Encephalitis and me...

Apologies for not posting much over the last 6 months.
The reason being, a stay in intensive care, unconsciousness, in an induced comma, waking up confused, dazed and scared, festooned with tubes everywhere and no recollection as to why.
Its been a  sereal journey. The time since has been hard.

One day I am Ram, the next moment, a shell of who I was... Gloomy yes but that's what it felt like.
From being free and able bodied to being dependent on many people, predominantly my wife Julie.
One day, I had influenza, next I'm waking up two weeks later in intensive care????
I'm slowly getting back to myself but there is still a way to go...

Life's been very busy with recovery and physio, memory issues and lots of tests, investigations and  reviews by all sorts of specialists. Then there has been all the exercise, 'strengthening my core' due to the vertebral fractures I have...

No idea when or how I got these but, they are there.

I don't think there's any orifice that's not been scoped or organ that has been radiologically checked out by xray or scan.... The barrage of blood tests I've had is also remarkable that I've not needed a unit or two of blood to replace the 'arm fulls' of claret extracted from my thrombosed veins!!

I've become a patient and it is truly eye opening to be in this position.
I'm in the process of chronicling it and maybe making an attempt at writing a true story about this all. The Encephalitis Society have been very helpful to Julie, my family and myself giving us support and direction. I am indebted to them all, especially Julie who has given me the love and support I have not always returned as well as the strength to carry on. Thank you xxx.
My boys and their wives as well as my sister in law Val and brother in law Tony, as well as my mother and father in law Claire and Henry, who have been there for me. Becks and Mo for their help as well as Ambe, for his help and guidance during the acute phase... My mum, dad, brother and sister who came over when I was ill and all my friends Alan and Helen, Douglas and Irene, Jim, Linda, Jill, Catriona..... The list goes on, Cheers!!
To all my fellow Dr's and nurses who got me over this rather unplanned and dark hump, I thank you all.

I know this may read like an acceptance speech at an award ceremony but in a way it is. It is in deed an award of thanks from me to you all.

As a family, all the help, encouragement and direction we have received from everyone has been humbling and fantastic. The hard work from community services, Louise and Magda as well as the GP services, Nuffield House and Debbs has been amazing to Julie and I. The NHS is a great institution and I have given so much for so many years to it but it has paid me back when I needed it. Thank you 😌 (I'm not very good at choosing the appropriate EMOGI).
Anyway, having this perspective of healthcare professional to patient may be worthwhile to undertake, especially for me!
I'm in a space I hope no one gets to experience... I appreciate the alternative is RIP but this is not a bed of roses either.
Despair, pain and anger need to be managed and I am not always good at it.
Society imposes on us to be strong as men and as professionals... This is not always easy but hayho, life goes on.

It's not been all bad: I got to see the world cup 2018 on TV even though the team I was backing came third... Though most important of all, I got to meet our fourth grandchild, the beautiful little lady Eliza, who joins Heath, Cass and Daisy as the new leaves in our ever expanding family tree.

I have been writing a little, reading even less but painting and drawing a lot... One of my friends helped me conjure up the word 'Encephalartist'... I don't think it's been used before and I'm going to take the bizzare honour of claiming it... 😁

In the meantime, I leave you with some of my art... And a promise to get some more posts in sooner than they have appeared lately.
In the meantime, enjoy the rest of the summer, reading and creating life.... I hope you consider reading one of the books available on Amazon
If you do, please leave a review and make sure you tell others that these books exist and are in the public domain to be read and enjoyed by everyone.

Peace and love 😘

Resurrected blog

Hi all, sorry I have ignored and not updated my blog for nearly 6 months but I haven't been too well!
Back in March, I collapsed, had a Respiratory arrest, fits etc and was intubated and ventilated on intensive care.
The cause, encephalitis....
Basically my brain swelled up (that's a massive brain too...) and I nearly checked out from life.
Scary and very sad but I'm alive and well'ish...
My rehab is long and I am feeling strong but unfortunately, not there yet. However, I am a stubborn and strong willed so and so, I'll survive!

I've got my strength from my massively supportive loving family... Thank you ❤️❤️❤️
It's grown by one also... Eliza was born soon after I was discharged from hospital.
Strength and support from my many friends and colleagues too who supported and looked after not only me but the clan too... You know who you are and thanks.

I was unconscious for a while so missed the worst, acute bits, bit recovery / rehab is painful and slow...  Although I'm getting better, I have loads of residual issues left like poor concentration levels, pain and poor mobility... Frustrating and this is why I have taken this long to get back on track!
However, this is a big step for me... I've done the shorter, less deep social media things and now I'm being honest on my blog!

In the meantime, please support my blog and read my novels... RPG Books

Busy few weeks...

It's been a hectic and chaotic few weeks with winter, in respiratory disease management, our busy period.

Added to this there have been a myriad of project deadlines, business case completions, service spec reviews, performance, information governance, ACP /STP.. TLA (Three Letter Abreviations) ... And we are putting our house on the market.
The latter is what I wanted to share with you.

I love my house, its a fair size, 5 double bedrooms, a massive living room, separate massive dining room, big conservatory, 2 bathrooms and a modern, open plan kitchen that you can swing several cats in... You are getting the idea it is Roomy?
Outside there is room to park 3 cars and the back garden is massive, private, not overlooked and warm.

So why move?
Well it's too big!!

We have brought our family up here and seen our children marry, live with us and then move on. Now it's just Julie and I in this BIG house.
We have invested a lot of money and time but most of all, love, into our house.
It is why it's so. Hard to find something that will ever replace this homely space.
There is something about our home that makes me want to stay and not go. The space, light, warmth and physicality added to the memories make it difficult to part. This house has been an important part of our family. We have shared many good times, some challenging ones too, but the good far outweigh the not so good... And none were ever bad!

As we search, I compare against what we have and what we would be sacrificing for the sake of downsizing...

The search continues...

Reading on holiday

Mental Dental (Murder by Proxy) makes a journey to Mexico.
Thanks David Morris for tweeting it..
International writing, international reading.
Books for chilling with....
Link

Good evening

Hi all
It's been a little hectic and life has been busy... So much so, I've been unable to write anything on this blog.
So what has been so busy with my world?
Paid work, working on a new respiratory pathway for acute and long term managing of COPD, using an NHS app and education plus allowing an alternative to option to admission to hospital, working with the Patient@home team, community services and more....
Added to that, my other services I manage still need input and then life!
The festive season was busy with family and friends.
Now, most of that is behind us... So hope to be on point with my book blogs.

So a quick reminder, there are links strewn around this blog with my Author page on Amazon to access.

My books are a range of fictional work that include hospital ghost stories, for obvious reasons, lottery dreams in a book and also a comedy and scifi story plus a couple of thrilling books based on psychopathic dentists and a heroine that saves the day.

Take a punt, have a look, download a copy of one and have a great evening

All the best

Check your Christmas reads

Please check out my amazon author page for more details on the deals set for 22-29th of this month to see you through Christmas and the new year
Link

Busy

It's been a busy few weeks, so much so I have not posted anything here since early last month!
The day job is in its busy 'peak season' for respiratory illnesses, family commitments have also been demanding, enjoyable but non the less, all absorbing.
Thankfully, today is a little easier.

So what's happening out there?
It's snowing, cold and treacherous on the roads. We had been trying to get to Colchester, trying to travel a route that would take an hour in total... Two hours later, several skids and anxiety attacks +++ with only half the route travelled, we turned around.
The snow has eased but the roads are like sheets of ice now...
I've just returned from walking RosieG, slipping and sliding around and happy to be indoors.

The snow looks beautiful and the landscape turns a different hue with the winter-scape. The frosted leaves, trees and grass, white and glistening... Gorgeous but treacherous.
My mum, comfortable and warm in Gibraltar, has never seen the snow and is always saying we are so lucky... But mum, I'd trade the warm sun to the snow any day.