Sunday 3 December 2017

What Ails You

Hello dear readers!

And a belated welcome to last week!

Yup. I blipped. To the disappointment of literally some (or perhaps fewer), last weeks post was a resounding no show. I can only apologise… or possibly take a bow.

The reason for this aberration is actually a nice little link into the subject of this week’s offering.

Man Up
There’s been a nasty case of the poorlys hanging around the Seated Perspective household you see. A nasty little bug has been doing the rounds; being generously passed around family members and friends like it was the parcel in the eponymous party game. Last week the music stopped and it was my turn to rip off a layer of paper.



Now, I am, as you may have gathered, of the male persuasion. This meant that in my case, the hacking cough, congested nose, and aching head mutated into what must be one of the most feared plagues of our time. That’s right, it was the dreaded man-flu!

The symptoms of this malady, apart from the ones I’ve already mentioned, are a lingering pathetic-ness, a tendency to whine, and an ongoing mopiness that would make a Three Toed Sloth look like an energetic go-getter. Truly dreadful I’m sure you’ll agree, but thankfully, with the great masculine grit, steel, and copious amounts of tea, it is an ordeal that is generally survivable… Just.

The Sting In The Tale
So, not to put too fine a point on it, I was a bit ill. This would not normally present too much of a hazard to my weekly attempt to bemuse and befuddle you, my dearest readers, with the minutiae of my humdrum existence, but this time there was a further fly in the ointment.

I say fly, it might, in actual fact have been a wasp masquerading as a fly (I would put nothing past the vicious little blighters) and it carried it’s own particular nasty sting. What this rather tortured analogy is pointing to is my fortnightly injection of Plegridy, the drug I take to minimise the chance of an MS relapse.



This drug is purported to lessen the chance of such an attack by up to 30%, but it does come with a price. The side effects of Plegridy are relatively few. I do get a lovely red mark around the injection sites which looks like very specific sunburn. Almost like I’ve been by the pool whilst wearing a sheet with four small holes cut in it.

Double Trouble
The other notable side effect are flu like symptoms. I’ll say that again. Flu like symptoms. Yes, that’s right folks, on top of the man-flu I now had the Plegridy-flu to contend with. It was like my flu had flu.

So, that is why there was no blog last week. Anything I put would have made my usual inane ramblings look like the work of a sharp, focussed mind (come to think of it, maybe I should have posted).

I had scheduled a post about ‘The Search For A Miracle Cure’ an interesting if somewhat slightly misleadingly titled program served up by the UK’s Channel Four. This followed leading lawyer Mark Lewis, as he underwent clinical trials of a new procedure that injects stem cells directly into the spinal fluid of the patient.

Taking The Cure
I say ‘slightly misleadingly titled’ because, although the therapy shows remarkable promise, and seemingly had such a huge and immediate impact on Mr Lewis that myself and my wife, Tina were floored, the treatment does not cure MS. It may help symptoms out. It may make it more manageable. It may have a part to play in arresting it’s progression but it does not reverse the damage done.



Mr Lewis, an individual as strong minded and determined as I have ever seen, was still left with frustrations over his body letting him down and although some improvement in his condition might have stuck after the initially amazing but short lived effects I think we’re still a way away from a cure, miraculous or otherwise

Until next time...

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