To my friend Chris whose home town Slave Lake is currently being destroyed by forest fires. My heart goes out to you and your family. Hope all turns out well for you.
I'm about to have a little rant so please bare with me.
Watching the news over breakfast this morning they featured a man who was suffering from liver and another type of cancer, for the life of me cannot remember which. Anyway this poor bloke is having to raise £25,000 to fund his own treatment because he lives fourteen miles, FOURTEEN MILES, on the wrong side of a county border. How, in this day and age, can a seriously ill person be denied treatment just because of where they live? How in any way, shape or form can this be right? I know that cuts need to be made and I understand the reasons why but surely there are better ways of doing it.
This afternoon I was flicking through a magazine in Tesco's while waiting for my husband and came across a story about a young woman who has never worked, has a string of kids from different fathers and was bemoaning the fact that her GP wouldn't put her forward for a tummy tuck and breast lift. The GP had told her that she didn't meet the criteria to have it paid for on the NHS and if she wanted it she would have to pay for it. Astoundingly she thought this was 'unfair' and complained that the GP had ruined her whole life. I was pleased that in this instance the GP saw sense but I am sure that many cases slip through the loop because 'I will never be able to be confident enough to get a job unless I have 36DDD breasts.' Give me a break! The problem is in your head love not in your boobs. Let me say straight away I have no problem with those in genuine need receiving plastic surgery on the NHS but it is an area that really should be looked at more carefully.
Back to the chap with cancer. I was amazed and full of admiration at how upbeat and matter of fact he was about it all. His attitude was along the lines of 'what can you do, that's how it is.' But WHY is it like that and WHY are we accepting it? I know it is a bit of a David and Goliath situation but if enough people did not accept it maybe things would change. I hope he manages to raise the money he needs, I hope even more that his health authority will have a change of heart and agree to fund his treatment so he can have a few more precious years with his family. Unfortunately everyone who has ever been turned down for treatement will know that getting them to change their minds is highly unlikely to happen. I wish him well.
As you've already gathered I was winkled out of my shell today to go on a quick trip to Tesco. I've been indoors since Friday as I haven't been feeling too well but agreed with Peter that I must stop turning into a hermit and get a bit of fresh air. As we were only going to pick up some bread and couple of other bits I decided not to bother with the wheelchair stating rather beligerantly that 'Iwas fine' and 'it was only a short walk.' BIG mistake. The trouble with sitting down all day doing nothing is that you don't realise what you limits are until you try to push them.
Thought I was going to have a heart attack today. I was working on a very important personal file on the computer when the cat jumped up on the desk. I was in the process of renaming a document at the time and totally distracted by my furry visitor made a couple of clicks with the mouse, looked back at the screen and I'd deleted the whole folder. Nine months of intensive work gone. Thankfully I live with computer whizz who insists on backing up everything to tape once a week so fortunately after twenty minutes my file was fully restored, my heart rate had returned to normal and the cat will still get his dinner tonight. Note to self NEVER click on ANYTHING in future without looking at it.
Took delivery of a beautiful bouquet of flowers from work today. What a lovely surprise. Pink and white carnations and mimosa, very pretty. My flower arranging skills are limited to stuffing them into a vase after loping off a few inches from the bottom of the stems but I've managed to make them look quite nice and they are now sitting on the windowsill in my living room. Just hope the cat doesn't knock them over in the night.
There probably will not be a blog tomorrow as I'm off to see this therapist woman. She hasn't replied to my e-mail yet so if there is nothing in the morning I'm just going to have to go to reception and hope they know where to find her. My blog will return on Thursday when I'll tell you how I got on.
I'm about to have a little rant so please bare with me.
Watching the news over breakfast this morning they featured a man who was suffering from liver and another type of cancer, for the life of me cannot remember which. Anyway this poor bloke is having to raise £25,000 to fund his own treatment because he lives fourteen miles, FOURTEEN MILES, on the wrong side of a county border. How, in this day and age, can a seriously ill person be denied treatment just because of where they live? How in any way, shape or form can this be right? I know that cuts need to be made and I understand the reasons why but surely there are better ways of doing it.
This afternoon I was flicking through a magazine in Tesco's while waiting for my husband and came across a story about a young woman who has never worked, has a string of kids from different fathers and was bemoaning the fact that her GP wouldn't put her forward for a tummy tuck and breast lift. The GP had told her that she didn't meet the criteria to have it paid for on the NHS and if she wanted it she would have to pay for it. Astoundingly she thought this was 'unfair' and complained that the GP had ruined her whole life. I was pleased that in this instance the GP saw sense but I am sure that many cases slip through the loop because 'I will never be able to be confident enough to get a job unless I have 36DDD breasts.' Give me a break! The problem is in your head love not in your boobs. Let me say straight away I have no problem with those in genuine need receiving plastic surgery on the NHS but it is an area that really should be looked at more carefully.
Back to the chap with cancer. I was amazed and full of admiration at how upbeat and matter of fact he was about it all. His attitude was along the lines of 'what can you do, that's how it is.' But WHY is it like that and WHY are we accepting it? I know it is a bit of a David and Goliath situation but if enough people did not accept it maybe things would change. I hope he manages to raise the money he needs, I hope even more that his health authority will have a change of heart and agree to fund his treatment so he can have a few more precious years with his family. Unfortunately everyone who has ever been turned down for treatement will know that getting them to change their minds is highly unlikely to happen. I wish him well.
As you've already gathered I was winkled out of my shell today to go on a quick trip to Tesco. I've been indoors since Friday as I haven't been feeling too well but agreed with Peter that I must stop turning into a hermit and get a bit of fresh air. As we were only going to pick up some bread and couple of other bits I decided not to bother with the wheelchair stating rather beligerantly that 'Iwas fine' and 'it was only a short walk.' BIG mistake. The trouble with sitting down all day doing nothing is that you don't realise what you limits are until you try to push them.
Thought I was going to have a heart attack today. I was working on a very important personal file on the computer when the cat jumped up on the desk. I was in the process of renaming a document at the time and totally distracted by my furry visitor made a couple of clicks with the mouse, looked back at the screen and I'd deleted the whole folder. Nine months of intensive work gone. Thankfully I live with computer whizz who insists on backing up everything to tape once a week so fortunately after twenty minutes my file was fully restored, my heart rate had returned to normal and the cat will still get his dinner tonight. Note to self NEVER click on ANYTHING in future without looking at it.
Took delivery of a beautiful bouquet of flowers from work today. What a lovely surprise. Pink and white carnations and mimosa, very pretty. My flower arranging skills are limited to stuffing them into a vase after loping off a few inches from the bottom of the stems but I've managed to make them look quite nice and they are now sitting on the windowsill in my living room. Just hope the cat doesn't knock them over in the night.
There probably will not be a blog tomorrow as I'm off to see this therapist woman. She hasn't replied to my e-mail yet so if there is nothing in the morning I'm just going to have to go to reception and hope they know where to find her. My blog will return on Thursday when I'll tell you how I got on.
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