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2023 – The Year of Antibiotics

By HealthNo Comments

For most of 2023, I’ve been unwell with bacterial infections. I’ve had an infected knee, an abscess on my arm, pneumonia, a dental abscess, tonsilitis and sinusitis. As my mum would say: I’m surprised you don’t look like an antibiotic, with the amount you’ve taken.

Here is a list of antibiotics I’ve taken in 2023:

It is known that people living with Type 1 Diabetes, like me, have a weakened immune system. But to spend the majority of the year fighting bacterial infections and taking antibiotics is exhausting.

I’ve been trying really hard with the self-care including: regularly washing my hands, getting plenty of rest and sleep, drinking plenty of fluids, eating well, getting vaccinated for COVID-19 (plus boosters). I’ve even tried taking Vitamin C supplements. But nothing has seemed to make any difference. It’s like my white blood cells see bacteria coming and decide to go for a nap instead of fighting. Either that, or my immune system is made up of passivists, rather than warriors.

Every time I get an infection, it spikes my blood sugars. They go high and as much as I try to manage this by eating less and injecting more insulin, managing diabetes feels like having a full time job, on top of having a full time job and out of work commitments.

These regular periods of illness have affected my work and home life. I’m so lucky that Type 1 diabetes is classed as an unseen disability under The Equality Act (2010), otherwise I’d probably be out of a job.

I’ll be really honest, 2023 for me has been about managing illness after illness, whilst trying to maintain my employment. These two tasks haven’t left room for doing the things that I like to do, such as reading, writing, seeing friends and family, etc. That’s why the blog has been pretty quiet as of late.

Being on these different antibiotics has also got me worried. I’ve noticed that some of them haven’t been as effective for me as they previously have been at dealing with bacterial infections. Antibiotic resistance is something I’m noticing and with no new antibiotics on the horizon, what’s going to happen when antibiotics stop working altogether?

Blog soon,

Antony

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My November

By Amazon, Friends & Family, Health, Life, Pets, TV, Online Streaming & FilmsNo Comments

A lot happened in November. Some of it was good and some of it was bad. Here were the key events:

4th November 17 – I went Smoke-Free, Day 1.

Smoke-free-logo

Smoke-Free Logo

5th November 17 – I was given the cold shoulder by Dylan. He just walked away from attention to sit with his back towards me. I called him by his name and was ignored.

my-november-2017-0

Blanked by Dylan.

6th November 17 – My week made with the arrival of my pre-orders from Amazon.

11th November 17 – I tried on silly Christmas hats!

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Silly Christmas Hats!

12th November 17 – My lovely Grandma passed away. I am sure she is missed dearly by all who knew her. I am also very lucky to have some wonderful memories with her.

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My Lovely Grandma.

14th November 17 – I went to the GP about an abscess in my groin. I was given oral antibiotics and told if it gets any bigger I must go to A&E to see a Surgeon.
15th November 17 – The abscess had doubled in size. So went to A&E, was given a dose of IV antibiotics and eventually saw a Surgeon. They decided to operate first thing the following morning.

I had been Nil By Mouth since arriving in A&E at around 1PM and had not eaten since breakfast. They let me go home well after 9pm to eat, rest and with instructions to fast from 3am and be back at the hospital for 8am.

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Oh pink…just my colour.

16th November 17 – The day of the surgery. All of the NHS staff were kind, compassionate and understanding. But communication could have been better.

I arrived on the ward at 07:50am and was instructed by a Nurse on the night shift to wait in the waiting room, while the early staff had handover. The night shift Nurse didn’t tell the day staff that I had arrived and meant I ended up waiting over an hour. Apparently staff had been looking for me everywhere.

After the surgery, I didn’t know whether my open wound had been packed or not, because it wasn’t documented in my notes.

It has been uncomfortable, a bit tender and at times painful. I have thanked my family and Steve who have been amazing in supporting me pre and post surgery.

The surgery and waiting for the open to heal has been very frustrating for me.

Everything has had to be put on hold. I’ve had to rest and haven’t been able to do very much apart from watching Netflix, reading and napping. A huge positive is that I have remained Smoke-Free throughout.

17th November 17 – I became super excited after watching a video clip that revealed the title of the new Fantastic Beasts (Harry Potter) film: The Crimes of Grindelwald on Twitter @BeastsMovieUK. The film will be released on 16.11.18. 22nd November 17 – The day of Grandma’s funeral, which was really a celebration of her life. The service was touching and well attended. Grandma’s family and friends came together afterwards to share memories and the many things they will miss about her.
25th November 17 – Day 21 of being Smoke-Free.

Smoke-free-logo

Smoke-Free Logo

29th November 17 – Last day working at my old job. I will miss the people and liked the work, but am excited to start my new job.

Write soon,

Antony

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My Health Woes: Clinical Depression, Dental Abscesses, The Lump and The Emergency Surgery

By Friends & Family, HealthNo Comments

Recently I’ve really not been well. Here is the saga thanks to my body that seems to be falling apart:

The Clinical Depression
Earlier in the year I struggled with severe clinical depression, before getting myself into Recovery. But this wasn’t to be the last of my health problems.

The Recurrent Dental Abscesses
Over the past few months I’ve had recurrent dental abscesses in a wisdom tooth. After several courses of antibiotics and regular Paracetamol and Ibuprofen (painkillers), the tooth had to be extracted.

Then I got a dry socket infection. It was the weekend so had to see an Emergency Dentist who prescribed me more antibiotics and recommended regular painkillers. Luckily this time the antibiotics worked and touch wood (touches bedside table), I’ve had no more dental problems.

The Moment of Panic
Next my blood sugars were off, I started to feel exhausted and generally terrible without any trigger. I went into a spiral of panic, thinking that I was getting ill with depression again. This panic only served to make me feel worse. But then a lump appeared.

The Lump – Return of the Jeff
A lump appeared on my right buttock. A bacterial infection, that I’ve had several times before. I always feel terrible before it appears.

I’ve had this lump enough times to name it Jeff and to tell close family and friends that I was going to stick some goggly eyes on it and draw a mouth using a marker pen.
I went to see by GP about Jeff. As usual I was given antibiotics. By this point, I was beginning to feel that I was living on antibiotics. But as always, I took them religiously.

Never one to miss an opportunity to get a laugh at my own expense, I spent several hours creating this on my iPad:

return-of-the-jeff

Could be a blockbuster.

I shared it on Facebook, forgetting that most of my Facebook friends don’t know about Jeff, so wouldn’t get the reference. But those that did laughed, so it was totally worth creating this piece of artwork.

The Hospital Admission – For Emergency Surgery

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Admitted to Hospital for Emergency Surgery.

After five days on antibiotics Jeff had only seemed to get bigger – looking like he was the size of a gold ball. I was unable to sit, stand or lie down comfortably for any length of time. So I went back to see my GP.

My GP said that I needed to see a Surgeon immediately and referred me to the Surgical Team at my local hospital. He gave me a two week sick note and told me that I’d be off work for at least the next fortnight.

I went to hospital and was admitted to the surgical ward. I was reviewed by the Surgeon and Anaesthetist. It was decided that they would operate on me first thing in the following morning, with me being first on the emergency list on the account of having type 1 diabetes and having to fast.

I went up to theatre about 9am in the morning. I was put under general anaesthetic and next thing I knew I was in recovery and in a lot of pain. Thankfully I had been prescribed painkillers which were administered quickly.

After I had eaten, drank and peed I was allowed to go home with mum. She had to observe me for the rest of the day.

Wound Healing
Initially, I had to have the wound packed on a daily basis by the District Nurses. Then as the wound has got smaller, the District Nurses have been packing it every other day.

Thankfully, so far, touch wood (touches bedside table), there have been no complications such as infection at the wound site or accidental tearing of the wound.

My Experience of NHS Care
The NHS care that I have received has been superb. My GP has been exceptional. The Dentist’s have been helpful and supportive. All of the hospital staff (including the Surgical Team, Nurses, Porters and other staff) were great and efficient. Special mention must must be made of the Anaesthetist who looked after me. I felt that he genuinely treated me like a member of his family. All of the community service staff have been fantastic too.

Thank you to all the staff who have looked after, supported and cared for me this year.

I know the NHS is not perfect. But my recent experiences have been perfect.

Tough Year
2015 has been a really tough year for me health-wise. But Autumn is upon us and is a season of change. Leafs will change to bright colours of red, yellow and orange before falling from the tress. I hope my ill health falls from the tree of life, like one of these leafs and that it leads to a sustained period of good health.

Take care & I will write soon,

Antony



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