I've been putting this off

Warning: this post talks about cancer and death

Term 3

Immediately after travelling back to uni I needed to seriously get on with writing my family study essay as there was only 2 days until it was due in! I really struggled to work on it over the Easter break because I didn't have my own personal space where I could shut the world away and just get on with it. Thankfully, once I was back at uni I was able to shut myself away and get it typed up.

Lectures started the next day but they were only scheduled for 3 days before the Easter bank holiday weekend which, for some reason, started on Thursday for us.

I met my Dad in London for a couple of days to go sightseeing, and pushing him around in his wheelchair meant that we would have struggled with the tube, so we walked everywhere and saw some pretty cool things that we would have otherwise missed.

For those of you who don't follow this blog, my Dad was suffering from terminal cancer, so we ticked off his bucket list The Museum of London, M&M World, the Lego Store, China Town and The British Museum. It turned out to be his last weekend away as he began to deteriorate more rapidly after that.

Back at uni I rounded off the long weekend with brunch, shopping and a night out with the girls. 

Just over a week passed with classes as normal before Dad was admitted to hospital as his potassium level was too high. He was treated and monitored but I remained at university at the request of my Dad, and I waited until the weekend to travel home that weekend to see him. He was discharged on the Saturday and as it was another long weekend I still had a couple of days to spend with him at home watching movies and eating snacks.

It was back to uni for classes for 4 days before coming home again for the weekend. Dad took to his bed this weekend and we watched a lot of cooking TV whilst keeping him company. Dad asked me to go back to uni again so I went back for another 4 days, speaking to him every day to check on him, and coming home a day early on the Thursday evening. On the Friday I went to visit Dad and he wasn't doing so well. I stayed with him all day and into the night until 2am when my Mum sent me to have a sleep and she sat with him for a while and he passed away peacefully around 4.30am on the Saturday morning.

Obviously, I didn't travel back to uni after the weekend. Mum and I were executors of Dad's Will so we had a lot to do and my mind was a complete haze. University kindly allowed me to have 3 weeks off and an extension on my essay. They also sent me recordings of the lectures so I could watch them when I was ready.

The following weekend (another bank holiday!) we'd previously booked a trip to London for Dad to try again to take him to Warner Brothers Studio Tour, so my siblings and I took our step-brother instead as we knew Dad wanted us to go. A rainbow even peeked out between the clouds for us like Dad was looking down on us.

I spent the rest of the time at home dealing with Dad's finances, planning his funeral, writing an essay, and trying to vaguely keep up with lectures, all while trying to keep all my emotions together.

When I arrived back at uni my flatmates were waiting to give me loads of hugs and support me. I stayed off class the following day as I didn't feel up to going into the anatomy lab but I worked on lectures in my room, and returned to classes the next day.

My flatmates and friends kept me busy and motivated during revision season, and the exam seemed like it went okay, all things considered (spoiler alert: it did). After the exam I had a couple of days to pack up and put my things into storage before coming home, and I got medic married!

A couple of days after I arrived home it was time for Dad's funeral, which honestly was as nice as it could be.

It doesn't feel right to talk about the rest of my summer here, so I'll leave it for today and try to post some summer updates soon, as well as a photo of Dad's burial spot and his willow tree. I might even make a memorial post for Dad with lots of photos.

Thanks for reading,
Katherine x

1 week to go!

It's the final week before I move to university. The packing is done, all the online bits are done, and all the paperwork is done. All that's left to do is get through this week, load the car and move.

Strangely, the closer it gets, and the more ready I am, the less ready I actually feel. Last night I started to feel a little wobbly about it all. I guess because I'm a bit nervous about the whole thing. I just feel a little too old, like maybe I'm crazy to take it on now. Five years is a long time and, let's be honest, university is just the beginning of a medical career. I'm going to be a little way from home, from my family, my Dad, and my friends, and it's all just going to be strange and new.

I am looking forward to getting there though, and getting unpacked, and trying to make it feel homely. I just hope I can fit everything in the car, along with myself, my uncle and my Mum!! It's going to be a squeeze, that's for sure! And this is after I've condensed down my packing at least twice. I just own too much stuff!

This week I'm working two long days and three half days, and on Thursday afternoon I'm going to hang out with one of my friends for a movie and pizza night, which will be nice before I move. I'm hoping some of my friends might even bother to come and visit, but I won't be holding my breath! One of my sisters will probably visit at some point, which will be nice. And I'll be making regular trips home.

Freshers events are being advertised like crazy, and honestly I can't even be bothered to think about going out clubbing, but I may go to the occasional thing. There's a pretty good looking Halloween party that I like the idea of as I love Halloween! It's actually on Brighton Palace Pier which has a sort of theme park on it, with fairground stalls and scare actors. There's afterparties too but it's a weeknight so I doubt I'll be partying! There's a paint party and a UV party too which look pretty cool, but again they're on weeknights so it's unlikely I'll go, especially as all of the Brighton freshers events start after BSMS students have already finished our freshers and started class.

BSMS has their own freshers events but we don't know much about them yet. All we've heard is some suggestions for fancy dress we need to pack for certain themed parties... I haven't packed any fancy dress because I'm a bore... haha! I'm sure I'll have something in my suitcase that I can make work if I decide to go out.

We've also had a leaflet about a bunch of Students' Union Events which has some good looking things such as:
Rock and Roll Bingo
Powder Paint Party
Murder Mystery Evening
Quizzard: Harry Potter Quiz
Casino Night
And even a board games cafe and a mature students community cafe.
I think I'm more interested in these events than the clubbing!

My first weekend at university I'll be heading to London anyway to spend the weekend with my Dad and some other family and friends, and we're going to Warner Brothers Studio Tour, so that'll be fun! And the second weekend I'll be coming home to visit family and celebrate my Grandad's birthday, and work a shift on time and a half.

I've got a few other bits planned throughout first term. A few weekends home. Bonfire Night at Lewes. And possibly the Battle of Hastings reenactment.

I'll be home for Christmas before I know it!

Thanks for reading,
Katherine x

I've been to London... Let's talk about Plague

I've been to London this weekend, to a concert, but I also visited the Museum of London.

This museum has a small display area about the Plague, which was an influential part of the history of London. The microbe which causes Plague was one of the first to be studied by early microbiologists, and so I thought today I would do a quick blog about it with a few pictures from the display.

Microbe - Bacterium

Name - Yersinia pestis 

Transmission - Flea saliva (bite), inhalation, ingestion, direct contact

Incubation period - 3 - 7 days

Symptoms - non-specific flu like symptoms, sudden onset chills, fever, headache, diarrhoea, muscle ache, weakness, nausea and vomiting, swelling of lymph nodes

Three commonest forms - Bubonic, septicaemic, pneumonic

Bubonic - most common, bacteria replicate in the lymph nodes causing them to become very large and swollen, most commonly in the groin, although the armpits and neck are also affected

Septicaemic - usually no evidence of lymph node involvement, bacteria spread to the blood and cause septic shock, bleeding may occur from skin and mucous membranes and internally, symptoms can appear on the day and death can occur within 24 hours

Pneumonic - least common of the three but most dangerous, mortality and contagibility is very high, lung infection can be primary, or secondary to bubonic, can spread directly between humans, can progress rapidly to septicaemia, incubation period 2 hours - 4 days

Other types of plague - currently classified by WHO include, cellulocutaneous, meningeal, pharyngeal, abortive, asymptomatic, and pestis minor


Most famous outbreak - Black Death - 14th Century

The Year 1348
A ship arrived in England, possibly in either Bristol or Dorset, carrying the bubonic plague microbe, either in the people on the ship, or in the fleas of the rats on the ship. By November, 30,000 of the 70,000 people who lived in London were dead. Over the following three years between 30-40% of the population of England had succumbed to the disease and died.

Other notable outbreaks
There have been a number of outbreaks throughout history, across the world, but another particularly notable outbreak in London was between 1665 - 1666, and this was the last major epidemic in England.

Plague today
Between 2010 - 2015 the WHO noted 3248 cases were reported worldwide with 584 deaths.
The three most endemic countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Madagascar and Peru.
The most recent outbreak was between August - November 2017 in Madagascar with 2348 confirmed/suspected/probable cases, and 202 deaths

Treatment - antibiotics and supportive therapy are effective if the diagnosis is made in time

Prevention - surveillance plays a big part so people can be informed to take measures against flea bites and avoid touching animal carcasses. People are advised to always avoid contact with infected body fluids and tissues

Vaccinnation - there is a vaccination available but it is not recommended except for high risk groups, and as it's effectiveness has never been measured precisely, exposed persons should be treated regardless of vaccination history

If you would like to see more blogs like this about different diseases or illnesses please let me know in the comments.
Thanks for reading.
Katherine

Sources:
https://patient.info/doctor/plague
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs267/en/
http://www.who.int/csr/don/27-november-2017-plague-madagascar/en/
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00041848.htm
The Open University textbook, Empire of the Microbes, Charles Cockell and Audrey Brown

Pictures taken by me at the Museum of London on Sunday 18th March 2018