MEDICAL MATTERS

[Stanley]

Sounds as though accurate reporting is beginning to kick in China.... Take care...

[chinatyke]

Hubei province reported 14,840 new coronavirus cases, including 13,332 clinically diagnosed cases, on Feb 12. The hard-hit province also reported 242 new deaths from the infection on the same day.
That brings the total number of confirmed cases to almost 60,000.
That's a massive increase, over 30%, in one day.

Sounds as though accurate reporting is beginning to kick in China.... Take care...

That's my interpretation also. I think they have not included the 13332 clinically diagnosed cases until now, perhaps they were quarantined at home rather than in a hospital. There are doctors in the clinics also. A bit of fudging of figures going on somewhere.

[Stanley]

The word here is that they were only confirming if pneumonia was present. They have dropped that now and that means that many previously not counted are now included.

[Tizer]

If I were the UK's public health boss I'd start an immediate, urgent campaign to get many more people vaccinated against flu. If we were to have a flu epidemic start now it would cause havoc with our attempts to prevent and control the Covid virus here. We wouldn't easily be able to distinguish one from the other without specialised medical tests and could end up quarantining the wrong people together etc.

[PanBiker]

Finally received the results of my MRI scan from last October. My letter includes an apology for the delay.

"Your scan from October looks fantastic! There is no evidence of any tumour present on the scan and clearly this is good news.

From now on, I will pass the organisation of your scans over to our specialist nurses. Overall we will keep things under surveillance for a total of nine or ten years."

A copy has gone to Dr Hare, (Head of Practice) at our local surgery. My own doctor will no doubt be availed of the result.

[plaques]

Good news Ian. Not many people can say there's nowt wrong with my brain.

[chinatyke]

Great news Ian. Shame about the delay in telling you the results. Go and celebrate now.

[Marilyn]

Whew! Celebrate!

[Wendyf]

Excellent news Ian.

[Tripps]

So - 'no news was good news'

I'm so pleased to hear it.

[Cathy]

Great news Ian.
How will you Celebrate?

[PanBiker]

Thanks everyone, we'll see if the nursing team can do a more expedient job. Eight months and I should be back in the scanner again. The NICE recommendations for follow up for my histology is three to four years of annual scans then a move to bi-annual if there are no complications. No guarantees on that of course as meningiomas are hormone driven and can (and often do) reoccur. Particularly in women who have more challenging hormonal changes than the blokes. Roughly 80% of all meningiomas are diagnosed in females with considerably more reoccurrence incidences also.

Just seen your post Cathy, no celebration as such just thankful that I have confirmation that nothing has changed.

[Tizer]

Wow, that's good news Ian. You can get on with life without wondering about the result.

[PanBiker]

Yes, thanks Tiz, until this time next year or maybe a bit earlier if the neuro nurses are a bit more expedient.

[Tripps]

Just heard an interview on BBC R4, with a guy in Wuhan, who decided to stay and not get the flight to UK for which he was eligible. He seems to have had the virus and recovered. He was asked a lot of questions about living in the city now.

He said travel by cars is banned, but their are lots of cars on the road - mainly top end, BMW's and Audi's. He says the rules don't apply in China if you are wealthy. He said he is still working - teaching English, but over the web.

Interestingly he said you can't do anything in secret here - you sign out of your block when you leave and sign in when you come back - with facial recognition software - 'they' know where you are all the time. Sounds a lot like 1984, and is in total contrast to what Chinatyke tells of his current situation.

There must be a lot of memory somewhere to hold all that information for the whole population.

What's a chap to think?

[chinatyke]

... a guy in Wuhan,..
Interestingly he said you can't do anything in secret here - you sign out of your block when you leave and sign in when you come back - with facial recognition software - 'they' know where you are all the time. Sounds a lot like 1984, and is in total contrast to what Chinatyke tells of his current situation.

I assume the signing in/out procedures in Wuhan are because of the epidemic control regulations and are a temporary requirement. I live in Guangxi Province, an autonomous region, and it is much more relaxed. I'll give you an example, all foreigners are supposed to carry their passports at all times. I've never done this and in over 15 years I've never been stopped and asked for it.

[Stanley]

Good news Ian.
I have Jack marking my card every time I move,,,,,

[PanBiker]

Letters from the hospital are like buses, you wait forever and nothing turns up then they all come together! I mentioned yesterday that my results letter said that I have been passed to the Specialist Nursing Team.

I received a letter from them this morning introducing the change to my ongoing care. They included their contact card and I now have two dedicated Clinical Nurse Specialists, Roisin and Laura.

They also inform me that a surveillance scan has been requested for October 2020 and will write to me again when the date is confirmed. They also deliver the results of the scan after radiology and neurosurgeon review.



Also reported in the news today that there were over 4,000 cases of Mumps recorded last year. Predominantly from further education, college and university students. Thought to be directly attributable to the refusal of the MMR jab due to the bogus reporting in the past. I hope when these students start their own families, (if they can) they don't make the same mistake with their kids. Horrible illness with some nasty potential complications.

[Tizer]

I'll give you an example, all foreigners are supposed to carry their passports at all times. I've never done this and in over 15 years I've never been stopped and asked for it.

Now you've said that you'll probably get stopped next time you go out. What happens to you when they do find you out and about without a passport?

Another hygiene precaution for us is that when we get books from the library we always wipe down the covers with disinfectant wipes. I happened to look at the back of the packet today. I haven't paid it much attention in the past but now I see that it tells you to wash your hands after using the wipes and to avoid letting the stuff get into contact with your eyes - and if you do, then consult a doctor. Also, don't let food come into contact with surfaces which have just been wiped. Don't `flush the wipes' - I assume they mean don't flush them down the loo. Prevent pets (especially cats) getting their paws in contact with or licking wiped surfaces. The wipes are a danger to wildlife and shouldn't be allowed to get into an aqueous environment. I doubt that many people know or follow these instructions!

[Cathy]

Maybe in the future our descendants will be living in bubbles.

[chinatyke]

Now you've said that you'll probably get stopped next time you go out. What happens to you when they do find you out and about without a passport?

Another hygiene precaution for us is that when we get books from the library we always wipe down the covers with disinfectant wipes. I happened to look at the back of the packet today. I haven't paid it much attention in the past but now I see that it tells you to wash your hands after using the wipes and to avoid letting the stuff get into contact with your eyes - and if you do, then consult a doctor. Also, don't let food come into contact with surfaces which have just been wiped. Don't `flush the wipes' - I assume they mean don't flush them down the loo. Prevent pets (especially cats) getting their paws in contact with or licking wiped surfaces. The wipes are a danger to wildlife and shouldn't be allowed to get into an aqueous environment. I doubt that many people know or follow these instructions!

Some foreigners carry a photocopy of their passport and visa page. I suppose I could be made to produce it and also fined but it is unlikely. I must show it when buying rail tickets and on entering and passing through a railway station because all rail tickets are issued to named individuals. Chinese must produce their ID card for the same reason.

One of the places where I worked produced a hard-surface cleaner for use in the food and catering industries. This contained a sanitising chemical which could be left on the surface and contact food without causing any problem. It's probably not in your standard wipes but is in some 'alcohol-free' wipes and wound cleansers.

[Tripps]

Speaking of library books takes me back to Addenbrookes Hospital, and Lady Archer - (the fragrant one) doing her charitable work as Chairman of the NHS Foundation Trust (as she was at the time), going round the wards from patient to patient with the library book trolley. No hygiene precautions whatever. The newspapers and Kit-Kat trolley operated in a similar way. It was only later when several members of the family contracted Norovirus that the significance occurred to me.

[Tizer]

China, if you carry a smartphone perhaps you should photograph your passport etc on it then you'll always be able to show it.

Tripps, most of the books at our library are now recent and in good condition but some are older and grubbier. I've seen some of them look much cleaner after I've removed grime with the wipes. You'll perhaps remember that I had another concern about library books, in addition to the bugs and grime - some of them were being circulated among libraries including those in prisons. This raised the possibility of them being contaminated with drugs like `spice' which are dangerous even at the milligram level. Prison officers have been made ill by handling things previously handled by prisoners who use these drugs.

[chinatyke]

China, if you carry a smartphone perhaps you should photograph your passport etc on it then you'll always be able to show it.

Thanks. I never thought of doing that and I already have a scan of my passport! I'll do it today! I have a 4G smartphone most of which is a mystery to me.

LATER, much later! DONE!!!

[Stanley]

When I get secondhand books I usually wipe them down but just use water and weak bleach. Seems to work.