Just Thinking

How sad it was to read about the colourful and historic St James Beach huts burning down! My first engagement with this unfortunate event began with the news screaming something like “ Unbelievable, St James Beach Huts torched”. From this message, it was reasonable to deduce that the huts, and possibly all of the huts, were deliberately burnt to the ground. Armed with the misinformation, one could even have built a scenario where the torching was politically motivated or driven by malice and hate. Thankfully, as it turns out, only three of the huts were burnt down and it seems to have been an accident. A group of homeless people lit a fire in or near these huts and the fire got out of hand. The whole event is sad off course but the outcome, the cause and how to avoid such an unfortunate event in future are all very different to the original message I received. That word torching is loaded as it suggests an intentional act of burning of something. This is how fake news begins, with ...

Another first this week – a very low white blood cell count and the need for an infusion of blood platelets. However, the medical fraternity knows their business and all went swimmingly. I did however take a moment just to confirm what were, in fact, the implications of these two separate issues. Dr Google tells me that both are the result of my current treatment. A low white blood cell count undermines my immunity while platelets help my body with clotting to stop bleeding. A platelet transfusion appears to be a simple process. The blood people check your personal details to assure the platelets you receive are compatible and “Voila!” you receive a bag of platelets intravenously. It all takes about half an hour. The platelets are yellow and, like most people, I went through the process with no side effects. Happy and then home. None of this seems dramatic, heroic or memorable until you consider that when one needs an infusion it is not a voluntary elective process and secondly, the ...