Between a rock and a hard place

Please bear in mind that I have a cold and am feeling less than 100%, and the knock-on effect on my ability to ignore/dismiss annoying people.

There is someone at work who is getting on my nerves.  This has been getting worse over the past week (which is roughly how long I have been coming down with/suffering from this cold).  She is constantly whinging about how she doesn't like her job now her team have merged with ours; this, that or the other isn't right; doesn't like all the phone answering/door buzzer answering/myriad other things that interfere with her ability to concentrate on what she has to do.  However, she doesn't whinge when the current acting Admin Co-ordinator is in the office.  She, and her colleague from the same previous office, can't cope with all this so when they have something that requires total concentration they go off to a different office for some peace and quiet. 

Now yes, to a point, I can understand it BUT not for one second does she consider that we others are in the same boat (and by buggering off like that our disturbances are increased).  There have been times that I have been doing something that I could really do without having to deal with incoming phone calls.  Does that count?  Does it hell!  I still have to deal with them and then try to re-focus on what I'm doing.

This morning I was doing something clerical with some client files and she knew I wasn't at my best.  However she was far too busy whinging to her colleague about how she hates her job now and doesn't want to come in (interspersed with actually doing her work), whilst I was answering the phone, taking messages AND e-mailing said messages to the correct recipients, all the while with a client's file 'in bits' all over my desk (burying my keyboard/mouse/pen/paper to boot).  Let's just say that by lunchtime I had had enough, burst into tears, played on feeling rotten and asked to come home.  We all have gripes about the 'new order'.  It doesn't help when the senior manager keeps taking systems that work and making changes, without considering the knock-on effect to our workloads.  If I'm honest my workload is the least hectic - it has its moments though - as I am not fully trained on all the in-house systems and therefore cannot do some of their work for them.  Plus my primary role is as phone answerer.  But I have just about had enough of keeping my mouth shut when she starts her whining.

I really don't want to go back there, purely because of this.  Yet it looks so much better when applying for jobs if you already have one than if you are unemployed, so I don't want to quit.  It's a temp position which will last for who knows how much longer and I'd really like to see it through to its conclusion if I don't land a permanent role elsewhere first.

So, do I stay and try my best not to blow a fuse big-time or do I walk and, although still with my temp agency, deal with maybe being between positions when applying for jobs.  I don't like the idea of walking as it can be seen to be taking the easy way out, plus what do you say when asked at interview, but it's playing havoc with my nerves.

Hugs for a friend please

I've been following this blog for a couple of years now.  Susan had both breasts removed due to inflammatory breast cancer.  This past week she has had a PET scan - clever machine that shows up where lots of cellular activity is happening - due to pain and discomfort.  Six lymph nodes showed up.  It could be an infection or yet more cancer.

Go on over to her blog and give her a hug.

FOR SALE

One body - although only half-way through its expected life span, this body is already failing its owner. 

The latest breakdown involves a sprained left ankle, causing the owner to have to rest with feet up when owner actually has a full day (hell, a full month so far - hence why there's been no blog posts recently) of life to lead.  Owner would be happy to exchange for one - size 12 - 14, full working order (apart from womb) with no hidden surprises, capable of dealing with life at full speed without needing hours of maintenance each week.

Recent breakdowns include:- sprained right ankle (August) which is about 90% fixed, dodgy skin which limits owner's sun exposure from Spring to Autumn, general tiredness (not enough hours in the day/week/life), achilles tendon/plantar fasciitis pain in both ankles/feet (October '08 to June '09), recurring headaches, constant catarrh (all year round).

Hence reasonable asking price of £0.00

Please register your interest in the comments section.  Form an orderly queue, no pushing now.  The lucky winner will be chosen at random.

Is there really a swine flu epidemic?

We all know that there are people out there who think anything above a slight sniffle must be the flu.  If I had £1 for every time I've heard someone say that they were off work for ONE DAY because they had the flu I'd be rich.  Flu doesn't lay you out for just one day.  Trust me, it can put you out of it for a week or more - I know, I've been there.

People exaggerate their symptoms and, given that, why did someone decide it would be wonderful to turn the diagnosis of swine flu down to some website that asks such simple questions the diagnosis is seriously questionable. (Deep breath).    It gives you a list of a dozen or more symptoms and asks you to tick yes if you have 2 or more, or no if you don't.  These symptoms include: a headache, sore throat, blocked or runny nose, fever, earache, etc.  Now it doesn't take Einstein to work out that these symptoms can also indicate other infections besides our friend H1N1 - glandular fever, common cold, tonsilitis, ear infection, etc.  So how come if you have two of these this faceless, brainless website issues you with a prescription for Tamiflu?!

You're probably wondering how I know this.  My daughter K has been decidedly poorly since Sunday.  Yesterday afternoon her fever started to get higher.  She spent an uncomfortable night, swinging from freezing to boiling and back again.  This morning her fever had hit the magic 100 F.  By lunch time she was at 101 F.  I asked for advice from a local pharmacy this morning, where the nice ladies behind the counter decided that it sounded like possible glandular fever to them and that they thought a call to the GP was in order.  (You can see where this is going, can't you?).  Of course, Thursday afternoons our surgery closes so I waited till 4.00 to phone.  I'd barely mentioned some of her symptoms when the receptionist (who has NO medical training whatsoever) told me I needed to go to the Pandemic Swine Flu website and do their diagnostic quiz.  I didn't really get chance to tell her what the pharmacy had thought.

Surprise, surprise, given the above information, we now have a course of Tamiflu.  K now has to decide whether she'd rather feel as ill as she does or feel slightly better but run the risk of nausea, vomiting and nightmares (common side effects).  She's decided to wait till morning as she doesn't want to decide to take one tonight and then spend all night chucking up and disturbing the rest of us.

I'm not really sure about Tamiflu.  You're supposed to take it within 48 hours of the symptoms starting (K has been ill since Sunday, it's now Thursday), it shortens the length of suffering by a whole 24 hours (careful, don't get too excited), and it has wicked side effects which can make the sufferer feel worse than they already did (just what you look for in a medicine, eh!).  So why did I go and get it?  Well, this online diagnostic quiz gives you a special code number that is linked to the patient's name.  You can only get Tamiflu once, so I figured I might as well get it in and if she wants to take it she can.

Given the ease with which Tamiflu is given out, and therefore you MUST have swine flu, is it any wonder that the number of cases is rising.  At this time of year all sorts of germs are out and about, making people's life uncomfortable.  The vagueness of the questions mean that anyone with a cold will get Tamiflu and be chalked up as a swine flu statistic.

So tell me folks, is there really a swine flu epidemic?

Where does the time go?

Another month has gone sailing by!  A & I have had rotten colds, and they're still loitering in the background.  D has had a sniffle but seems to be coping fine.  K has just started with the first bout of sore throat/loss of voice and general cold symptoms of the winter.  All in all we're a grotty lot!!!!

I've also been busy making decisions and getting the next phase of my life planned - more in the next post.  It's been very strange, this transition from a HE parent to a not HE parent; it's almost like when they first went to school at 4 years old.  I have found it quite strange and a bit disconcerting to suddenly have the house to myself all day.  In fact it's so strange that I am usually out at least once a day, and I can count on one hand the number of weekday lunches I have had at home since 18th September.  Yes, that's right, I crave social interaction.  Best scrape yourselves off the floor now.  Fortunately I can usually find an accommodating friend or two or, failing that, I'm not afraid to eat alone - in between various errands.  Changes are afoot!

Swine Flu

My SIL has just been confirmed as having swine flu, having caught it from a co-worker last week. Fingers crossed (prayers, positive vibes - whatever floats your boat) that it doesn't pass on to other members of the family. Her daughter H has asthma and my Mum has heart issues (remnants of rheumatic fever from her childhood) so both are on the 'at greater risk' list.

Because of this we won't be going up to visit next week for our annual 'cheap' holiday. D is also asthmatic, though you wouldn't know it to see him, and therefore doesn't really need to catch it either.

My heart goes out to those who are losing loved ones to this virus. Not to belittle their loss, but more people die on this country's roads each day and we don't get our undies in a knot about that and start avoiding driving do we. Which brings me round to just what IS worth getting into a panic over. I dunno. I suppose driving (and it's inherent dangers) is an acceptable risk, something we accept whenever we turn the ignition key. It's a choice we make. However to be infected by a potentially fatal virus by someone who is 'toughing it out' is not something we can easily avoid. And I think that is the difference between the two - CHOICE!

So we choose not to get any closer to the virus than we strictly have to, and seeing as I had a particularly rotten bout of flu over Christmas I think I am justified in not wanting to feel that ill again for a year or ten.

You don't want the flu

Trust me, I'm an expert!

The 104 F fever broke on Christmas night. By Boxing Day I was down to a manageable 100 F, and believe me it made a lot of difference. I got up at lunch time and managed to eat a sandwich, the first real meal I'd eaten since Tuesday. During the afternoon I played a few hands of cards with the family, making sure I was sat away from FIL. Then it was back to bed till the following day.

It took till New Year's Eve before I could face going out shopping. Over Christmas our dishwasher gave up the ghost - not funny when there are 7 of you to feed and wash up after. So on New Year's Eve A and I braved the cold and the crowds (what crowds, I've seen worse on a typical Sunday in Southampton) and went to John Lewis. Our new toy arrived 2 days ago and the kids are very happy. We are just waiting for the special offer pan set to arrive (out of stock of course). Needless to say I was very tired after the trip into town. However I managed to stay up till after midnight but had to forego any partying.

One thing I have noticed is that my memory is not up to speed. Someone at our local Home Ed group apologised for not sending me an e-mail over the festivities, containing some information he thought I should read. I needed a lot of prompting to recall that he was supposed to do this and what it was all about. I find myself getting distracted from the job in hand and then forgetting to go back and finish off - I now know how A feels as this is his default position.

Tiredness is still an issue, albeit diminishing slowly. I am finding it hard to wake up before 8.30. During the holidays it was 9.30 and more usually it was 10.00. This was despite going to bed and being asleep by 11pm.

I have been avoiding as much social contact as I can. My immune system has taken a battering over the last 2 - 3 months and I'd like it to recover. As I sit and type this I am feeling snuffly. Last night I sneezed a few times. No more illness, please!

This cold weather is supposed to go tomorrow. Everyone keeps saying that it should kill off all the germs. So how come so many people are ill?!

A not so merry Christmas

On Tuesday it felt like I had yet another catarrh waterfall down the back of my throat and my cough returned with a vengeance, especially after trying to talk to anyone for more than a few moments. That evening I got really cold. By the time I went to bed I was shaking that violently I could have whipped cream with no voluntary effort on my part. A got me a hot water bottle to add to the double layer of blanket over a heavy duvet, as well as a nightie and socks. It still took over an hour to stop shaking.

During the night I warmed up so discarded many of the extras. The next morning I had REALLY warmed up - to 102 F! Not good. Plus my appetite disappeared (really not good), and family had arrived the previous day for the festivities. One of them has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease so me being laid up with something yukky was seriously not a good idea. Hence I spent the day in bed doing a lot of sleeping and drinking just enough lemonade to stop A nagging at me about dehydration. I was coughing, blowing my nose, drowning in catarrh, going hot and cold yet maintaining the 102 F, couldn't have eaten a crumb, it felt like my eyes were being squeezed out of my head, and my poor leg joints were in agony. Just what you need on Christmas Eve! Mum said it sounded like the flu and to stay in bed. Well I certainly wasn't in any fit state to argue.

Christmas Eve night was a disaster, sleeping maybe 45 mins to an hour then spending the same again awake coughing and trying to get comfortable (oh, and I discovered that too much coughing gives you stress incontinence - hope it goes away just as quick). Needless to say I was a zombie come present-opening time and just mindlessly unwrapped anything passed my way (including one that should have been for my Mum and Dad, sorry Bro). I went back to bed to sleep till lunch was ready. It was more in hope than expectation that I put some food on my plate - it looked and smelt great! Unfortunately 3 bites later (1 roast potato, half a chipolata and a small piece of turkey) that was me full, so back to bed.

Later that evening I was sweating even more. A took my temperature to find it had climbed even more, to 104 F! Half an hour later I got my Mum to give me a tepid bath because, by then, it felt like it was climbing even more and I was beginning to feel a bit panicky. During the night I slept better, though I woke up once and found the pillow and the upper part of the duvet soaked with sweat.

This morning my temperature was pretty much back to normal. Today I have begun to eat again. I managed to play cards for a while this afternoon. I'm back in bed now with my trusty laptop whilst the family get up to their last night of festive frolics.

So, sorry I haven't been online wishing you all Season's Greetings. Hope you all had a good time. I'll be back in circulation over the weekend, fingers crossed.

Anyone seen my appetite?

It's gone off again. I'm full of catarrh. Instead of a full Sunday roast, which I smelled cooking all afternoon and felt gaggy, I had macaroni cheese out the freezer.

I'm wondering if I have hayfever - which would fit in just fine with everyone else here. The lilac tree is blossoming, I've been out in the garden, I've started sneezing but only occasionally, my eyes have itched for a few minutes. Roll on 30th April when I go back to the GP to find out if the blood tests showed anything. Not that I'm expecting any earth-shattering revelations, I think I'd have had a phone call by now if anything serious had showed.

More Rain and Other Random Thoughts

Yesterday wasn't too cold, unlike the rest of the week. It was fairly sunny with a breeze - ideal to hang washing out in but I didn't have any to do.

Today it's raining and windy. Today I have some washing to do. It figures!

Yesterday I felt fine with just a slight sniffle. Today I feel out of synch with the world. Is it another cold, or is it my nose is fed up of being squirted with Flixonase? The darn stuff only works for 30 minutes at most then I'm back to snuffly. Maybe it's not an allergy, maybe I do have a chronic sinus problem. Maybe I'm just going insane instead.

I'm still getting my words a bit jumbled. It causes a bit of hilarity and some confusion, especially when I am trying to explain something to K. Alzheimers or early senile dementia?

Am I Getting Better........

.......or is this just a bit of good appetite before the return of the 'bleurghs'? Last night I managed to eat some curry! First time in ages. I used some pre-cooked beef (topside), a couple of dollops of home-made curry paste, chickpeas, butter beans, spinach, peas and tomatoes. It was lovely and I cleared my plate. As usual I made too much so the rest went in the fridge for tonight. When the time came I didn't fancy it so A ate it. He added some Madras paste to give it a bit more zing. The smell really turned my stomach, but not enough to put me off two slices of said beef and chips.

The nasal spray the GP gave me works for about an hour. After that I don't notice any difference in the snuffliness of my nose. Today I had to weaken my tea even further because it tasted too strong. It's now so weak you can see the bottom of my pint mug through it! Tonight I have given up and returned to weak hot juice. The kids have been threatened to leave my bottle alone - they have other flavours in the cupboard that I don't like.

For Sale - One Body

Reasonable condition. One careless, oops I mean careful, owner. Plenty of miles left on the clock (I hope). Regular maintenance required to keep running.

For the last 6 months or so I've been under the weather. It all started with an outbreak of catarrh in September which left me with a smoker's cough and retching first thing in a morning for a few weeks. I wasn't ill for more than a couple of days and, seeing as how I knew other people similarly afflicted, didn't think much of it - apart from no longer being able to drink tea with milk in it. I managed to shake that off only for it to return a couple of weeks later - more catarrh, sneezing, snuffling. Again, others were up and down with colds so it never bothered me. And so it has continued all winter - never quite shaking off one set of sniffles before the next lot started. Occassionally I have needed Beechams Capsules or Eucalyptus Oil but not that often.

During this time my digestive system has joined in. Now I'm a curry girl at heart so you can imagine how I've been feeling when the smell of curry makes me want to throw up. Poor A is beginning to think I'm passing judgement on his culinary prowess (wonderful), as more often than not I look at what is being cooked and turn away saying "I can't eat that".

And before anyone mentions pregnancy, forget it - it's not physically possible. Mind you it would explain the constant slighlty nauseous feelings.

I went to see the GP today fully expecting the usual litany of "lose weight and take more exercise" - that seems to be the cure for everything these days. I have a nasal spray to convince the catarrh to take a hike. He also thinks the catarrh is what is upsetting my stomach and taste buds - fingers crossed. However, to make sure all the bases are covered, I've also got to visit the dracula squad (aka blood taking clinic) to donate an armful (4 tubes). He's getting my cholesterol levels checked whilst the needle's in place (bless him!). Oh, and it's a fasting test so nothing to eat or drink apart from water from 10.30pm the previous evening till after they've got their deposit.

And I HATE NEEDLES, so cue much feeling faint during and immediately after the whole procedure. My veins seem to pick up on my anxiety and bury themselves deep in my arm. Last time I had a blood test it took a couple of gos in each arm before they hit paydirt!

So what am I bid for this pile of flesh and bones?

We have man flu

D was snuffly yesterday but said he felt ok. This morning he is full of cold and has gone back to bed. Let's hope this passes quickly as he's got to get his Geography coursework in the post this week. He is well-trained though. No lying around the house moaning and groaning. If he's that ill he has to stay in bed.

It's only in the last year or so that he has been able to take tablets. Before that it was Calpol, and it takes a lot of Calpol to medicate a teenager.