MEDICAL MATTERS

[PanBiker]

Dan used to eat spuds like apples, straight out of the ground when he was down at my dads allotment, plenty of scope there for other stuff as well. We never had to feed him when he had been helping his Granddad. I remember vividly when Dan was about six years old him ending up in tears in a small restaurant where we had gone for a bit of a treat, there was nothing on the menu that would suit him. I asked the waitress to chop up anything from the veg rack and chuck whatever fruit they had on the plate as well, the kitchen staff all turned out to watch him digging in and gave him around of applause as he polished off the last of his raw chips

[Marilyn]

My son would eat anything as a kid. Never had a problem feeding him. He would eat anything raw too, and a quick snack was carrot sticks and sliced red capsicum or cucumber. Other Mums might go to a Bakery or Cafe for a meal on the run, but I only had to go to the Greengrocer!
Can't recall him eating raw Potato though.
I do recall he would only eat Watermelon with a knife and fork! ( he eats Pizza the same way)
And he has always eaten his way around a plate of food in a certain way - he eats his least favourite thing first ( all of it), then his next least favourite thing next ( all of it) etc, until he just has one thing left, be it a pile of Cauliflower or a pile of Mashed Potato. He never loads his fork with a mixture of food. I have never been bothered by his slight OCD type tendencies, which I have myself. It amuses others, of course.

[Stanley]

I tend to pick individual veggies out of my stew Maz, all of which I like. That's why they are in there!
My wife Vera was a beggar for eating raw meat and liver while she was cutting it up while cooking. It never seemed to do her any harm!

[chinatyke]

And he has always eaten his way around a plate of food in a certain way - he eats his least favourite thing first ( all of it), then his next least favourite thing next ( all of it) etc, until he just has one thing left, be it a pile of Cauliflower or a pile of Mashed Potato....

One day I went to see a friend in Bury and he invited me to stay for tea. Dinner was served on a plate on your knee in front of the fire. It was home made steak and kidney pie with potatoes and vegetables. He went on and on about how his wife Beryl made the best pie in the world, how she didn't make it very often, and how he saved it for last and ate everything else first. We were all talking and he stopped to answer the telephone and put his plate down on the hearth. After he put the phone down, he turned back to finish his pie, but his Alsatian dog had eaten it without anyone noticing. His face was a picture and we all laughed. I still laugh today when I think about it.

[Stanley]

I love it! And it's always something you were looking forwards to.
We're going off piste here but who cares.... One of my favourite memories is walking along the main street of Todmorden one day and a big Labrador trotted past me with a full leg of lamb in his mouth! Not something you see every day and I'll bet someone somewhere was turning the air blue.

[Tizer]

My cousin's Labrador, Merlin, helps her transfer items from the car boot to the kitchen after a visit to the supermarket. He trots back and forth carrying them in his mouth. You'll be glad to know she only lets him carry the non-food stuff!

[Stanley]

His mouth is quite possibly cleaner than hers!
My curiosity got the better of me this morning and I took the dressing off to have a shufti at what was going on. My main motive was that it wasn't feeling comfortable and I suspected that this was due to the old blood soaked dressing sticking to the wounds and pulling on them. Here's what I found.....



Here's the underside, the larger wound that has always been comfortable. The 'butterflies' are still working and it's closed up nicely. Just one spot of blood where I have disturbed it.



The shallow top cut down to the bone is the one that's been tender all along. It's granulating nicely and healing but not there yet!



I re-used the excellent sticky Vaseline soaked gauze that the nurse used to stop the dressings sticking. My reasoning is that it would have still been doing a good job if I hadn't opened it up and I have nothing as good in my first aid box. I didn't wash anything or apply any TCP or any other disinfectant. I reckoned this was best avoided and there is no sign of any infection even though it all looks nasty! Then one layer of sterile lint and a tubular bandage to hold everything together. Then a light protective strapping with micropore adhesive tape. Feels much more comfortable and is less bulky. I shall leave it for another week and see what happens!

[Marilyn]

Looking good. Granulation and healthy edges.
It's just going to take time.

[Stanley]

Thanks for the reassurance Maz. I value your opinion. That's my view as well and I expected the shallow one down to the bone to be the slowest. The deeper ragged wound on the other side is knitting together well. The spot of blood shows it is still not fully knitted up but it's doing well I think. It's more comfortable now and I shall give it another week. I have to go to the chemists this morning with a prescription and I shall try to get some of the excellent Vaseline soaked gauze that I have put back next to the wound..... It would have been nice to use new this morning but I think I'm fairly safe reusing the old. I was going to wash it but decided to do nothing, that's worked so far!
No shed. I am not going to take any risks.

[Tizer]

Good news....
`Huntington’s breakthrough may stop disease' LINK
"The defect that causes the neurodegenerative disease Huntington's has been corrected in patients for the first time, the BBC has learned. An experimental drug, injected into spinal fluid, safely lowered levels of toxic proteins in the brain. The research team, at University College London, say there is now hope the deadly disease can be stopped. Experts say it could be the biggest breakthrough in neurodegenerative diseases for 50 years."

[Stanley]

I saw the report and what a relief it must be from those who know with a degree of certainty that they will eventually fall victim.

[Sue]

As far as one can tell, my finger is mending well. I had a bit of inflammation but that's normal within reason, it's part of the healing process, boosting the supply of blood to the site. (How does the body know to do this?) I took the soiled outer plaster off and replaced it with clean micro porous strapping. I am still being very careful not to knock it and will leave it strictly alone until at least Monday. The worst cut on the bottom of the finger has given no trouble at all, it's the small one on top that reached the bone which continues to feel tender. I have full movement as far as the plaster allows and think I may have been lucky and missed the tendons. It could have been a lot worse!

How does the body know to do this was the question Stanley. Damaged special white blood cells lurking in connective tissue release histamine, this increases the permeability of the capillaries to white blood cells and some proteins, to allow them to engage pathogens in the infected tissues.

[Sue]

Good news....
`Huntington’s breakthrough may stop disease' LINK
"The defect that causes the neurodegenerative disease Huntington's has been corrected in patients for the first time, the BBC has learned. An experimental drug, injected into spinal fluid, safely lowered levels of toxic proteins in the brain. The research team, at University College London, say there is now hope the deadly disease can be stopped. Experts say it could be the biggest breakthrough in neurodegenerative diseases for 50 years."

I saw this teport too , i had an adult student whose mother had the disease, and she decided to be tested. She was positive, gave up her idea of training as a nurse as she said it was a a waste of time. I tried to persuade her that a cure would be found. I wonder what happened to her, its about 20 years ago. She probably has the disease now. So sad

[Tizer]

My cousin's next door neighbour is a young lady doctor and, sadly, she has a serious cancer but she's trying to do in a short time all the things she might have wanted to do in the future. When my cousin was here on the weekend she showed us photos on her phone she'd just received from the doctor - it showed her in the mountains and at the very foot of a glacier - in Chile!

Here's a medical advance on a different scale to the Huntingdon's work but it's done by a uni student and is being used in our local hospital...
`Taunton hospital tests flashing cup' LINK
"A hospital is testing flashing cups that prompt patients to drink more fluids. The cups, which are being used at Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton, were designed by university student Ellie van Leeuwen. She came up with the concept as part of her final design project, after her grandmother became dehydrated while in hospital following a hip operation."

[Stanley]

It's a miracle Sue..... I remember reading an account of ossification and marvelling at my body.
Reading accounts like the ones above remind me that I am incredibly lucky!
Flashing cups..... Hydration is so important, every child should be imprinted with this simple concept!

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report of a new treatment for Haemophilia 'A', a single injection of a corrective gene that produces immediate and in many cases permanent results in suitable subjects. We often hear about breakthrough treatments, it looks as though this might actually be one.
On the finger front, I am getting a slight itching sensation. A very good sign and I feel as though I want to take the dressing off but I am fighting the urge!

[plaques]

Haemophilia. If this breakthrough had been available 100 years ago the whole course of history may have been changed. Tsar Nicholas 2nd may have survived the Russian revolution and his son Alexander 2nd, a haemophilia sufferer could have taken over as Emperor. It was the perceived association his wife Alexandra had with Rasputin because of Alexander's condition that accelerated their downfall. Remember Nicholas 2 and our own Royal family were strongly related through the Saxe- Coburg stud farm for breeding Royalty. We could all be speaking Russian today had he survived.

[Tizer]

The haemophilia treatment is another example of British medical science - the work was led by doctors at Barts and Queen Mary University of London.

Plaques' interesting backgrounder about haemophilia and the blood line of royal families reminds me of an article recently about African genes in European royal families (I'll leave you to work out why the newspaper was discussing that subject!). Some say they can be traced back to the 1300s when a Portuguese king (Alfonso III) defeated a Moor leader and took the Moor's wife as part of his booty. Their children spread the African genes through Europe. Another claim is that there was a further injection from Sophie Charlotte, Princess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, who became wife of George III (1761) and Queen of the UK (1801). She had 15 children and was responsible for a lot more spreading of the genes! LINK 1 LINK 2

[Stanley]

I had the same thought P! What price Rasputin?
Also, Victoria spread a few unhelpful genes as well!
I heard a discussion about Sophie Charlotte, Princess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz on R4.
Later..... It won't surprise you to hear that I decided to have a treat and open my dressing up....





I was hoping to find that it would be possible for me to let my finger have a day in the open and some exposure to water to clean it up a bit but I decided that we aren't quite there yet. I dabbed it well with neat TCP, reapplied the sticky gauze that has served me so well, put a non absorbent dressing on it, then a tubular bandage and finished it off by sealing with micropore adhesive tape. It feels more comfortable largely because I have taken the steri strips off and so they are no longer pulling on the bigger cut. I think we are doing OK!

[plaques]

Don't let it dry out completely. The hard scab will either get knocked off or split open. These things take longer to get back to normal than you think.

[Stanley]

Thanks P and yes, that is in my mind. That's why I have reused the Vaseline impregnated gauze again next to the wounds. Ideally I'd like to soak my hand in warm water to clean it a bit but at the moment I'm ignoring how it looks and just irrigating with neat TCP to hold the bugs back! It's not causing me any concern, just slight irritation that I let my attention slip! I have given a lot of thought to how I can avoid repeating the mistake!

[Stanley]

I decided this morning I was ready to liberate my finger! The wounds have dried out and it's time it was exposed to fresh air, some water and exercise. It's obvious now from the bruise that the pain in the shallow cut on top is bruising of the bone and that will take a while to sort itself out. I'm hoping that it will clean itself a bit, I'm not going to push it, just let it happen. All the movement is there, it's just the stiffness of the skin that's holding it back and I think that will gradually improve with use.
Very happy with it but I am not going to push it, I shall let everything come to before I go back in the shed. Nice to have the dressing off!

[Stanley]

Lots of washing with soap and cold water is working its magic.

[Marilyn]

You could buy a container of plastic skin ( spray) to seal that last area.
Invaluable in our house...

[Stanley]

I don't think it needs it Maz. All that loose skin has gone now. What will be more useful is some disposable gloves for the shed to keep it clean.... I shall get some. It's almost back to normal but I am going to give it time to get the swelling out of it. That's the only thing that's stopping me bending it right down at the moment.