If I thought Wednesday was busy, I’d obviously never heard of Thursday, but along it came and said, ‘hold my coat…’
The day began early again, but before I’d even got dressed, the phone started to go nuts. I had 3 phone calls in fast succession, and then one of the organisations kept calling me back because for some reason their system wasn’t showing that they’d spoken to me. I spoke to 3 different people from there in the end, and then, when I thought it was all done and dusted, I had to call the original person who’d called me back. But not until much later in the day.
I had to call the hospital to cancel next Tuesday’s appointment because they’re supposed to be doing a core biopsy on a fresh lesion on my skin, but I don’t have any fresh lesions. I don’t really have any old ones either. I don’t know if it’s run its course, if giving up bananas has helped, or if the collagen supplement I’m now taking is working on my skin.
I’ve had clear ups before, but they’ve always lulled me into a false sense of security. When I had shingles last year, the skin condition completely went and it was gone for about 3 weeks. But it came back. We don’t know if it was my body fighting the shingles that also fought the skin inflammation or if the anti-virus pills they gave me for that did it. Nevertheless, the relief was short lived.
Since then I’ve had 2 more clear ups, for about a week. When I’ve tried a new soap (pure honey and oatmeal, if you’re interested), and when I went back to a steroid ointment instead of a cream, briefly.
About 2 weeks ago, I stopped eating bananas. My mom was allergic to bananas, and I was having a banana a day, for the potassium. At the same time I started taking bovine collagen gummies. My skin didn’t clear up straight away, and it still itches and flares up every so often. But there are no new lesions, and the ‘good’ patches are getting better with the ‘isolated’ patches more intense. It’s as though the chronology is reversing.
I won’t hold my breath, though.
I had to avoid putting any treatments on my left thigh, because the steroid ointment can affect any results. And I had to monitor the rash on my leg. It’s still there, but it’s old, and they have to do the test on something fresh.
As I don’t have time to (a) drive around a car park for hours looking for a space, (b) wait a further 90-minutes-plus for them to see me, nor (c) have them just say, ‘sorry, we can’t do anything’, and as the car park is raving expensive once you do find a space, I decided to cut my losses this time and just cancel the appointment.
We’ve left it open for 6 months so I can call them if/when I do get any fresh lesions, and they’ll get me in as soon as they can.
I also wanted to know if the collagen would have any affect during the light therapy I’m due to start in November. The pack clearly states to avoid sunlight when taking the collagen supplements, and the light therapy clearly warns the same while undergoing the treatment. So I wondered if I should (a) stop taking the collagen while I attend the light therapy, or (b) carry on taking the collagen if it turns out that’s working and cancel the appointments.
That last query took another 3 phone calls, and even then I had to wait for someone to call me back. And when one of the nurses did, she was lovely but said that as they hadn’t prescribed the collagen, they couldn’t advise, and it was up to me. She said she’d check with my consultant, who wouldn’t be in until today, and that she’d call me back and we could discuss it further then.
Since I stopped the bananas and started the collagen, I’ve gained weight and been ready for a nap by about 4pm. We think it might be the drop in potassium that’s making me tired (bananas give you energy), but we’re monitoring the weight situation. All the advice says any weight gain is minimal and temporary and to do with several things, such as muscle repair (muscle is heavier than fat), water retention, and any extra activity causing higher cravings for carbohydrates.
My hips have been a lot more mobile since taking the collagen. And I can bend and pick up a ball to throw for the dog much easier than I could. The poet was so impressed, he thought he’d try it too for the arthritis in his fingers. He still has a stiffness in his fingers, but there’s less pain (or he’s not noticing it), and one of the swellings looks like it’s going down. He also put on weight, about 2lb, but lost it a day later. (Bah!)
So we also have to weigh up the pros and cons and take it from there.
Anyway, enough about that. What else did I get up to?
Grand-doggy #1 arrived, with all of his stuff, and became Dog #1 in the Wordsworth household. So that took up time too. And there were many, many more phone calls regarding something else I’m not going into yet (nothing bad, we’re just testing the water, looking around). And before I knew it, the poet was on his way home from work again and I really couldn’t be arsed to start anything before he got here.
I have a hair appointment today, and I’ll be doing some loose-lead-walking training with the dog, as he’s a puller. I want to work through the week’s work and do the things I haven’t done in the same order they should have been done in the first place. And the nurse promised to call back after speaking with the consultant.
Whatever you’re up to, have a fab weekend! We have a busy one ahead.
Wow, you had a day. I hope it all gets sorted well. Wouldn’t it be nice if the medical profession looked at a human holistically rather than only one piece, ignoring that one adjustment affects everything else?
Bananas have gotten really expensive here (tariffs), so I’ve been looking into alternatives to up the potassium. Beets have a lot of potassium (too bad I hate beets). I really like spinach and dried apricots (um, not together), so I’m upping those in our diet. I use black beans in a lot of recipes. I need to use more lentils. We don’t eat enough lentils. We actually liked acorn squash when we reoasted it, but it’s a PITA to peel.
I hope you have a restful weekend.
I was a bit surprised when they said they couldn’t advise on the collagen versus sunlight, as they hadn’t prescribed it. They don’t force-feed us doughnuts either, but are more than happy to advise against eating too many of those!
The bananas haven’t been great over here, very poor quality. I was quite glad to ditch them in the end.
We too need more lentils in our lives. I really like lentils, and chickpeas and beans, but lentils don’t freeze well, apparently, so we don’t tend to batch-cook with them. We have beetroot pickled or boiled, but they’re not the poet’s favourites to cook with so we usually just have them pickled and sliced. I do like beetroot, though. Spinach? 🤮 I’d sooner eat ear wax! (Finick much?)
You too!