Tag Archives: symptoms

The Solution Becomes Clear

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The ground subsided and the tree drowned 

I rose just before 6.30 and, an hour later, am still feeling enthusiastic. I have done emails, comments and reading blogs so far. I am feeling good.

Approximately a month ago, plagued by many minor conditions, I was very depressed, worn out and, to be honest, wondering if this was the beginning of the end. People do die at my age, the obituary columns are full of people who don’t make 70. I know this because I started noticing it and had to make myself stop. I started making plans for sorting my life out so all the admin would be  a bit easier for Julia.

Merle Oberon, Jack Johnson, Benny Hill, Edward I, Geoffrey Hughes, Josephine Baker . . .

Trees near Slaidburn

My tastes, I admit, run to the low-brow. But by 68 they had all become famous, then died. I admit Geoffrey Hughes, most famous for playing a bin man in Coronation St (and Hyacinth Bucket’s slobbish brother-in-law in Keeping Up Appearances) may be stretching fame a bit but he was good at what he did.

Then I got better. It doesn’t take much.

Then I became ill again. Fever, cold, coughing, difficulty breathing, exhaustion, lack of appetite, food tasing strange. Having barely recovered from the firs mystery illness I am in the middle of the second, where I have just spent several days sitting in front of TV, mesmerised by the moving colours.  I’ve spent several extra hours in bed each day and have been able to do very little more than a couple of twenty minute slots at the computer. I have also been sitting on the edge of the bed wondering what I am doing (as it’s either getting into bed, or getting out of bed, or putting socks on, or taking them off, the choice is not huge and the answer should be clear.)

Cormorant at Budby Flash

That was the clincher. I did a lot of that when I had Coved.

So I checked the symptoms of Covid. They aren’t 100% reliable, because everything could be a symptom of something else, but staring aimlessly into space with food tasing like sawdust is highly suggestive.

And, as simply as that, the mist lifts and, having put a name to my condition, I am now feeling better again. Humans are strange things.

Heron at Clumber Park

 

A Doctor Calls

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I had a call from a doctor this morning. They were following up on a letter about my blood test results and wanted to discuss things I had already spoken to someone about on Friday. I manged to work this subtly into the conversation and things became a little more productive when they read the notes of my last three visits.

Long-tailed tit – the bumbarrel of John Clare’s poetry

They were worried about my low iron levels. This is the second conversation I have had on my iron levels, so I’m beginning to worry about them too. The problem isn’t the actual iron levels, it’s that I don’t actually know what they do. They might be very important. In fact, as I’ve had two phone calls about them, they probably are.

Symptoms include –

  • tiredness and lack of energy (which I already have – I’ve been poorly)
  • shortness of breath (ditto)
  • noticeable heartbeats (heart palpitations) (this is why I take Warfarin)
  • pale skin (I’m white English, I work indoors, it’s winter)

All in all, not a very impressive bunch of symptoms, and not very distinctive. Fortunately I was able to isolate the likely cause by reference to my notes (which the doctor opened up when I explained what was happening). When I originally had the cough that started all the problems, I was aware that the violence of the coughing could cause pulled muscles, so I was very careful. Unfortunately I seem to have done a lot of coughing at night and tore some abdominal muscles, which hurt quite badly for several days. In this time, partly due to my ingestion of Warfarin, my torso turned into one big bruise. It’s fading now, but it must have taken quite a lot of blood to make it. And with that blood, is a lot of iron.

Fortunately the underlying levels of iron in my body seem fine. This is probably due to high levels of sprouts during Christmas and broccoli at all times because Julia likes it. When I go for blood tests in about a month they will test again.

I had overnight oats for lunch, because i got up so slowly, and am now looking at my list of jobs. Several of them involve using the phone. One of them involves using the phone and being able to take an incoming call. This means once I do that one I can’t ring out again until I have the answering call. That was another thing I didn’t think of when I decided to have the landline taken out.

Merganser – a winter visitor to our southern levels

The header picture is a male gadwall – our dullest, greyest duck.

Positive!

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Yes, I have Covid. It seems that lateral flow tests are not a lot of use.

I probably have the Delta variant according to my sister. The symptoms are different to the original variant, which is why I didn’t realise what was happening. The Government, for some reason, isn’t publicising this. As a result, it looks like at least one nurse from the practice will be off work for ten days.

I feel bad about this, and have sent my apologies.

I’m isolating until next Thursday.

More later.