Urgh, I haven’t been “ill” for about 3-4 years, but have been feeling really rough since last Friday. Started off with a sore throat, then a nose ‘tap’, and now I’m coughing up my lungs in an attempt to set them free. For most people respitory illnesses wouldn’t be so much of an issue, however when i was 7 years old I had pneumonia and lost a fifth of my lung capacity. Also had to put up with asthma all through my childhood…yay!

Anyway, I finally got an appointment at the local doctor’s surgery yesterday - a difficult enough task in itself as their computer system is broken at the moment, meaning it’s more like a free for all between elderly women with machine gun coughs, young children who scream and screech for no apparent reason and businessmen trying to look suave in their suits. I can assure you, it’s great fun!

The duty doctor decided to prescribe four items for me, tablets and an inhaler. Which brings me onto the whole point in this post. What the hell is up with prescription charges? £6.85 per item? Hahahaha - what?! It cost me £27.40 yesterday. I pay my National Insurance, I pay my taxes, I’m rarely ill, why am I being charged for struggling to breathe?

Luckily there would be a benefit if I was constantly ill and needed medication monthly. You are able to get a pre-paid certificate which is the equivalent cost of 4-5 items (£32), and will get you all your prescription medication for a four month period. Useful for the constantly ill, but of no great benefit to people like myself.

I can’t wait to be conned out of more money by the Government soon…

Last night my Nan finally moved in with us. It’s going to be weird getting used to her being here, for me especially, given that I still refuse to accept that she may no longer be with us within the next few months. She has motor neurone’s disease, which sadly is a terminal illness.

It’s a horribly upsetting time for all of us . She has always been the really active one out of all my grandparents and she’s lived nearby for the last 10+ years. So we’ve got used to seeing her active and happy 2-3 times a week for as long as I can really remember.

I think the worst part for me would be getting used to seeing her in the mornings and having the chance to spend time with her more, but then one day waking up without her. I’ve not yet had to experience the loss of a family member. The closest I’ve really been to death in my lifetime was when the girl who sat next to me in junior school, Sophie, was killed in a road accident. We were 8 years old.

I can only hope that she enjoys her time here with us and that when the inevitable does happen it is peaceful and painless.

Another wonderful Monday…

Someone really needs to invent something wonderful to get rid of that niggly crappy feeling that we all have on a Monday. There’s nothing like a Monday to ruin those happy feelings you have at the weekend. Still, at least it reminds me that I need to get on with some work.

It’s also my Mum’s birthday - 49 today! Well done mum Time to go out for some dinner infact… I’d better make it a salad, who knows how many calories they chuck into greasy fried pub food these days!

We’ve managed another year without any annoying trick or treaters calling by - hooray! Although, I did cheat a little with a sign on the front door reading:

I’ll have to check with the neighbours tomorrow to see if they had any surprise visitors.

I realise that this blog post may make me seem rather mean and scrooge-like to some of my readers from across the pond, but here in the UK, Halloween is not widely celebrated. When it is celebrated it tends to be by very annoying kids who have nothing better to do and the spirit is nothing like you have in the USA. Also the children that do get to go trick or treating with their parents, seem to have been brought up with the mentality that when they knock on a door, they should instantly be rewarded with sweets. I wasn’t aware that knocking on a door should have free rewards associated with it?? Hmm