Steady My Heart.

Working with Team Foxtrot is currently the highlight of my summer. I met some brilliant people and got to spend time doing first response stuff and using the skills I've spent so many hours acquiring! Really hoping that it'll be the start of getting back out on duties with the Red Cross be that SafeSpace or major event stuff. Since getting back I've also signed up to do further modules including Entonox, trauma, medical and others...exciting times. More than one person has asked why I'm pursuing teaching still when my heart lies in something more medical and to be quite honest I'm still not 100% sure. My current reasoning however is teaching has a longer career length, it would not be possible to still be working as a paramedic aged 60, it's not so unrealistic to still be in a classroom! Plus, I do love teaching and I don't know whether I would love medical stuff if it was my career? I volunteer because I enjoy it, just like I play my clarinet because I enjo

So in case you hadn't noticed...I've been away for a fortnight and will do a proper update sometime but for today I want to look at one of the most read news stories on the BBC recently. Tony Nicklinson has died after refusing food for the past week and contracting pneumonia. You can read the BBC's story here . Euthanasia is such a sticky sticky subject and I can't say that I've fully formed my opinion on it. I did however attend a seminar on the topic while I was away and have read various bits and pieces in the past. I am by no means an intelligent writer or a theology genius so bear with me! So, starting with where I'm at personally... I can understand the logic and the desire of many people for euthanasia to be made legal in this country. I really really do. I read about certain peoples situations and how desperate they feel and feel that their argument is valid. However, I can't justify euthanasia biblically (in my opinion) and this is where

Back when I first started writing I wrote a post entitled Tachycardia briefly explaining what had been going on with my health and that we were stuck in a bit of a no-mans-land. Yesterday, nearly a year after my first admission I have a diagnosis! For those of you with a medical background; postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) with episodes of hypoglycemia. There's some general dysautomonia and they're still pursuing neuro follow up although we're hopeful that I can be discharged and just remain under cardiology. My tilt table showed an increase of 60bpm post-GTN,  intolerance of exercise (40bpm increase on standing and hit 150bpm within first minute). 7 day monitor showed persistent tacycardia (hit 190bpm at rest on more than one occasion). For those of you to whom that makes no sense...it's a name that explains the majority of my symptoms. It accounts for symptoms that I didn't even realise were related to the heart stuff so it's taking a wh