Irrational Fear.

Eeek, it is with great horror that I must start this week. A piece of molar has broken and this can mean one of two things.
I can ignore it and pretend it's not sharp, or I can go to the dentist and get it fixed.
Now a normal person would automatically choose the latter. I too will have to choose the latter, but I'll choose the later and then pretend I've done something about it. I can do this type of thing for months.
See chumlies, I don't care a hoot about getting stitches in my head, or needles in my arm or bad haircuts or getting my eyes tested or taking medicine or stripping off naked in front of a doctor or peeing into cups or any off those things. I'm a very rational human being. Mostly.
But when it comes to the dentist all rationality goes straight out the window. I am reduced to a quivering mess even at the very thought of a dental visit. I"m serious, I turn into smooch the moment I cross the threshold. I've fled from a dentists office once, he said 'open your mouth please' and I said, 'aieeeeeeeeee!' and ran for my life. I burst out of his office with the blue paper still around my neck, eyes wide, with flecks of pink foam around my mouth, reeled around the waiting room- scaring the bejayous out of the other patients waiting and then when his dental nurse said, 'Miss fatcat wait!' I yelled, 'No! NO! forget about it, sorry about that, I'll call okay, we'll do it again bye bye bye...'
I fled and was hyperventilating on the street for almost two minutes feeling like a absolute idiot, but also relieved that my fight or flight responses were so sharp.
Then there was the time I went to a chap who 'specialised' in nervous patients. I was there for so long -turning my head every time he tried to inject me- that he eventually had to grumpily send the rest of his appointments home. He wasn't quite so patient with me after that, which made me worse and finally he threw up his hands in despair and said, 'WILL YOU JUST HOLD STILL FOR A MOMENT!"
I burst out crying and began to hyperventilate, and so we danced on until finally he just sort of stabbed me with the needle. Of course I bolted from the chair- with the bloody thing still in my gum which totally terrorised me and him...oh it was a disaster (he retired not long after and I always wonder was it my patronage that pushed him over the edge)
I've had emergency root canal done at 2:30 am by an extremely pissed off dentist, still in tails as he had to come from a party to save me. The reason he had to save me at all was the pain was so bad the 18 or so Anadin I was taking a day and had been for almost nine months just weren't cutting it any longer.
That was a mess. Even in agony I had to be talked back into the chair about five times. How he didn't just club me over the head and be done with it I"ll never know.
I know I should go and get this fixed immediately, and I swear to chulutha I'll make some kind of phone call today. But right now I"m just going to sit here and gibber to myself softly for a while and hope the the one Dentist I know who uses a complete anaesthetic will have an opening this side of Christmas.

Anyone else got an irrational fear? It's probably dentists, right? RIGHT?

Cancer.

From to day's independent.

"THE controversy over botched breast cancer tests blew up again last night after it was revealed a second woman was given the all-clear only to be diagnosed with the disease just weeks later.

The 38-year-old Limerick mother-of-two had even organised a party to celebrate the news of her medical clearance.

But just hours before the party was due to take place, she received the devastating news that she had breast cancer.

The woman is now facing a mastectomy and is said to be deeply upset at the manner in which she discovered she had cancer last Easter.

Her case follows that of Tipperary woman Rebecca O'Malley (41) who was also the victim of a botched breast sample test, as revealed in the Irish Independent last week.

The revelations greatly increased pressure last night on Health Minister Mary Harney to sanction a full, independent review of cancer testing within Health Service Executive facilities.

The Limerick woman's breast cancer tests were carried out earlier this year, though not at the Cork University Hospital lab that is now the focus of an HSE probe. It is understood her biopsy samples were processed by a UK laboratory.

The woman was initially told her biopsy showed no indication of cancerous cells - only to be informed four weeks later that she did, in fact, have breast cancer.

The Royal College of Physicians pathology faculty has urged the immediate adoption of a 'triple test' system for all breast-cancer samples.

An HSE spokesperson said the latest case would be followed up urgently once details were known."

Those poor women. The HSE are really dropping clangers all over the place but this is an absolute outrage. Cancer is a fucker. An absolute fucker of a disease and for a woman breast cancer in particular scares the hell out of us. It needs to be caught early, addressed and treated immediately if we're to have any chance of beating it at all. That's why these botched results are so outrageous. Four weeks can be the difference between life and death, or between mutilation or treatment.
I feel very sorry for the two ladies in question, what they must feel is beyond me. Rage probably. Here we are, a prosperous fucking country and we can't even get something as important as breast cancer screening right.
Who is culpable here? Where does the buck finally stop? The HSE must have someone who is answerable to us, Joe Public. It's not good enough to ride this one until the storm breaks. As women we need to know that we can rely on our health service when it come to matter that might mean us living or dying. Breast cancer is not a fucking cuddly pink ribboned disease that just gets treated easily. It is an ugly vicious serious illness that ultimately can kill a woman if left undiagnosed and untreated. I've seen first hand what cancer can do to a person, I'm sure many of us have, and I for one don't want to take the risk that it might happen to me some day simply through the incompetency of the HSE.

London Marathon.

I signed on for the Flora women's mini-marathon today, it's in June. So naturally I was browsing all thing runnery. Then I read the following and I said 'eeeek.' but is a very low voice. I plan to do the Dublin City Marathon this year. Reading this kind of story scares the crap out of me.
Taken from today's UK Independent.


"A 22-year-old runner who was taken ill after completing the London Marathon has died, race organisers said today.

The young man, who has not been named, collapsed after successfully finishing the 26-mile course around the capital.

The marathon's organisers said the runner died peacefully this morning, and offered their "deepest sympathy and condolences" to his family and friends.

A spokeswoman for the organisers said a second runner, who had been in a critical condition in hospital last night, was better today and had been transferred to a normal ward.

Sweltering heat left scores of contestants needing medical treatment.

Temperatures hit just below 21C at midday, almost equalling the 1996 record, and rose slightly higher later in the day.

Runners reported "nightmare" conditions as ambulance staff said they dealt with a higher than usual number of patients.

London Ambulance Service said this year's event, which attracted a record 36,391 runners, was "busier" than usual, with participants and spectators affected by the heat.

A spokeswoman said some people were suffering heat-related problems such as dehydration as well as sprains and other injuries.

A London Marathon spokeswoman said 57 people were taken to hospital.

St John Ambulance said it treated 5,032 people.

Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, who was running his eighth marathon, said the conditions were "extraordinary".

He said: "It was like running in a desert today. I stopped to help one guy. It was quite bad. They were dropping like flies."

Another runner, Michelle Dewberry, who won the BBC television show The Apprentice, said she saw someone being resuscitated after about four miles.

She said: "I have seen lots of people passed out and being resuscitated. It is scary, scary stuff."

Champion athlete Liz McColgan, who won the marathon in 1996, said some runners were in trouble.

She said: "I saw a lot of people walking with cramps and things. I think a lot were suffering."

England rugby World Cup team member Matt Dawson said he saw other runners pass out in front him.

He said: "You could see people just burning up in front of you, as I was.' "


Eek, I say.