Nice people thread part 8 - worth the wait

Nikkster

GDB2222 wrote: »

The daughter of friends has Crohn's, which flares up. A cousin's wife had a section of intestine removed. There's probably more of this around than one realises.

Another friend comes to us for dinner, but brings her own food. That seems to work all right.

I know a little about Crohn's/ UC (from the mucosal immunology...), and they are definitely more common that one might think.

Spirit_2

Viva..what is he eating then? How is he managing his situation as I know you have said he travels.

SingleSue

PasturesNew wrote: »

How many NPs have knowingly been on the telly ... either as somebody being interviewed/stopped/spoken to (or running from the court room with a newspaper over your head) ....?

I have been on several occasions.

Once for the opening of our local fair ground, they used to have a free day on the first day of opening - I was about 10 at the time.

Once in a feature about me on the local news as I was classed as the next up and coming prominent ballerina in the area and big things were expected of me - I was 15 at the time and my parents had just pulled me out of the ballet school due to cost, that was a bitter sweet moment I can tell you.

And a few times on Sky news when a local woman went missing and then was found murdered and they were interviewing local woman about how safe we felt etc.

silvercar

but I'm not sure how it works as we seem to have 3 councillors who cover the one area so all that changes is whether we have 2 lib dems and 1 labour or 1 libdem and 2 labour.

In our little bit of Hertfordshire, we elect each councillor for 4 years, one gets elected each year. All wards for the local council have 2 or 3 councillors, so for 3 of the 4 year we are electing a local councillor, in the 4th year we elect a county councillor. Wards with 2 not 3 councillors have one year in four where they don't have an election. So you are right that it takes a few years for the ward to switch from one party to another.

SingleSue

LydiaJ wrote: »

Avatar-dog was quite happy to take my kids seriously as ball throwers - even when they were toddlers and only threw the ball a couple of feet. But DS used to get frustrated that Avatar-dog ignored any verbal instructions from him, and would only take orders from grown-ups.

Our second cat Ti-ah would play fetch..not like any ordinary cat, we were sure she had spent time growing up with dogs (she was a rescue cat), as she would fetch whatever had been thrown, pick it up, bring it back to the thrower, drop it at their feet and wait for it to be thrown again.

Jaz (our current cat), will chase after it but then bat it about like a normal cat...but then gets confused when he can't find it (he is not the brightest spark)

Our first cat Yamzi, would rip the thing to shreds alongside the throwers arm :rotfl:

SingleSue

Generali wrote: »

I heard a fascinating interview on the radio today with a bloke who had a malaria bout and a stroke in 2007 and as a result lost his sense of smell.

He could still taste the basic tastes: sweet, sour, umami, salt, bitter, metallic, sour but couldn't taste 'stew', 'curry' or 'salad'.

He could still pretty much taste individual things so a banana was similar to how a banana had tasted, meat was similar to meat-ante, ginger to ginger-ante.

The funny thing for me was that it wasn't the loss of the sophisticated tastes that he seemed not to like, it was the constant requirement to lie to everyone including his wife. "Yes this complex dish is delicious" when what a complex dish meant to him was, "I can taste the single dominant flavour, which is quite boring. If you had presented 4 distinct flavours on the plate that were separate then that would have been more fun for me".

I read a while ago that the highest suicide rate among people who have lost a sense in adulthood is for those that have lost their sense of smell.

My dad lost his sense of smell in 1972 when he fell from the bridge he was making.

He said it was a wonderful thing not being able to smell the dirty nappies when my sister was a baby, mum thought it was a horrible excuse to get out of changing the dirty nappies.

Strong smells will make him sneeze, even though he still cannot smell them.

vivatifosi

Spirit wrote: »

Viva..what is he eating then? How is he managing his situation as I know you have said he travels.

Not very much, a banana for breakfast. A very skinny wholemeal sandwich for lunch. Maybe a tiny bit of chicken for dinner. Anything else is too much. He can't tolerate sugar very well, other than in fruit. Sugar is the enemy, as are any dressings or anything that could aggravate. It's not much and it's all bland. When he's flying or abroad he tends to order a child's portion without the dressing. But that's not good for a guy whose a shade under 6ft and in a physical job.

Again, thanks for not quoting.

zagubov

I gather the sense of smell's meant to be one of the last to fade out as we get older. The disease path in Alzheimer's takes it out early which is why scratch- and-sniff tests are used to detect it.

The thing about no appetite during cancer treatment was meant to be one of the explanation s why doctors can prescribe alcohol, so that it can stimulate the appetite. I gather they can't start your treatment unless you've a minimum reserve of body fat to keep you going.

I've only ever met two people with Crohn's and one was Jewish; he said it was fairly common in the community.

vivatifosi

silvercar wrote: »

In our little bit of Hertfordshire, we elect each councillor for 4 years, one gets elected each year. All wards for the local council have 2 or 3 councillors, so for 3 of the 4 year we are electing a local councillor, in the 4th year we elect a county councillor. Wards with 2 not 3 councillors have one year in four where they don't have an election. So you are right that it takes a few years for the ward to switch from one party to another.

Same here. We have the county councillors, who are elected every 4 years unless there is a bi-election. Then the borough or big town has its own election, so for example if you lived in Harpenden you'd be under St Albans. The St Albans District Council splits its members in three groups, and a third come up for re-election each year. Then if you live in a town, like Harpenden or Berkhamsted, that is under a district council, then you may also have a town council with its own elections. Villages and smaller places may also have a Parish Council.

Broadly speaking, the county council is responsible for county policy, roads, childcare, adult care, liaison with schools, environment policy, libraries, etc. The district/borough council is responsible for housing, parking, planning, etc. The town council is responsible for local issues such as parks management. This AIUI is roughly the structure where there is a county council set up. Where there is a unitary set up the area is smaller but all services come under one banner. This works well in some areas as everything is together, but not so well when you want economies of scale. In the age of austerity there appears to be a growing movement for shared services between different types of councils.

Spirit_2

zagubov wrote: »

I've only ever met two people with Crohn's and one was Jewish; he said it was fairly common in the community.

I have two female cousins with crohns - on my mothers side -Irish catholics.