Tuesday 26 April 2016

A major sense

As the painter is in there isn't much I can do today, being on 'stand-by' and all that.  My wife has been laid low by a virus and so is upstairs in bed feeling very sorry for herself, Missy is at school and while I have a film to develop there is very little chance of that happening today.

I know, it's a horse.  By Portrush West Strand it was. I have no idea how it got there but it was definitely untethered, just grazing, as they do.  I can't imagine the grazing was up to much, mind you, since I reckon the grass there is more dune-like than pasture-like.  But there you go, that's Ireland for you.

So where was I?  Oh yes, random musings.  Well maybe not random.  The Big Thing in my life the first few months of 2016 has been my hearing, or rather, the lack of it.  It is, of course, a major sense and my hearing loss has been significant, which makes life very difficult, and tiring, and wearing for not just me but for everyone around me.  And getting your mojo to do anything when you've a head full of cotton wool is not easy.  When I was in Bath in November (seems a long time ago now) my Rheumatology Consultant said there was a definite link between ankylosing spondylitis and deafness, which although is not what you want to hear (excuse the pun), might go some way to making the whole thing easier to understand.

Bernie, my Tai Chi teacher, suggested a guy who might be able to help using acupuncture.  Nothing to lose, I though, so here goes.  That was about 7 weeks ago and believe it or not, after about 2-3 weeks of treatment my hearing improved.  All was good for a time, but then Mr Kwong went on holiday and guess what, over a couple of weeks my hearing deteriorated...bigtime.

Portrush West Bay - the sort of view the horse would have if it lifted its head and looked around
The good news is that Mr Kwong has now returned from his jaunt to Hong Kong and I recommenced treatment last week.  And the even better news is my hearing has definitely improved - just over the weekend there.  It was Saturday evening and I started feeling a little nauseous, then a lot, then the vertigo started and I staggered myself to me bed.  Woke up Sunday morning and the fog had lifted, my hearing was markedly better.  Still pretty good today - not 100%, but better than last week.

So...here's the $64,000 question.  Coincidence?  Or has Mr Kwong and his magic needles helped that chi move along those mystic meridians and cleared the old aural system?  I don't know and to a large extent it doesn't matter even if it's all bunkum and a) my hearing was about to get better anyway or b) it's just a placebo effect.  I mean, if it works, right?  As it stands though, at this point in time I'm a believer, just for the record.

Portrush Harbour.  In the good old days ships would anchor off here and transport people to and from Scotland...and even to and from America during the 17th&18th Centuries.  Nowadays the lifeboat sits in there and a few fishing boats.  Still, it's a busy enough wee harbour during the summer months and a couple of decent restaurants plus of course The Harbour Bar within a gentle stroll.  

6 comments:

  1. Good morning, and all that...
    Sorry to hear about the deterioration of your ability to hear everything as clear as you should, mate. On the other hand also happy to learn that the woodoo and all those mysterious things seems to help you, and hopefully it can keep things a bit stable in the future.
    I am struggeling a bit with my ears myself as well, as more or less all engineers of huge machinery will do at some point. In my case the annoying bit is the extra sounds I seem to pick up. Constant beeping inside my head at times, but other times it's all good. But... then I read about your vertigo, and that made me think again. I have experienced a few severe cases of that sorts lately, and I might just go find a doctor some day... Could come from them old ears, of course. I was thinking low blood pressure or something like that... but we will see.
    Last night I developed a few films, which is ready for scanning at the moment. I lack bits to put the films inside for the scanning, as I just discovered they must have been left over at the cottage from the last time I scanned film. I was over there doing that, as you might remember. That's the downside of going back and forth between places like this. There's always something you forget to take back when you leave.
    Well... I better find something to do. I got a car that looks like a field in the very early springtime... I might find the energy to do something about that, after the next cup of coffee, or two.
    Take care!

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    1. Thanks Roy for taking the time to post - appreciated. Poor hearing is a difficult thing to deal with and the strange thing is just how many people have problems with it. The vertigo is just a nightmare though - very little warning and then Boom! and you can't open your eyes or you will fall over. Not that it happens too often to me - once a year perhaps - but not good company. I hope you get to the bottom of your issues there soon my friend.

      Glad to hear (and see) that you are developing and printing like a mad thing these days. I need to get out and about more and get those shutters opening.

      Just an endnote - for me, taking coffee out of my diet helped my vertigo enormously. I know, not an easy thing to do, but it's green tea for me now :)

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  2. And hey, great snaps! I really love the one of the animal of which name we used to be forbidden to mention when being out on a ship, and that last one of your harbour.

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    1. Really - you were not allowed to say the H***** word? Never heard that one. OK so you got me reading some articles there about sea-faring superstitions - seems like there were a lot! Interesting stuff though - good reading!

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    2. I don't know if mentioning the "four legged big animal" on board a foreign vessel is better than doing the same on board a norwegian vessel...? Could even be that we got different rules on what to say or do depending on which part of the world we come from? Would think that our region is a bit the same, though?

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    3. I would think there is a universal ships etiquette - from the (very) little I have read about it sea-faring people come from all corners of our little planet and mix readily. But I'm a land-lubber, so what do I know! :)

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