More medical woes

Mortality. There's nothing like it. Most of the time you don't even think about it, but here we are again. A family member is unwell and looking like he'll need heart surgery. Brings it home. Certainly puts my dodgy knee into perspective.

Nice 'n Kneesy does it

In for my arthroscopy on Wednesday. Funny how suddenly the knee feels a lot better.......

City

1 win and 3 losses from the first 4 matches. Not looking good, though the 2-1 win against Leeds was superb. C'mon the Bluebirds....

Arthroscopy date!

Well, I've finally got a date to have my knee looked at - some 4 years after the original referral - good job I'm not sick.....vive la NHS!
Late August is the date. Just a day surgery job, although under a general anaesthetic....

City again

Who'd be a cardiff City supporter? well me for a start. Probably why I'm losing hair at a rate of knots. They avoided relegation by the skin of their teeth, but the division's so tight they actually ended up 16th - looks quite good (unless you were there to see them play!)

On top of that £30m in debt (ouch). Sam Hamman has taken us for a big ride these last few years. Lots of promises but none of his money, but plenty of everyone elses.

So, we're likely to see big changes this summer. Already the Manager's gone - some would say far too late, but I thought it wasn't his fault.

Now they want us to get our season tickets early as the money will help them through the summer. I know season tickets can be pricey, but covering a 30m debt?

Actually they've got us by the short and curlies. Buy now and prices are frozen. Buy in 2 months and they'll be another £100. Bugger.
I've bought mine & my son's. Will we have any players to watch though..........

Still, at least I've the comfort of knowing I'm helping to bail Sam out of his BIG hole.........is that a comfort - isn't he supposed to be helping us.......???????????????

Magnotherapy

On the subject of creaky bones and dodgy treatments, I treated (sic) myself to a magnotherapy bracelet on the premise that I'll give anything a try. The theory is, that the magnetic field oscillates the red blood cells and stops them sticking together, making them more effective - yeah.....

Frankly I'm a cynic. Especially when the person selling it to me (at an extortionate price I might add) said as soon as I put it on "can you feel anything, any sensation?"

"No" I said, "apart from a lighter wallet" and 4 weeks later I still can't. The fact that she repeatedly said ".....and don't forget to drink plenty of water", and has recently rung me to see how I'm getting on and gave the water another push, leads me to wonder if it's the magnets or the water that are supposed to be the help.

In any case, it hasn't helped me yet. "Perservere" she says, "you might only see a diference once you take it off..." - is she on comission? I'm glad I didn't go for the "executive" bracelet!

Personally, I think the best teatment I've had so far is Nurofen fast acting caplets, but I didn't tell her that.

What's you view of "alternative medicine" and stuff like magnotherapy. Does cynicism make it less likely to work?

New disease

Well, my gammy bones (at least in my hands) have finally come out of the closet. Apparently I've got Psoriatic Arthritis (PA). I wasn't even sure I had psoriasis, but there you go. Two fingers on my right hand are like little fat sausages and extremely painful at times, and as you may have read before, my feet are regulalry sore. Doc blood tested me to the hilt, put me on regular anti-inflammatories (I was taking about 8 ibuprofen a day anyway) and referred me to a rheumatologist. They said it's PA and said they'd see me again in 8 weeks. After 8 weeks they said the anti-inflammatories weren't working and I should try a new treatment. Sodium Methotrexate (SM). Hmmmm..... not impressed. SM is basically chemotherapy, and at 45 I don't fancy taking something that might help but runs the risk of making me sick, breathless, have rashes and lose hair (and those are only the headline side effects!!!!) for the rest of my life (coward). Saw my GP again and I've decided to stick with the anti-inflammatories for the moment. If it gets really bad, I'll consider the SM again. I'll let you know how I get on.

New house

The walls were closing in at our old gaff. Or rather the kids made the place look small with their increasing size & paraphenalia. We talked about moving or extending, and in the end we decided the best thing was to uproot and move on. So we did. Luckily, at a time of housing slowdown we found somewhere we liked, vacant and got a cash buyer our end pretty quickly. All over in just over 6 weeks. Now we've got twice as much room (and twice as much cleaning & decorating!).
DIY is not my forte, but so far managed to decorate 3 bedrooms, put together a dining room suite and a bed. Believe me, that's good for me. I should have taken out shares in Focus and B&Q before I started though!

Been away......

So much for blogging.six months since my last post. Still, no-one was reading it anyway.
A lot's happened since then though, and you'll be chuffed to hear that it is my intention to keep you all informed.
Where to start?
New house.
New disease.
Read on..........

Bah Humbug!

Blimey. Only 4 weeks to Christmas. What happened to 2004? Tempus Fugit and all that......anyway......'Tis the season to be jolly. Well it would be nice to be jolly, but frankly why? City are struggling at the bottom of the Championship; work's well - work and ridiculously busy with it; I haven't won the lottery; my bones ache; and much as I'd like to have faith (of any sort), it's getting harder to see past the world's general materialistic view of the festive season - spend money we haven't got on things no-one wants by the New Year, eat (a lot), drink (even more) and be merry (or at least have a stinking hangover on Boxing Day), and then it's all back to normal - well was that it? Bah, Humbug!
Actually it is fun, and I do like it.......

Reading away

Oh, what fun it is to see City win away! But they didn't. Took my son to his first away match as City took on Reading at the Majedski Stadium. City played like they couldn't be bothered and lost 2-1. At least the sun shone, thought the Majedski has to be the coldest staidum I've ever been to.

We had a lovely police escort - all the way home - well from Reading to Newport to be precise. Now there were +/- 30 coaches, and City's following doesn't have the best of reputations (unfairly I'd say), but to have an all lights flashing escort ALL the way home, blocking every junction exit seemed a bit OTT and must have cost an arm and a leg. I didn't see any trouble of any description, so not sure what was going on there.

Family Trees and all that....

There's a new program on the telly at the moment, in which apparently famous people trace their ancestors. This is of course genealogy and many ordinary people have been doing this for years. My Dad has dabbled, and I've taken up the reigns but we've managed so far to get back only to about 1800 (and the info at that end of the scale is pretty brief). It's good fun though. Our children are apparently related to General Gordon on my wife's side. here's loads of resources on the 'net to help, including this one - Genes Reunited which is well worth a go - you never know what you might find.....

City musings

We see City win for the first time at home as they beat Rotherham 2-0 (we missed the vistory against Coventry). It was a poor game - the two sides propping up the "Championship" - and it showed! At least City were the better of two poor sides. Gary O'Neil, England U21 captain on loan from Portsmouth is a class above the rest of the City players. Peter "Magic Hat" Thorne got the two goals that lifted us out of the relegation places. Verdict - a must win game that we di, but must do better. C'mon City!

Himalaya

How did I come to end up as a middle manager behind a desk? Not sure - it's a long and convoluted story. What I'd really like to have done in life is be an explorer, and adventurer in the Michael Palin mould. His treks (Pole to Pole, Sahara et al) are fascinating, and take you places that you probably didn't even know existed - (yes, yes I know the Poles exist) - and if you did, probably would never get to see. His latest, Himalaya, had a brilliant opening programme that made me want to up sticks and be there right then (though my gammy bones might complain!) Of course there are a couple of problems. 1) I'm not an ex-Monty Python start in league with the BBC (I don't suppose they think "Here's a great wheeze, I'll bet that Simon Hiscocks is up for this..) and 2) you don't see ads in the paper saying "Explorer wanted". Still, I can always watch the programmes, read the books and pretend I was there. Still like to see more of the world though...

What's the fun in DIY?

I hate DIY. I'd love to love it, it's just that I'm not very good at it. Never a very practical person, I'm just not cut out for gutting a house and rebuilding it - or even painting or hanging wallpaper. I can attempt it of course, but therein lies the problem. The finished product looks like I've "attempted" it. I've got stories of flat pack wardrobes that fall to pieces half way through building, screws through central heating pipes and more. I take the lead from my elder brother Terry, who's a dab hand at anything requiring tools, patience and a degree of skill but who's motto is "Never use a screw where a nail will do"!
Now though, I'm in the middle of redecorating my son's room and laying a new carpet in my daughter's room. Why? "Call a man in to do it" said my good lady. First, can you find one you can trust that's not a cowboy? Possible. Is he free and able to do it? Er, not until next February/March mate, I'm rather busy...." Bugger. And then there's the dining room, kitchen and stairs/hall to do as well.....that's my autumn gone!

City musings

Big game tomorrow. Leeds at home. The last time we played Leeds..ah remember? FA Cup City ran out 2-1 winners with "that" goal by Scott Young. Leeds were top of the Premiership that day and we were in Div. 2. Now we're both in the "Championship" and whilst Leeds aren't the team they used to be, they're above us and we're in desperate need of a win. I'll be there with James........."C'mon City!"

Creaking Bones

Getting old is a perception. It happens to all of us, yet some hack it far better than others. Take me. I'm 45 in a month and there are days when I feel 85 going on 90. It's my bones you see - they're knackered. Im waiting for an arthroscopy on my knee (that's keyhole surgery to the uninitiated) where they'll peek in and tell me the knee's buggered. I know that already because of the pain and swelling, - but they'll tell me just how bad! Then there's my feet. Apparently, though not convincingly related to my knee is virtually constant foot ache/pain. It's bad enough that I have to take regular painkillers and I've tried different types of "miracle cure" insoles (all to no avail). Walking down the stairs in the morning is an art form in itself. Personally I reckon it's arthritis, inherited from my dear old Mum [ see previous post] (are you listening Mum?!). I eventually gave in and went to the quack's today. He showed a certain degree of indifference to my plight and signed me up for enough blood tests that I'm going to have to give an armful on Monday. I'll let you know how I get on......

Well Number FCN15-TW42-10

When our Mum died a couple of years ago, we thought we'd do something a little different to the standard bench "in memory of...". Through some friends my father arranged for donations to go to the "Friendship Clinic" in Nepal, a charity set up to help people in remote parts of Nepal by providing medical assistance and, importantly wells to provide clean drinking water.
And so, Well Number FCN15-TW42-10, officially registered as "Kit Hiscocks" is now supplying fresh water in a village in Nepal. It's certainly different, and very certainly worthwhile. More information on the project can be found via their website which is Friendship Clinic

Trains

Love them or hate them? I've got a pal who's a train freak - I'm not convinced he stands on the end of railway station platforms with a notebook and a flask (you know who you are!), but he is train mad. I find them interesting occasionally, but I just hate travelling on the things. I peridocally go to London in the course of my work, and I hate the 2 hour journey (if you're lucky) with a vengeance. They are always either hot/cold/late (never early), filthy, full of people using mobiles with that awful nokia ring tone...bah, humbug.

Gadget freak or anorak?

I admit it - I'm a sucker for gadgets, gizmos, boys toys, whatever you'd like to call them. If it's small, mostly shiny, and induces one of two responses - "Wow!" or "Haven't you got as life?" it's for me.

My latest acquistion is a bluetooth headset for my new mobile phone - you know, one of those things that stick in your ear like something Luitenant Uhura on Star Trek used to have (only smaller and more shiny) that allows you to make hands free calls fom your phone. It's brilliant when you're in the car - I just say "Anne" and "mobile" and it rings my wife! Obviously, you look like a real prat if you try this in the local Tesco's, and beside small children point at you and laugh!