I love them staying at my house. Lucas's face has changed already and lost it's new born wrinkliness. He's feeding well. Mother and baby are doing just fine. His grandfather is doing fine too. There's only one person, so far, who can call me grandpa, and he can't speak yet.
It's still only day 2 but he seems to have been around a while. He's poohing and crying and feeding and sleeping, just as he should. It's now 11.30 at night and I've been admiring my beautiful daughter admiring her newborn. She's a natural.
We've had uncles and aunts and great uncles and great aunts, and great grandmothers round.
Now I can go to sleep, but downstairs some crying has begun.
I hope they are OK.
Monday, 19 September 2011
Sunday, 18 September 2011
Welcome to the world Lucas
'Come, you can come up now' she beckoned. We had gathered at Stepping Hill Hospital's Maternity Unit and were waiting outside Debbie's office. She looked excited, and we knew what that meant, so we became excited too. We hurried up stairs to the delivery suite.
Behind the door a baby cried. The bright 'I've arrived' cry of a new born. We looked at each other and beamed with joy.
'It's us, can we came in?' Debbie knocked on the door and peered round the corner. Then opened the door to let us in.
Emily waddled gingerly out of the shower. Sean was holding his new son,and my new grandson!
He had arrived safely, but not without a long overnight effort. The new parents looked surprisingly bright considering their ordeal. For now, they are on adrenalin overdrive, and cloud nine. 'Next time I'm having an f***ing epidural', but she wont, she'll soon forget.
Lucas, as his name seems to be emerging, is seven pounds and four ounces, has a slightly squashed head and big blue eyes, and gorgeous.
Behind the door a baby cried. The bright 'I've arrived' cry of a new born. We looked at each other and beamed with joy.
'It's us, can we came in?' Debbie knocked on the door and peered round the corner. Then opened the door to let us in.
Emily waddled gingerly out of the shower. Sean was holding his new son,and my new grandson!
He had arrived safely, but not without a long overnight effort. The new parents looked surprisingly bright considering their ordeal. For now, they are on adrenalin overdrive, and cloud nine. 'Next time I'm having an f***ing epidural', but she wont, she'll soon forget.
Lucas, as his name seems to be emerging, is seven pounds and four ounces, has a slightly squashed head and big blue eyes, and gorgeous.
Monday, 12 September 2011
Fame at last
London, Paris and Lyon is where I've been over the last month or so. Since the brain infarct, which has affected a quarter of my visual field and also affected my visual awareness of where I am, I wondered whether I can get about on my own. I now know that I can and there's no need to worry about getting lost. In fact the theme of last few weeks have been about strokes.
Paris was my first stop on this mini tour. It was for the European Society of Cardiology, which stretches over the last weekend in August. I was staying at a Novotel in La Defense, a modern business centre on the outskirts and two metro changes from the conference centre. The big news of the conference was the presentation of new evidence that drugs for atrial fibrillation can prevent strokes as effectively as warfarin and as safely. The trouble is they are expensive. So much of the discussion there, and subsequently by e-mail, has been about who should go on these drugs. On one of the days, Tuesday, I went on my own site seeing. I walked from the Arc De Triomphe down the Champs Elysee to the Louvre. It's a long walk, maybe two or three kilometres, and the sun was hot. Still, I thought, the Mona Lisa would be worth it. The Louvre is closed on Tuesdays. Oh well.
One of the things I enjoy most about these conferences is meeting up with other prominent GPs with an interest in Cardiology. On the Sunday I met up with some of them and we went for a wonder around the area surrounding Notre Dame, stopping here and there for a drink in the sun. There was Terry, just written NICE guidelines on hypertension; Andreas, written extensively on Atrial Fibrillation; Matt the Atrial Fidrillation National lead; and Kathryn, the president of the Primay Care cardiology society. Between us we thought we'd be looking back on this conference as the time when anticoagulation moved into the new century and remembering the days when we used to use warfarin. I think that's a bit premature and will have to wait until the cost of the drugs fall. There is still a Luddite section of the medical community, mainly medicines management people, who can't see a good thing when it hits them in the face and seem intent on cost containment, well, at all costs.
Lyon has been my next stop. Much less well known than Paris or London, but now a centre of international affairs an a United Nations hub in Europe. I went there with my mum to visit my sister. Heather lives there with Chris her husband. Chris is the director of the UN cancer registry and so is important enough to have a personal chaufeur and carries diplomatic number plates. Cool or what? Sometimes I think Heather thinks we should be envious of this lifestyle, but frankly I'm not and i don't think my siblings are either. I have enough of living out of a suitcase. Their children are either living away or studying elsewhere as so we have them to ourselves. They live in a wonderful part of the world, and there's no doubt that city itself, and surroundings are beautiful. They live in a prestigious part of Lyon known as the Mont D'Or where the stone is a golden coloured sandstone. Lyon has a fabulous public transport system which mum and I get to know remarkably easily and by chance. We went for a walk from Heather's house on our first day, not realising the Lyon itself, was miles away. Eventually we saw a bus paaing and hailed it down. For two Euros it took us all the way to the Gare de Vaise and from there we go the metro to Vieux Lyon. We got back on our own as well.
Heather spends much of her time travelling with Chris or entertaining visiting dignitaries, but she also works on a project with the local Neurology Institute, mapping parts of the brain shown up using the latest MRI brain imaging. She has worked for many years with stroke patients, understanding which parts of the brain do what. I've often thought that since such scanning techniques have come along, we no longer need neurologists, but I suspect many would think that was going too far.
Now I'm in London, seeing Rachel and Jonny. Both now live in London. Rachel has a traing contract with a law firm, and Jonny is working as a carer while deciding what to do long term. We've done different stuff, but mainly it's about being with them. Last night though, last night was spectacular. During the day was a 'end of summer' festival on the South Bank which was to be followed at night by a firework display. The festival was busy, bright and good to be at, but there's only so many stalls you can look at. The highlight was in the evening. We booked a table at the OXO building brasserie. This is an expensive venue to eat, but is at the top of a tall building overlooking the river, and above where the fireworks were to be let off. They must do great firework displays in Sydney and Paris and New York, but this was the best I have ever seen. It went on and on, lighting the sky with greens reds blues and yellows, and banging fizzing and whirling. Brilliant, literally. Cost of the evening. £250.
Earlier in the day we got to hear that the article which had been commissioned about me had been published in the Sunday Times supplement. I haven't seen it yet. People say the pictures are good. The article is about having a stroke and what that means for me as a currently practicing GP. One thing's for sure, these new drugs are going to stop a lot of people from having strokes. If publicising it means I become famous, I'll just have to live with it, and I haven't got a single penny from it.
Paris was my first stop on this mini tour. It was for the European Society of Cardiology, which stretches over the last weekend in August. I was staying at a Novotel in La Defense, a modern business centre on the outskirts and two metro changes from the conference centre. The big news of the conference was the presentation of new evidence that drugs for atrial fibrillation can prevent strokes as effectively as warfarin and as safely. The trouble is they are expensive. So much of the discussion there, and subsequently by e-mail, has been about who should go on these drugs. On one of the days, Tuesday, I went on my own site seeing. I walked from the Arc De Triomphe down the Champs Elysee to the Louvre. It's a long walk, maybe two or three kilometres, and the sun was hot. Still, I thought, the Mona Lisa would be worth it. The Louvre is closed on Tuesdays. Oh well.
One of the things I enjoy most about these conferences is meeting up with other prominent GPs with an interest in Cardiology. On the Sunday I met up with some of them and we went for a wonder around the area surrounding Notre Dame, stopping here and there for a drink in the sun. There was Terry, just written NICE guidelines on hypertension; Andreas, written extensively on Atrial Fibrillation; Matt the Atrial Fidrillation National lead; and Kathryn, the president of the Primay Care cardiology society. Between us we thought we'd be looking back on this conference as the time when anticoagulation moved into the new century and remembering the days when we used to use warfarin. I think that's a bit premature and will have to wait until the cost of the drugs fall. There is still a Luddite section of the medical community, mainly medicines management people, who can't see a good thing when it hits them in the face and seem intent on cost containment, well, at all costs.
Lyon has been my next stop. Much less well known than Paris or London, but now a centre of international affairs an a United Nations hub in Europe. I went there with my mum to visit my sister. Heather lives there with Chris her husband. Chris is the director of the UN cancer registry and so is important enough to have a personal chaufeur and carries diplomatic number plates. Cool or what? Sometimes I think Heather thinks we should be envious of this lifestyle, but frankly I'm not and i don't think my siblings are either. I have enough of living out of a suitcase. Their children are either living away or studying elsewhere as so we have them to ourselves. They live in a wonderful part of the world, and there's no doubt that city itself, and surroundings are beautiful. They live in a prestigious part of Lyon known as the Mont D'Or where the stone is a golden coloured sandstone. Lyon has a fabulous public transport system which mum and I get to know remarkably easily and by chance. We went for a walk from Heather's house on our first day, not realising the Lyon itself, was miles away. Eventually we saw a bus paaing and hailed it down. For two Euros it took us all the way to the Gare de Vaise and from there we go the metro to Vieux Lyon. We got back on our own as well.
Heather spends much of her time travelling with Chris or entertaining visiting dignitaries, but she also works on a project with the local Neurology Institute, mapping parts of the brain shown up using the latest MRI brain imaging. She has worked for many years with stroke patients, understanding which parts of the brain do what. I've often thought that since such scanning techniques have come along, we no longer need neurologists, but I suspect many would think that was going too far.
Now I'm in London, seeing Rachel and Jonny. Both now live in London. Rachel has a traing contract with a law firm, and Jonny is working as a carer while deciding what to do long term. We've done different stuff, but mainly it's about being with them. Last night though, last night was spectacular. During the day was a 'end of summer' festival on the South Bank which was to be followed at night by a firework display. The festival was busy, bright and good to be at, but there's only so many stalls you can look at. The highlight was in the evening. We booked a table at the OXO building brasserie. This is an expensive venue to eat, but is at the top of a tall building overlooking the river, and above where the fireworks were to be let off. They must do great firework displays in Sydney and Paris and New York, but this was the best I have ever seen. It went on and on, lighting the sky with greens reds blues and yellows, and banging fizzing and whirling. Brilliant, literally. Cost of the evening. £250.
Earlier in the day we got to hear that the article which had been commissioned about me had been published in the Sunday Times supplement. I haven't seen it yet. People say the pictures are good. The article is about having a stroke and what that means for me as a currently practicing GP. One thing's for sure, these new drugs are going to stop a lot of people from having strokes. If publicising it means I become famous, I'll just have to live with it, and I haven't got a single penny from it.
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