Saturday, September 30, 2006

Health

Well its been an interesting time with my health recently and I will tell a little what going on here. Although at this moment I have this horrible cough and cold that isn't shifting and it means for a second week in a row when I am leading worship means I will sound like barry white, which for a strong tenor is awful....

Anyway. About three or four weeks ago I was sitting watching TV when I noticed this "flash" in my eye. The way I explain it is if you look at a light bulb and then look away and blink, there is a residue image left behind that you can see that slowly disappears. Well I could see this little dot but it wasn't dissapearing. I talked about it to Emma and then rang my optician. (As an aside I have to say that my optician - Dipple & Conway - were excellent and for a proper optician, not a "glasses" place like specsavers, I would recommend them).

The optician did a thorough exam and they did a photo of the inside of the eye to find that I had suffered a slight bleed at the back of the eye. They were concerned enough to bypass my doctor and get me an appointment at the eye clinic the following day. They organised and arranged all of this. The hospital appointment was not fun. They told me not to drive to the appointment so a friend of mine took me.

The appointment confirmed the bleed but it also confirmed that my blood pressure was through the roof (and probably the cause of the bleed). They decided to do a full range of blood tests though to check for diabetes and other things as that could have been a cause as well. Having a blood test was fun for the reason that I had never had a blood test before in my life - partly through not really needing one - partly through a fobia of needles meant I never really pushed for one. I also got my blood pressure taken again.

The blood pressure was still high, so I was told I needed an ECG trace. Not having one of these before I was expecting a two hour lie down with monitors et al. In fact, it lasted about 20 seconds and I was in and out of the doctors in 3 minutes. I went back for another blood pressure check and that was still high so I was referred back to my GP.

The last meeting with the GP was fun. I am really blessed to have a doctor who is witty and fun and is prepared to talk and listen about things. To bring a long story to a conclusion is that the ECG was fine and the blood tests were fine apart from my thyroid was quite low. Consequently I am now having to take thyroid tablets for the rest of my life. Now this is a God thing in two senses. Firstly, I am asthmatic and have to take a range of inhalers which I have always had to pay for and secondly, a low functioning thyroid can have, to some degree, have a weight increase effect. Being diagnosed with a thyroid function means I now qualify for free prescriptions for the rest of my life. Secondly, taking thyroid tablets should mean with a diet I will see a more significant weight loss than I had in the past - which in turn should lead to a lower blood pressure.

Alsoafter a chat he decided that I may suffer from a condition known as sleep apnea. This is where I stop breathing during the night and wake myself up gasping for breathe. It sounds worse than it is and I rarely notice it. When I do notice it, its more annoying than anything else. Emma sees it more than what I do and she says it frightens her as I just stop breathing. I will be reffered to the sleep clinic at the hospital where hopefully this issue (and a snoring issue of gigantic proportions will be sorted).

The last thing (yes another thing). He asked me about my breathing and more so my nose. I have always breathed through my mouth as my nose is frequently blocked (at least one tube anyway). So now I am being reffered to the ENT (Ears Nose and Throat) clinic to see if I have polyps that are blocking my nose.

So there you go - all good fun - a friend said that it sounds like I am having a Health MOT. Certainly feels like it.

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Spiders

I know I am not the only one to notice but there are an awful lot of spiders around, and some big beasties as well.
Apparently this is all to do with the winter which was wet and warm and enabled successful spiders to hatch eggs.
Optimum breading apparently.

Anyway, here is a pic (which will appear on my viewed.blogspot.com at some point) of one I caught on camera at Blicking Hall.

Sunday, September 17, 2006

viewed.blogspot.com

Hi

Just a reminder that I am trying to regularly post to my photo blog.
If you have time drop by and leave comments on what you see.

http://viewed.blogspot.com

Amber update

Just an update for those that are interested.
Nothing new to report really. Amber is well. Currently she is settled into a routine with a bath at 6.15pm and a feed at 6.30. Then she is put down by 7pm and is usually asleep.

Max then follows later around 7.30 - 8.00pm. We then wake Amber up for a feed around 10pm, then she will wake up aroun 2.15am, then carry on to morning. Some nights are better than others.

Amber is feeding well and mum was given permission to drive at week 5 by the doctors and insurance company. So good all round really.

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

I Hope

Theres been a lot of posting about deserters, death and killing as well as the shadow of 9/11. Therefore this post really is to close of the subject for me for now and onto other things. I was listening to the dixie chicks on my way back from Ipswich and the words of this song, possibly a bit treacly, but well meaning seemed to hit the nail.....

Sunday morning, I heard the preacher say Thou shall not kill
I don't wanna, hear nothin' else, about killin'
And that it's God's will
Cuz our children are watching us
They put their trust in us
They're gonna be like us
So let's learn from our history and do it differently

CHORUS:
I hope For more love, more joy and laughter
I hope We'll have more than we'll ever need
I hope We'll have more happy ever afters
I hope We can all live more fearlessly
And we can lose all the pain and misery
I hope, I hope

Oh Rosie, her man he gets too rough
And all she can say, is he's a good man
He don't mean no harm He was just brought up that way
But our children are watching us They put their trust in us
They're gonna be like us
It's okay for us to disagree We can work it out lovingly
(Chorus)

For I hope
For more love, more joy and laughter (I hope)
You'll have more than you'll ever need (I hope)
You'll have more happy ever afters (I hope)
And you can all live more fearlessly
And you can lose all your pain and misery
I hope, I hope


There must be a way to change what's going on
No, I don't have all the answers

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Steve Irwin

I was genuinely saddened to hear the death of Steve Irwin (aka Crocodile Hunter).
He seemed such a caring, full of life person whose manerism has been copied I am sure many times.

He was killed by a Sting Ray. More details can be found here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/5313078.stm

9/11

Its clear (by tv evidence) that there is plenty to remind us that the 5 Year anniversary since the the world trade center disaster.

I have watched two programmes this year partly, and probably wrongly because I was in New York earlier in the year and wanted to see something to remind of the trip. However I think it is a defining moment in current history and deserves special attention.

I don't really want to focus this post too much on the event and what lead to it, neither where we have ended up after it - but wanted to give a review of two programmes I watched so far.

The first was about a rookie firefighter at Ladder 1, just around the corner from ground zero. Basically a documentry group were following this fire fighter with cameras around as he graduated and joined the fire department. However, I think it was 8 weeks into filming when 9/11 hit. The documentry showed how the firefighter and the ladder 1 team worked capturing all the images, fears and emotions. I was struck that when the firefighters entered the WTC you could see the pillars and windows at the floor were buckled and cracked. It was a brilliant and shocking thing to watch. Furthermore it told what happened to the people afterwards and how their lives were changed.

The other documentry was about the 13 / 14 people that were the single surviving people in Tower 1 when it collapsed. Again, it was amazing the hear their stories, see what it was like where the people were etc etc. It was terribly moving as they introduced how relatives felt and how they struggled to get news about their loved ones. It also pointed out that the survivors would not have survived if it wasn't for a single woman that they decided to help.

Here is a picture of the remaining buildings and the gap where the WTC should be I took when I was there earlier in the year. Its a very solemn place and very thought provoking.