R.E.S.P.E.C.T

It is me again! I am trying to update more often so that I don't have to write epic entries when I do finally get round to it. I have said this before though and it never lasts (or I just write epic entries more often).

I had really horrible couple of days at work this week and it is at these times I wonder why I do the job I do. I can't really talk about the specifics of work on my blog (confidentiality and all that) but it was basically about having to take abuse from patients. One involved a torrent of very personal insults and the second was a very angry threatening behaviour incident where I was rather scared and did half the consultation standing beside the clinic door, hand on handle. In psychiatry I am used to seeing lots of illness driven behaviour where people are really not responsible for their actions and it goes over the top of my head but these particular incidents were nothing to do with illness. I suppose it is actually the same for anyone working with the public and doctors are unfortunately not immune. The time of people having some respect for doctors is long gone and there is even less respect for psychiatrists (in fact most people don't even know we are doctors). It's not that I think doctors should have special respect but just the kind of respect anyone would expect to be treated with - after all I am doing the job because I care about people and I genuinely want to help them. It's not all bad though and I guess it all makes for a varied working life...or something.

I also managed to have coffee with my friend this week and Seb was very embarrassing. 10 minutes after her arrival he appeared with her boot from the hallway as no one was paying him any attention. I took that off him and gave him a toy. 5 minutes later he appeared with the other boot. I shut him in the room with us and gave him another toy. He then got out his toy phone and started ringing it then looking around to see if we were looking (it is a soft toy phone that rings instead of squeaks). This is what he does when he is really attention seeking. Eventually he fell asleep but on wakening he decided it was dinner time and disappeared to the kitchen where he started rattling his bowl loudly as a signal he wanted dinner. I ignored this but then two minutes later he was drumming loudly on the utility room door where the food is kept and then came back into the living room and stood and stared....and stared....and stared. He likes to get his message across. It is like having a small naughty child in my house.

Anyway that is a long enough update I think :-) I have a quiet weekend planned so hopefully can just chill out a bit before another week begins..

Hammer down on £1, 298

Ah well, the deal is done - I have actually forked out the above sum for travel insurance. I never thought I would see the day! I spoke with another specialist broker who did reassure me that as long as I stay out of trouble in another couple of months (once over a year since last admission) I will be eligible for the normal Fortis policy which is under £100 worldwide. Galling to miss out by only a matter of weeks but at the same time I am reassured that my travelling days are not over. Anyway my family have rallied round to help me with the costs so I have not been left to sort this out by myself. Families who love you are rather good things to have...

So now I can start to get seriously excited! I have pre booked tickets for Kennedy Space centre and 2 days passes for Disney. I am thinking probably Magic Kingdom and Epcot would be my choices in those 2 days. I am not really into roller coasters etc so Epcot more my style...and you can't seriously go to Disney without seeing Mickey Mouse at the Magic Kingdom haha. The tickets arrived last week and the Disney ones are like plastic swipe cards with Disney characters on them. My first reaction was to point to the Pluto one saying 'that one is mine, that one is mine!' which was perhaps a little childish ;- )

I am doing a lot of work on the CF Body Image booklet. We have completed our survey with over 150 respondents, so I am now looking at the results of this and trying to pull out some useful statistic from them. It is really quite interesting so far - especially around weight issues. I would love to do a proper study comparing CF people and their weight/eating issues with a control group from the general population - maybe one day I will get to do this through work perhaps. So this little project will fill some of my days off for a while....in between meeting people for coffee of course. The other big project is my father in laws birthday invites. These are top secret however although production has now begun....

Trials and Tribulations

The saga of the last two weeks has been travel insurance. I have phoned around 15 companies (all who specialise in pre existing conditions) and was refused cover by all except one who would cover me for ....£2,400. More than the holiday cost! I had looked into insurance before we decided on Florida and had a policy sussed out where I would pass the initial medical screen thereby not needing to answer in more detail. However one of the questions was about seeing a specialist in last 3 months other than regular check ups. Of course I was at the new pain consultant a few weeks ago and although this is for a chronic problem they did not accept this as a regular check up (this was after much to-ing and fro-ing and discussion with managers etc). What really makes me angry is that I was referred back in October last year but the referral got lost...which is the only reason I had that appointment within 3 months of my trip. Grrrrrr!! Also what I have found to be very ironic is that the transplant is not what causes the insurance problems - it is the CF! The condition that is now least likely to cause me to claim on holiday. Freeman transplant unit are also the only ones in UK who do routine bronchoscopy in the first year - so all those 1 night admissions are counting against me even though it was for testing only. Anyway after some more phone calls the broker I am using has managed to (hopefully) get the £2,400 policy for closer to £1,200. I have yet to see this policy in writing though. I cannot believe that this 2 week saga has altered my perception so much that I now think £1,200 is actually a good quote!!! I think I will be holidaying in Europe for the foreseeable future ;-)

After all that stress it was just as well me and mum had a wee trip to Stobo Castle booked last week as part of our Christmas. We headed over on Thursday afternoon, got straight into the fluffy white bathrobes and floated about the spa for the rest of the day. I had an Indian head massage on the Thursday and a french facial on the Friday morning. The facial was nicer actually as you are lying down and they also do a face/head massage, where as you are sitting up for the Indian head massage which actually started to hurt my back (kind of defeats the purpose). The therapist said my shoulders were so tight she couldn't really make much headway with them but they also had these amazing water jets (like a very very strong shower) in the spa area which really helped my shoulders and neck - although I did keep getting knocked over as it was so strong. I kid you not. The food was lovely and you get to go down to breakfast in your bath robe which I liked :-) I would definitely go back again and would love to stay two nights next time for the ultimate in relaxation. We might start saving now..

Last week we went to a play (The Ching Room and the Moira Monologues) at the Citizens Theatre - it was being directed by someone I went to primary school with so we thought it would be nice to go along. This friend left for Canada at the end of primary and I have not seen her since, until she added me on facebook! We caught up for a quick catch up after the show and it was really nice to see her again....and really strange to find that I recognised her immediately. Apparently I have not changed much since primary school either haha....apart from not having the pony tail with the white ribbon any more ;-) When we were at primary school we spent an entire year making a series of Vampire plays, enrolling various classmates and then performing them for the teacher. Sacha was a key instigator in this so I wasn't surprised to hear she ended up doing theatre studies. Clearly I wasn't that shy at primary school either.

Seb has been getting better when I go away now although still gets huffy when he sees me packing. I actually toyed with the idea of getting another Tibetan Spaniel to keep him company when I'm at work - the breeder is looking for a retirement home for her 7 year old female Belle. I thought it would rather cute to have 'Belle and Sebastian' :-) However I guess it is twice as much work, twice as much cost and maybe he is too old and set in his ways now. I will leave you with a picture I took this morning. The washing pole was lying along the bench and Seb appears to be performing some acrobatic tight rope walking exercise.....please note the small back leg hanging casually off the side of the pole.

"Yes...is there a problem?"

The Sky's the Limit

I had my transplant clinic yesterday and achieved an all time lung function high of 107%! This is just over 3 litres - which can be compared to less than half a litre before my transplant. I never thought in my entire life I would get over 3 litres :-) They were also pleased that my blood pressure was fine (it is common to get high blood pressure due to meds), oxygen levels were 99% and x-ray looked good. An all round good report so I am allowed 4 months reprieve this time.

We discussed the problem with sinus pain and the fact I am looking at some serious pain medication now. The CF team have always wondered if my sinuses and joints have become worse due to stopping Azithromycin - this is an antibiotic but in CF people seems to have some anti inflammatory effect in the lungs and anecdotally the CF consultant has found it helps CF people with sinus problems. However it is also used as a treatment for chronic rejection post transplant so it was stopped so I could have it in reserve. The balance has seriously tipped in favour of restarting this now as my quality of life is suffering significantly, so we have decided to restart at a lower dose for a trial period of a few months - if it doesn't work then I will stop it but I can continue this if it helps. I really hope it has some effect on both my sinuses and joints as I do feel like I am destined for a life of chronic pain at the moment, which is not a pleasant thought. If it doesn't work then I have to keep in mind that I will be getting reviewed at pain clinic again so all is not lost.

I have been looking into things for us to do on our Florida trip in April - not long to go now! I have booked a mini van for dad to drive us all around :-) I have also been looking into pre booking some tickets for Disney World as you can't really go to Orlando and not visit Mickey Mouse - as I keep telling my father in law. He is not convinced but is going along with my plans hehe. I have been to Disney when I was younger - about age 10 I think - I am sure it will have changed a lot in the past 20 years but I am sure it will be great fun even as an adult. We are also looking at the Kennedy space centre and a trip to the Everglades. Ideas for what to do in the Everglades and elsewhere in the Orlando area would be much appreciated (leave message in comments section).

Not too busy a week planned. In fact I might just get time to start using my meditation CD. I am being serious. My next blog might be seriously chilled...