Swine Flu Fall Out

I thought that we'd heard the last of Marion's nasty encounter with the H1N1 virus (otherwise known as swine flu) as she has been making good progress since late April. It was way back in February when she first showed signs of being unwell and her health deteriorated rapidly before she started to improve. She was still a bit tired and run down at the beginning of May but she was taking things easy and we were happy that the swine of an illness was behind us.

Until recently that is. We started to notice it just after Sarah and Rose and Melody visited us a few of weeks ago. When Marion showered or washed her hair, large clumps of hairs filled the shower plughole and her hair brush. She recently changed hairdresser and we thought it was perhaps a short term reaction to new products. But it wasn't short term and the volume of hair on her brush and on her clothes and shoulders started to increase until she got to the stage where she began to worry -and worry, is the last thing you want if your hair is starting to fall out.

We booked an appointment at a specialist in Ipswich and we visited him on Thursday. It seems that poor Marion has something known as Telogen Effluvium and it is a known after-effect of swine flu. It appears that the virus somehow upsets the hair growth cycle and causes a well above average number of hairs to move to the dead or dying stage in their cycle. On the positive side, he can see new growth on her scalp and the condition is unlikely to be permanent. On the negative, it is possible that she may lose up to 40% of her hair before things start to improve and that's difficult for someone who takes such pride in her appearance. 

We visited Seckford Hall Hotel on Wednesday for a very nice afternoon tea that my brother Pete and his wife Val had bought us for Christmas. As you can see, Marion's hair looks fine but she've very conscious of it and we'll both be very happy when things start to improve.

Four of Framlingham's biggest Liverpool fans came round to our house on Thursday night to join me in watching the Europa League Final. With Liverpool coasting at half time I decided to show them the banner that Paul and I took to Athens with us for the disastrous Champions League Final. I then somehow managed to switch channels before the start of the second half and, two minutes later when we realised the mistake and put the match back on, Liverpool's lead had disappeared and we were heading for a miserable night. That banner brought us no luck in Athens - I should have kept it locked up.

On Thursday evening we went to the college for a very interesting talk by Darren Tansley (above) about the mammals of Essex and Suffolk. I was amazed at how many mammals we actually have in the county and really enjoyed this very informative evening.

It's been a quiet few months on the metal detecting front as most of the fields are full of crops but I managed a couple of hours out on Friday. I didn't find very much but this decorative mount from a huntsman's powder flask is a nice item. I probably won't get out again until after the harvest.

While there's not detecting there will be time for my writing. I got my manuscript back for the editor on Friday and have set aside this week for going through his views and revisions. Exciting times (I hope).