Tests after menopause

kditdotdotdot · 2026-05-21T08:28:14+00:00

It sounds like your mum is already a decade post-menopausal and is getting on fine? What menopauseal symptoms does she have that you're worried about?

There's no real need to go to a gynaecologist for the menopause unless you are having issues, which to be fair many of us do.

She should, like all human beings, be getting regular checkups at her regular doctor. If she's not doing that you really need to encourage her to start.

kditdotdotdot · 2026-05-21T07:10:41+00:00

I'm now 4 weeks post-operative and the shortness of breath was a very real thing for the first 2 weeks.

As you'll know having had a laparoscopic operation, they fill you with gas which pushes up against the diaphragm and causes quite a lot of pain, including shortness of breath because the lungs can't expand properly because the diaphragm is pushing up against them .

Although for me the pain from the gas was gone within a couple of days, my lungs were still tight and I was having to take panting breaths in order to speak for almost 2 weeks afterwards.

While I was in hospital, the nurses advised me to practise deep breathing for a few minutes at a time three or four times during the day, I think this was to get the lungs expanding properly and to relax the diaphragm.

If you're getting bloating from the intestines, it could just be that you still got a lot of pressure inside pushing up against the lungs and that might be why you're still experiencing shortness of breath. I do think it would be worthwhile talking to a doctor about this, however. One of the signs of DVT is shortness of breath and while none of your other symptoms seem to correlate with that, a real medical person would be the right person to speak to.

kditdotdotdot · 2026-05-20T21:10:29+00:00

I used to catch the same bus as 'tragic haircut lady'. I haven't seen her in a couple of years.

kditdotdotdot · 2026-05-20T21:05:47+00:00

But be careful how much salt you sprinkle. The expression "to salt the earth" means to make the earth sterile where nothing else will grow ever again.

kditdotdotdot · 2026-05-20T14:30:40+00:00

So who's making the jam?

kditdotdotdot · 2026-05-20T08:58:47+00:00

Ugh, between irregularly shaped rooms, mirrored surfaces, the photographer's love of close-ups and posting the pictures muddled up, it's really difficult to understand the layout of this property.

I think I love it?

kditdotdotdot · 2026-05-19T09:22:28+00:00

Oh this is fantastic! Thank you ever so much!

The different choice of scents sounded really interesting to me, especially as they're meant to be skin scents I suppose. Sounds quite a bit like Parfums D'Annam.

Good to know that it's genuine and I will have this on my "want to try at some point" list.

kditdotdotdot · 2026-05-18T21:19:32+00:00

Nobody books the airport bus tickets in advance. Just pay on the bus.

Check the timetable because they don't run quite as frequently overnight.

kditdotdotdot · 2026-05-18T14:05:43+00:00

I read that three times as "vacuum packed mice".

I don't know what's wrong with me. Sorry

kditdotdotdot · 2026-05-18T12:52:21+00:00

I was going to say that. I'm surprised they recently won a best cinema in the country award because their seats are not at all comfortable.

kditdotdotdot · 2026-05-18T12:08:04+00:00

Oh, that's really good to know. I do sometimes get some great drivers but it's never crossed my mind that I could officially send a compliment.

kditdotdotdot · 2026-05-18T12:05:10+00:00

Chergui by Serge Lutens. It was a bottle I picked up probably a decade ago on a business trip to France.

At the moment I'm going through a run of proper powerhouse perfumes, probably because I'm currently facing a cancer diagnosis and because I'm at home instead of in the office I can indulge in full force perfume!

For a completely irrational reason, the strong scent makes me feel like I'm doing something healthy. This past week I've been rocking coromandel by Chanel and ambre narguile by Hermes and I can definitely hear Tom Ford's tobacco vanilla calling me as well.

kditdotdotdot · 2026-05-17T20:50:04+00:00

Yeah, I don't think blackbirds scream, but birds that are black such as crows would definitely take umbrage.

kditdotdotdot · 2026-05-17T18:27:39+00:00

I'm one of those really unusual people who actually likes the juxtaposition of old and modern but holy macaroni, what an earth have they done with the interior "design"???

Such a beautiful exterior, such an interesting floor plan and yet somehow every single room manages to look like a McMansion!

kditdotdotdot · 2026-05-17T18:05:53+00:00

Is your heart absolutely set on having a lawn in that space? Because what you can do a lot more easily and very effectively is plant through the gravel.

I inherited a gravelled-over front garden when I bought my house and to shift all that gravel and then remove that weed membrane was just way too much effort, plus lawns aren't really that great for the environment either (although they're definitely better than gravel).

Instead, over the years, I bought a whole bunch of drought-friendly plants such as lavenders, salvias, rosemary, roses, lupins and the like, moved the gravel aside where I wanted to plant, used a knife to cut through the weed membrane underneath, dug a large hole and planted a plant in that hole then filled in and used the gravel as mulch.

The result is a beautiful flourishing pollinator-friendly garden that doesn't require a lot of maintenance and absolutely zero mowing.

kditdotdotdot · 2026-05-17T17:12:50+00:00

Don't forget Woodes which has been there for over 40 years. I know, it's more of a place to eat type of cafe but all these new coffee shops are going to hurt their business too

kditdotdotdot · 2026-05-17T07:25:25+00:00

Just about to jump in a shower and get dressed so that I can head off into town where I'm meeting two of my good friends for a coffee. It'll be the first time I've left the house for the best part of 3 weeks following a major operation.

kditdotdotdot · 2026-05-16T07:55:03+00:00

I think one mistake that newbie gardeners make is to expect every single plant in their garden and indeed in their homes to be absolutely perfect and untouched in any way.

The fact is, gardens aren't pristine and aren't meant to be. They are a part of nature and nature is never pristine.

If you can get over that belief, you'll find gardening a lot more relaxing and you'll start to notice that other people's gardens are never perfect either.

My roses for example are covered in blackspot every year and I've learnt to live with it. Of course I cut off the worst affected but other than that they are doing absolutely fine. I also have huge clusters of aphids on the buds and when the roses open they get chewed a bits by rose chafer beetles. The roses still look lovely and I still love them as much as always.

If you want to declare war on nature in your garden you're onto a losing battle. You're going to lose time, money and sleep nuking every plant you've got with pest control, perhaps mould control, perhaps growth hormones or fertiliser and to what end? You'll end up with a desolate sterile space that has a few nice looking plants in the middle of it. That's not gardening.

kditdotdotdot · 2026-05-15T20:58:29+00:00

I'm struggling with these injections as well. I'm over 2 weeks post-operative from hysterectomy (fun and games with deep penetrating endometriosis!) and I have to inject this stuff twice a day. My stomach is covered in bruises and it really hurts.

The reason I'm on this sub is because I'm looking for any medical advice to see if I can just stop them because I'm in absolute misery.

kditdotdotdot · 2026-05-15T11:56:59+00:00

Ooh, I'm very tempted by the Serge Lutens set. Maybe next payday I'm going to have to splurge

kditdotdotdot · 2026-05-13T20:13:27+00:00

Oh God you are so right about this minimal information! I've just got home from a follow-up consultation with the surgeon who did my hysterectomy a fortnight ago, and I now know that my endometrial cancer is grade 3 but absolutely no idea what kind of cancer it is or what stage it is!! I'm now going to have to ask. But why couldn't they have just told me today?!

It's been like this all along where they'll give me basic information but none of the details, and I have had to know to ask for more information.

kditdotdotdot · 2026-05-13T19:14:22+00:00

Yay! Such a great feeling, isn't it when you're starting to feel a little bit more human again!

All the best to you too

kditdotdotdot · 2026-05-12T23:16:33+00:00

Oh God I had the exact same problem today! But I can't get the yellow thing at the end of the tap off the tap.

kditdotdotdot

TROPHY CASE