October 2007 Archives

My apologies for the lack of recent entries. This was due to the fact that what I was told was a my appendix nearly exploded. There is no way that, if I'd known this was going to happen, I would have boarded a plane for a New York vacation.

Around 35,000 feet I began to think that something was very wrong. Likewise, in the Emergency Room at the Methodist Hospital, Brooklyn. Only after several morphine shots and a CAT scan later was the truth revealed. Jesus!

Six days in hospital and £12,000 (kerching!) of travel insurance money later, I got out. Hurragh to Kirsty Kirsty Kirsty, Lucy and James for being their for me. They were supportive, came to visit me and prevented me from committing suicide due to over exposure to U.S 'bulk' TV.

Family folks called me up on my patient phone and cheered me up. Given the rather dodgy nature of the com system, I was surprised anyone managed to get through. Thanks for the text, Andy.

There is something fairly desperate about feeling like a complete physical wreck. My own, comparatively minor, experience made it seem like I'd been removed from the world at large. A non-person, I suppose. And I was only in for six days! How do people who are really ill cope?

More thoughts on this later.

People talk about having Flu when they mean a heavy cold. Personally, I have no memory of having the virus before, so didn't know what to expect. Ow maaan!

First you wake up at 01.30 in the morning with what feels like chronic indigestion. Sickness, nausia, hot and cold flushes to follow. It's definitely a multi-faceted condition.

By the early hours of Monday morning, Kirsty was phoning NHS Direct as I quickly turned from ice pop to sweat bucket. I remained in my bed until 15.00, unable to get up.

There have been better days...

On the train home today, I met a man who (I think) worked for the Disney channel. He was waxing lyrically about the film "High School Musical" and how it had made the company $1 BN U.S. "Take it all in", he said to the person on the other end of his mobile, "let the movie run over you."

High School Musical is about the most mawkish, derrivative piece or junk that you or anyone else could imagine. All copies of this film should be destroyed for the public good. How could anyone think that 20 or so variations of songs along the lines of, "Wouldn't it be great to be nice to each other" would make for groundbreaking entertainment? This is adolescent entertainment gone profitably bad.

A couple of days ago, a secondary school class I was working in were discussing the pros and cons of migration. Just to clear this up: we’re not talking birdies here flying south for the winter. These are more your human economic migrants.

The very same day, in Sainsbury, I was served at the cake counter by someone who just did not understand English well enough to do the job. Fair play to the worker for blagging the position. You’d think the supermarket would know better though. Lucky for me that in-store barbering is not a feature of my local branch.

My time living in Prague lasted from 1996-2000. During that time I’m sure that I must have annoyed people with my vague grasp on their language. Maybe people were more forgiving because I worked for a film company.

More and more people I meet tell me about the rather rubbish side effects of my current medication for epilepsy. The drug is called Epilim and comes from the generic, Sodium Valproate. Depakine is the main form of SV in North America.

In a nutshell: Valproate increases your appetite and is likely to lead to weight gain. The downside (it seems to me) is that all the other alternatives meds tend to induce feelings of drowsiness.

So folks.... It’s Michelin Man or Night Of The Living Dead. One of the many McChoices offered by modern medicine, no doubt. The problem is I am liable to go into a non-stop, ‘possible personal doomsday’ (PPD) seizure without the drugs.

My epilepsy is controlled and I am very lucky. A couple of weeks ago, I met a teenager whose seizures are triggered by hearing or seeing anything with a rhythm. This includes music, light, finger clicking, knocking at the door, etc. Blimey.

The weekend remained with me until late on Monday night. This was, largely, down to the consumption of some rather nice red wine from the Collioure region of France (Domain Mas Blanc). 2001 was a classic Roussillon vintage, although this one was showing it’s age somewhat. I still like a bit of bite, you know. If you ask me, the so-called ‘English taste’ for super-mature wine is all a bit Emperor’s New Clothes.