Face Frozen 2: Diagnosis Denied

I phoned the Doctor to get an appointment but everyone had the same idea and they were booked up. So, I didn't go to a Walk-In centre. I went to have tea with X. She actually meant dunch or should that be linner but I was stuffed after having a good lunch. I managed to cram in a few pieces of Dim Sum in my mouth without them falling out. I even managed to drink tea without it dribbling out. I sounded like an alcoholic and she could barely understand me.

For New Year's Eve night, I met up with E in the pub. We have a few drinks and with all the celebrations, he had trouble understanding me. It was cleared that my frozen face wasn't defrosting.

Frozen face

I woke up and my face felt strange. The right side of my face was swollen and paralysed. I couldn't wink, or smile on that side. My non-moving mouth meant I spoke with a lisp and a slur. When I tried to eat or drink, I had to shove things into my mouth as the right side wouldn't form a proper seal to avoid the refreshments falling out.

I went to see P. He said:

"I don't want to worry you but you might have a mini-stroke"

Great beside manner, good thing you didn't study medicine.

What a great year it's been. First, the arthritis and now, this. Will I live to see 2009?

If not, let my death be quick and painless - preferably in my sleep. Somehow, I think bits of me will fail to work and the end will be slow and agonising.

I decided to see a doctor tomorrow.

2 Worlds at War

I went to my sister's flat yesterday for the first time and we played Halo 3 together for the first time from 3pm till 1am with only a 2hr break for dinner and to watch The Kingdom.

Halo 3
It's an evolution not a revolution. The weapons are similar to Halo 2 and 3 and there are a few new vehicles such as a Judge Dredd-style bike and a jetpack. The missions are similar to Halo 2, even down to tackling armoured spiders by jumpling onboard and shooting out the engine core. The storyline consists of Master Chief teaming up with the Covenant Arbiter to defeat the Covenant Prophet. Co-op means someone has to play the Covenant, which I did not like. The graphics are a bit better than Halo 3 and the music is just as good.

The game is clearly built for online play as the offline version only has 10 levels and we completed 8. So, it's a short but pleasant game without the extension of online play.

The Kingdom
Micheal Mann does topicality with a film about the Middle East, specifically an FBI investigation into the shooting and bombings of Americans in The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. For those who need it, there's a short history lesson for the country and how the Brits & Yankees carved up the land and then came back to grab the oil. It's a reasonable film, painting a civilised portrait of the Saudi colonel, played by Ashraf Barhom, helping Jamie Foxx & Jennifer Garner's culturally insensitive infidels. Both performaces seemed enervated in the heat of the desert. Mann is my favourite director but The Kingdom, which he produced, isn't as good as my Mann favourites, Heat & Manhunter. Peter Berg directs.

Happy Christmas

The Christmas tree by night



The Christmas tree by day



The Christmas turkey with sausagement and sage & onion stuffing

Freed Information

The Times reports 59 things that would have stayed secret had it not been for the Freedom of Information Act such as:

"The Thatcher Government concocted a plan to search for the Loch Ness monster using a team of dolphins"

and more seriously:

"Foreign diplomats – who have diplomatic immunity – were accused of rapes, sexual assaults, child abuse and murders while working in Britain"

Science Suffers

Hooked by the challenge and interactivity, I went to to Ice Station Antarctica, the Natural History Museum's temporary exhibition,. I asked how long it would take to go around and was told it would take 1 hr. For the £7 ticket price, an hour of edutainment seemed reasonable. I'd pay a bit more or a bit more cinematic entertainment.

I went into the exhibition and the first room was about the only place in London that was colder on the inside than on the outside. It was cooled to -10 deg C which I learnt is a hot day in Antarctica.

I was disappointed with the exhibition as there were only 2 interactive exhibits - a snowmobile simulator and a divers' simulator. They were both superficial but fun. I was denied more than 2 goes on each simulator as I needed to get my ticket scanned - so my score can be accessed on a website. I'm not sure why I need to do that.

The rest of the area comprised of photos, text, videos, equipment and a mockup of a room in a polar base.

I finished going around in 1/2 hr and felt ripped-off. I wrong in the comments card that it was only worth £3.50.

It seemed to be an advert for their main sponsor: British Antarctic Survey which I had to pay to experience.

On the plus side, I did learnt that divers work in the Antarctic, people drive snowmobiles to hunt for meteorites and scientists look at penguin droppings to find out what they eat.

I then went to the Science Museum to window shop in the gift shop. There were lots of toys and interactive experiments but I was shocked to see that they had eliminated every single book. In the good old days the shop was lined with books on several walls. I know kids have to be entertained but this dumbing down has gone too far.

Christmas markets

To soak up the seasonal atmosphere, I decided to go to some seasonal markets. I went to one at the foot of Tower Bridge neat to City Hall but it was a disappointment. There were only a few stalls and half of them were shut.

So, I decided to go to the Winter Wonderland at Hyde Park. Now, that's what I'm talking about.

It had a fairground with traditional favourites like:

A carousel of horses

















A helter skelter to slide down



A ferris wheel




















As well as attractions there were stalls selling Christmas decorations

There was also traditional food & wine like German Gluhwein & frankfurters



I also saw this fabulous Christmas tree when I went to the Natural History Museum.

Wrist Pain: Occupational Health Interview

My company asked me if I would be referred to a company to discuss my illness. I had no good reason not to go so I agreed. The stated reason is to help me with my illness and ensure that I can continue working. My cynical take on it is a check to see if I've been pulling a sickie and they will be getting data from my doctor.

I had a morning interview with the outsourcing occupational health company in central London. I discussed my wrist pain with the doctor interviewing me. She asked me what treatment I had. I told her that I had had a cortisol injection.

She asked me, "Did you have it injected into your wrist?"
I replied, "No, it was injected into my bottom", in a deadpan manner.

Without batting an eyelid, in true professional style, she countered, "So, it was an intra-muscular injection."

She dictated a letter into her dictaphone to my GP asking for details of the injection. She wanted to write to the rheumatologist but I said I thought he was too busy too reply and she agreed saying that rheumatologists are very busy.

Wrist Pain: Cortisol injection

I went to see my rheumatologist and found out my chest x-ray was negative for TB. After all the negative TB tests, I thought he would finally admit that I didn't have TB. So. I asked him. He replied:

"There hasn't been any evidence of TB."

So, that grudging response is the nearest thing I would get to an admission.

He said the next step was a cortisol injection. He offered me the choice of having it injected into a muscle or into the wrist. It would be more painful to have it injected into the wrist so I opted for what a thought was the easy and comfortable choice of a muscle injection. I thought the injection would be into my arm. He sent me off to the nurse with a note. She told me to drop my pants as she was going to inject it up my bottom. I feared for my comfort returning on the bus that day.

It was a painful prick but I managed to sit down 10 minutes later. The injection has helped a bit although I do sometimes get shooting pains in my wrist, which I never had before. I wonder how long it will last. Next time, I might need the cortisol injected into my wrist.

I will be back to see the rheumatologist on 8/1/08.