Friday 29 April 2011

Surgery, relapse and a death; the week my life fell to peices again

Hi all in cyberspace, sorry I haven't posted for a while.

So lets start with the surgery. On a Tuesday a couple of weeks ago I
went to the dentists to have the hole in my tooth filled in. I was
already struggling - the tooth infection had left me with an upset
tummy and tired. My Scoliosis had also been playing up badly making
resting difficult. Afterwards I went home and did pratically nothing
for the rest of the day apart from giving my guinea pig, Barney, a
cuddle. Little did I realise it'd be my last one.

In the evening, after I'd gone to bed I became violently nauseus. I
vomited and wretched constantly, literally every 5 mins, for about the
next 12 hours. The situation was only made worse by the fact I had
nothing to actually vomit on. My tummy became very sore and it was a
long time before I could even manage a small drink. It was also very
frightening. It reminded me of the ME symptom I had when I was little.
I think it was a recurrance of it though the doctors said it was just
indigestion or a bug. Needless to say neither of these doctors
actually saw me in the flesh

I'd only just started to recover from this, and realise I wasn't going
to die from dehydration after all, then I was forced to confront the
spectre of death again. Barney became very ill. My Mum rushed to him
the vets.The vet couldn't examine him properly though as his mouth was
full of saliva. She thought the only thing to do was put him under
anesthetic. This is very dangerous for guinea pigs but after tearful
discussion over the phone, which was hampered by my struggling to
talk, we agreed to go ahead. He survived it but died that night

I've been pretty rough since

Apoligies if this isn't the happiest of posts

x

Fwd: EU: 3 Days to Save Herbal Medicine!

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Ricken Patel - Avaaz.org <avaaz@avaaz.org>
Date: Thursday, April 28, 2011
Subject: EU: 3 Days to Save Herbal Medicine!
To: "6chestnuts@googlemail.com" <6chestnuts@googlemail.com>
Dear friends,

In 3 days, the EU will ban much of herbal medicine, pressing more of
us to take pharmaceutical drugs that drive the profits of big Pharma.
The EU Directive erects high barriers to any herbal remedy that hasn't
been on the market for 30 years -- including virtually all Chinese,
Ayurvedic, and African traditional medicine. It's a draconian move
that helps drug companies and ignores thousands of years of medical
knowledge.

We need a massive outcry against this. Together, our voices can press
the EU Commission to fix the directive, push our national governments
to refuse to implement it, and give legitimacy to a legal case before
the courts. Sign below, forward this email to everyone, and let's get
to 1 million voices to save herbal medicine:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/eu_herbal_medicine_ban/?vl

It's hard to believe, but if a child is sick, and there is a safe and
natural herbal remedy for that illness, it may be impossible to find
that remedy.
On May 1st the Directive will create major barriers to manufactured
herbal remedies, requiring enormous costs, years of effort, and
endless expert processes to get each and every product approved.
Pharmaceutical companies have the resources to jump through these
hoops but hundreds of small- and medium-sized herbal medicine
businesses, across Europe and worldwide, will go bust.
We can stop this. The directive has been passed in the shadows of the
bureaucracy, and it cannot stand under the light of democratic
scrutiny. The EU Commission can withdraw or amend it, and a court case
is currently challenging it to do so. If European citizens everywhere
come together now, it will give legitimacy to the legal case, and add
to growing pressure on the Commission. Sign below, and forward this
email to everyone:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/eu_herbal_medicine_ban/?vl

There are arguments for better regulation of natural medicine, but
this draconian directive harms the ability of Europeans to make safe
and healthy choices. Let's stand up for our health, and our right to
choose safe herbal medicine.
With hope and determination,
Ricken, Iain, Giulia, Benjamin, Alex, Alice, Pascal, Luis and the rest
of the Avaaz team.

SOURCES:
EU herbal medicines law set for legal challenge:
http://www.euractiv.com/en/health/eu-herbal-medicines-law-set-legal-challenge-news-503563
European Union directive to ban natural remedies in favor of pharmaceuticals:
http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/8826364-european-union-directive-to-ban-natural-remedies-in-favor-of-pharmaceuticals
Traditional Chinese medicine firms may face delisting in EU market:
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90776/90883/7343301.html
EU crackdown on herbal 'remedies':
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/eu-crackdown-on-herbal-remedies-2628345.html

Please sign!