The two annual events I most associate with October are Halloween and the clocks changing from BST (British Summer Time) to GMT (Greenwich Mean Time). Having grown up in the UK, the twice-yearly change to and from GMT seems entirely normal, but it does surprise me how many adult Brits don’t know exactly when the clocks change, nor whether they are going to gain or lose an hour in bed! For my carers, who all come from countries where the clocks don’t change, it seems like a strange practice. When I explain that it started during WW1, to save coal and allow extended working hours and thus higher production in munitions factories, I can imagine them thinking that WW1 ended 106 years ago, and they’re still doing it!!
The war in the Middle East continues to escalate worryingly. Meanwhile, the Ukraine war grinds on, and also threatens to escalate. Russia has reportedly deployed thousands of North Korean troops in Ukraine. What has Putin had to give Kim Jong Un in exchange for North Korean weapons, ammunition and soldiers? Surely even Putin can’t be mad enough to give Kim nuclear technology. It’s a truly unholy alliance.
Elsewhere in the world, further evidence of climate change emerged in the form of catastrophic flooding around Valencia, Spain. At the time of writing, 200 people are confirmed dead and many, many more are missing. It makes our complaints of a wet autumn seem petty in comparison. And by the time you read this, voting in the US presidential election will be over. Donald Trump is still repeating unsubstantiated claims that the last election was stolen. He now seems to be preparing for another possible loss by telling supporters that he will win this time if the election is kept honest. So if he doesn’t win, we can expect more false claims of electoral irregularity and fraud.
Just to update you on Doreen’s fractured wrist, it turns out that it might not have been broken after all. When she went to the fracture clinic, the specialist examined the original A&E X-rays and thought it might just be badly sprained. It’s probably just as well because within days of her fall she kept taking off the splint, and had to be reminded that she had to keep it on all the time!
Medically, the month started with my quarterly online MND clinic. There wasn’t much to report other than my perception that my breathing had deteriorated following my chest infection in early September. As a result, I had a visit by the Home Ventilation nurse who arranged for me to use a blood CO2 monitor overnight. I haven’t seen the results yet. It was the same nurse who was convinced that condensation from the humidifier was causing the continuous alarming of my ventilator at night. She was still holding firmly to that diagnosis despite the evidence that the ventilator no longer alarms falsely, and I’m still using the humidifier. I developed another suspected chest infection this month. There was no visible blood this time, but I needed to use the cough-assist very frequently, and I was feeling a bit off colour.
I managed another venture outdoors this month, for a pub lunch. With it being school half term, Fiona and family came too. The date was set before the onset of my chest infection, and was only three days after. My emergency stash of antibiotics usually works in that time so I decided not to postpone. Unfortunately my breathing wasn’t great so I ended up eating a bit, then changing to the full-face mask for a while (which prevents eating), then changing back and eating a bit more, and so on. It was, nevertheless, a very enjoyable outing. Sadly, though, I didn’t manage to finish my beer. Unheard of!!