Preparing for Winter V

VJsmum

Laura_Elsewhere said:

Awww, @VJsmum - if it's any consolation, we'll be swapping back in six months when you exult over the sunny weather and blazing Easter sun, and I whimper feebly...! 

Six months... 

Greenglockenspiel

Laura_Elsewhere said:

"Failure to thrive' hasn't  been used for decades medically and I am horrified if anyone medical *is* using it officially. 

It is what was put on Death Certificates in the 20th century for a wide range of preventable causes of deaths, many of which no longer happen, some which do happen but are better understood and so are named, such as SIDS ('cot death') and various malformation syndromes. A lot of the time 'Failure to Thrive' came down to malnourished parents living in inadequate housing, so the child was born underweight and inadequately nourished and then slowly lost what weight it had as the poor parents struggled in hard times and bad conditions. 

It became regarded widely as an indicator of shame, not shame for the parents but shame for the government, for the councils, for the NHS once it was created, and by iirc the late 1960s it had all but disappeared. 

If it is being used officially, please let me have links so I can pass them on to people who can chase this up and try to get it stopped. 

I came across it iirc on a vegan group on Facebook as someone had posted who wasn’t vegan but was looking for advice on going dairy free, as her child had been diagnosed with failure to thrive which turned out to be caused by a cow’s milk allergy. 

From a quick search online, it does look as if it is still being used: 

https://www.gosh.nhs.uk/medical-information/clinical-specialties/general-paediatrics-information-parents-and-visitors/conditions-we-treat

http://www.nnuh.nhs.uk/publication/download/management-of-faltering-growth-failure-to-thrive-in-babies-and-young-children-v2-2/

https://www.sheffieldchildrens.nhs.uk/download/628/medicine/9839/1074_faltering_growth_failure_to_thrive.pdf
Although on the latter two links it is being used alongside ‘faltering growth’.

-taff

littlemoney said:

It's well-known amongst walkers that denim jeans are useless at keeping you warm.

Anyone* who's ever fallen in a river while wearing jeans and a wool jumper will tell you that

BTW, for anyone who hasn't, wool stretches quite a bit when wet....

*me

littlemoney

Wool is one of the materials that can keep you warm when damp whereas damp cotton just drains your body heat. Wool can absorb 30% of its own weight before it feels damp.

Greenglockenspiel

Gosh it’s dark today! I object to putting the lights on during the day this early in the year but I may have to resort to it soon. It’s much easier to put an extra jumper on than sit in the dark!

joedenise

Absolutely agree @Greenglockenspiel.  Still no heating on here.  Think that must be a first!  Heating usually on by now but as we had extra insulation installed this year we haven't needed the heating on yet.

Si_Clist

-taff said:

... wool stretches quite a bit when wet....

Oh gawd I wish you hadn't said that.  I'd long ago managed to banish from my brain the memory of six year old me standing in the sea at Cleethorpes in the grey woollen bathing trunks my grandmother had knitted.  They were held up (after a fashion) by a snake belt and they were truly horrible.  I even remember going to bed that night plotting how to poison her for making me wear them ...

wondercollie

3secondmemory said:

Failure to thrive – lovely new  phrase in the Media! The lonely the old and the sick are being labelled in this way as if it’s our fault we can’t get our regular tests and treatment.

On a more positive note, my cheerful overweight clinical nurse – the one who told me to drink more water when I actually had a urine infection - noted that my weight remains ‘stable’ at 46 kg. From my point of view, my weight remains dangerously low and I don’t have any more to lose. 

Whilst I understand how much pressure the hospitals are going to be under over the winter just with normal coughs and flu, Those of us with ongoing conditions can’t get hold of the doctor for love nor money. Not all of us can access the econsults. 

 It’s taken all day to get through to any of the phlebotomy numbers so I can have a blood test prior to my appointment next week. 

Moan over


I can thoroughly recommend the small dreamland intelliheat  pad - you can unplug it and shove it inside your coat if you’re really cold. Not quite a heated gilet but it works for me 😃

Let's not weight shame nurses.  I gained 60lbs working night shifts.  It's hard to shift as we get older.  I've managed 15lbs in the last year but still have a ways to go.  I know the drill, eat less, move more, but I'm still an overweight nurse.

3secondmemory

wondercollie said:

3secondmemory said:

Failure to thrive – lovely new  phrase in the Media! The lonely the old and the sick are being labelled in this way as if it’s our fault we can’t get our regular tests and treatment.

On a more positive note, my cheerful overweight clinical nurse – the one who told me to drink more water when I actually had a urine infection - noted that my weight remains ‘stable’ at 46 kg. From my point of view, my weight remains dangerously low and I don’t have any more to lose. 

Whilst I understand how much pressure the hospitals are going to be under over the winter just with normal coughs and flu, Those of us with ongoing conditions can’t get hold of the doctor for love nor money. Not all of us can access the econsults. 

 It’s taken all day to get through to any of the phlebotomy numbers so I can have a blood test prior to my appointment next week. 

Moan over


I can thoroughly recommend the small dreamland intelliheat  pad - you can unplug it and shove it inside your coat if you’re really cold. Not quite a heated gilet but it works for me 😃

Let's not weight shame nurses.  I gained 60lbs working night shifts.  It's hard to shift as we get older.  I've managed 15lbs in the last year but still have a ways to go.  I know the drill, eat less, move more, but I'm still an overweight nurse.

I think this is more and more of a problem though. They are so focused on advising patients to keep their weight down, exercise  more and avoid refined foods,  they don’t understand the issues at hand. Maybe she’s not connecting me with the times that she seen me in person because she congratulated me on losing 10 kg.  That’s not very effective nursing for me, but she is able to tick her boxes  that she’s talked to me about my diet, despite it not being applicable to me and of no use to me whatsoever. 

 

Floss

3secondmemory said:

wondercollie said:

3secondmemory said:

On a more positive note, my cheerful overweight clinical nurse – the one who told me to drink more water when I actually had a urine infection - noted that my weight remains ‘stable’ at 46 kg. From my point of view, my weight remains dangerously low and I don’t have any more to lose. 

Whilst I understand how much pressure the hospitals are going to be under over the winter just with normal coughs and flu, Those of us with ongoing conditions can’t get hold of the doctor for love nor money. Not all of us can access the econsults. 

Let's not weight shame nurses.  I gained 60lbs working night shifts.  It's hard to shift as we get older.  I've managed 15lbs in the last year but still have a ways to go.  I know the drill, eat less, move more, but I'm still an overweight nurse.

I think this is more and more of a problem though. They are so focused on advising patients to keep their weight down, exercise  more and avoid refined foods,  they don’t understand the issues at hand. Maybe she’s not connecting me with the times that she seen me in person because she congratulated me on losing 10 kg.  That’s not very effective nursing for me, but she is able to tick her boxes  that she’s talked to me about my diet, despite it not being applicable to me and of no use to me whatsoever. 

I wonder if (a) this nurse is not familiar with your particular condition and/or (b) she simply doesn't remember. I had a conversation with the practice nurse at my GPs yesterday as she was doing my smear about her having seen so many cervixes but she wouldn't recognise their "owners" as she sees so many faces & doesn't remember many patients unless she sees them very frequently. 

Also, for some people your weight would not be an issue and in fact I was about 1-2 kg heavier than that until my early 40s, and I am 5'5".

Finally, if you are having trouble accessing econsult services then contact your GP practice manager or your consultant's PA - there are a variety of options for "seeing" patients virtually where a F2F consultation is not possible.