Christ, you know it ain't easy

So I have had a wee bit of a chest infection for the last week or so. No big deal really and just the same course of meds to kick it to fuck and then a wee period where I slowly get back to normal. The few weeks before that though there was definitely something wrong that wasn't infection related as I was exhausted all the time without there being any obvious reason to be.

I got to thinking that maybe this is my new reality and that the progressive nature of my Bronchiolitis  was to blame, which was a bit depressing really. At those times I usually try my best to hide that I'm feeling down by somewhat overcompensating but this time I just retreated into my shell a bit.

During that time though it was time for a review with my lipoproteins consultant to look at my cholesterol amongst other things. Mine had gone mental during the period where I was pumping liquid fat into my stomach through a PEG tube and so required a statin drug to bring it back down. My ongoing battle between what is a good weight to be and how much I want to eat (not helped by my drug regime) meant my cholesterol level had gone up a little so it's just a matter of altering my dose for little while. Again, no big deal.

The other thing he noticed from my previous bloods taken was my thyroxin level was low so he wanted to check it again to see if it was an abnormal result or if it was something we need to address. This was something I had been warned about pre-radiotherapy, that my thyroid would eventually stop working as well, but after fifteen years I thought I had kind of gotten away with it.

So after the results came back he sent me and my GP a letter saying that I was to start on a small dose of levothyroxin as I was definitely showing signs of hypothyroidism. You folks know me well enough to know by now that I was already looking into symptoms and all of a sudden everything made sense.

Click on the word here for the list of symptoms

Going through them all suddenly everything made sense. Almost every one of those I had exhibited, except the periods obviously - they've been just fine, thanks. Even ones like the tingling in my hands had been bothering me but not enough to bring it up with a doctor admittedly. It might sound peculiar but I was thrilled with the diagnosis. Now we can do something about it.

Now, in other news I've been toying with the idea of a DNA double helix ring for ages (seeing as my Leukaemia was caused by a mutation of it) so after a lot of fannying about and changing my mind about what I wanted I ordered a polished silver version of this

Lovely isn't it? I had to get it specially made though and I totally underestimated how fat my fingers are so when it arrived I realised it only fit on my pinky and I don't really want to be that guy.

So, because it was a bespoke piece I couldn't send it back and I thought I've got oodles of family so one of them can have it. Perhaps it was fate that the sister with whom I actually share DNA was the only one present whom it fit. So she is receiving a rather special birthday present this year.

That didn't really help me though so I went back to searching for one for me; one that wasn't identical but ran with the theme. I eventually found this.

Again, it's a bespoke piece but this time I used my dad's wedding ring and an American ring size conversion chart to get the correct size made. I deliberated for ages over whether to get it as all silver but I think the gold is far more impressive. It should arrive in the next few days despite the fact it was made in Arizona and I was told to expect a 6 week waiting time but it's made and on its way right now only two weeks later.