Archive for the 'Health, or lack thereof' Category

Jabberwonky

Posted by on December 21st 2021 in COVID-19, Health, or lack thereof, Just for fun
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Back in September one of my haematologists arranged for me to have what she called a "third COVID jab".

For some unfathomable reason, that "third" jab has gone on my GP record as having been a "booster" jab.

Now I'm reading NHS articles about having a "vaccine 3rd dose" (https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-vaccination/coronavirus-vaccine-3rd-dose/). That article stresses the fact that "The 3rd vaccine dose for people with a severely weakened immune system is different to a booster dose."

 

"

 

So now we're utterly confused. Have I been double-jabbed and boosted, or triple-jabbed? If I'm called for another shot do I need to be specific about which one (AZ, Pfizer, Moderna, other)? Bearing in mind that my antibody response to my current three shots has been zilch, is it really worth me having another?

Common-sense says "have another jab, it might work". Common-sense also says "don't waste a jab that someone else might need"

Anyway, here's a thing:

 

Immunity

"This plan may sound appealing to people who know a little about the immune system, but the drawbacks are clear to people who know a lot about the immune system and also to people who don't know anything about it."

Posted under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License (see here).

Go ahead, make my day

Posted by on December 11th 2021 in A bit of a rant, COVID-19, Health, or lack thereof, Shielding
Tags: ,

A question for all those unjustifiably-unmasked and/or unjustifiably-unvaccinated punks out there...

Those of us who care deeply for our health and for the health of those around us, but who have no Covid-resistance despite three jabs, are now having to take drastic measures way beyond having a couple of tiny needles and wearing a simple face-covering.

Two days ago my haematologist advised me to shield again, even though the powers-that-be haven't declared it to be their official policy... yet.
Feel free to whinge and whine all you like about your rights and about your jolly Christmas piss-up being "deferred" - I won't give a flying fuck, as I'll be stuck at home for the third consecutive Christmas.
If I absolutely must go anywhere where there's a risk, I have to wear an FFP3 mask. Here's mine:

 

 

To be fair it's a blessing in disguise. The good thing about this mask is that the incoming aerosol filtration is "not less than 99%" effective, so there's little chance of anyone's Covid-bugs getting in. The best thing about this mask is that it has a simple outgoing air valve with no filtration whatsoever, so if I do get infected there's a huge chance that I'll infect you if you're too close and unmasked.

So the next time you get too close and you fancy your chances, you've gotta ask yourself a question: "Do I feel lucky?"

Well, do ya, punk?

House of Games

Posted by on November 19th 2021 in Health, or lack thereof, Video (YouTube, Vimeo etc.)
Tags:

Highbrow

This morning I got the result of yesterday's Covid PCR test which was done because our household had been in prolonged close contact with someone who later tested positive.

My result was negative. Later, the others reported negative results.

Lowbrow

This afternoon I got the result of LRI Hambleton's SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection test (the test that counts my Covid antibody copies which should be created in response to three doses of vaccine). Obviously, the higher the count, the greater the response, and the more robust the resistance.

My count?

Zero. Zilch. Nada. Jack. Sweet fuck all.

We're expecting turbulence so buckle-up, it's likely to get a bit rough.

 

Light blue touch-paper, retire to a safe distance.

Posted by on January 7th 2021 in A bit of a rant, Health, or lack thereof
Tags: ,

Time and again I've told both the GP and the haematology consultants that neither can access, or be bothered to access, the records of the other when it comes to my meds, my clinical notes, my test results or my appointments. Time and again they have refuted my assertion. Time and again I've provided proof (and there's a lot of it), but they still insist that there's no comms issue.

You may well ask: "where's he going with this?"

Well, here's the latest. I'll try to break it into bite-size chunks so that it's easy to process (yes, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust Booking Office, I'm aiming this mainly at you)...

Last year, Leicester Glenfield set me up with a cardiology follow-up clinic, I was to go in to see The Professor on Wednesday 13th January 2021 @ 11:15. A few weeks back I got a letter telling me to stay at home, they would do a phone clinic instead, time and date unchanged.

Well, that's all fine and dandy for them, but seeing as I have to attend Leicester Royal for a haematology clinic at 11:30 the same day, I won't be staying at home, I'll probably still be driving to Leicester at 11:15. I've informed both Glenfield and the Royal, but so far nothing has changed.

Clearly they can't work together as a team even though they are both parts of the same NHS Trust, and allegedly share the same appointments database, but I've become used to banging my head against hard surfaces while trying to get them to wake up and smell the coffee.

But this afternoon I lost it big-time...

The postie delivered yet another NHS-branded envelope. I was hoping that it would be an invitation to get the COVID-jab, or maybe even a rearranged appointment for the cardio clinic, but no, it's an appointment for "MRI Internal auditory meatus Both".

And yes, you've guessed it, the appointment is set for Wednesday 13th. This one is at 08:00 and it's at Hinckley & Bosworth Community Hospital.

One morning, three appointments, three hospitals, one NHS Trust with no coordination. The front-line staff are heroic, but the booking admins are appalling.

Oh, and one more thing. My records state that I don't react well to the contrast agent that they'll probably want to put into me for the MRI scan, I usually end up having rigors, oxygen and a hospital bed for the night. That'll banjax the rest of the day good and proper.

On the 13th, if anyone tries to pull me over to tell me that I'm breaking the stay-at-home laws, there might be fireworks.

 

Catch-up #5

Posted by on February 25th 2020 in Health, or lack thereof, Rambling on...

November 2019...

Watched more Rugby.

Attended the village's War Memorial on 11/11 with CJR as we always do, to pay our respects to The Fallen.

Transit of Mercury 11/11 - started at 12:35 - crap weather, so I couldn't observe it. I'll try to hang around for the next one... in 2032.

Several clinics. Skin GvHD is now Grade 2... most hard-earned body-hair lost again... steroid pills augmented with steroid cream and skin-rehydrating lotions, creams and bath oils. I'm now a fully-signed-up soap-dodger!

14/11: Went to GP to make an appointment for the flu jab and for childhood vaccinations, they denied having received a schedule/prescription from LRI. 15/11: Phoned Hambleton, was told that the vaccinations schedule/prescription had been raised and sent.

21/11: Went to GP to make an appointment for the flu jab and for childhood vaccinations, they denied having received a schedule/prescription from LRI. 22/11: Phoned Hambleton, was told that the vaccinations schedule/prescription had been raised and sent.

28/11: Went to GP to make an appointment for the flu jab and for childhood vaccinations, again they denied having received a schedule/prescription from LRI. 29/11: Phoned Hambleton 3 times, turned out that the vaccinations schedule/prescription had NOT been raised and sent even though the jabs were due to start around November 1st and I'd been reminding them about it since September so that I could get the appointments booked before the jabs were due. Turns out that my lack of confidence in the process hadn't been misplaced after all. Fruity invective was applied - I suspect that it didn't make me any less vulnerable to Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis, Polio, Hib, Hep b, Pneumococcal, Men A, Men B, Men C, Men W, Men Y and seasonal flu, but it made me feel better and no needles were involved.

Black Friday Deals... I'll cover that subject in the December 2019 catch-up post. Stay tuned.

 

Catch-up #4

Posted by on February 18th 2020 in Health, or lack thereof, Rambling on...

Here we go... October 2019...

To be fair, there's not much else to add to what's already been posted.

Attended Glenfield Cardio clinic for an ECG test to check for damage caused by the SCT treatment, everything was OK, nothing to worry about.

The car passed its MOT Test yet again. Two days later it blew a headlight bulb. A week later it blew the other one. Go figure.

Ella got Shingles, she found out about it after she'd visited us, so I had to go back to LRI for tests and to be given industrial-grade antivirals in case I'd been infected. My test results came back negative, but the pills-change made me feel crappy for a few days. After some R&R and some standard antivirals, Ella had recovered.

The Virgin Media SuperHub emitted a muffled bang, smoke, and a smell of burning electronics, all web access was lost. Tested the Hub with a replacement power supply... nothing. Tested the original power-supply with a multi-meter... it was fine. Reunited the Hub with the original power-supply... nothing. Phoned VM, explained, they did diagnostics from their end and declared that the Hub's internal power board had blown so they raised an order for a new Hub to be sent out and told me to disconnect and remove the duff kit just to be safe. As I was removing the Hub from the shelf to disconnect it I dropped it on the bookcase, and it started working. So much for remote diagnostic testing, eh? I called VM again to cancel the replacement, they confirmed cancellation but a day later the allegedly-cancelled replacement arrived anyway. Conclusion? VM's internal communications systems and diagnostic testing systems are shite. Oh, and the old Hub continues to work better than it ever did before the incident.

Passed the six-months post-SCT milestone. Clinic staff took the usual clinic blood samples for the usual clinic tests, patched the needle-hole and sent me to the waiting room to wait for the doc. After seeing the doc I was about to leave when I was called back in... they'd forgotten to take the extra blood samples for the extended tests that they do at six-months post-SCT. Another hole-in-the-arm later, I managed to escape.

Watched a lot of Rugby.

We had been planning another epic bonfire/firework party but had to abort due to me being infection-prone and not being able to do much due to ongoing issues with GvHD.

 
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