‘What is music to me? Music is a thing that makes things better. Music is one of the last legitimate opportunities we have for a transcendence experience’.

Said by Nick Cave. Hallelujah to that.

A couple of days ago was the anniversary that 5 years ago I actually retired from the Staff Nurse role. At the start of retirement? One year felt like two years had passed because time moved so slowly. After a couple of years? Time seemed to move far more quickly. In September, as a soon to be a born 70 years ago old elder guy, I need that ‘one year passing feels like two years spent’ scenario again.

I want to tell a little health and illness story here. Educational in the basic sense. I don’t usually do this type of blog. Well….very rarely. But it may help others to take care if similar scenarios happen to themselves.

Getting older means slowing down. Just had a holiday week in Ilkley, Yorkshire with extreme illness at the start of the holiday due to the aftermath of a removed back molar tooth with an abscess underneath.

About four weeks ago, on a Sunday night, an episode of heartburn absolutely blasted up behind the sternum. The pain was really intense. My nurse days told me that care to diagnose properly came from episodes like this. Never assume symptoms. On the hospital ward, I would get a doctor on board quickly and assess whether it is actually heartburn or a very serious cardiac event. Localised isolated pain in heartburn of that severity, as opposed to spreading pain across shoulders and down arm/s, cannot be a determined diagnosis by observational assessment only. That being, with watching simple physical reactions in front of your face as it is happening. This could be a major event outcome. So further enquiry is needed. We had ECG readings performed whilst also hooking up to heart tracing machinery in order to monitor and assess heart activity, Also, blood tests were taken for Troponin T and C-Reactive protein levels back in the day.

Some acid tablets taken the next day quelled the pain, two days were spent sleeping after feeling like I had been kicked savagely around a field by a bull and a few days recovering followed those deep sleep days. Wooziness was profound. Confusion was at crazy levels. A few days of feeling slightly better passed. Then, on the Sunday evening following the first event, the whole experience repeated itself again. Another few days out sleeping again. On the Wednesday, an XRay by the dentist showed that an abscess existed underneath a back lower molar. My heartburn probably came from an overload of bacteria in the blood and guts and the acid response from Proton Pump Inhibitor cells, probably flooded the system. A week’s course of antibiotics, given by the dentist, began.

When I explained to the dentist the above events, she started wagging her finger at me and got Angie, my wife, to ring the surgery there and then to book an appointment to be checked over. So. The following day, after the dentist visit, I went to the doctor who performed an ECG to check heart status and requested a Helicobacter Pylori stool sample test to rule out infection for possible need of an intense antibiotic regime. Both were okay and normal. After antibiotics had finished I went to the dentist and had the tooth extracted. Two days later I travelled up north to Yorkshire for our holiday break. I am on Denplan, so could book an emergency appointment with a dentist if needed.

Unfortunately, 24 hours after the tooth extraction, the blood clot protection in the gum cavity to assist proper healing disappeared. This leads to a ‘dry socket’ and very prone to bone infection. So extreme care had to be taken to destroy any bacterial presence. My gosh it was sore and really aching! Peroxide mouthwash (a brand to be used for seven days maximum) and salt rinses after eating, both three times daily, were the way to go. Food was mainly soup and porridge.

To be honest, it does frighten you when you have a nursing background knowledge. Sepsis is a really worrying consideration. Relaxation from being on holiday has helped the gum heal to a decent status. Back home now and continuing to look after the healing process. Experiences like this? It kind of gives insights into seeking well being for whole body holistic health thoughts. I’m old now and with the COVID years, catching the virus with massive impact, subsequent events of flu type symptoms, where again, resulted in being knocked sideways for days it has been a battle of wills. The long term symptoms experienced coming to a head periodically over the past five years can impact very many of us. I feel our immune system has definitely been overworked.

I remember having a conversation over coffee with one of our ward doctors. We were chatting about not getting ill often as health professionals. I had hardly any days off. He didn’t either. Once I calculated that I had had no day’s absence in 20 years. The doctor said:

‘Hey Gray. Think about it. How many diseases and germs do we come into contact with on a daily basis. And never really become ill. Our immune systems are pure Gold. If we could bottle it…..we’d make a fortune’.

Why this long winded story? Because I was once a health professional and information can be very useful if you find yourself in similar circumstances. Duty of care still swirls around my head I suppose. A tooth abscess can be pretty dynamic. As Google search AI states:

‘A tooth abscess is incredibly dangerous. It is a severe bacterial infection that will not go away on its own. Left untreated, a tooth abscess can spread to your jawbone, the soft tissues of your face and neck, and beyond. In extremely rare cases, the infection can travel to your heart (endocarditis) and brain (bacterial meningitis)’.

And to finish?

Here’s a bit of Mindfulness music I wrote whilst experimenting with the GarageBand instrumental choices. I played layer on layer on layer of simple melodies on the AKAI MIDI keyboard. All single finger stuff. Can’t play chords on piano at all.

The simple video has positive affirmation words typed on top of photographs of one of the Shaman staffs that I made. These were part of my ceramic characters days. I used to make ceramic/pottery Celtic and Shaman type figures that carried staffs like these. The figures also carried ancient rune books, tattered spell books, musical instruments, scrolls, etc. were present too. Poems and Stories used to be written around each character. All pieces were individually made. So no two pieces were ever alike. Those days spent, over about 12 years, as a humble potter were very enjoyable times indeed.