Life laughs, and a forced smile

I don’t drink alcohol. It’s not a religious thing (anymore), I just don’t feel the need for alcohol in order to have a good time. I’m also not pedantic about it, and am able to have a drink if I want to - I think I had a glass of wine a year or two back. All this is to say that alcohol is a non-issue in my life - I can take it or leave it and usually choose to leave it.

It has, therefore, been a source of some mild amusement that my kidney condition has permanently swollen my stomach to the ‘six-month pregnant’ stage. Not that anyone would think that a seventy-year-old man was pregnant (I mention it only for the size comparison). But there is a certain irony in the fact that my body looks as if it might have spent a large part of its life supporting the bar at my local pub.

I have learned to live with the implied criticism occasioned by a distended stomach, and the unspoken disapproval of the athletically inclined. And so it was, with the sort of amusement only found on the far side of “you’re kidding, right?” that I learned that my painfully swollen foot was called “gout”. Yes, that gout - the disease of kings, and often the result of too much beer. Only in this case …

I wouldn’t mind wandering around bearing the marks of a profligate life, only I seem to have missed out on the profligate part. It’s one thing to pay the price for a misspent youth, it’s quite another to apparently pay for one you never had. Then, on the precipice of self-pity, I’m reminded that it is Easter - and that mine is such a tiny, tiny, cross.

A festive fractal and a long silence

Christmas Vines (© David Ford 2017)

Nothing posted here since June; that’s six months of silence. During that time, New Zealand has moved into summer, had a general election, and a change of government. I’m generally fairly apolitical, but it was time for a correction. The previous government had nine years in office (three elections) and, given the right-left nature of New Zealand politics, the only way to plot a moderate course is to swerve from one side to the other on a regular basis. And, if you were thinking that there has to be a better way than that, then I can only agree.

Anyway, Bill has given up his seat to Jacinda, so New Zealand now has their third female prime minister and second female Labour leader. Perhaps, I hope, we might see a little more social compassion from our new political leaders. After too many years of favouring the ownership class, New Zealand has become a country of haves and have-nots; far from the equitable society that welcomed our family in 1987.

The winter wasn’t very kind to my health. Nothing dramatic or serious but, starting with a sudden allergic reaction to some medication that I had been taking for years,  I got through winter and spring only by dragging myself forward one day at a time - or so it seemed. The upside is, that having shrugged off the obvious allergic skin problems, I also seem to have got over the constant tiredness that I have lived with for the last seven years. So, here I am at the beginning of summer, feeling much better and enjoying both my three-day working week and four day weekends. Let there be more fractals👍

Hospital and back

The walk to the hospital takes me through Christchurch's Botanic Gardens which were looking wonderful in the autumn sunshine today.

OK. I’ll make this medical missive a ‘one off’ (the health stories of those of us who are past our ‘use by’ date hardly make interesting reading). But, as matter of record, today was my annual check up at the hospital.

PKD is one continuous down-hill ride to kidney failure - at least that’s what the doctors believe. But, for the third year in a row, my kidney function has remained steady at 40% (low, but not dangerous).

“You seem to be atypical” the doctor says. “Coupled with the fact that neither of your parents have PKD, and your diagnosis was fairly late in life, I am wondering whether what you have is really PKD.”

“Well, if it’s not PKD what is it?” I ask.

“Haven’t a clue. In all other respects it looks just like PKD. Your kidneys are hugely enlarged and you even have some cysts on your liver, typical PKD. So it must be PKD. But it should be getting worse and it’s not. Anyway, it doesn’t change how we need to treat it. Controlling blood pressure is the most important thing. Let’s see how that is doing … 120/76. That’s pretty impressive for someone your age."

“So, it looks like PKD, but might be something else. It should be getting worse but it isn’t, and my blood pressure is the best it’s been for years. Sounds like reasonably good news to me.”

“Yes. Looks like we don’t need to see you again until next year.”

So, that was my day at the hospital. The PKD (maybe) is not getting any better but, most importantly, isn’t getting worse. What was a short fuse, seems to have stopped burning - at least for a while. That’s something to feel very thankful about. I guess my cameras will have more work to do yet.