In a show of great skill and talent, I have managed to lose the ability to walk in a straight line and have spectacularly wiped out on a walkway at work and have twisted my ankle in the process. I’m currently sitting with my foot elevated and wrapped in ice. Taking advantage of the fact that I’m a walking pharmacy, I’m felling a lot better after taking ibuprofen, paracetamol and codeine. Still, god damn it, I do not need this shit right now.
Tag: health
Ow!
Things were productive at casa Richard this weekend. We secured all of the shelves and bookcases to the walls and managed to clear out all the boxes of books and DVDs. I put up a curtain pole in the office and we bought waaaay too many clocks on a random trip to Scottsdales (where we were only supposed to buy a house number and some cat food). The shed is piling up nicely with stuff we won’t need to keep in the house, as sheds are wont to do.
I other news, I managed to brain myself quite efficiently on Saturday. All my tools are in a cupboard under the stairs and, when I went to get some rawl plugs to fix the aforementioned bookcase, I got up a bit too quickly while I was still under the stairs. I’m sure I dented my skull. I was ok for Saturday but I’ve been having a minor headache since Sunday. I think it’s just a big bruise, but the migraine I got this morning really isn’t helping matters. It’ll either go away by itself in a day or two or I’ll be dead from an undiagnosed cerebral hematoma (note to self, do NOT go read stuff on Wikipedia).
Anyway, it was a grand weekend and we got lots done and we ate lots and there was ice cream. If it wasn’t for the ding on my head, it would have been close to a perfect bank holiday weekend.
State of the Richard
Lots of things happened in the past week.
My folks came for a visit, which was excellent. They spent a week on this side of the pond, mostly cooing at the Benster. Katy and I managed to have some us-time and spent more money than we should have at Ikea, buying new furniture for the house, and going to see The Boat that Rocked at the cinema. I highly recommend the movie, it’s a blast.
BenBen’s cold took a turn for the worse near the end of the folks’ visit. He’s normally a very chilled out and happy baby. Not these days. He’s a cantankerous snot monster that refuses to eat anything. He went from eating around 35 oz in a day to anywhere between 15 and 20. He just does not want to eat. He’s usually a good sleeper in the night as well, but the last few days have been trying. On Sunday, when he hadn’t had anything significant to eat for his last two feeds of the day, he had a complete meltdown from 4pm and we had to just put him to bed at 6pm. He was exhausted and just didn’t want to do anything but scream and go to sleep. We thought that he’s be wailing down the walls in the middle of the night – because he’d hardly eaten anything – but it turns out that he had a decent night. He woke up around 3 am in a coughing fit, but managed to put himself back to sleep with a minimum amount of fuss. I, on the other hand, hardly slept that night. I was so worried that he’d be waking up that I was dreading it and ended up sleeping at most 5 hours that night, in fits and bursts of 30 minutes here and there.
We took him to the docs yesterday because he was seriously off his feeds and was running at a higher temperature than normal for him. They prescribed us some antibiotics and we went home. He was still fractious but had a better day than Sunday. He ate more, which is a good thing. We put him to bed at closer to his normal bedtime and things seemed to be going well, except that the coughing fit he had at 2:30 am kept him – and us – awake until 4am. He wasn’t crying, but was very vocal in his attempts to go back to sleep. In the end, we put an extra blanket on him, put his bedtime CD back on and Badger Badger’d him again and he drifted off to sleep. We managed to get a few more hours of kip, but I’m rather tired this morning. Katy and I have also caught whatever bug is plaguing him. I’ve been horking up yellow phlegm and Katy has a cough that would make a lifetime shag tobacco smoker envious.
Things might be progressing on the housing front. We had a phone call out of the blue from the estate agent on Saturday and, after a bit of phone tag, it would seem that the seller is “disappointed at having to reduce the house price but is going to be pragmatic about it”. Apparently, she’s had her own electrician do as estimate of the work that would need doing and the quote she got was about 1/3 of ours. We met somewhere in the “middle”. We’re still eating more of the costs than I’d ideally like, but I’m tired of waiting and I won’t quibble for a few hundred quid – even if we are morally in the right. Anyway, she wants to exchange this week, so we’re going to chase up the solicitors and see what we can do. Watch this space.
Post-partum in the male of the species?
Rob Sandler comforted his infant son as he lifted him out of the crib, cooing in his ear while he walked to the living room. “Something didn’t feel right,” says Rob Sandler, who developed a male version of postpartum depression.
If his baby had needed to be soothed three months ago, Sandler, 36, of Houston, Texas, might have handed the baby off to his wife and then found an excuse to leave the house. “Honestly, it felt like when I was at home, the walls became very, very close in. I wouldn’t say claustrophobic, but very cabin feverish,” Sandler said. It turned out that Sandler, a medical device salesman, had more than cabin fever. He recently got an official diagnosis: He has a male version of postpartum depression.
“This comes as quite a shock to men who are expecting this wonderful time of baby bliss with the new baby and a time of bonding,” said Will Courtenay, a San Francisco, California-based psychotherapist and founder of Saddaddy.com, who is a leading expert in the United States on paternal postnatal depression.
“Each day in the U.S., 1,000 new dads become depressed, and according to some studies that number is as high as 3,000. That’s as many as one in four news dads who become depressed.”
“We hear this from a lot of men,” Courtenay said. “They can’t stand to be around their baby…they can’t stand the smell or the sound of their child screaming.” Video Health Minute: Watch more on dads and postpartum depression »
Courtenay said a number of factors may cause the depressed feelings. “It’s likely that sleep deprivation plays a major role,” he said. “Hormones may also play a role.” According to Courtenay, “It’s a double whammy. Not only do our testosterone levels go down, but our estrogen levels go up and these female hormones coursing through our body can really wreak havoc on a man’s functioning.” Although experts aren’t exactly sure, they theorize that these fluctuations may be similar to “sympathy pains” that individuals feel when someone they’re close to is hurting.
Male postpartum depression is different from the “daddy blues,” he said. The signs of full-blown depression are usually more severe and last longer. Some of the symptoms of postpartum depression are the same as those for generalized depression, such as sadness, a sense of worthlessness and a loss of interest in sex or hobbies. A rocky relationship with a spouse, a sick or colicky baby, anxiety about becoming a father and a history of depression can also contribute to the condition.
Courtenay mentioned one of the best predictors of whether a man will become depressed is if his spouse is depressed. “Half of all men whose partner has postpartum depression are depressed themselves,” Courtenay said. Men are also more likely to hide their depression from loved ones, he added.
Sandler’s symptoms began not long after his son Asher’s birth in June. “Something didn’t feel right,” he remembered. “I felt like a lot of loss of control of my life…a feeling of trappedness came over me and it would not lighten up. It kept getting worse and worse as the days went on.”
Sandler said he would make excuses to get out of the house. “Simple errands to the store that would maybe last 30 minutes were now lasting an hour,” he recalled. Sandler’s wife Traci, 38, who was recovering from a Caesarean section at the time, recognized something was wrong almost immediately. “At first I wanted to slap him across the face,” she said. “But he said ‘this is not normal’ and he realized he needed help.”
When his baby was about 3 weeks old, Rob Sandler went to see a psychologist and then a psychiatrist. Sandler credited twice-weekly counseling sessions and a daily dose of an antidepressant with helping him turn the corner.
Left untreated, mood disorders often worsen, Courtenay said. “If a man doesn’t get effective treatment for his depression, it could have damaging, long-term consequences for himself, his marriage, his career and his child.”
He suggested there are several ways for new fathers to try to prevent postpartum depression. Courtenay recommended that men with a history of depression see a mental health professional before the birth of a child to work through any issues that are causing stress and anxiety. Similarly, he told couples to seek marital counseling ahead of time if they’re having trouble communicating. Financial responsibilities also can fuel pressure in new dads. Courtenay said couples should evaluate monetary resources before a new baby arrives.
Rob Sandler revealed he felt similar worries as the sole breadwinner of the family.
He admitted he still gets overwhelmed at times, but now that he’s received treatment he’s feeling much better and described the emotional difference as “night and day.”
“Now I see myself wanting to come home earlier and spend time with [the baby],” Sandler said. “Whereas before I was running from it, now I kind of want to go back and be part of it.”
What’s been happening in the last little while
A lot of stuff happened since the last time I wrote. Let’s see…
Katy and I went to the Pub to celebrate our wedding anniversary. Since it was a special occasion, we went he rules a bit and Katy indulged in her first naughty pudding in ages.
The Sky engineer came on Friday morning to install our shiny new Sky+HD box. This means that we can now timeshift our favourite shows, pause live tv and watch the HD channels on our shiny new tv :) The whole thing started when we wanted to get a regular Sky+ box to record shows but were unable to order one because the website melted down. We could order an HD box, but then we realized that our old tv didn’t have the right connectors to take advantage of the full HD experience. It provided us with the perfect opportunity to get rid of our old tv and get a new one with a much happier disposition. What’s impressive is that the new one is bigger, better and cost almost a third less than our original one. Yay, progress.
We went to Leicester this past weekend to go see Katy’s folks and meet up with Pam. It was a fun morning and she gave us a ton of baby clothes. We should be set for the next little while :) Mel was in full grumpy old man mode. We think that the whole heart bypass experience wasn’t what he expected. He’s getting better, but is still limited in what he can do and it’s starting to piss him off. He cant stand doing nothing and is bored, and therefore grumpy. Katy took the opportunity to get most of her mane chopped off and restyled. She’s happy with the result and so am I. It means that her hair won’t try and smother me in my sleep anymore.
We were finally able to take Tolstoy to the vets last night. He was due for his annual checkup and booster shots weeks ago, but between all of Katy’s trips to the hospital, we were never able to get it done. Of course the charming animal took that day to come in covered in sticky seed pods. As in, he was a giant hair tangle from head to tail tip. The vet was impressed at his phlegmatic response to being held and partially shaved. Normally, cats need to be fully sedated under a general anesthetic when they’re dematted and shaved. Our boy did it sober and didn’t even raise a fuss. We expected him to bugger off and disappear and sulk for a day or so. We did not expect him to turn into a man-whore that night!
Tolstoy, at best, tolerates our presence and treats us with generalized disdain. He’ll deign to be in the same room as us but doesn’t like to be held or fussed on. Last night? He jumped on the bed(!), sprawled on my chest (!!) and spent most of the night sleeping on the bed (!!!). This is unheard-of behaviour. I mean, having Reenie jump all over us and sleep with us is not a biggie these days. But Tolstoy? wow!
Katy and I didn’t sleep well though. We both went to bed with a case of man flu. It came on in the early evening and just got a bit unpleasant. Sore throat and stuffy-and-runny noses. Made for some cracking snoring from Katy. It’s better today though. We’re making sure to keep well hydrated, and advil/tylenol keeps the aches at bay.
We went to Addenbrookes today for Katy’s scans and various clinics. Ben has been very active in the last few days. This is a good thing, because it’s the best sign that all is generally well, but it has the less pleasant side-effect of making it hard for Katy to get a full night’s sleep. The scan shows that Ben has gotten bigger. He’s now at the top-range of normal and is 2.2 kg. The diabetic clinic nurses have told Katy to increase her insulin levels because he’s putting on a bit too much weight so it’s going to be important to keep an even closer watch to her sugar levels. A bit of good news: her liver levels seem to be settling. They were lower today than at the last reading last week.
We had a bit of a scare with her blood pressure, which was at 160/113 but when we went to the MFAU to get serial blood pressure checks, we got 5 readings at or around 120/75. Katy’s blood pressure has always been nothing if not erratic, but we even asked the midwife to take a manual reading to confirm the good news and it was 120/80. Go fiigure… The good news is that she didn’t need to get admitted today :)
Hopefully, things will continue in this trend and we won’t have any issues to go see Bill Bailey in London next week!!
Feeling much better now
I did something really stupid today. I knew it was a bad idea, but that apparently didn’t stop me from doing it. I went online and read up about the possible complications of liver failure in pregnancy and all the possible physical, developmental and psychological problems that can be associated with being born a preemie. The liver pathologies are not nice. One can actually involve your liver, how to say it, exploding internally. Messy. The general consensus about those worst-case scenarios is that they are not very nice. When I left the office to go to Addenbrookes, I was a bit of a mess. Katy had one look at me and got one of the midwives to yell at me (figuratively speaking). I have just enough medical knowledge to be dangerous :)
Turns out that the worst-case scenarios are also rare, and are the result of what happens when you catch them at the last possible moment (or don’t catch them at all). I re-read my previous blog entries and they do sound a bit melodramatic. Katy is not at death’s door. As a matter of fact, she’s doing ok. Ben is still a very active baby and Katy isn’t feeling out of sorts at all (unless you factor in being bored). The worst thing she currently has is high blood pressure. It spiked up earlier today and gave her blurry vision for 10-15 minutes but then everything went back to normal by itself and her BP was normal-ish while I was there. The midwife thinks that her high pressure might be putting some stress on her liver, which might explain the elevated enzyme readings, but it doesn’t seem to be anything nastier than that at the moment. Her bile acids results came in tonight and are normal, which means that it’s not one of the more common potential liver nasties. They’re keeping in her for another 48 hours at least to do more bloods and more BP checks.
Like the midwife said, it’s a watch and wait game. If her liver functions remain high-ish but don’t get worse and her blood pressure stabilizes, there is a good chance of Ben going to full term. She’s going to be well monitored and, at the first sign of trouble, they’ll deal appropriately. She said that there have been cases where one blood test after dozens of normal ones kicks-starts the whole process into high gear. Watch and wait.
For now, all is well. Nothing bad has happened and lots of good people are working hard to keep it that way. I have also been banned from reading medical websites on the Internet, but Katy says that I can browse for porn instead. Have I mentioned that I love my wife recently?
Cause I do.
Update on Katy
I’ve just gotten a phone call from Katy. Her liver function test came back and it was worse off than yesterday so that means it’s not the meds causing it. We’re now down to two options, one bad and one worse.
Poo, I say.
They’re going to keep her for observation and more tests until they have a better idea what’s the cause and what’s the best course of action.
weekend update
I've been told that I haven't updated in a while so I'll try and compensate in a big one.
Went to Leicester for the weekend to see the Katygirl. She's feeling less than stellar. Poo. She's going to be spending a few more days in Leic, which is a good idea cause her parents can keep an eye on her and that cough of hers, but is bad because I miss her. Between all my trips and her op, we haven't had lots of quality time in the last little while and that sucks ass big time. Blergh.
So, the weekend. I slept in the guest bedroom because I didn't want to smack into her in our sleep (which I've done in the past). The box room has a very small and less-than-comfortable bed. It didn't help that my feet hung off the edge and didn't have enough pillows. I didn't sleep well, and my back hurts. Minor annoyance.
I spent saturday trying to make salsa and my mom's tomato ketchup. The salsa is a bit too liquid, but really tasty. It was a learning experience. Next time, less vinegar (that Polish stuff is really potent!), and make sure that the tomatoes are really, really ripe. The ketchup… I'm less sure of. It tastes good, but doesn't look right. For one thing, it's really darker than my mom's. One reason, I think, is that I used red onions instead of white and I think that the color bled into the mix a bit. Also, I think that I used black mustard seed instead of yellow, which also might have contributed to the darker color. The proof will be in the tasting. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough room to bring them back to Cambridge with me so there's still in Leicester. It was a bit of a bummer though that 3 kg of tomatoes only makes 5 and a half jars of preserves. I was expecting more. Anyway, like I said, learning experience. The highlight of saturday was going shopping in the market. Lots of good food for cheap. Also, I got to wear my new cotton trader duds, which are really really comfy.
Today was supposed to be a slow day, but my back had decided that it really hadn't liked that bed and I couldn't get comfortable sitting down or standing up :( Dinner was yummy, and I took a train back to Cambridge. Hopefully, Katy will feel good enough to travel by mid-week.
Tomorrow, I move a piano. Joy.
Deep philosophical question
How can a nose be runny and stuffed up at the same time??
FYI
Katy was taken in for her operation about an hour ago.