I shouldn't have this!

Same again at this appointment, so nothing more to report. My consultant didn't want to see me again for another four months, but then he realised he wasn't here then. My next appointment made for the end of July. He explained that I shouldn't worry about my bloods, as long as I feel alright in myself.  Great, I can book my Austria trip now for July!

Went for my appointment with my consultant. My friend came with me, as usual. He said my bloods were 'perfect!'  He doesn't want to see me now for three months, so the end of April. This was really good news! He just reiterated that I had to eat well, avoid stress and not over tire myself. I have also to be careful and obviously watch out for infection from bites. I really must resist the urge to scratch! I'm off on my adventures in Egypt with two friends in the middle of February, so now I can start booking everything. I had intended going alone this year but since this diagnosis I'm glad I'll have company.  I'll have to scale back what I get up to on this trip, but I'll just slow down a bit and try not to get over tired.  It'll be funny keeping two blogs going at the same time!

I first noticed that I had a problem at Easter 2016.  I was given a Lindt chocolate ball and found that even though it was melted, I couldn't swallow it. It wouldn't go further than the back of my throat. I thought it was strange, but I thought it would pass over time.  Then my life became very stressful due our family business moving factory premises. I had a lot of work to do before it could be handed back to the landlord, so I decided it was a perfect time to make a concerted effort to lose weight. I weighed myself on the industrial scales and then set to work.  Over the following months I worked hard, too hard,  and I felt I had got run down. I came out in spots on my face, which took a while to heal, but then would return.  In June, our wonderful dog unexpectedly had to be put to sleep. We were all devastated, more than I had ever been before when I had lost a dog. Then, ten days later we went on holiday to Austria, where our brand new car broke do...

In November 2011 I went to Jamaica with my husband for a holiday. I have been visiting the Caribbean for over twenty years and often been bitten by insects. However, on this occasion I had a very severe reaction. I was bitten four or five times and each one developed a large, watery blister and the area around it got very red with cellulitis. I had to see a doctor on site and was so concerned with his treatment that I saw my own GP on my return home to the UK. She told me he had over medicated me and advised me to be very careful when I got bitten again. Over the following years, whenever I was bitten I had the same reaction with some of the bites. It didn't matter where in the world I was, I even got bitten at home! The result of this was that I alway travel with a special medical kit. I found the best thing to do was to pop any blisters as soon as they appeared, clean and then medicate and dress them. I had found to my cost that if I let them grow they would become the size of ...