a wonderful child. I hope Neil enlightened her on how treacherous the Scottish noblemen were.
 
maglil55 said:
@Annb so sorry about the delay with your brother's op. Nothing worse when you are all geared up for something. Hopefully it won't be too long. Em is a wonderful child. I hope Neil enlightened her on how treacherous the Scottish noblemen were.
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Neil's input was all about the topography/geology in the area and why the castle was built where it was. Mine was about fighting, in-fighting, treachery and the fact that the nobles were all old Norman families who got the Scots think they were fighting for their own freedom rather than power for the aristocratic families. I'll make a cynic of her yet!
 
I wish I could have sat in on that lesson, sounds brilliant, both Neils and your part!
 
Antje77 said:
I wish I could have sat in on that lesson, sounds brilliant, both Neils and your part!
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I never was a teacher of young children but as a lecturer with UHI my style was rather discursive than sticking strictly to the lesson plan. Neil would be the same and we have both always thought that it is better to get the learner interested in the subject and go into it pretty thoroughly until they are no longer needing to know any more then move on to the next one. It's not a style that will work for everyone, but it worked pretty well for my students and for Neil when he was a very young learner and it seems to work for Em as well. That's not to say that for my students there was no lesson plan just that they seemed to learn more effectively with a more relaxed, conversational style.

BG popped up to 9 briefly in the afternoon, then I realised that I hadn't taken insulin or pills. Took both and it came down to the 5's and has stayed there. That's on 55u Tresiba and 58u of Humalog.
 
My GP phoned me yesterday arvo, and said my blood count / iron tests were a bit iffy, so she has referred me back to the Oncology Dept. at the base hospital.

Might have to take some low carb stuff in with me if I have to go for a top up of either blood / iron.
 
Talking of me being a cynic - I was surprised initially when I heard that my brother was to have surgery on his heart at the age of 79 because I had thought that many health boards were writing off the elderly as not being worth the effort (it made me wonder when my own GP said, about my breast lump, that they should get it investigated because I am worth the effort - not sure how I qualify or what they would have done had she not thought so). But my brother's surgery was to be done, and I was glad of that. Now I begin to understand why it is being done - he has been asked to take part in a survey to investigate how age affects the healing process and/or mental health after major surgery. He is old, but they need data, so he's getting the required treatment. I could, easily, be wrong but that's where my cynicism comes in. Had there been no study being done, would they just have left him to his fate?
 
I don't know.
But perhaps getting the luck of the draw is just part of life as well?
Good luck!
 
Sounds brilliant to me!
Who knows, I might even have finished school had my teachers thought the same way.
Or more likely I still wouldn't have, I was very stubborn at the time. I did have some wonderful teachers though!
Annb said:
BG popped up to 9 briefly in the afternoon, then I realised that I hadn't taken insulin or pills. Took both and it came down to the 5's and has stayed there. That's on 55u Tresiba and 58u of Humalog.
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This is amazing!
Sounds like you're on to something here. But please stay careful, that's a lot lower than your usual, and close to hypo territory. You do keep something sweet and your meter next to your bed and your chair, do you? If you drop too low, it's always best to just stay where you are to treat, walking around uses up the glucose you desperately need at that moment.
 
I'm keeping a close eye on it - which will be easier when I get my replacement sensors (today with any luck). At present my finger tips are feeling the strain of frequent checking. Today, I will keep the basal dose the same and reduce the bolus by one unit to see if I can keep it stable in the 5's or 6's. Usually the LIbre monitor is in my pocket everywhere I go or beside my bed during the time I spend there.

It's nearly 7 am and Em should be arriving shortly to get ready for school here. Weather is foul though, so I expect we'll have to take her up the road to the school in the car. Seems daft - we can see the school from our kitchen window but with this wind and this rain she might even not make it.
 
Em's back from school and asleep in my bed. She's clearly exhausted, poor little thing. I was saying to her dad when he delivered the mail, that she went to sleep this morning after he dropped her off here, so she is clearly not getting enough sleep due to the bad weather so, perhaps she should be sleeping downstairs, even in the living room if necessary, or here, if that isn't practical. He says that, with the chimney in the living room, it is just as noisy as in her bedroom, but perhaps she can sleep with her mum on these very windy nights and he will sleep on the couch. They don't have any spare space, unfortunately - just 2 bedrooms in the bungalow and one more in the roof space.

She just might be "going down" with something though. She's sneezy and had another nose-bleed in school today.

I phoned Raigmore today and, although no letter seems to have gone out, I am definitely on the operation list for 10th March - first one down and so have to be in the ward at 7.45 am.
 
Neil's just back from town. Shelves in the shops are empty so I guess the ferries were off again. I do have an delivery slot for Saturday so will put onto that everything that's missing in the hope that things will be nearer normal then.

Slept late this morning - actually couldn't sleep at first so got up at 1.45 am then back to bed at 3 am and did get to sleep then. Slept until 8.30. That's a long sleep for me. BG at that point was 8.9 - had a cup of tea then. Took Tresiba (55u) at 9.00 and had another cup of tea. Just checked and BG is 11.9. Probably time for Humalog and some breakfast. I was going to make soup for breakfast with the last of the kale and stock but being lazy and didn't do it. Should have done that instead of tidying the bedroom and making the bed. Probably eggs for breakfast then. There's lots of cheese but I seem to have gone off that. Ham and smoked salmon and bacon in the fridge too. Still feeling too lazy to do anything much.

At least my Libre sensors have arrived so I can get one of those on and see if it was that or the monitor that wasn't working.
 
Now here's a funny thing. Had 2 eggs scrambled, made with butter and cream; 1 slice of wholemeal toast; 60u of Humalog. I don't usually scramble my eggs although I do enjoy them done that way. BG was 11.9 at that point and the meal would, in recent days, not put BG up. It is currently 13.9 two hours later. This goes against everything that has been happening over the last while. This is still with the finger prick testing. So, I haven't got it sussed after all. Feeling pretty rubbish as well.

On a brighter note - I finally have my letter from Raigmore. Date the same as on the phone - time slightly different. Original letter with no date said I would have to stay in overnight; the PA on the phone said no overnight stay. Still - it is something that I can work with.
 
Put my new Libre Sensor on but the reader told me it was incompatible so phoned Abbott. Had a bit of a problem with the person on the other end of the phone who had a strong accent and I found it hard to understand what he was saying. (Partially deaf doesn't help.) Anyway, it turns out that the pharmacy has given me the wrong Sensors. They look the same but they are for the Libre 1 system, not the Libre 2. Great help! It's going to take another 7 days now to get a replacement. My fingers are not happy about that. Getting too soft in my old age.
 
Em is in and currently making an experimental food. So far she has crushed a honeycomb KitKat in a pestle and mortar and some dark chocolate buttons. She's added lemon juice on the premis that if you have sweet, you should have sour and currently she's dug out a jar of Lotus Biscoff spread - not sure what she's going to do with that. As far as I can see, it is going to be inedible, but she's having fun.
 
Recipe so far sounds very delicious to me!
If I had to finish it from here I'd melt everything au bain marie with a good amount of butter added and then let set in a shallow container lined with baking paper with some lemon zest on top. Or even better, fish out the bits from a pot of lemon marmelade and decorate with that.
 
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