The Big Fella's hosting a War Hammer/LOTR games day, today. Half a dozen ten-year-old boys are about to descend on us accompanied by armies of plastic orcs and homemade scenery.
They'll keep themselves amused for hours, and all we have to do is feed them. They won't stop for a meal in the midst of battle, so feeding them means providing snacks and sodas throughout the day.
I'm not sure I'll get much blogging done today.
August 29, 2005
Three weeks in bed
Bedrest: it's a cure-all, I tell you!
A month ago, my seasonal asthma kicked in. In previous years, I've required hospitalization and been close to death on more than one occasion.
In the past, even on good days, I'd be incapable of all forms of exertion - walking any distance or climbing stairs, for example. And on bad days, acute hypoxia would leave me incapable of recognizing when I needed emergency medical attention. Mac has, quite literally, saved my life on more than one occasion.
This year, as my symptoms worsened, I took to my bed expecting at some point to end up back in hospital,. It didn't happen: it seems I've gotten away lightly this year. I've had symptoms - sometimes they've been debilitating, mostly they've been irritating - but nothing like in previous years.
So what's changed? The only difference I can see is that , in the past, I've tried to work through my asthma season, ignoring the symptoms and carrying on like I'm not ill. It doesn't work, of course - I used to quickly become exhausted and eventually I'd be forced to lie down. This year, I did things differently. I didn't try to soldier on. When I got sick, I went to bed and stayed there until I got better. It worked!
Mac regards this as the right way to respond to illness but, for me, it's revolutionary. I was brought up to soldier on, and not to let things get the better of you. My family's attitude to illness held that symptoms, unless obviously and immediately life threatening, were to be ignored. In practice, this meant that, whatever the complaint, if your head wasn't falling off you would likely be told to "get on with it". To even acknowledge a symptom was tantamount to giving in to it. And "giving in" was the worst crime in the book.
Mmm. You know, maybe Mac's right, perhaps I do have a characteristically male attitude to illness.
Anyway, I’m up and about again.
A month ago, my seasonal asthma kicked in. In previous years, I've required hospitalization and been close to death on more than one occasion.
In the past, even on good days, I'd be incapable of all forms of exertion - walking any distance or climbing stairs, for example. And on bad days, acute hypoxia would leave me incapable of recognizing when I needed emergency medical attention. Mac has, quite literally, saved my life on more than one occasion.
This year, as my symptoms worsened, I took to my bed expecting at some point to end up back in hospital,. It didn't happen: it seems I've gotten away lightly this year. I've had symptoms - sometimes they've been debilitating, mostly they've been irritating - but nothing like in previous years.
So what's changed? The only difference I can see is that , in the past, I've tried to work through my asthma season, ignoring the symptoms and carrying on like I'm not ill. It doesn't work, of course - I used to quickly become exhausted and eventually I'd be forced to lie down. This year, I did things differently. I didn't try to soldier on. When I got sick, I went to bed and stayed there until I got better. It worked!
Mac regards this as the right way to respond to illness but, for me, it's revolutionary. I was brought up to soldier on, and not to let things get the better of you. My family's attitude to illness held that symptoms, unless obviously and immediately life threatening, were to be ignored. In practice, this meant that, whatever the complaint, if your head wasn't falling off you would likely be told to "get on with it". To even acknowledge a symptom was tantamount to giving in to it. And "giving in" was the worst crime in the book.
Mmm. You know, maybe Mac's right, perhaps I do have a characteristically male attitude to illness.
Anyway, I’m up and about again.
August 10, 2005
Catching up
Having been off-line for nearly a month, I'm busy dealing with a backlog of e-mails. As a result, posting here will be light to non-existent for the next few days (no change there, then).
I'll be back.
I'll be back.
August 07, 2005
Remember me?
I’ve spent the last few weeks with my head in my hands: computer problems have prevented me posting, my e-mail is totally screwed and my regular tech support has moved to Oxford.
Nobody told me there’d be days like these.
Nobody told me there’d be days like these.
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