Foxes....(and other ramblings)

Andrew took this video clip from our upstairs window a couple of weeks ago. He had looked out at 7am and saw two adult foxes with two fox cubs playing in next doors garden! The cubs were really cute and were rolling around with each other, enjoying the early morning sunshine. Of course with all the bad press foxes have had recently mum was horrified by the video and would like me to batten down the hatches ;-) Despite the fence I know the foxes can jump into our garden because I have seen them during the night and they also leave evidence of large foot prints in the vegetable beds where they jump the fence! I therefore don't let Seb out early morning or late evening on his own (he probably does look like a tasty rabbit) but I still think it is fascinating seeing these animals so close up.

fox (click image for video link)

I had a quiet weekend after a rather hectic week. The weather was quite overcast but we did manage to do some garden tidying which seems a never ending task in the summer and visit mum and dad for some free dinner.  We have not had any news about the building warrant yet but hopefully it wont be too much longer and we can get started on the extension this year!

Friday was a very reflective day as I attended the funeral of a fellow colleague with CF. He was in my year at university and we both ended up in the field of psychiatry. He had been doing well on this path, having passed his membership exams last year and also getting married. I heard the sad news about his death from my friend, who is also a psychiatrist, and we both attended the service along with some other colleagues. We did not know each other very well, and in fact, were kept segregated at university due to cross infection risks but of course I also knew him through CF clinic and I always thought it so unusual that we should both be in the same year at medical school. It gives me a stark reminder of what a devastating illness CF still is and how lucky I am to have been given this second chance. Life is indeed short and I am so glad to be still living it, loving it and sharing it with the amazing friends and family around me. (and seb :-))

I am Alive!

As predicted in my blog the last 2 weeks have been super busy and this week has so far continued on a similar thread. I had a conference on Bipolar disorder a couple of weeks ago, which was really interesting although took up my days off - need to try and get some time back.  Then last week I had a 2 day course on suicide prevention which actually wasn't very helpful because it was covering things I already do in every day practice.  It has been rolled out as an initiative to meet government targets of reducing suicide rates by 20%.  It is a great target and we should work towards this - but the course wasn't really aimed at people working on the front line with mental health.  Anyway, I did attend for the full course and got my lovely certificate and I wont say any more on the matter!

The last weekend was rather hectic as it was Johns (my father in law) 60th birthday party.  There was a bit of a Beatles theme going on with an amazing Beatles cake (made by mums cousin's daughter - see her website) and myself and Andrew had made The Beatles themed invites with John's head photo shopped on the Abbey Road album cover.  We wanted to do a comedy sized head but he wouldn't let us ;-)   He also had CD coasters with The Beatles album covers (although people would be sadly disappointed if they took them home thinking they actually had The Beatles music on them haha).    The party was a big success and everyone had a great night.  I danced away, despite stupidly high heels, and had a fab time.  John of course had an even better time :-)

Birthday boy speech - with banner looking like a giant arrow pointing him out!

It was a 1am finish so we were pretty tired the next day, especially after I didn't sleep too well.  But then I got a text from my friend offering myself and Andrew spare Paul McCartney tickets for the Sunday night at Hampden!!  I couldn't really turn down such an offer so we headed back home asap (not so subtledly hurrying up poor Andrews gran as we were giving her a lift home) got organised and managed to work out a train route to avoid trying to park.  The train was mobbed and some guy wearing a waterproof jacket (it was about 21c!) was completely stuck to my back as we stood just beside the doors - I had to literally peel myself off - euggggh!  Anyway, the concert was fantastic and a great experience.  He played for over 2.5 hours solid and covered all his most popular work, including a lot of earlier Beatles songs that he had written.  Given what I said above about John's love of The Beatles we did feel a bit guilty, especially in his 60th birthday year.  Guilty enough to send some picture texts telling him how truly awful it was ;-)

This week was off to a bad start with what I think was food poisoning on Monday.  I thought I was dying!!  I had been fine all Sunday but about an hour after going to bed I woke up absolutely freezing cold and shaking violently and couldn't stop.  I knew I had a fever but couldn't move to get paracetamol so instead took the sensible decision of crying quietly to myself (and then gradually getting louder) until Andrew woke up.  I don't know why I didn't just wake him - this didn't seem to occur to me at the time.  My temp was nearly 39 which is really high for me (even in my pre transplant days) so I was quite worried.  I was telling Andrew to look for a rash in case I had meningitis (I am a complete drama queen) but then was shouting at him for pulling back the covers because I was so cold.  I am a nightmare ;-)  Clearly I did not have meningitis but did feel lousy for the next 24 hours with bit of dodgy stomach and ongoing temperature, but then equally as quickly as it started, it then stopped and I woke up on Tuesday feeling fine!!  Just as well because I had an 8.30am appointment with the diabetic nurse..sigh. 

I have since been feeling fine other than being more tired this week.  The appointment with diabetic nurse went ok and she thought my sugars weren't too bad.  We are having another joint appointment with the dietician tomorrow to work out my insulin to carbohydrate ratio.  Fun fun.  She did give me another two blood monitors though because my one was being dodgy, and then I phoned to report the dodgy one to the company and they are sending me another two as well!  I suppose I could have told them I had extra but thought I could maybe leave one at work and one in the car.

So this weekend I need to finish making my uncles birthday invites and also make some power point slides for audit presentations next week.  And maybe get some sunshine too :-)

Where did the sun go?

I was just starting to enjoy all the nice sunshine when it disappeared again!  Saturday was a lovely day and we were at my friends fundraising BBQ.  Lee and Ali are taking part in the Caledonian challenge this year which involves walking 54 miles in 24 hours with hills amounting to having climbed Ben Nevis twice.  I am tired even thinking about it.   The group is called Gin'll Fix It  - although I am not sure gin will be enough after that kind of challenge.  The money raised is for the Scottish Community Foundation which funds community groups and initiatives throughout Scotland - a lesser known but very important charity.   The BBQ was a big success and the sunny weather certainly added to the day :-)

I have been steadily working away on the CF booklet and have finished three chapters now and Emily is also working on a couple at the moment.  There is still a lot to cover although I have tackled some of the larger topics first and I certainly am much quicker than last time as I more used to the publishing programme and have learnt from the many mistakes I made!  I have spent a lot of time researching topics but my CF team have also been very helpful in proof reading and contributing to the booklet - making sure I am not away on some tangent ;-)

Work has been busy and I really do need to look at my ever expanding case load and see if I can discharge anyone.  I see two new people a week and often some crisis patients - but I don't discharge 2 people per week so it keeps growing and growing!!  It can be difficult because most of my patients have chronic illness but it can be argued that they don't all need followed up and instead could be referred if further problems develop.  It's difficult to strike the balance.  I have also been doing an audit at work on rates of non-attendance for first appointments which are somewhere between 30-50% each month!  That is a lot of wasted hours on our behalf and only serves to lengthen the waiting list due to rebooking people who miss appointments.   There are many reasons people don't attend but most commonly it is non engagement with the idea of coming to clinic - eg. the GP has suggested it but the patient really wasn't that keen.   An opt in system where the patient is invited to phone and book an appointment can help with this problem and is something I think we could consider.  We have audit presentations next month so I will see what the other resource centres are doing and what experiences they have with this system.  Maybe I should just start running the whole show ;-)

The next two weeks are really busy because I have a conference this thurs/frid and then training the following thurs/frid so my days off have disappeared.  I am off today however and although I needed to visit the hospital for some routine bloods this morning, I am now heading off to meet my friend for lunch - it's a tough life indeed :-)  I will leave you with some pics when I have been out with Seb recently...

There is quite a drop down to the river from this bridge - Seb likes to jump onto the bridge and peer over...

Action shot:  Seb running back after having a wee drink in the river!

Lovely woodland - only 5 minutes from my house..

Seb being asked to sit and wait while a cyclist passes - he is rather intense!

At the country park at 9.30 am on a Saturday ..... I think I might be solar powered :-)

Perfect Patient

I had a glowing report at transplant clinic so now have a 6 month reprieve until my next visit - can't believe it will be nearly Christmas when I go back!  My oxygen levels were 100%,  blood pressure spot on and lung function was exactly the same as last time at 107% (2.99L).    For some reason my lung function is always lower at CF clinic  - probably just a different machine and also at transplant clinic the lady turns the monitor round so I can see the graph as I blow which I think helps me do even better.   It does however make me quite anxious as I am never sure if there has been a drop or if it's just the machine - I hadn't realised how anxious I was until after the lung function tests were over!  When I went into see the Prof he had a visiting surgeon from Barcelona with him and he said they had just been sitting admiring my chest x-ray.  It's quite sad when I take that as a huge compliment haha.   I also asked about pain meds for the joints and there are some anti-inflammatory I might be able to use if it gets really bad but I would need my kidney function monitored at the same time.  I am just going to stick with the regime I use for my sinuses but good to know I have other options as they are being rather troublesome at the moment.  

Anyway, overall I couldn't have asked for a better report so am more than happy and continue to be amazed by this wonderful gift.  I also managed to pop up and see Victoria on the transplant ward and she was looking great!  She is progressing really well and is now moving to the flats so will hopefully be heading home soon.  Great to hear another success story and it does illustrate the need for more donors and the dramatic change it can make to someone's life.