Barmy Blue's Bland Blog

Shouldn't be blogging now. I took two painkillers about 20 minutes ago and I think they're kicking in. Given how long I can stay awake under certain circumstances I'd like to go to bed as soon as they take effect so I have a larger window to try and sleep comfortably. By the way. So you don't worry about me, the possible drug rash isn't mine and is not related to the painkillers I took. I'm not going to go into why I've taken painkillers until later.

Mum had her follow up appointment today. In the 2 weeks since her operation her cough got worse and she had terrifying moments where she couldn't breathe. I would guess that this is similar to something going down the wrong hole as we say, basically accidentally inhaling a piece of food. I guess so as the food doesn't get into the lungs the wind pipe reacts straight away and makes you cough, probably irritates it and makes it swell a little too, it would make sense.

Because we were worried about this breathing thing she went to see the doctor. Now I've had a cold where I couldn't breather but that was usually because I had a chesty cough and a blocked nose at the same time so my throat would get blocked with mucus on both sides. Or if my throat was really irritated from coughing. Mum doesn't have a blocked nose. Just a dry cough.

It really scares me when she can't breathe, so much so that I leap out of my chair and try to either make her open her airway more or offer words of encouragement. I had basic first aid training twice at school and I remember the basics of CPR. Of course the patient is laying down. Check for obstructions. Tilt the head back to open the airway further. Make sure the tongue isn't swallowed and so on. I advised her to put her head back to try and open the airway more, it seems to help sometimes. Mostly I try to make her take big breaths in and out and keep her calm. I know worrying that you'll suffocate because you can't breathe in is stressful and if you panic it'll be worse.

So. Worried about this she went to see the doctor. Maybe the eye operation is a factor in this problem. Or maybe this cough is just a nasty little bugger. The doctor checked her over, checked her chest and so on and concluded it was just a normal cough but prescribed her antibiotics, amoxicillin for five days. They don't seem to have helped. In fact they made things worse. The most common reaction 1 in 100 is nausea. She was dry retching at about 5 am every morning. So she didn't have to sit over the toilet for fear of being sick I dug up a bird food tub to keep by her bed, mainly for peace of mind in case the was sick.

When I was little I had sick buckets. Since Napoleon was around more then and since he's a builder and since he hates throwing useful containers out (he mixes Pollyfiller in and ice cream tub these days....although I think Carte D'Or is a little fancy for him since he's more a plain vanilla kind of person but hey) he had a stash of little white plastic buckets that were quite sturdy and the handle made them super useful when they lived up to the name sick bucket. But I can't find any of those now, so I made do with the suet pellet tub.

Anyway. She gratefully finished the course of antibiotics. I don't think she did but I told her to mention all this at her follow up at the eye hospital today. They gave her an injection and the nurse asked if she was allergic to penicillin. She's not, as far as we know. When she came home she seemed fine but did mention being itchy.

I caught sight of her back while she was scratching some time later and ordered her over so I could get a better look. I took a picture on my phone (with the flash on for better lighting) to show her. Her back was all red. She wanted to change and take the dog out but I made her wait in the bathroom while I got two sheets of kitchen towel. I said since I'd gone to the trouble of getting up she had to obey.

Her arms, back, neck and a little of the stomach were very red, like sunburn but it's where she's been scratching. On her upper back I noticed a red rash somewhat unaffected by scratching (since that's a hard to reach place) She washed the affected areas with a cold flannel to soothe them and I rubbed Germolene on them with the tissue. Usually I'd use my hands with Germolene but I've never used it on such a wide area and I wanted an even spread. I know it would get caught on and rubbed into the ridges and grooves on my hands if I used them.

She wondered it if was too much detergent in the laundry but she'd been fine on Monday. As we finished up the treatment she wondered whether it was linked to the injection at the hospital so I looked it up. If it is related to the injection then it's not an allergic reaction but it is a drug reaction. Not overly life threatening it seems but uncomfortable.

I also discovered that if she were allergic to penicillin she probably couldn't have taken amoxicillin since they're in the same family but apparently there are different types of penicillin so who knows. We'll see how she is tomorrow but it may be worth something reporting to the doctor if it's a drug reaction.

To make matters worse, she's just had to move office again to Welwyn Garden and they were just setting up yesterday where she got a bit stressed and today where she had to take the train because of her appointment. Also the over ground station at home has an oyster card reader and so did the one in Barnet where she was but Welwyn Garden doesn't have one so if she goes to work by train now she has to buy a ticket instead of borrowing my hardly used oyster card.

Also, Napoleon's had his teeth done now. There were a lot of repeat appointments for draining if icky fluids and stuff. Also he fixed the water heater yesterday. We haven't had hot water for about a week so I was very much looking forward to a nice bath when it was sorted. On the plus side we got a nice new kettle because that energy and water saving little water heater/filter thing she got a while ago doesn't boil the water, just warms it a little below boiling.

So. That's all the recent events.

Bluebiird out. only women should read beyond this point

Oh. And the reason my getting up to treat the rash was so significant and that I'm taking painkillers is because of........feminine issues. I was going to say it outright but I chickened out at the last minute. I disapprove of taking painkillers for such a thing unless you have a serious problem like endometriosis or something. But I feel quite sick for the first two days but I'm fine after. But if I take painkillers I get pains in the later days when I wouldn't normally. Generally I don't like to move too much for the days I feel sick. But that's all perfectly normal so it's no big deal really.

It's funny. It just happened to coincide with my watching the fourth episode of Gunslinger Girl where Triela complains that she doesn't feel well because she's having a period and because they're cyborgs they can't take over the counter medicine. Henrietta tells us that she doesn't get them since they took out her uterus. Gunslinger Girl is kind of creepy at times. Why does a cyborg assassin with a limited life expectancy need a uterus at all? Triela's complaints are partly responsible for my trying two pills instead of just one (I usually take the minimum dose). I figured I'd see how it worked out.

Too much information? Hey. You didn't have to read any further after I said feminine issues. It's obvious what I would be talking about. I put it at the end for your convenience, to read or not to read. I tend to ramble without thinking more in these times.