Diabetes & Me.

 If you read my last blog post, you'll know that my ongoing health issues are causing me problems yet again.

I was taken into hospital over on the mainland back in the beginning of October and spent 2 weeks there. 

On the morning I was released, they told me that a blood test they had done when I was admitted had shown that my blood glucose levels were quite high but it seems that they had somehow overlooked this fact and only noticed it at the last minute.

So instead of leaving hospital thinking it was going to be good to get back home, I spent the whole journey back worrying about how diabetes was going to ruin my life.

Three weeks on, and I'm a little less pessimistic about the future. I am on drugs (metformin) and have altered my diet and have managed to loose some weight.

I was recomended a book by one of the GP's - The 8 week blood sugar diet by Michael Moseley - and found it quite interesting. He advocates a mediterranean diet to help reduce blood sugar levels and says that it is possible to come off medication in the long run which is exactly what I want to hear.

I eat a healthy vegetarian diet anyway which is full of fresh fruit and vegetables so basically it was just a case of cutting out the carbs and 3 weeks later I can definetly see the weight loss.

It is taking some adjusting too though as its hard to find recipes that are low carb, vegetarian & diabetic friendly but I will stick at it. At the moment, I'm eating lots of salad but it's getting a bit chilly for that now so I need to look for some alternative meals. There is also the issue of availability as the choice of fresh fruit and veg here on the island is often quite limited. I've not been able to get my hands on any radishes for ages!!!!

Until next time.

Kaz 😎

Air Ambulance, Antibiotics and Atrial Fibrillation

As some of the people wh read my blog may know, I have long term on going health issues as a result of being diagnosed with womb cancer at the end of 2009.

On 8th Oct 2020, things took a turn for the worst and I was taken up to the local hospital here on Bute and then transfered to the mainland where I stayed for almost 2 weeks.

Due to living on an island, some patients are taken off by air ambulance rather than by ferry, which is usually the only way on and off the island, so I had what turned out to be a rather nice trip over to Paisley in the big air ambulancc helicopter. Probably not the best way to experience your fist ever flight but I was accompanied by a couple of rather young, good looking medics so who am I to complain!!!

After being assessed and covid tested, which was defenetly not a pleasant experience (and was negative by the way) I was rather surprised to be admitted to the coronary care unit. Turns out I have something called atrial fibrilation or an abnormal heart rhythm which means I am now on heart medication. Took a while to get things under control in the hospital but after lots of tests and a good Consultant I am now doing ok and happy to be back home. 

I also had an infection, which was the reason I ended up in the local hospital in the first place. 10 days of anti-biotics which played havoc with my tummy but did the trick.

Whilst that was all going on, covid 19 hit the ward I had been moved to and we all had to be tested again (another negative thankfully) This all added to the issues I had in getting home but after 3 false alarms I finally escaped on Wednesday and am now back home.

It is going to take some time for everything to sink in but I will go with the flow and see where it takes us. I used my time in hospital to raise some awareness of womb cancer and also lymphoedema so a bit of good came out of it.

If you are still reading this, then thanks for sticking with me. 

Until next time.  😄

Kaz

What day of the year is it?????

So,  how is every one coping with lockdown, isolation, boredom & not having anyone interesting to talk too?

To be totally honest with you, nothing much has changed for me as I'm virtually housebound most of the time due to various health issues. Up until lockdown became official I'd only been out of the house 5 times since last September.

The only thing I am missing is the hour or so to my self that I got each weekday morning when hubby used to pop into town on the bus to the shops. That was his little routine and it gave me a chance to sit in absolute peace and quiet (apart from noisy neighbours, barking dogs & lawnmowers!!) and just chill out.

My mental health hasn't been all that good for the past few years since cancer came into my life but I've tried hard to not let it get to the point where it totally controls my life. I have my ups & downs like most people but the fact that I can sense the darkness descending means I am able to work through it and not let it take control.

Thankfully there are a lot more people being open about their mental health issues (at least online) which is good. Seeing posts on social media about awareness is good but that only works if you walk the talk. If you have friends who have mental health issues then it is important that you really are ready to listen to them if and when they take the huge step and open up to you.

I've seen so many posts on Twitter from people with mental health issues who have said they tried to open up to someone they thought would listen to them only to be met with indifference or getting the brush off and told to "man up". 

There are so many people who are really struggling at the moment during the current situation; many were already close to breaking point before this all started and it is only going to get worse.

Please, if you know of someone who has mental health issues or who you think may be struggling - let them know you are there for them and mean it. 

If you are the one who is struggling then please reach out. There is always someone out there who will listen. You are not a burden. You are not worthless. 

2020 Vision

So, we will soon be starting a new decade and as usual at this time of year we look back before we look forward, right? Well, I'm looking back to the end of the previous decade, back to 2009.

23rd December to be exact. That was the day I found out that I had womb cancer. 

Great Christmas present eh?

I had no idea that 10 years on I would still be living with the consequences of that and that my quality of life would be virtually zero.

Cancer unfortunately has a habit of seriously screwing up some peoples lives. What is the saying about "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" Well, thats a load of crap for a start.

Cancer, or rather the treatment that you have, in my case surgery, chemotherapy & radiotherapy, can leave behind a series of life long side effects which often means that your health is worse post cancer than it was when you were diagnosed.

Now before anyone jumps down my throat, I know I am generalising here and I am only speaking from my own experience but I really think that the medical profession need to change the way they deal with cancer patients. 

Many are not told about the possible long term side effects of treatment, I know I certainly wasn't. I totally understand that some people don't want to know and thats fine but to subject peope to barbaric treatments without giving them full information is wrong.

It's not called the "cut, poison & burn approach" for nothing. 

How can patients be expected to give their consent for treatment if they are not given all the information they need to be able to make an informed decision? 

Call me naive but I didn't realise that I would go into immediate surgical menopause right after my hysterectomy. I was not given any help or support and have still not had any 10 years on. 

I was told no HRT but not offered any alternatives and so many other women are in the same position.

Since I set up Womb Cancer Support UK back in April 2011 I have discovered so much information that is relevant to my diagnosis, treatment and side effects that I was never told about.

It is wrong that patients have to resort to googling for information that should be provided by their medical team; their GP, Consultant, Oncologist etc.

If I could turn the clock back a decade I would do so. I would refuse the treatment and would take my chances. At least I would probably have had some decent quality of life for a couple of years, maybe even linger who knows.

What I do know is that the chemo & radiotherapy destroyed my quality of life. You may think I'm being over dramatic or exagerating things a bit but you are not living my life.

It is time that quality of life was a factor in assessing treatment outcome. It is true that I no longer have cancer (well, I've never actually been told that as I never had any follow ups at all after my treatment ended, but that a whole nother story!!) but at what cost?

I have spent the past near 9 years with WCSUK trying to empower women to speak up, ask questions and not accept the status quo. We deserve better; I deserved better.

So as a new decade dawns,  I think it's time to move on from cancer if I can. Not sure how I can best achieve that but I'm sure we'll figure it out somehow.

Here's to 2020.

We Remember Orlando

Two years ago a guy walked into the Pulse nightclub in Orlando in US and began shooting. There were around 300 people in the club at the time.

The gunman, who was carrying an AR-15-type assault rifle and a handgun, killed 49 people. Most of those who died were young and they were gay.

Attacks on LGBTQ+ people are happening all the time, both here in UK and in US. 
In 2018 there were 26 deaths of transgender people in US, most of them black transgender women and so far in 2019 there have been at least 8 transgender deaths as a result of shooting or other violent means. https://www.hrc.org/resources/violence-against-the-transgender-community-in-2019

Only recently 2 lesbian women were subjected to a homophobic assault on a London bus by several youths and 2 other women were hit by stones thrown from a passing car.

June is #LGBTQ+ #Pride month which marks the 1969 Stonewall uprising in Greenwich Village in US. Pride parades are held in town and cities around the world in support of #LGBTQ+ people.

Yet day in and day out gay people are subjected to attacks, assaults, abuse, imprisonment and more. Whilst many of the  anti-gay laws have been abolished here in UK, there are still many LGBTQ+ people who face homophobic attacks and bullying and many are still afraid to be open about their sexuality for fear of the repercussions.

I have always been an LGBTQ+ ally – I have several friends who are gay.

Last year something happened that I never thought would – Bute held its first #Pride event. The island is quite small and relatively close minded but a recent newcomer to the island who runs a local pub/diner decided it was time to drag this island into 21^st century.

Check out the blog post I did last year about #ButePride https://thehippyhen.blogspot.com/2018/06/bits-of-bute-part-2.html

It angers me so much that people are attacked, assaulted and even in some cases killed because of who they love.

I will continue to wave my rainbow flag for everyone regardless of where they are on the LGBTQ+ rainbow spectrum because it is no ones business but yours who you choose to love. 

Kaz 😉

Climate change affects us all

Over recent weeks and months there has been a lot of talk in the media about climate change and other environmental issues. It seems that people are finally sitting up and taking notice about what is happening to our planet, or rather, the damage we as a species are doing to this earth.

I could say, “what took you so long?” – some of us have been concerned about these issues for 30 years or so and have been talking about it and trying to raise awareness about the destruction of our rainforests, the polluting of our rivers and waterways,  the use of fossil fuels, the extinction of so many other species who share this world with us, the over fishing of our oceans, consumerism and so much more.

But I’m not going to, because those of us that have been campaigning for change all these years are so glad that you have finally woken up and are able to see that this earth is a fragile place and we all need to protect it and stop abusing it.

As a species, our individual time on this earth is limited to 70 or 80 years or so if we are lucky. A blink of the eye in the evolutionary terms of this planet but the consequences of our actions whilst we are here are immense.

As a child, the disposable nappies that we wear can out live us for decades – some estimates say a nappy takes around 500 years to decompose in landfill. By the way, do you know that a baby uses around 5000 disposable nappies in its first 2 years?

As we grow older the plastic toys we play with get broken and discarded and they too can take years to break down.

Then we learn to drive and travel around using petroleum products that pollute our air and cause us health problems. We try to be good and eat healthy but end up buying fruit and vegetables wrapped in plastic that has flown half way around the world to satisfy our desire for strawberries at Christmas.

We take short haul flights to foreign destinations to soak up the sun and “see the world” – not realising that vast areas of land have been taken over to build luxury resorts and water tables in many parts of the world are running low meaning that local people are going without fresh water so rich tourists can have their swimming pools filled and their hot showers.

You would be surprised at the number of people who think global warming means warmer summers and more sunshine!!  

Yes, human-induced climate change does mean higher temperatures, but it also means heavy rainfall in some areas,  and drought and storms in other areas. Melting polar ice sheets at the North & South poles means rising sea levels which means that many low lying coastal areas around the world are at threat of disappearing.

The full impact of climate change will vary around the world but it is an issue that we can no longer ignore.

So if you have finally realised just how serious the issue is then I won’t say “what took you so long” but I will say “Thank you” because it is an issue that affects us all and only we can change things.

-           

The time is now.

April 2019 will be remembered, hopefully, as the time that environmental issues and climate change really started to be taken seriously by many ordinary people.

Extinction Rebellion started in 2018 but really hit the headlines in April 2019 when thousands of people occupied parts of London in peaceful protest about climate change, loss of biodiversity, the risk of human extinction and the collapse of our fragile ecosystem.

Protests also happened around the world in places like Melbourne, Adelaide & Sydney in Australia and across Europe in places like Berlin, Brussels, Madrid & Lausanne.

The events in London lasted 11 days and by the end of the protests 1,130 people from all walks of life and all ages had been arrested. The police presence was large and heavy handed but the protests were non-violent and relatively peaceful.

The scale of protests shows the depth of feeling that is circulating amongst ordinary people about the issues that are facing us as a species. Many of the people who took part in the protests are not environmental activists but ordinary people – men, women and children of all walks of life who want change.

And change needs to happen soon. For far too long we have ignored the cries from our planet – ice sheets melting at an alarming rate; sea levels rising; global warming; the destruction of our rainforests; the poisoning of our rivers and lakes; and ultimately our own demise.

The youth of the world are having their future decimated by those who are in power and they are finally rising up and saying that enough is enough. They are no longer prepared to stand by and watch our planet be destroyed for profit as global corporate capitalism continues to drive the international economy.

There have always been people who have spoken out about the destruction of our planet; people like David Attenborough, Jane Goodall, Vandana Shiva, Arundhati Roy, George Monbiot and many more and another we can add to the list is a 16 year old Swedish schoolgirl called Greta Thunberg. She has travelled the world over recent months and spoken with politicians here in UK and also at the United Nations. She has also been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Why has it taken a 16 year old to wake people up to the fact that climate change is a major problem and we have very little time left to change things? Those who try to discredit her are resorting to vicious personal attacks but in the end they know they are losing the argument.

There will always be climate change deniers but in the end they will be proved to have been wrong. They are finally running scared because they know that the tide is turning against them and people all around the world are finally waking up to the issues that face all of this that live on this planet.

 Climate change can no longer be ignored. It is time to listen to those who have been talking about this issue for many years and it is also time to listen to those who will be most affected by what happens.

 I joined Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace in the 70's as a teeneage and sent letters (this was before the internet) and campaign postcards asking people to change laws and save our planet. The big thing then was "Save the Whales" and trying to get a ban on whale fishing. 

I think David Attenborough and his wonderful programmes have a lot to do with people finally waking up to what we are loosing and have already lost. 

I hope that Greta Thunberg and others from the younger generation finally achieve the changes that need to happen in order for our planet to survive the onslaught of destruction we are causing.