All change again. Christmas 2014

I've been reading back through my posts and it seems that I've had nothing to report for several years.

I've been in remission from CLL since 2010, and as long as I don't get tired or stressed my Chrohns is under control. The cause of the cough that I've been complaining about on and off for years  has also been identified. I saw an Ear Nose & Throat specialist and had a X-ray following a drink containing barium which confirmed that I didn't have pouches in my gullet and confirmed that acid reflux was the cause. Taking a swig of gaviscon fluid before going to bed stopped the acid from burning my gullet and causing the irritation that fed the cough. As for the dizziness I used to feel when coughing hard- I'll come on to that in a minute.

Some time ago I discovered the benefits of Vocalzone lozenges. Singers like Tom Jones swear by them, and I find they stop me getting hoarse and, as long as I warm my voice up, I can sing all night. They have another benefit as well. I've been keeping a lozenge in my mouth when going to sleep and I can't explain why, but this has worked better than the gaviscon and I've not woken up with a sore throat as a result of acid reflux. I don't know why it works , but it does for me.

I've been attending the skin clinic at the hospital for a few years. I used to have an unsightly skin condition on my right index finger. I've had it for at least 30 years but in recent years it has started to spread. During cold weather the skin used to crack open and bleed and my GP got me an appointment. They took a biopsy and diagnosed Bowen's Disease, a pre-cancerous sking disease. A couple of years ago they treated it with Phototherapy which involved smearing the skin with a drug in a greasy cream. This was left for a couple of hours to soak into the skin and then a bright red light was shone onto the skin. The active ingredient would only be absorbed by the diseased skin cells and the light then reacted with the drug and burnt the diseased skin away. I had to wear very dark glasses to protect my eyes, and it was strange to have the feeling that your finger was being held in a flame while the skin around felt normal. I've had this operation repeated since and earlier this year the doctor from the diseased area using liquid nitrogen (the same technique he used to treat the crop of warts that appeared while my immune sytsem was low). It's a matter of containing the disease and treating it every six months or so. As long as the disease doesn't develop into full blown cancerous tumours this should contain it. If it does- then I lose the finger.

For the last year or so my blood pressure reading have been on the high side. I've not been troubled by this, although I do get dizzy when I have a coughing fit and I have to hang on to the furniture, and if I get up too quickly. However, my GP thought it was time they had a look in depth at my blood pressure.

After an enjoyable couple of weeks on holiday in Cornwall where I was able to walk (albeit not very far, and not as far as Sue would like- as she's now started doing 10k walks around local country parks and long distance footpaths), I returned home and off to the surgery to be fitted with a 24 hour Blood pressure monitor. I don't know anyone who's been able to keep one on for longer than a few hours. Mine lasted 5 hours before I tore the cursed thing off.

A week later my GP prescribed a course of drugs designed to reduce my blood pressure. When I got home I carefully read the instructions and it was with some misgivings started the course. Within a day I was feeling ill and a few days afterward managed to get in to see my GP as I felt so ill. He took my blood pressure and listened to my heart and summoned an ambulance.

A few minutes later I was on a trolley in A&E wired up to an ECG machine and heart monitor. My heartbeat was going crazy. They managed to slow it down using betablockers and they kept me in overnight for observation.

And so the next stage of my life has begun. I have been diagnosed with atrial fibrillation, an irregulat heartbeat. The treatment involves taking Warfarin each day, the exact dose based on the results of  a blood test every week or two. I have had to cut out certain foods, but as I'm not a foodie I can live with that.

The downside is that the stress has aggravated my Crohns which leaves me doubled up in agony when it strikes. I spent a miserable few days on holiday with a mouthful of thrush and ulcers and without any Nystan to combat it. The current problem is that Nystan reacts with the warfarin so is on the banned list, along with certain painkillers, so I've had to grin and bear it.

The good news is that there was a cancellation for the cardioversion treatment and I've been bumped up the queue. All being well, I will have had the treatment and on the road to recovery in the next day or so.

And after that? Who knows.