Thursday 20 September 2012

Dentists And Deliveries

Well for the first time since my holiday started I had to rush to get up today as I had an appointment for my six monthly check up at the dentist. Thankfully my teeth were deemed to be 'in great shape' so I'm safe for another six months.

While in town we went to pick up a few bits and pieces and returned home to find I'd miss a delivery from my oxygen company. I am annoyed about this as I'd specifically arranged to have my oxygen delivered in the afternoon because of my dental appointment. Now I'm going to have to rearrange a delivery, probably for next week, luckily I still have a full bottle of travel oxygen left so there is no emergency about it all. It just really annoys me that I went to the trouble of actually telling  them when I was not going to be in and they still tried to deliver it at that time.

I am getting so excited about my scooter now, I've already made a list of things I want to do when it arrives. The first thing will be a trip around the village so I can check out if there are any limitations. If I am very lucky I will have it by Saturday but I think it is more likely to arrive early next week. I just hope it gets here before Tuesday so it can accompany me on our trip away.

There has been an extremely interesting debate on the PH group page these last few days and I thought I'd share it with you because I find the whole subject fascinating.

There is a gentleman who is claiming that he can control his PH symptoms through diet alone. Now we all know that diet is really important and diet can cure some types of diabetes in some people but can diet really change the health of those of us with more serious illnesses? I have to say I am rather skeptical about this. I am not saying this man is lying, I would never do that because I have suffer too many times at the hands of the 'it hasn't happened to me so cannot be true' brigade myself and it isn't pleasant. I am however questioning that if this is possible, and he says his specialists agree that it has helped, then why aren't all PH sufferers getting diet advice? I think most of my fellow PH sufferers will agree that the most advice we get on diet is to lose or gain a few pounds and don't eat broccoli or cranberries if on Warfarin.

His diet does seem incredibly restrictive, no red meat, alcohol, starch rich foods such as potato, bread and rice and a large intake of things such as Ginko Biloba, Ginseng and Hawthorn. A typical breakfast would be celery sticks and black coffee with lunch of chicken or fish. In fact apart from the rice and pasta his diet isn't a million miles away from my own, though I don't take the herbal supplements as I've been told they can negate the effectiveness of some drugs and I never drink coffee.

Naturally there has been a lively debate with views coming in from all angles but incredibly no argument, which is probably a first. The consensus is that we are all going to discuss this with our specialists when we next see them. Which is wise as I don't think any of us is stupid enough to ditch our regular treatments to give this a go, though I suspect some might try it alongside their normal medications.

So what do I really think? Well I am a great believer that food can make a difference, by that I mean watching your weight, getting your five a day, not eating too much fat, salt and sugar to stay as healthy as possible but I can't see it curing me. If this gentleman believes it works for him and his specialist centre is OK with it then I say good on him. I suppose it could help with symptoms, or even slow progress of the illness down, in the very early stages but I doubt it will make a blind bit of difference to people in the WHO (World Health Organisation) class 4 such as myself. When you reach this stage it'll take more than a stick of celery and a multivitamin to put things into reverse. I'm still going to run it past my consultant when I next see him though.

I am mortified because I trod on Tarmac this morning.

I was being naughty and carrying the laundry basket downstairs when Tarmac tried to shoot past me and I trod on his back paw. Unfortunately it was one of those 'him or me' moments where if I hadn't trodden on him I'd have ended up in a heap at the bottom of the stairs. Poor Pussy, he squealed terribly and limped for a while afterwards but he seems fine now and has obviously forgiven me as he is currently curled up asleep on my lap. It will be extra treats, a bowl of milk and a very big cuddle this afternoon.

Talking of cats the news the story that caught my today is the hilarious tale of Dennis, the black and white cat burglar. This two year old kitty steals practically anything he can get his paws on and carry. He has nicked everything from underpants to sponges and is so well known in his local area that people go straight to his owners if they find anything missing. I don't know whether to wish I had a cat like that or be glad that I don't. I suppose it is always funnier when it is happening to someone else.

Ah well, better call the oxygen people and arrange another delivery, damn it.

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