DXA Scan #2

Thursday I went for the first follow-up DXA scan.  It was supposed to be in February, but getting things done in the NHS is not all it could be.  The the appointment only came through a week ago and included a blood test, which I had to take the following day to get it completed in time.
So the scan itself was the same as last time.  Some buzzing and whirring and some pictures of my bones at the end.
The good news is that my densities have increased in all three locations, hips and spine.  I was told though that the spinal increase is probably due to arthritis.  I'm sure I remember being told that improvement was impossible - but there it is and no-one was trying to deny it.  This is apparently down to exercise, so the dog is therefore responsible.  Without him I would not get out as much and certainly would never be running - not that I do much of that anyway.
The even better news is that I do not have to go on any more medication.  Officially I have Osteopenia, and am not a great risk of further fractures.  After my last experience with Alendronic Acid (called Alendronate now?) I was not looking forward to having to try any new medication along those lines. 

4.3

The drugs are working - which is really good news.  After three weeks on Statins my Cholesterol score has dropped from 6.9mmol/l (millimoles/litre) to 4.3mmol/l.  Target is under 5mmol/l.  Now I'm praying I'm not one of the very few who suffer some really horrible side-effects after about 3 or 4 months of taking them. That's not the only down side of my treatments.  A study has revealed that Calcium supplements increase the risk of heart attack.  I had just re-started taking the calcium.  I may need to reconsider as my calcium levels have always been within the expected limits.  So the next thing to measure is blood pressure.  I'm told I can get a home machine to take my own measurements.  That will be another thing to add to the spreadsheet I keep of weight and waste-line measurements. 
Isn't getting older fun?

Health update / Lost Son

Since returning from holiday I have joined what has been called the biggest drugs trial of all time - giving everyone who is over 50 and has an elevated cholesterol reading statins.  My last Cholesterol reading was 6.9, up from 6.7 in a little over a year.  I was offered the chance to take these tablets - to try them and see if they are OK.   I'm told they save 6 of 100 people in 10 years.  It doesn't sound impressive, so put another way my chances of a heart attack in that time go from 1 in 4 (25%) to 1 in 5 (20%).  The latter is a more convincing statistic (to me anyway).  So every night (but one - it was late and I forgot - memory pills next!) I have taken a 20mg Simvastatin tablet.  Soon it's back to the doctors - to get my blood measured again, I expect.

The main reason for the entry is really to mark the 18 month recovery period for the broken (smashed, destroyed, mangled) shoulder.  Most days I would not know that I had received such an injury.  I rarely experience pain and have adequate movement to live my normal life.  In reality the range of movement has continued to increase since I stopped the physiotherapy but the increase is slow.  I have also compensated by using other movements to achieve my aim.  I have noticed recently that I have started reaching for things with my right arm - a good sign.  The osteoporosis tablets have stopped - the side effects are too extreme to continue.

This morning we were woken to sounds of barking.  Brody (our chocolate Labrador) had returned home and found his way into next door's garden - and their dog was barking.  Andy was missing.  A phone call soon established what had happened.  Brody had run off with another dog, got himself lost, and decided to come home.  Andy was still in the meadow looking for him.  

How many policemen does it take to arrest a shop lifter?

Last night on the way home I called in at the chemist to inform them that my drug supply was running low.  They had given me a date during next week for my next top-up.  That is too late.  I used up the last weekly ones on Saturday.  I walked along the street and into the shop.  To get to the dispensing counter I passed someone on the phone talking about the price of some of the cosmetics packs.  It's mothering Sunday next weekend so that wasn't a surprise.  When I got to the counter the staff were very distracted.  I heard one of them say "The police have got him" and "He's thrown the bag back into the shop".  As I approached the shop I had noticed nothing suspicious - don't ever ask me to join neighbourhood watch - I'd be useless.  Now there were blue lights flashing outside.  As I left it was very obvious that an arrest was in progress - even to me!

I remember once asking a question in a sermon and promising I would answer it later. Having got the congregation to vote, they were clearly expecting an answer.  However time was moving on so I cut out the piece with the answer in it.  Imagine the disappointment.  After the service I didn't need to imagine it - there were plenty there to tell me exactly how disappointed they were.

So I'd better get back to the question.  I asked Liz as soon as I arrived home.  Her answer: "4".  Just about right, but as I was walking away another car arrived with two more!

I'm all for justice, shoplifters should be prosecuted, but is it really necessary to have 6 policemen at the scene of the arrest?

Nearly Live

Nearly Live
It has been a busy week.  I've worked more hours this week than any other since I started this job.  Now I'm nowhere near the 70+ that I was once working, but that was many years ago.  The first phase of my project is about to go live, and performance has (suddenly?) become an issue.  It has been overcome, by redesigning some of the code, and the nightly run now completes without time-outs waiting for the database to get nothing.

If you didn't understand that - never mind -, but if you want more detail its here.

Today should have been a welcome break, but there is still one option that doesn't work.

Youth Worker Conference
Both Karen and Liz are away at the Youth worker conference this weekend.  I attended a few year ago and had a really good time.  It's even better if you're a professional, still I'd like to have been going.

Automated Lighting
The motion sensitive switch out side the front door has been playing up for ages.  A few days ago it gave up altogether.  I had already ordered and received a new one.  Today was time to put it up.  Drilling holes in walls and making the nece3ssary electrical connections is not too difficult, but the lack of strength in certain parts of my shoulder made screwing in the screws difficult, and surprisingly keeping the drill straight was harder than it should have been.
I'd read the wiring instructions and wired it up, then came back and read them again.  How come they are different the second time round?  I went back and corrected my connections.  The switch on was fine, and we now have light on our broken steps.

Winter - really?
This miniature rose appeared to have died, and was due to be removed, but here it is flowering at the end of November!

Drugs
This week has also been the week to replenish the drug supply.  I had given all the details to the Chemists as they offer a free service to collect and make up prescriptions.  I had completed and signed all the forms.  So on Wednesday evening the cynic in me was not at all surprised they had never heard of me!  They got me the drugs I need though, so it is not all bad. I picked them up on Thursday. The NICE (National Institute for Clinical Excellence) have changed suppliers for some of the drugs, and the headline description is different, so it was back on Friday to check that they really were the correct ones.  "It all makes work for the working man to do"

They really shouldn't do that

Perhaps I should post this entry at annoyances.org, but this is about people not computers. The first two are quite serious, the last one isn't (for ME that is).

1 Doctors receptionists
I had a letter from the doctor saying my bone density scan was due -it isn't. I was going to reply, but it isn't a priority. Someone spotted their mistake, and phoned to tell me about it. Patient confidentiality? What's that then? They told my wife! Just supposing she didn't know, just supposing she was just a house sitter. They didn't check, how can they be sure over the phone anyway?
Medical message over the phone to unknown recipients:
They really shouldn't do that.

2 Credit Card companies
This is far more serious. My son wanted to change his car insurance, so he called the company and got a quote. Later he called them back to make the change. He phoned me to say was it OK to charge it to my card again. I said "Yes, its OK." So the charge went through. I did not speak to the Insurance Company, and there is no record of the cvv code being given - because it wasn't. Just how is this a properly authorised transaction? I may well try to find out.
"What have you got in your pocket?" as the tag line goes. Well if it one of those be careful that its not being used by someone else!
Improperly approved credit card transactions:
They really shouldn't do that.

3 Prospective Mother-in-laws
This is another one sided bus conversation that I tried really hard NOT to listen to, but there it was in my right ear. Someone, who is planning a wedding to Andy spent the whole journey talking to her mother about his mother. His mother is insisting on a number of changes, to the venue, and to the guest list. To invite people that she hasn't spoken to in years. This is such a big disappointment to the prospective mother-in-law that she is going to pay for the extra guests herself and as a result of the trauma will be seeing a phycho-analyst. Her (the prospective mother-in-law) life is in ruins and her family is irrevocably split. The wedding she says is nothing to do with the couple, it is the responsibility of the two sets of parents.
This is just the one half I heard unwillingly. I would recommend a psychiatrist, and some family therapy. A quick conversion and the power of real love would help a lot too.
Parents taking over their children's wedding:
- They really shouldn't do that.

Sunny Saturday So-Far

The forecast for today was rain. It has not arrived, so I have been able to do a little work in the garden. I managed about an hour - including some digging. I have finally planted one of the rose bushes we were given for our 25th. I stopped to watch the F1 qualifying - by then I needed a break. The tablets I am taking (I assume) mean that I have had an upset stomach all week, but I found that this morning after the garden work it was gone. As I sat still to watch qualifying the pain went as well. One hour feeling normal, if rather tired.

I have started to group the exercises to make them easier to remember.
Wall exercises: The wall ladder, and the Isometric resisted exercise (pushing your own weight away from a wall) are probably the easiest and generate the least pain.
Towel Exercises: (or scarf in my case) one is to raise the are behind the back the other is my version of the pulley exercise.
Stick Exercises: Using a stick to raise the arm above the head, forward and sideways, and to push the arm to rotate the shoulder - stand with your back against a wall, put your arms by your side, bend you elbows so that your hands are pointing forward, now rotate the arm outwards so that the fore arm is also against the wall. (A picture really does paint a thousand words, but I don't have one for this exercise, so I'll not go on about it any longer) For this I cannot get beyond about 10 degrees from the forward pointing position.
Weight exercises: The pendulum you have already seen, the other is to strengthen arm movements as above.

Eat Chalk; 8am & 10am @ Christ Church

Along with Alendronic Acid once a week I have to take calcium carbonate tablets twice a day. I said to someon that it was like eating chalk, and they pointed out that that is exactly what it is. One at the start of the day and one at the end of the day.
The Alendronic Acid gave me an uncomfortable feeling in my throat for 20 minutes or so. It was like geting up in the night from a very warm bed to get a drink of very cold water. That leaves you with a burning sensation in your mouth and throat and is just like the acid.
The chalk tablets are like overdosing on Rennies. When I was young I used to eat too many of these to overcome the effects of very fatty foods. They make the intestines and stomach gurgle, there is excessive wind and much burping - it is not a pretty site (or sound or smell)!

This mornings theme was forgiveness, based on the story of the unforgiving servant in Matthew. At the 8am Margaret spoke about "The Lost Child", a story of a 17 year old cannabis addict locked out of his home. What do you do when someone you love continues to cause problems, with violent assults and a complete disregard for the way you are living your life. What are the limits to forgiveness, and how unconditional should it be?
Mark continued the theme at a very noisy 10am. The scounts, a baptism, and lots of small children who were mostly not engaged with the service at all. While I'm very pleased to have children in the service, and generally not that concerned if they run around, todays episode was too much. At time I could not concentrate on the service because I could not hear properly - even with amplification.

Back on the Bus

Another small step on my way back to 'normality'. The bus inevitably arrived late, without that happening I would have suspected something, but it was good of them to get an almost new bus with better than usual seats for the occasion. Apart from that the journey was unremarkable, and I remained adequately upright throughout.

I am now on acid or I will be on Saturday - Alendronic Acid - to be taken every 7 days. I collected these today and benefited from the NHS prescription system. These drugs are not expensive at less than £20 a box, but I get 3 boxes for just over £7. I have to say that I'm not looking froward to taking them. They have to be taken first thing in the morning, with water, and then you have to stay upright for 30 minutes. Then you can have breakfast. I like to break my fast much sooner than 30 minutes after I get up, and then there's the cup of tea in bed to be considered. The day should start slowly, after the sun has risen, and should proceed to breakfast without delay.

Now I have a question - According to a website on the subject Oranges and Lemons promote the alkaline balance - How is this possible?