Chess anyone?

As part of my healing, I am trying to get my critical and strategic focus back.
Test the brain and send the synapses into overdrive where possible.

Playing board games helps.
Scrabble is my addiction. I love words and the challenge "scrabbling" gives me. I have a pretty decent personal score to boot.

I have recently been reintroduced to chess by my friend Alan and have a lot to re-learn.
I've not played chess in man years and playing again is exhilarating.

We met up today at my house and I had the chess board set-up in the anticipation of playing a few games over a few hours and lunch in between...
The results:
We chatted for a while and only managed one game and... I lost!
Good to test the brain though ✌️

Played a few people and doing okay although in fairness, played my mate Alan recently and I was losing so I 'accidentally' knocked the pieces and we had to restart... Lost that one anyway 😳

Inhalers and inhaled therapy

I have worked in the speciality of respiratory disease management for decades.

I have been responsible for designing services to aid the delivery of care for patients with asthma, COPD and other diseases.

I am also asthmatic and have been for decades.
I have not needed regular treatment with inhalers until last year. Now, I have to take 2 puffs of symbicort 200/ 6 twice daily.
It takes a few seconds a day, yet I have a problem remaining compliant..!
I know right?
Tablets wise, I use a dosset box and I can see when I need to take my meds, when I have forgotten them, in time to correct this.
I am extremely compliant with my tablets.
So why such a difference in adherence?

One of the key areas we have always tried to focus on is concordance and compliance with inhaled therapy.
Unlike pills, we cannot put inhalers into dosset boxes so concordance can sometimes be very poor.
Inhalation therapy is recommended at all stages of the disease and allows the delivery of active molecules directly to the target site of action, whilst minimising adverse side-effects. Inhalers therefore play a crucial role in the effective management of patients with COPD and asthma. Many patients choose not to take their medication because they perceive it to be unnecessary or because they are concerned about potential adverse effects.

Rate of adherence is usually reported as the percentage of the prescribed doses of the medication actually taken by the patient over a specified period. The extent of non-adherence varies widely, and in different studies it has been recorded as low as 10% and as high as 92%.
Extensive review of the literature reveal that in developed countries adherence to therapies averages 50%.
Approximately half of this non-adherence is intentional, whilst the remainder occurs because patients are either unaware that they are not taking medications as prescribed or the regimen is just too complex. Adherence rates are typically higher among patients with acute conditions, as compared against those with chronic conditions.
Studies reveal that patients with chronic illnesses take only ~50% of medications prescribed for those conditions.

So can we make this easier?

Yes and this is something I am working on to develop a new strategy around this through an innovative approach that I will disclose once it is complete... So watch this space.

Useful link

Concordance

Catch up at High tea.

It was such a brilliant catch up with good friends / colleagues yesterday.

Catriona was chauffer for me, picking me up from home and then Penny and driving us to a posh tearoom in a boutique hotel near Ongar... Due to PMI (Poor Memory Issues) I cannot tell you the name of the place but it was extremely chilled and very posh!
We were shown into a large conservatory, sitting at a table which was set with emaculate precision.
The cutlery sat welcoming and clean, awaiting the food to be served.
I noticed and older colleague of ours sat to my left and I turned, smiled and briefly chatted with her, Janet.
Janet was a health visitor who'd worked in the same offices as we had about 5 years + ago. She'd retired and asked "have you retired now?"... I wonder if the walking stick and my gait prompted her question or do I look really old anyway?
No need to answer this one, I know!!!

After a catch up, we had our tea served... Tea with scones, cakes and sandwiches (with the crust cut off), served in a timely manner and with a smile.

I hadn't seen Julia, Penny or Catriona for many months so there was a lot to catch up on.
We have worked together for many years and have been good friends, all of us are specialist nurses in different disciplines but all forward thinking.
We have always done what is best for our patients and colleagues and I was very proud to be their manager for a few years too.

Two main reasons for our meeting: I had retired and now Penny was retiring.
It was like we'd only seen each other the day before... Lots of chat, laughs and memories shared.

Tea was great, lots of choices of tea, I went for the ceylon (Sri Lanka) tea... Strong and full bodied. All poured through a tea strainer as the tea was loose leaf tea.. Catriona!
She kept on forgetting about this, in all fairness, she is the younger one out of us all and usually never drinks hot beverages of any sort!

The sad fact about our meeting is that two of us, by today, will have retired.

Penny has always been the consummate professional. Caring, unpreterbed and calming, in all the years I've known her, I'd say I've only seen her angry once and that was only angry with a tiny 'a'...
She has done so much for her service, single handedly being a force for effective cardiac rehab in West Essex. I have a lot of praise and respect for Penny. She will be missed but she has given many, many years service to others and now it's time for herself, family and especially her grandson. Good luck Penny 😉👍.

We chatted for ages, sharing photos of our children and grandchildren with anecdotes to boot... Sharing tales of our ailments and how different the patient experience is.
It is such a shame that we shared poor parent experience when receiving care!

Time passing quickly and soon the previously bright conservatory becoming darker as dusk set in. It was a good 3 hours gone quickly though there was nearly a year to catch up on.

It was time to say goodbye and although our daily interactions will never be the same, our respect and  can I say love, for our colleagues and friends, will always be there.

There were a few cakes left over so I was obliged to take them home for our grandchildren to polish off... Boy did they enjoy them! Especially as Daisy wasn't feeling well so the cakes were very much a Medicinal must.!

Till the next time
Cheers....

Saturday nights... Thoughts and reflections

Yes, they were dedicated to going clubbing, dancing, drinking etc... That's a long time ago, even before encephalitis!!

Now, Saturday, day time, I have been doing some exercise, chilling, eating and spending time with Julie.

The winter has not been too harsh and we have been out in Harlow.
Coffee, snacks and a bit of shopping, now, evening, we are both at home, resting, drilnibk tea and spare nding some time with Rosie. Rosie has been feeling a little unwell today so we have been fussing over her and... She loves it!
She's now lying by my feet, fast asleep and relieving old races as she jerks and woods in her sleep.

All very un-rock 'n roll... But I love spending time at home. Tea, coffee, a few snacks and all good.

Excitement, I get excitement... I shaved off my moustache and beard today... A change of image, that is pretty cool isn't it?

It was a tiring day yesterday. I had an appointment so up early to get to Cambridge, Addenbrooks hospital for 10.00
We left home before 08.00 to get there in time because the M11 was snarled up due to an accident so.... The whole of the South-East were on the rat runs, including us. Like ants, following a line, the traffic swirls blocked all the roads... Not moving much as the time ticked!
Everyone was cross, focused on getting to their destinations, very little humanity or kindness... Added to this it was cold and grey.
Do you get the picture?

As Julie concentrated on the traffic, we saw a lady running, on foot, on the road side, heading towards Bishop Stortford, where we were heading too.. She was about our age and without meaning any insult to her, did not look as she was running for pleasure... And everyone was ignoring her.
Well not everyone, Julie wound her window down and called out "are you okay?"
The lady just said "thank you" and run across the lane of fast moving traffic to our side which was moving at maybe a few inches an hour. She just smiled, puffed out and said thanks again as she got into our car... Very trusting, we could have been dodgy? Thankfully we are fairly normal and more importantly "safe".
"so who are you guys " she enquired, to which we replied with our names and she said her name was "Sid". When she was running, she looked so anxious & out of place running on the road (no footpath)...... She was happy to join us & we had a great chat in the car & dropped her off at the hockerill lights in Bishop Stortford ... Her bus had failed to turn up, prompting her to take the plunge by running the few ( three hard) miles from Little Hallingbury!... She was anxious to open her café, she didn't want to let people down.... She told us about how she's raising funds to organise a trip for adults with disabilities, she's also running a social club at the cafe & does home cooking...... It's the 'Wiggly Willow Café'.
What a great person and such a chance encounter... Such dedication. Hats off to you Sid, others would have not bothered 
Here's the website
https://www.wigglywillow.org/

It turns out Julie's sister knows her... What a small world!

This is one of the many reasons I married my lovely Julie, she is a caring and helpful lady. A true good Samaritan. ❤️❤️❤️

Anyway, l was reading my last blog entry and my old childhood friend, Richard, replied... It's great to hear from you amigo ✌️
We keep in touch on Instagram and its really good to hear from you.
I am sure our paths will cross again.

In the meantime life goes on, thankfully.

Until the next instalment
Take care of each other and live life's every moment, be present...

First Post of 2019

Well I have to start off by saying 'happy new year' and wishing you all the best for 2019.
I hope this year is kind to us all. Last year was, how can I put it, shit!

Yes indeed, apart from the birth of our 4th grandchild, I had little else to celebrate last year.

2018 saw me admitted into hospital in a coma, caused by encephalitis and I was happy to come out from ITU alive.
All I remember was going to bed on the 1st March and waking up a couple of weeks later. I also had pneumonia, hypertension and other sinusitis / asthma...

I had no memory of what happened... I cannot remember fitting, stopping breathing (arresting) or how I sustained the fractures on my spine...
Now, I have been retired from work,  early retirement.
Up to now, retirement is not much different to being off sick!!
I am in loads of pain, my mobility is restricted and I don't get to see too many people outside of the family.
I pass the time cleaning, cooking, painting and undertaking my physiotherapy to strengthen me up.
It's difficult because I lost so much muscle strength and although I have recovered lots of it, I still need to strengthen up!
Added to this, I have put on some weight too.
I now take pain killers, inhalers,

So what will my blog do that is different?
I will still be unashamedly promoting my books and art but... I want to keep track of my progress but also give you a synopsis of what has happened to date. The serious points and the funny ones, if there are any.
After all, humour can cure lots... 😜

I also want to educate and support anyone with sharing experiences.
This will include retirement, hobbies, encephalitis, relationships with one's self and others and life in general...

I also feel that it will be very powerful to write about being a patient after decades of being on the other side... Believe me, it is very different and very hard!

If you are interested, sign up for instalments, interactions and updates...
I hope to keep you posted

Ram