WRITING CHALLENGE


I spotted this on facebook today. I have started writing a number of things and lack some confidence as to whether I'm an ok writer or not...however I"m going ahead with this challenge to write 50,000 words this month - leave editing till last! Join me! 

http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/dashboard

Asthma, Dr update

Following up on all the asthma mishaps of recent times

I went to the Dr a few weeks back and he gave me a stronger preventer and took a bunch of blood from me. I returned yesterday to get the results and discuss further. In the meantime, I've started to exercise again and thought the pool would be a great low impact way to do so. In the three trips I've made I've had 2 mild asthma attacks and one pretty scary one (almost went to the hospital). On the last trip to the pool in Queanbeyan, I didn't exercise I just hung out in the water with the grandling. Not only did I have another mildish asthma attack, but I also had a rash down both arms; mysterious!

So for now, no pool and only very mild walking as breathing isn't great. I'm waiting for the new meds to kick in as I only started four days ago, pretty sure I didn't take it right the first day either! Additionally, the Dr thinks the ongoing stomach swelling (causing asthma) is stress related, and I may also have an allergy to something in Sydney as it's only happened since mid February. To address this he's given me a week of prednisolone to reduce any swelling or treat any allergy and we'll go from there.

UPDATE:
5 days on the steroids now, feeling slightly better though my stomach is ridiculously swollen despite avoiding junk food and coke (until today).
I'm still pretty tired but not as bad as I was two weeks ago, who knows what the hell is going on! I just want to feel good again and get back out walking and swimming!

Billy


UPDATE 6TH NOVEMBER 

Back to the Dr yesterday for blood results etc; firstly he thinks I've been harboring the giardia bug for months, hence bloating and causing my stomach to push up into my lungs causing breathing issues so today I downed 4 'smack it in the face' anti-biotics to see if I get better, I should know by tomorrow! If not we'll try a week of them then look at other possibilities. 
However, the best outcome was an explanation of WHY I've been so damn tired all the time, no sleep or rest helped at all! Turns out, in his words, I'm 'slightly anemic  in that my hemoglobin count was 9 and should be as noted here; 'For men, anemia is typically defined as hemoglobin level of less than 13.5 gram/100 ml and in women as hemoglobin of less than 12.0 gram/100 ml. These definitions may vary slightly depending on the source and the laboratory reference used.'

That gives me some much needed context and some hope that it may be easily solved! I have had an iron deficiency in the past that iron tablets picked up a bit - my body doesn't absorb iron well for some reason. I'm a meat eater and I LOVE and eat green leafy stuff, even throwing it in my shakes (thanks for that idea Vic). So now I'm on a two month iron tablet + vitamin c (it helps absorption when taken together) to see if that helps. There are many thoughts and much research on iron absorption and how we should get it from food etc etc, but some of us can't get it from food well enough to stay alert and awake, hence I shall take this journey and maybe this is what I'll have to do ongoing! 

Fingers crossed I feel like a human again soon! 

Billy bear 

The thesis

Doing a Master's thesis is hard, it's even harder when you have to work up to three jobs and none of those are stable. It's even harder when the supervisor seems to have it in for you. That's how my masters has unfolded anyhow. 

I got my marks back today, 56%. I'm pissed off at me, the system and the supervisor. I hardly had any help from her and most of the time was flying by the seat of my pants, other students noted they were in a similar boat. 

I'm glad it's over, I'm glad I passed, but I'm very disappointed at my mark. This is where I turn all the fingers at me and my inner voice tells me I'm a failure, I should have been better, I could have tried harder, you're not smart enough etc etc...and who knows, maybe some of that's true! I know I'm not a genius and that I actually have to try quite hard to get good marks. I tried really hard...so I don't know why I got such a shit mark. 

I did do it in half the recommended time and had a tough subject that none of the lecturers knew about - I could have picked something easier with more qualitative content I guess...but I'm glad I got to do some research about trans* and intersex stuff. 

Anyhow, here's to hoping it doesn't affect my PhD acceptance, though reading my confirmation (upon passing masters) it doesn't look like it will.

Onwards and upwards I guess. 

Billy