On 8th April 1993 I reached the ripe old age of 40. Now your 40th birthday is looked on as a milestone as the old saying goes… Life begins at… For me it was a day of travelling to Aberdeen to go offshore to the Shell Brent Bravo for a two week trip and the promise of a few beers with the boys to celebrate my birthday that evening at the hotel. Just one hurdle to get over first, I had an offshore medical booked for 7pm with a doctor in Aberdeen and as I had now reached 40 that appointment would be every two years going forward. The train was early and I arrived at Albyn Place a little before the appointment time so had to wait until the doctor had completed the medical of the chap before me… I was apprehensive as I have never been the svelte figure that you see on the cinema screen but nevertheless felt reasonably fit and healthy. The giant of a man that approached me in the waiting room after his medical gave me hope as if he passed this old doctor’s assessment I would have no problem…In I go and first job is to step on the scales, the look on the doctor’s face said it all… “You should be between 10st 10lb and 12st 8lb for your height; you are far too heavy…!! My response was “ok cut off one of my legs and that should do it then”… he was not amused…no support, empathy or advice offered… and he reckoned my blood pressure was high so insisted on writing to my doctor…couldn’t find anything else to complain about but left me feeling deflated and out of sorts…Gave me a certificate for 3 months and wanted to see me after that…
No booze that night, straight to the hotel and bed…some 40th birthday that was…Actually I had a call from the office in Aberdeen after 8 weeks that he wanted to see me, went to see him and I was 21lb lighter but no well done or keep it up came out of his lips… My doctor called him an idiot and prescribed medication for my blood pressure and over the next 26 years this was not reviewed regularly, just kept taking it every day and the outcome was at 66 that medication was a probable cause of my dodgy heart valve that nearly sent me upstairs…
I am still
here on my 68th birthday and still taking the tablets…different ones
of course…
Six further deaths with Covid-19 in
Wales have been reported in the last 24 hours. The
number of deaths reported by Public Health Wales (PHW) now stands at 5,527. There have been a further 82 positive cases reported, taking the
total to 210,105. Wales' case rate
is now 21.1 per 100,000 people. 4 deaths
were reported in the Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board area in North Wales, with 1 death reported in each of the Cardiff
and Vale and Swansea Bay Health Board areas.
The highest case rates were in Cardiff, with 37.1 people per 100,000 testing positive for the virus in the seven days to 3
April, followed by Swansea 35.2 and
Anglesey 34.3. The lowest case rates
were seen in Bridgend 7.5, Powys 9.8 and Monmouthshire 10.6.
A total of 1,519,760
people have now received a first dose of the vaccine, and 484,739 have had both doses.
Today’s numbers of Covid-19 cases in the local areas of Llanelli…
Thought for the Day…
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