29 Wednesday Oct 2025
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Got my Covid-Flu boosters yesterday! I was pleased to see quite a turn-out, a lot more people than last year, but still nobody else was wearing a mask. Peter got his last week, this week my age-group is up, along with children 6-59 weeks old, pregnant and postpartum women. I think that after this week anyone can get an appointment. Anyhow, so far just the Covid jab arm hurts a bit. 💉💪
23 Tuesday Sep 2025
So damn. I mean, I knew it was coming but yesterday it finally happened. I lost four of my lifeline bus routes, two of which I use several times a week, especially for getting to my various health centres or the market. Now instead of the 27 and 32 being 5 minutes from home it’s a painful 30 minute hobble to get to/from the nearest stop. All to make Sevilla more “tourist friendly”. The plan is to eventually replace the 27 with a “tranvibus” that will go to the main train station but who knows how long that’s going to take, and that still won’t take the place of the 32. So until that happens (sometime next year?) it looks like my world just got even smaller – and more expensive as I’ll have to start taking more taxis.
09 Tuesday Sep 2025
Not sure why I didn’t do this sooner, or even if I should be doing it now, but no way I’m going to take a fucking opioid (Tramadol) twice a day for three months in case it makes me feel better. And who knows when I’ll hear back from the knee surgeon to discuss the the results of the new x-rays they took that very same day. Then I remembered that when I saw the other, nicer, kinder traumatologist in June (about my shoulder) she had suggested taking this collagen supplement (two months on, one month off). Around the same time my GP had suggested something called Nubit for my neuropathy, which began during chemo and frankly ain’t getting any better. So decided to go for it, ordered both of these today and let’s see what happens.
18 Monday Aug 2025
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I HAVE AN APPOINTMENT TO SEE THE KNEE SPECIALIST. The call came in this morning and I almost couldn’t believe it. It’s for next week, August 28th and while I know I should be happy I’m also nervous, because of course this is just to find out if my surgery will be approved. I’ve already printed out my page outlining everything that has happened (and not happened) since May 2023 when this whole knee saga began. Hopefully it won’t be glossed over and dismissed like it was by the trauma guys last October.
To wit my friend Sharon has offered to come with me and be my advocate. Thing is, I’d be an excellent advocate for someone else, I just can’t manage it for myself when I’ve got all the other scary feelings going on. What can I say, hospitals trigger me big time. Anyhow… stay tuned. If it ends up being a simple meniscus repair I could be up and walking again in no time. A replacement would obviously be a longer recovery. And of course in either case I’ll end up going on another waiting list. But first things first.
07 Thursday Aug 2025
It’s been three weeks since I had my bonus cardiology visit and the doctor agreed to cut Apocard (flecainide) from my prescriptions, even though she said she didn’t believe it was the cause of the symptoms I described to her (inside of head feeling bruised, pressure behind eyes, occasional dizziness and blurred vision). But hey, almost immediately those symptoms disappeared and I’ve only noticed one or two slight tachycardia episodes since then. My pulse has gone back up a bit but is still below 70 and BP is stable. I meant to ask if, without the flecainide, I should be taking a full beta-blocker pill instead of half (which original cardiologist switched it to when I started taking it with the flecainide) but I guess she would have noticed and said so. Maybe?Â
Anyhow, feeling better about this. And not just because I’m actually feeling better. It’s easier now to take all three meds together in the morning and I don’t have that feeling of dread that accompanied taking the flecainide. Apparently it is a very widely used treatment for atrial fibrillation in Spain, but seems to be less popular elsewhere. And since here they still prescribe Nolotil (metamizol) with reckless abandon despite it being banned in more than 20 countries, well, I think I can be forgiven for not automatically thinking that Doctor Knows Best.Â
Meanwhile, I already have my cardiology revision appointment set for next February (!). This doctor may have seemed a bit brusque but at least she also seems to get things done. So fingers crossed this latest drug cocktail (bp med, blood thinner, beta blocker) works and it’s all I need.Â
casa azahar 