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Pneumonia Recovery

By Health, ThinkingNo Comments

I tried. I really did. After being admitted in hospital for three days with pneumonia (a chest infection), urine infection and in diabetic ketoacidosis, I had a week off work to recover. I managed the week, then went back off sick.

I’m constantly beyond exhausted, needing to sleep all day and night on a bad day. My blood sugars are all over the place, which isn’t helping matters. I just don’t feel right. I’m being really honest – I don’t know exactly what’s wrong. I can’t pinpoint specific symptoms any more than I have explained.

I went to see my GP today and he said:

Just what made you think you could return to work after 1 week? – My GP

He had a point. I’m not twenty any more. At thirty-seven years old, I now have to accept that infections have a bigger impact on my body. Having diabetes also means my body takes longer to heal. The bigger the impact, the longer the recovery time. This has been my main lesson from my GP today.

I’ve never really have to taken more than a week off work to recover from infections in the past. So this is new territory for me. But I have to listen to my body. It’s crying out for recovery and time to heal. And it is always wise to listen to your doctor – especially if you’re lucky to have an amazing one like I do.

My GP has requested some more urgent bloods. Given me a sick note for two weeks and strict instructions to rest, recuperate and not to return to work before being reviewed by him again.

Despite knowing that I can’t help getting sick and that it isn’t something I have any control over, I do feel guilty for taking time off work. I feel like I’m letting everyone at work down. My manager, my colleagues and my patients. But I hope they understand.

I really have no choice. I’ve been very poorly and I’m not fit enough to get through a day without a nap (or several) due to exhaustion. The littlest things, like for example taking a shower wear me out.

My GP was very tactful, but he basically explained that if I don’t take weeks off from work to recover now, in the long term it might take me months to recover. My GP explained that I will have good and bad days during this period of recovery. He warned me about good days and the assumption I could make that one good day means I’m fully recovered.

So here I am. Sat here writing this post. Accepting that I need a period of recovery to allow my body time to heal. Not knowing how long it will take. Not being able to do much to help it apart from self-care: eating well, resting when required, keeping a good sleep routine, you know, the basics but essentials.

I would like to thank all the people in my life that have and continue to support me. Thank you. Without you, this would be so much more difficult.

Write soon,

Antony

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Thursday 8 June 2023

Back to Blogging

By Friends & Family, Health, LifeNo Comments
Back to Blogging

I can honestly write, that at the moment I’m going through the toughest time of my life. At the moment, all aspects of my life are difficult, challenging and frustrating. A lot of the difficulties and challenges are due to circumstances that I don’t have any control over. I can only control my response to situations as they arise.

A good example, was that for my birthday this year I found myself admitted to hospital with a chest infection, urine infection and diabetic ketoacidosis. The NHS staff were wonderful. I was really proud of their care, kindness and compassion.

Over the past year, somewhere along the way I’ve started exsisting, rather than living. I stopped doing all the things I enjoy and even most of my hobbies, such as blogging.

But now that I’ve recognised this, I’ve done something about it. So here I am back to blogging, one of my hobbies. Making plans for the future and getting my life back into some sort of order – at least in the areas that I can.

My support networks have been amazing throughout this difficult time. They have listened, empathised and understood. They have offered support, sometimes in the most unexpected of ways.

Write soon,

Antony

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Sunday 4 June 2023

World Diabetes Day 2019: The Lowdown on Type 1 Diabetes

By HealthNo Comments

Today is World Diabetes Day. People often struggle to understand diabetes and particularly type 1 diabetes which isn’t linked to diet, weight, a lack of exercise or age. So here’s a video from Diabetes UK that explains type 1 diabetes simply:

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Here are some facts and statistics:

Quick facts about type 1 diabetes

  • Approximately 400,000 people are currently living with type 1 diabetes in the UK, with over 29,000 of them children.
  • Incidence is increasing by about four per cent each year, particularly in children under five, with a five percent increase each year in this age group over the last 20 years.
  • Type 1 diabetes affects 96 per cent of all children with diabetes in England and Wales.
  • Around 85 per cent of people diagnosed with type 1 diabetes have no family history of the condition.
  • Although it used to be referred to as ‘juvenile diabetes’, around half of newly diagnosed cases are in people over the age of 18.
  • The UK has one of the highest rates of type 1 diabetes in the world, for reasons that are currently unknown.
  • A person with type 1 diabetes will have around 65,000 injections and measure their blood glucose over 80,000 times in their lifetime.

From: JDRF UK, last accessed: 11th November 2019.

Diabetes is a chronic long term health condition that requires a lot of management. For example I:

  • Inject insulin 4 or 5 times everyday.
  • Check and record my blood sugars before meals and two hours after meals.
  • Check and record my blood sugars before and after driving.
  • Finger pricking to read my blood sugars 8-15 times per day, prior to my Freestyle Libre (more on this below).
  • Count the carbs in each meal.
  • Have retinopathy screening, podiatry checks, annual reviews (with both my GP & Endocrine Consultant), see Diabetes Specialist Nurses and see Dietitians. You can only begin to imagine the number of health appointments I have in a year.

Having diabetes can be frustrating at times, as any little thing can affect the amount of glucose in my blood. Things that affect my blood sugar include: physical or mental illness, diet, exercise, the weather, even the amount and quality of sleep I’ve had.

Management and treatments have mostly stayed the same since I was diagnosed with diabetes. It often feels like I am trying to minimise the damage that diabetes causes to my body until better treatments are developed or until a cure is researched and widely available.

The biggest change to diabetes treatment in the last few years is the Freestyle Libre sensor for blood glucose readings. This my Consultant has described as revolutionary and I have to agree with her to a point. This means no finger pricking (unless unwell), but it is only half a job. Next diabetics need a pump that works with the Freestyle sensor to administer the right amounts of insulin automatically.

What’s your experience of type 1 diabetes? Leave a comment below.

Blog soon,

Antony



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Thursday 14 November 2019

Adventure: The Metropolitan City of Wroclaw, Poland

By Adventures, Friends & Family, Thinking, TravelNo Comments

I recently visited Wroclaw in Poland with my brother and his friends for his stag do and his birthday. It was the first time I had met many of my brother’s friends and they are a great bunch of lads. In this post I’ll be discussing my experience of being in Wroclaw.

The first thing to write is that the architecture is aesthetically pleasing. There are many buildings with a Georgian style and many churches that are exquisitely designed. Here is an example of one such church:

Wroclaw-0-2019

A Church in Wroclaw, Poland.

Here are two photos of fountains I took:

Wroclaw-1-2019

Fountain (1).
Wroclaw-2-2019

Fountain (2).

Wroclaw is vibrant, youthful and has an upbeat feel. It is a clean city, only being let down by graffiti that is everywhere. There are plenty of places to eat and drink, with some even having English menus upon request. The cost of living is cheap with roughly 10 slotty (about £2) buying a double vodka and diet coke. I did have difficulties getting zero sugar drinks in a number of places, which was a bit of an issue with me being diabetic.

The only Polish word I managed to learn was Kawa, which means coffee. The main square is huge and has flower market stalls that appear to be open 24/7. I found myself listening to Polish conversations as I walked around and appreciating the beautiful sound of the language. Some Polish spoke English exceptionally well whereas others didn’t speak any English at all. I found the Google Translate App really useful.

Without doubt it is people that make a city. All appeared happy, content and liberal. Polish people had less inhibitions when it came to dancing than we English have. Polish people will quite happily bump into anyone in their way in pubs and clubs. This is normal to the Polish, but being British I found it a little rude.

As Poland is known for being Roman Catholic and as such conservative when it comes to gay people and their rights. I decided to test the waters with a Polish man who I had been talking to and getting on with whilst smoking a cigarette. I came out and asked his views on gay people. He said:

“I don’t care, I don’t give a fuck. That’s your choice. We’re all just friends here.”

He described himself as not being religious, male, heterosexual and was in his mid twenties.

Overall Wroclaw is a beautiful city, with wonderful people and a place that I will be visiting again.

Take care,

Antony

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Thursday 31 October 2019
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