In sickness and in health

The blog has been reading more like 'Doctor Findlay's Casebook' than an exciting journal of adventure and exploration lately, with whinges about sniffles and aches and pains. Well, sad to relate, reader, there's been more of the same over the last couple of weeks. Lethargy, fatigue, sair eyes, raw throat, tight chest - nothing too alarming but when all taken together just enough to drag you down. It's shown no sign of shifting by itself so I finally relented and went to the doctor on Friday.
Like most people I'm not particularly keen on visiting the doc's - you don't want to hear you've got something wrong with you! Being a part-qualified medical professional myself (I once attended a two day YTS first aid course but I didn't get my 'degree' because I was off sick for the second day!) my self-diagnosis was a respiratory infection. Having said that, I read an article by my old mate Martin Hannan in The Scotsman this week that had me a wee bit worried. Like me, Martin is slightly on the portly side and also won't see fifty again, and his article told the alarming story of his experience of being prescribed some heavy duty courses of statins to tackle high levels of cholesterol. In short, the treatment made big Martin very ill and drove him to to brink of madness (some would argue that Martin isn't that far off that tipping point anyway, but I digress ...)
Anway, the reason I brink up Martin's case is that I was called into my doctor's surgery for an 'MOT' when I reached 50, and was told my cholesterol was too high. I, too, was offered statins but declined - I decided instead t introduce a new 'healthy living' regime including walking, cutting down on smoking and eating healthily. After a bright start (approximately two weeks, maybe) I relapsed. As part of my new healthy lifestyle I went swimming, only to catch a particularly nasty dose of athlete's foot - I reckoned that was God's way of telling me that this lifestyle was not for me. I've always felt guilty about it, though, and feared the worst when I visited the doctor on Friday - a battery of blood tests, lectures and a dull grey life devoid of lager, crisps and fags.
However, it was not to be - but there was another shock in store. My doctor reckons I was showing all the symptoms of hay fever - something I've never suffered from in my life - and prescribed me antihistamines!
No blood tests, no lectures or dire warnings - nowt! Hay fever - if that's what I've got - I will cope with. Otherwise, a life of Golden Wonder, pies, Regal and ice cold lager beckons - yippeee!

The picture is Crail harbour - really nothing to do with sickness or health, but we stopped off there one evening recently for a 'healthy' fish supper!