Health Update–September 2014

Following my last health update, I have been taking the Omeprazole for some time now, and it definitely seems to be helping with the reflux, although I am still aware of something at the back of my throat. I am not coughing as much, and haven’t been disturbed at night by acid in my throat, but the GP said I should definitely see the ENT surgeon just to make sure everything was OK.

I had my hospital appointment today, and after a brief consultation he shone a light in my mouth, and palpated my neck. I thought that was going to be it, but no… he then sprayed some local anaesthetic up my nostril and proceeded to poke a light up my nose!! It was very small, on the end of a flexible tube, but despite the local anaesthetic, it felt like a lamp-post! It was pretty unpleasant. My nasal passages are apparently very narrow (which would explain why my nose is so often blocked). He said he needed to examine my vocal cords and the back of my throat in general, and said that there was still evidence of reflux there.

He prescribed Gaviscon Advance for six weeks, and said to continue with the Omeprazole, and then see my GP. The Gaviscon puts a blanket layer over the top of the stomach contents, and along with the acid-reducing Omeprazole, this should sort the problem. He also recommended propping the head of the bed up on bricks to elevate my upper body so my hubby is going to sort that – although what it will look like I don’t know – it’s a four-poster and might look like a ship on the high seas!

I saw the gastroenterologist a few weeks ago about my ulcerative colitis, and he continues to be pleased with my condition, which is responding well to the Pentasa medication. I had thought that my next colonoscopy wouldn’t be until August 2015 (two years after my first one) but he wants me to have it in February, which will be something nice to look forward to after Christmas (not…)!

Following a recent blood test, I have been told I am still mildly anaemic, so continuing with the iron for another few weeks. I am probably bleeding from the bowel although I’m not aware of it, but it could be enough to lower my haemoglobin sufficiently to need medication.

I bought a circulation booster from Ebay and it really helped with the swollen ankles. Now the weather has cooled off, the problem really isn’t so bad, and I have stopped using the machine for now, but it’s there if I need it.

Since my recent heart attack, I haven’t really been feeling myself – not exactly depressed, but feeling under the weather and a bit down, and rather unsettled. This is very unlike me because I’m usually very upbeat and bubbly. My creative mojo seems to have departed a bit recently, too. I had put it down to the constant low-level stress I suffer from with Mum in the house, but the other day I thought to myself that whenever I’ve had a day feeling like this, after a good night’s sleep the feeling generally disappears, but recently this has not happened. I mentioned it to my hubby at this point, and he said he wished I’d said something before, because he knows that it is very common indeed for people to get depression after a heart attack. I had no idea, but since then have spoken to several people who have experienced it. My hubby told me to Google it, and 18,900,000 search results appeared!!! He said, “Well, get reading then…” and I said if I read all that lot I’d be severely depressed by the end, not to mention still being at it well into the New Year!! It made me feel a lot better knowing that this was quite normal, and although I felt very down a couple of days ago, I’m feeling very much better again today.

I think I have to accept that it’s going to take time, and that my whole system suffered more of a shock than I was aware of. The most important thing is not to worry, and to know that it will pass. I don’t feel it’s bad enough to approach the doctor with.

My M.E. is ongoing, of course, and fluctuates from day to day, but there’s nothing new to report there, except to say that the dry mouth problem was probably a recurrence of this very common M.E. symptom, which has now gone into abeyance again. I have been continuing with the Sterimar routine before bed, and making sure my nose is as clear as possible before I go to sleep, and this is helping.

Ending on a cheerful note, I have been doing the 5:2, or “Fast” diet since our return from holiday towards the end of June, and am happy to report that this is the most brilliant diet I’ve ever been on. Because you reduce your calorie intake on only two days a week, and eat normally for the rest of the week, it is sustainable. Having to watch one’s diet every day, and deprive oneself of all the things one enjoys, soon becomes very tedious, and this is why so many people give up, especially when the weight loss tends to plateau, sometimes for several weeks.

I have had a three or four week plateau when I lost no weight, but I’ve stuck with it, and over the past couple of weeks, the weight loss has started again, resulting in a further half-stone coming off! I have now lost a total of 1 1/2 stone since June, and I am highly delighted. It doesn’t seem to be showing much – at least, not where I want it to (my stomach and bum) but one or two people have asked me if I’ve lost weight as it’s showing round my face, apparently!

So, generally speaking, I am pleased with how things are going. I am hoping that will be the last of the hospital visits for the rest of this year, at least for myself!

Mum, on the other hand, seems to be constantly going to the hospital or GP surgery these days. She had a TIA (transient ischaemic attack, or mini-stroke) a little while ago and has been undergoing tests since then, resulting in a diagnosis of atrial fibrillation (AF) and she is now on Warfarin, necessitating a weekly blood test until they stabilise the dose. Her blood pressure continues to be very high, and she is therefore at increased risk of another TIA or more serious stroke. She has bashed her leg again… and a few weeks ago, Phoebe, one of our kitties, scratched her arm, both of which needed an A&E visit and dressings which required changing – each time she has such an injury to her paper-thin skin, she digs her heels in and refuses point-blank to go to the hospital and we have to go through the whole process every time, of my hubby getting really stroppy with her and bullying her into submission! She never learns… she has no idea how serious such things can be at her age (93), and how they could easily get infected and lead to ulceration and worse. Oh well, my sister can deal with it for 10 days – we are currently enjoying a lovely break! After everything that’s happened recently, I think we deserve it – my hubby especially, as he is the one who has to drive her, and pick up all the prescriptions, etc.

WOYWW 265

For details of how to join in the world’s most famous nosey fest, click on the WOYWW icon in my sidebar, which will take you to our hostess Julia’s blog, where all will be revealed.

Now we are back from our holiday and over all my hubby’s retirement celebrations, I hope I can now return to WOYWW on a regular basis. Here’s what my desk looked like late on Tuesday evening:

As you can see, I am working on my recycled mini-album, and I’ve done a few pages now. It is resting on a nice scratch paper which is developing well into a usable background sheet, and to the right is a similar piece, a sheet of kitchen paper that I’ve used for mopping up with. It’s nice enough to use for a background now, and it will eventually be incorporated into the album.

You can see from the picture how the borders are working on the pages which decrease in size to the centre of each signature. If you look carefully, you can see on the right hand page, one of the gorgeous little bicycle die-cuts which Julia (our WOYWW hostess) sent me a while back – it began life as lime green card, but with the application of a bit of Tea Dye Distress Ink, some careless application of gel medium and finally some copper gilding wax, it’s ended up with a nice texture and colour and looks lovely and vintage!

There’s a little tag between the innermost pages of the signature, the sides of which I have glued together to form a pocket for the tag. A semi-circular punched hole allows for the whole of the tag puller to be visible.

Surrounding the album you can see the various gel mediums, acrylic paints, brushes and ink pads etc. that I’m using in the project. Just visible on the right is a pile of stamps which I may or may not be using in the project (mostly background stamps).

Please see my previous post for further details and pictures.

Also this week I’ve started editing quite a lot of raw video from recent projects so hopefully I shall be uploading some videos to my Youtube channel again soon, and updating my blog accordingly. The trouble is, making and editing a video of a project seems to take longer than the project itself!!

An update on my recent health update – the result of my blood test did reveal that I was anaemic (probably as a result of bleeding from one end or the other – there may be bleeding from the throat inflammation caused by the acid reflux, and I’m almost certainly bleeding from the other end as a result of the ulcerative colitis) so I am back on iron again. I have also been on the 5:2 diet for a week now, and in just one week, with two days’ partial fast, I have lost 5 lb!! At this rate I shall be skinny in six months! This diet is definitely do-able, because you only have to eat less on two days a week (reducing your intake to 500 cals max) and the rest of the time you eat normally.

Happy WOYWW everyone, and may the coming week be creative and productive for you all.

Health Update

I had an appointment with my GP (family doctor) this morning, following on from my recent hospital appointment – I have been having problems with my mouth and throat. I suffer from a dry mouth especially at night, and this is probably partly due to my M.E. and partly due to nasal congestion – I have to spend some time every night clearing my nasal passages with Sterimar (an aerosol saline solution). Also, I had a throat infection back in February and since then I have not been able to throw off a chronic irritating cough, the production of mucus and a constant feeling of a lump of catarrh at the back of my throat which I am unable to clear.

My hubby has been telling me lately that I am making a lot of noise while asleep – not exactly snoring but a sound as if I am struggling to get enough breath.

I mentioned the lump in my throat to the hospital doctor but she couldn’t find anything and only recommended continuing with the saline spray to clear my nose and prevent mouth breathing, which should help the dry mouth. She ruled out Sjorgren’s Syndrome.

The GP was very helpful, and agreed it didn’t sound like obstructive sleep apnoea which my hubby suffers from – she asked if he could hear me stopping breathing altogether when asleep, which he couldn’t, and I don’t suffer from the same daytime sleepiness which featured so strongly in his condition before he started with the CPAP breathing mask.

She asked if I suffered from acid reflux, and when I said yes – I get bouts of this and according to my GP where we used to live, this is probably caused by my M.E. and is the result of the sphincter at the top of my stomach not closing properly. The GP today said all my symptoms were characteristic of reflux – the acid contents of the stomach can cause inflammation and irritation at the top of the oesophagus and give rise to a feeling of swelling and a chronic cough. She has prescribed Omeprazole, a slow-release medication which reduces the acid concentration in the stomach, for the next four weeks, and we have to see how it goes. If it works properly, it should prevent the reflux and give my throat a chance to recover. If the symptoms persist, she will refer me to an ear, nose and throat specialist who will take a proper look at my throat, and take it from there, with any treatment based on what they find.

I also mentioned my swollen ankles, and she confirmed what my old GP said, that I should keep my legs elevated as much as possible, but obviously I can’t be on the recliner all day as there are other things to do when I’m well enough! She said that my lack of mobility is the main cause, because walking exercises the calf muscles and keeps the blood flowing, and without it, blood plasma can leak out from the blood vessels and pool in the tissues, causing the oedema and discomfort. She said that it was most unlikely that my left bundle branch block (chronic heart condition) would have any effect – since being less mobile this condition has been completely asymptomatic and I tend to forget all about it. She said being female was against me, and also the heat – both of which exacerbate problems with swollen ankles. She said support stockings might help but I said they would be terribly hot – I wore my travel socks when we drove up to our holiday venue, which helped, but I did get very hot! She was reluctant to put me on diuretics because they would make me pee more, and could cause more M.E.-type symptoms, and would not be good for long-term use in my case. She ordered a blood test for anaemia, which is common in people with ulcerative colitis because of continuous low-level loss of blood, and which can cause ankle oedema. I asked about those circulation booster machines, and she said it certainly might help, and would do no harm. Looking them up on the Internet, they are pretty expensive, so I am now watching one on Ebay and hope the price doesn’t rise too high!

So now I am waiting for the result of the haemoglobin test, and for the end of the four-week period on the new medication, and we will see what happens. I am very pleased with our new doctors’ surgery – my new GP is extremely efficient, really listens, is friendly, and takes all these various niggles seriously. Untreated, reflux can increase one’s risk of developing throat cancer so it should not be ignored. I am happy that I can hope to feel a lot better soon, because something is being done about it.

Today I weighed myself for the first time for ages and was absolutely horrified! I have never been so heavy. I knew I’d put on a lot recently, and going on holiday and having lots of meals out, and starting each day with a full English breakfast and delicious home made scones probably hasn’t helped, but it’s given me the impetus to try and do something about it, so starting tomorrow, I am going on the Fast Diet (intermittent 5:2 fast where two days per week you consume a maximum of 500 calories, and eat normally the rest of the time) – I know several people on this diet and the results have been dramatic. Losing some weight should improve my health all round, I think.