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Tuesday
30th July 2024
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08:12
BST
Yesterday
was lovely warm and
sunny. The temperature
reached about 27° C.
Today should be even
better than yesterday. Non
stop sunshine (apart
from 7pm) is
now forecast. The
temperature should reach
30°
C (and possibly
more). Tomorrow
should also be a
very good day,
although some hours
may only see sunny
spells). The
temperature tomorrow
may only reach 26°
C. The day
after tomorrow
might finish
with a bang.
Late afternoon
thunderstorms
are predicted
- that is the
weather
warning shown
in the
screenshot
above.
Yesterday came
close to being a good day.
In fact some parts of it
were good, and they were
helped along by this cold I
still have, slowly getting
better, and being less
intrusive. It all enabled my
to do a few useful things.
Like most days recently, it
all went wrong at bed time.
Yesterday morning I
mentioned that I fancied
going to Tesco, and also
that I might end up doing
some stuff in the garden,
The first thing came true,
and the second idea was
almost true, but it would be
more accurate to say I ended
up using the garden instead
of doing any work out there.
It all started once I had a
nice shower to scrub all the
sweat of the previous hot
day, and possibly not having
a shower on that day.
Once I was clean,
cooled off a bit, and
dressed, I set out to Tesco.
It was almost a nice walk in
the sunshine, but it was
spoiled by my legs feeling
unusually stiff. That did
wear off after a while, but
even on the way home I was
aware I was not walking as
freely as I should have. It
was one of those small
things that did make me
wonder if what I had was a
little more than just an
ordinary cold. The intensity
of the bronchial congestion
certainly hinted at
something like a Covid
variant.
As I wrote yesterday,
top of my shopping list for
Tesco was bottles of Diet
Coke, but I wanted more than
that. I guess I was feeling
a bit pissed off fighting
this cold, and I wanted
something extra nice, and at
the time I could have easily
given in to a pile of
reduced price sandwiches.
There were none to be seen,
and I was not feeling so bad
that I would give in to full
price sandwiches.
Most of what I bought
was fairly sensible stuff,
or packets of instant
noodles. I had never seen
them in before, but I bought
four packets of Vifon, a
Polish make, of tomato
flavour instant noodles.
They are not the very best
make of tomato flavour
noodles, but are still very
tasty. Other ordinary things
included a pack of two
quarter pounder beefburgers.
There were two special
treat, but neither was that
special.
One definitely
special treat that is
currently a bit less than
special, was a one litre tub
of plain vanilla ice cream.
It is less special now I
know that most times it has
little effect on my blood
glucose, and that now it
seems easy to eat a bit, and
put the rest back in the
freezer. The other special
treat was only a treat in so
much as it was half price.
It was a Tesco "Finest"
(supposedly extra good)
mature cheddar and smoky
bacon quiche. It was not
very good at all, and I
would have been bitterly
disappointed if I had paid
full price for it.
When walking back
from Tesco I may have been
more concentrating on my
stiff legs (which were
almost freed up by then)
rather than the heat. I knew
it to be very nice and warm,
but it did not feel over
warm. When I got home I saw
Ray, neighbour on my left,
and Larrissa, neighbour on
my right, and they were both
complaining about the heat.
It didn't feel bad to me at
all, although once I was
indoors and had stopped
moving I quickly heated up
and became very sweaty.
After putting my
shopping away I had my
lunch. It was a chicken
Caesar salad - exactly the
same as the one I left in
the fridge for too long
until the lettuce went all
sweaty, and it had to be
disposed of. this time I
didn't give the salad time
to deteriorate because I ate
it straight away. It was
nice, as expected, and I
can't seem to understand why
Ieft the previous one so
long that it became
inedible.
Yesterday I had the
special treat of a dessert
after my lunch. It was about
a fifth of the plain vanilla
ice cream I had just bought.
That went down nice on a hot
day. I had a nice lie down
to read, and I think I had a
snooze too before I woke up
feeling very groggy. I soon
recovered from that, and set
about finishing washing some
clothes I had left soaking
in detergent after my late
morning shower.
That laundry was just
two t-shirts and about 5
pairs of underpants. I had
considered not doing any
laundry yesterday, but it
was hard to resist being
able to bake dry the clothes
in hot sunshine. I had
thought it might feel like
extra hard work when still a
bit ill, but it was not that
bad at all, and it did feel
like a good accomplishment
to get it done, and hanging
in the hot sunshine to dry.
I didn't really do
anything more after
that until 4pm when In
take my second lot of
drugs for the day.
That now includes an
Esomeprazole tablet.
Ive been taking a
single tablet a day
for the last 7 days,
and there is a slight
worry that time almost
coincides with the
length of my cold, but
I feel sure the two
can't be related. What
I do know is, as it
says "on the tin",
that it had almost
eliminated any late
night heartburn -
which I feel sure I
would still easily
notice through all the
coughing I still get
when I turn over and
try to sleep.
On the whole it
was like I was just
about over this cold
yesterday. For most of
the day I was hardly
bothered about any
cough. Any small cough
to clear my throat was
hardly noticeable
compared to hacking
away trying to loosen
some stubborn mucus
tickling the back of
my throat.
Maybe I
did start to cough a
little more at about
the time I had a very
simple dinner of the
earlier mentioned
Tesco "Finest" mature
cheddar and smoky
bacon quiche (with
it's half price
sticker on it). I must
admit I didn't "cook"
it for the approved
length of time, but it
did say it could be
eaten cold. I went
half way and slightly
warmed it in the
microwave. It was
still rather
tasteless. I continue
to maintain that
Iceland's three for £5
packs of two small
cheese ad bacon
quiche's are far
tastier !
I must admit I
was tempted to have
some more icecream
after that quiche, but
I stuck to my guns
about having a small
and early dinner to
avoid possible
heartburn problems at
bed time (even if I
knew the Esomeprazole
should be
taking care of
that). To make
things even
better it was
unusually late
when I went to
bed after
watching both
QI nad "Have I
Got Boris For
You" (a
special
edition of
Have I Got
News For You"
looking back
at Boris
Johnsons last
couple of
years before
he resigned as
prime
minister. It
seemed worth
staying up to
see that.
I think
it was about
11.30pm when I
went to bed. I
thought I
might still
read for a
bit, but it
turned out to
be just a tiny
bit - less
than a single
page before I
put the book
down, turned
out the
lights, and
turned over
for sleep.
Before I did
that I was
starting to
get some
problems with
tickly mucus.
Once I turned
on my side i
was almost
choking. I
didn't
actually get
up, but I did
sit on the
side of my bed
as I took
another dose
of cough
syrup. i tried
to make that,
and a couple
of other
doses, as
small as
possible. I
was partly
helped by
getting very
close to the
end of the
bottle, and
wanting to not
run out before
I was feeling
OK (although I
still have an
unopened
bottle for the
next time I
need some).
It
seemed a long
time, but I
doubt it was
any more than
15 minutes
before the
cough syrup
calmed things
down a bit,
and that,
combined with
feeling very
tired, allowed
me to drop off
to sleep
probably just
before
midnight. It
might have
been as much
as 2 hours
later when I
woke up
feeling very
congested, and
trying to
cough up mucus
that didn't
seem to want
to shift.
There was
nothing I
could do
except have a
bit more cough
syrup. There
was a third
time this
happened, but
that was the
last dose of
cough syrup,
and it was a
very small
one, but it
still seemed
to work well
enough.
Although I did
end up getting
close to 6
hours sleep in
total, it
doesn't feel
like it was
good sleep. I
feel sure I
was doing lots
of dreaming in
the night, and
some details
are almost on
the tip of my
tongue, but I
have to admit
defeat, and
say I just
can't remember
a single
detail from
any of those
dreams. It was
also one of
those mornings
where I lost a
complete hour
of my life (or
so it seems)
when "just 5
minutes more"
turned into a
full hour (or
someone
sneakily wound
the clock on a
full hour
while I
blinked.
I
finally got up
at 7am feeling
quite bunged
up, but I
wasn't
coughing much,
and everything
seemed to free
tself up, but
itself. Now, a
few hours
later, I have
an occasional
light cough to
clear my
throat, but
nothing more.
I do still
feel tired
though, and
once I finish
writing I
expect I will
lay on my bed
to read, and
end up
snoozing for
30 to 60
minutes.
Before
all that there
are my health
indicators to
consider. I
have not tried
weighing
myself because
In am either
constipated,
or more likely
I will be
having a late
morning poo
today. My body
temperature
has been
boringly the
same for
months, if not
years now. My
blood pressure
is a tiny bit
higher than
usual, but
yesterday
might have
been a small
peak. This
morning it is
ever so
slightly lower
at 112/53
(yesterday was
114/54). It is
such a small
change that it
is probably of
no
significance,
and all
readings seem
to be in the
"Optimum" area
of the meters
inbuilt
diagnostics.
My
blood glucose
level is very
slowly coming
down, and I
feel quite
sure that if I
had managed to
not use any
cough syrup it
would be
closer to
normal this
morning. The
Contour meter
read a fair
8.7mmol/l, but
the GlucoRX
meter was
still in the
pink area at
9.2mmol/l. The
Sinocare meter
was deeper in
the pink, but
fortunately
still some way
off the red
danger area at
9.5mmol/l. The
average for
today was
9.13mmol/l,
and that was
lower than
yesterday's
9.2mmol/l. The
day before
that was
really bad
with an
average of
10.13mmol/l.
The last good
day was Friday
25th July -
and it was on
that evening
when I started
taking cough
syrup, and
everything
went crazy !
There
is just one
definite thing
on the agenda
for today. At
2.30pm (and
not 10.20am as
I once thought
for some
unknown
reason) I
should be
getting a call
from the
Practice
Pharmacist as
the doctors
surgery to
discuss my
current
medication. It
is basically a
once a year
thing to check
I still need
my usual
repeat
prescriptions,
and to check
none of them
are causing
any problems.
It is a sort
of boring
thing. The
first one was
sprung on me
by surprise
last year, and
I think I
spoke toa
doctor.
The
conversation
nearly went,
"all OK",
"yes", "Ok,
speak to you
next year",
but while I
had the doctor
on the phone I
ased about the
results from
my last blood
test. I had
given an
"armful" of
blood a few
months
previously,
and had
nothing about
the results.
The doctor was
kind enough to
say they all
looked good,
and surprised
me by saying
my liver
function
seemed very
good. Later
that day I
celebrated
with my liver
when we shared
some very
strong
alcohol. This
year I hope to
try and get
some news
about the
hopsital
cardiology
department
wanting to
increase the
dose on two of
the drugs I
take. They
suggested that
back in early
March (if I
recall
correctly),
and as yet
nothing has
changed - and
I want it too
because one is
an anti angina
drug that
already gives
some relief,
and double the
dose, as the
cardiologists
recommended,
should help a
bit more.
2296 words
today
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