Iron Man

Hello dear readers!

I am a tired man.

No, this is not due to to some over exertion on my part, nor is it anything to do with an overly busy social life, unless you count being dragged to watch the sickly sweet Beauty And The Beast (terrible story, don’t get me started) and a cheeky meal at a well known purveyor of chicken as particularly wearing.

No, this is a special kind of tired.

Pure Genius
I’ve written before about my pernicious anaemia (see here) and once again the effects of this nifty little condition are creeping into full force.

This means that, once again, I am due for an injection of B12, the vitamin that my body has decided it simply will not absorb properly no matter how much red meat, oysters, Well know brands of stout, or, um, iron filings I consume.

It is only a small jab, (he says, skilfully avoiding the obvious naughty pun), but my word does it sting. If you were to fill a syringe with vinegar, nettles, and maybe a few ground wasps then you might just begin to have some small inkling of the potency of this particular ouchy.

Unfortunately though, it is an ouchy that I’m just going to have to man up to. However painful the jab may be, you see, it is infinitely preferable to the bone deep weariness that I’m currently experiencing.

The Fog

This is no mere sleepiness. It is not just a matter of having a couple of early nights or upping the consumption of my beloved coffee a notch or four. No, this is an energy sapping, concentration robbing, focus depriving, listless fatigue that slowly insinuates itself over my mind, gradually becoming more and more of a factor as the days since my last dose of B12 slide by.

It means that tasks such as putting these few words to virtual paper become that much harder, that work duties have to be concentrated on that much more. This is an effect commonly known as brain fog.

I’ve developed a reputation, over the years, for being a tad forgetful especially amongst my family. Birthdays seems to be a particular blindspot for my goldfish memory and it always pays not to make plans too far in front, just in case.

I’ve always had an amazing talent for doing nothing too, a veritable skill for revelling in my own apathy. I think that prior to the diagnosis of anaemia and it’s associated fogginess I would have put this ennui down just to being stuck in a bit of a rut, or being a tad down in the dumps. I think that, now, I know a little bit better.

Winner,Winner

Having learned more about the condition I can now recognise so many more of it’s symptoms. The listless, absent mindedness may not just be me being a bit of a space cadet as per usual. The abdominal swelling may not just be from finishing my own meal at the cheeky chicken place and kindly helping my wife, Tina to not leave too much (i.e any) chicken attached to the bones on her plate as well. The slight yellowish tinge to my skin might not be because I need a wash. The total lack of motivation and social engagement quite possibly not entirely due to being a bit of a billy-no-mates couch potato.

I’ve learned to recognise these things as not just character flaws but as evidence of a disease, and that was something of a revelation. As the most likely cause of my own anaemia is a little light spot of stomach surgery I had in my teens this means that I have been officially suffering with it for over twenty years. Quite a sobering thought really.

Unfortunately, as the phials of hydroxocobalamin (liquid b12) I procured from the nurse a while back to self administer the much needed injections have either been broken or lost during last year’s house move. This means that once again I will need to book an appointment at the dreaded doc’s.

I Beg Your Parton

Ideally this would have been accomplished this last week but, as I was working nine to five (what a way to make a living!) I needed a late appointment. The earliest this could be achieved was this coming Thursday when, handily, I’m on a late shift. A second call to the doctor’s is therefore needed to book an early appointment which, of course, needs to be done on the day. Sheesh!

There is good news, however, and that is that, with a bit of luck, the fog should soon be lifting. Soon cognition, motivation, concentration and energy will be once again within my grasp and a more focused, energetic blogger should emerge. 

Who knows, you might even get a semi-readable blog post!

Until next time...