Category Archives: health & happiness

mammogram 2023

25 Tuesday Apr 2023

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mammogram 2023

Ouchie time again. I got on the programa mamograma back in March, expecting to get a call sometime later this year (since my previous mammogram had been in August 2021). But then suddenly there I was yesterday at way-too-early o’clock ready to get my boobs smashed and hope for the best. And basically that’s what they told me. That if I don’t hear back from them in the next 2 weeks that means I’m okay. So it’s like a no news is good news situation, but waiting for nothing bad to happen really isn’t one of my virtues (what? me worry??). Anyhow, fingers crossed as usual.

new & improved river walk

04 Tuesday Apr 2023

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new river walk (1)

Several years ago I started doing (what were supposed to be daily) River Walks and Park Walks, usually starting off early in the morning (okay, 9-ish) and getting in something like 10,000 steps, long before Fitbit step counting became a thing. But then this and that got in the way, then cancer, then getting old, blah blah whatever… so while I have revived the River Walk in the past couple of years after Covid lockdown, it was still a patchy activity. Until now!

The main drawback with the River Walk was that, although it’s lovely to walk down along the river bank, there is virtually NO SHADE and so unless you get out there early (in my case not likely) it’s quite brutal other than in winter. And while there was also the option to walk next to the river at street level, the Paseo del Torneo had become frankly treacherous as the paving stones were all broken and buckled. Then last year the Paseo had a makeover and just this week it was finally reopened. Okay, there are still a few “bare patches” which I assume they are going to fill in with plants growing atop the various pergolas along the way. But most of it is as you see above. A lovely canopy of leafy greenness with dappled sunshine peeking through. Loving this. It inspires me to get out there.

new river walk (2)

programa mamograma

06 Monday Mar 2023

Posted by in cancer, health & happiness, hospitals, sevilla

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programa mamograma

There’s a preventative breast cancer programme here that keeps you on file to remind you to get a mammogram every two years. Apparently I was taken off the list when I didn’t reply to the notice they sent me in 2010. I don’t even remember this but as I had just come through second chemo and was getting PET scans every six months I guess I didn’t think it was necessary? Well apparently… wrong! Anyhow, had a mammogram done in August 2021 via my GP and today I called up the programme to get back on the list and… yes! I will be advised about the next mammogram which will be scheduled for August 2023. These fuckers are never fun, but neither is cancer, take it from me. So if you are able to do so, make sure you get screened every two years. Take care xx

the pressure’s on!

23 Wednesday Nov 2022

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pressure

After the initial check over with my GP two weeks ago I was sent for blood tests and an ECG a couple of days later, and while checking my BP, the nurse said it was a “little bit high” but then immediately sent me upstairs to talk to a doctor, who told me to go back downstairs and get a pill from the nurse, sit there for 30 minutes, then get my BP taken again and come back to see him. After which he told me to take my BP regularly (morning and evening) until my next GP appointment (today). This meant getting on Amazon to find a reliable but not too expensive arm-band machine which would arrive quickly. That done I spent the next ten days keeping track of my BP and got Peter to do the same. He was overdue for a check up and had actually been prescribed BP meds a few years ago, but then stopped taking them and also stopped seeing the doctor. Turns out his BP is even higher than mine!

Anyhow, went back to the GP today and my blood test results were normal other than a highish cholesterol level. Not diabetic, no serious thyroid issues, everything else looking fine. But Doc Silvia wants me to take this medication, while taking and recording my BP at home twice a week, and then see her again after 90 days. With another blood test six months from now. Anyone have any experience taking this? Enalapril-Hydrochlorothiazide seems to be a pretty normal BP med without too many side effects, but I’m always a bit cautious about taking drugs, especially if they are meant to me longish term. This getting older biz kind of sucks sometimes, but I still think it beats the alternative.

today’s check list

08 Tuesday Nov 2022

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check list

After my last frustrating encounter with a GP when I had Covid, I wasn’t looking forward to today’s in-person appointment. At least this time it was with a doctor I’d seen before, and who is actually supposed to be my regular GP now that Dr Agustín has retired, but I guess with staff shortages, etc, sometimes you just get stuck with whoever is on duty. AND SO… I showed up with my check list of, well, things I wanted to have checked, now that my oncologist doesn’t want to see me again. And so I sat down, pulled out my list and said to Dr Silvia (it’s actually nice to have a woman doctor again) that I was there for my “revisión de coche” and when she laughed I immediately relaxed. Then she said – okay, let’s go, what’s first? – and we went through my list point by point, while she checked recent test results on the computer and made notes. In the end I got all the tests I asked for other than the Covid antibody one since public health centres are not offering them, so I will have to pay for that at a private clinic. But I will get a specific test done for my thyroid, which probably should have been done years ago, plus a couple of others, and I will also be put on a “prevention list” for regular mammograms.

So on Thursday (waaaaayyy too early in the morning) I’m going for more blood tests and an ECG, and will check back with Dr Silvia when the results come in. I know it’s early days as I’ve only seen her twice, but I think I’ve lucked out with a GP who actually listens to me and also gives good advice. And this was after a heavy morning for her and with appointments backed up, yet she didn’t appear rushed or make me feel like I was being rushed. More news as I get it…