Tidal wave

Well it's been quite an eventful week one way or another but not stuff I really want to write about just now. I have been upping the Samento and Banderol though. After I could tolerate 10 drops each time for a couple of days, I started increasing the dose exponentially so I'm now up to 25 drops of each in the morning and 10 drops at night with no extra effect. I am starting to see little improvement too, certainly a lot of the brain fog is lifting and I have slightly more energy.

Tomorrow in London is the PHE Conference on Lyme disease. What started out looking like a seemingly boring presentation of the same old same old in relation to the new Lyme unit being set up in Hampshire, now begins to look slightly more promising with the input of Lady Mar, the LDA and real live patients. I wish I could have gone but it is just too far and too expensive by public transport and driving on my own out of the question.  Several people from a group I belong to are going so I'm looking forward to their reports afterwards. PHE have promised some transcripts and videos afterwards but I admit I'm sceptical of some of their answers to questions about these provisions put to them in advance.

With various other pieces of research coming to light now and the recent statement regarding Lyme Disease and services in the HPA (Health Protection Agency) we can begin to see a tiny chink of light at the end of a very long tunnel. The tide is starting to turn for Lyme disease but I dont expect it to be even half way in in  my lifetime.

Crocodile tears

I've had pneumonia for the last 3 weeks. On my second lot of antibiotics, the rot seems to have stopped and I am actually improving now which makes for a nice change. Once again however I am at the mercy of medication which I take 4 times a day and which must be followed by food an hour later. I tried to do it without the food and oh boy did I feel bad. So food it is, every six hours. Unable to taste anything since well before Christmas I've only been eating the barest minimum of a fairly boring diet of ham sandwiches, jelly and fruit, ice cream and the odd oven chip when WH has been catering for himself.

I've not been up to cooking, the last time I did cook was Boxing Day. So on Saturday WH really did fancy something different and something that he didn't have to provide himself so suggested an Indian meal. I remembered that we had had a new takeaway open in a neighbouring village last autumn, their menu had looked anything but the usual run of the mill and what is more they offered free delivery up to a mile radius. WH left the ordering to me, not a brilliant move as I have very little voice right now and they did have somewhat of a problem understanding me, but he was hospital visiting yet again, so I made the best of it and hoped.

Twenty minutes late the door bell rang and a charming chap whom I vaguely recognised apologised for the delay, reduced the bill and gave me a free bottle of wine, a perfectly respectable Pinot Grigio. By now we were both hungry, my meds had been taken almost 2 hours before and the need for food was getting urgent.

Wow, what food. Loads of it, nicely presented and with extras, always a good sign. It made up for the late delivery but as it was icy and snowy I certainly wasn't about to complain. I opened with seek kebab, it was manna from heaven, came with a really different dressing and a tub of green salad. WH had opted for Onion bhaji, a predictably mild choice (as expected really) but pronounced them gorgeous. For his main he had Tandoori chicken, a huge chicken half with a massive side salad and sauce and a stuffed kheema nan which was light, fluffy and full of spicy lamb. I didn't want a whole main course so had opted for another starter, one I had never heard of before, Chicken Crocodile Tears which according to the menu is apparently a Bangladeshi speciality, cubed, marinated and grilled chicken with roasted veggies in a pineapple sauce. To say it blew me away was the understatement of the century. It was divine. Maybe my taste buds had burst back into life at that precise moment, I don't know but whatever, it was the best Indian meal I've ever eaten. The 'free' popadoms with chutney were great too, the wine will have to wait until I'm off the meds.

One thing is for sure, my new year's resolution is to order Crocodile Tears from that place again (and again and again)!

NOT My Left Foot

After a day when I have to all intents and purposes become a builder's supply delivery driver, I finally got home at 4.45 only to have to rush out again to a doctor's appointment in order to find out what ails my right foot. My request for a nurse appointment to 'just have a quick look' was met with dogged insistence that I attend the branch surgery 8 miles away to have a doctor examine it immediately.

Turns out the nurse was right, I have an infection in my sole, most probably I stood on a splinter or something and it started that way. Not that I remember doing anything like that, but a definite possibility as the house project resembles a building site more than anything else these days. So more antibiotics and a ten minute explanation when I told him that I already take them 'off licence' for Lyme Disease. And then that light-bulb moment on the doc's face as he realised that I was 'the one' they had had to have a partner's discussion about, whether to prescribe for me or not. (Answer = NOT)

I have however been prescribed the impossible this time. I have to keep off my feet for 3-4 days. Easier said than done in my new (but temporary) career. I can drive without my left foot at a pinch (in an automatic) but not my right. Solve that one doctor.