HEALTH: ME, MINOR COMPLAINTS

Truthfully, this post is just a filler.

I've recently been getting pains in my shoulders, particularly in the early hours of the morning and mentioned this when I went to see my GP for a regular checkup last Friday. I'd been the previous week to have blood samples taken for testing. My good chlorestorol was very good, my bad chlorestorol was could have have been worse, could have been better but best if it goes down. Everything else was clear. I mentioned that I felt I was SAD, that is suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder as I'd been feeling less chirpy than usual since around the middle of October. I was half-joking but surprisingly Dr Mackrell agreed with and could up the dose of Cipramil if I wanted but as I've already increased this from 10ml to 20ml since my last visit I didn't really want to up it again.

She got me to raise my arms and stand up to no great effect though there was a bit of pain when I bent my arms and raised them up to shoulder height. Her suggestion was that I use one firm pillow instead of two soft ones. I don't have a firm pillow so I just use the one soft and the pain has got worse since I started doing that but it could be coincidence.

I should also go and get an X-ray and she gave me a letter to hand in. There are several clinics and two small hospitals in the area which have X-ray drop-in centres so I could take my pick. Now today, Susan was off driving the charity van into the wilds of Durham which meant I could have the car and decided to kill two birds with one stone. I went to the clinic on the other side of the river for my X-ray, the clinic being not too far from my heart-op recovering old bud Barry (see earlier posts). I didn't have to wait too long for the X-ray where I was told to stop wobbling as I stood with my left side to the machine. I never realised how hard it was to stand still. The second photo was easier as my front was pressed against it. I'll find out the results in about three weeks.

Barry still has a long way to go in his recovery. He has been out of the house but no further than a walk around the block. Sneezing or coughing hurts his healing chest. His ability and willingness to concentrate is quite impaired (probably because he still has the anaesthetic still in his system) and hasn't even checked his email in the 10 days since his release, though his conversation is perfectly lucid and intelligent. I'll probably call round again in another week.