Two Litres a Day

I'm currently one and a half litres in - only another half litre to go.  I'm currently under doctor's orders to drink two litres of water a day.  Apparently, pints of beer don't count.  It has to be water.  It is all to do with my declining kidney function.  There are a variety of underlying reasons for this - it could simply be the consequence of the strain put on them by the diabetes, or it could be a side effect of the Metformin I take to counteract the diabetes.  Or, indeed, it could be down to one of the other medications I take for my blood pressure.  Then again, it could be down to dehydration.  Hence the current water consumption.  I've got to keep this up until at least April, when I have my next set of blood tests, which will show if it has had any effect.  If it hasn't, then I have to start a laborious process of trial and error, temporarily stopping each type of my current medication for a period to see if that has any effect.  That said, my Metformin dosage has already been cut, thanks to my drastically reduced blood sugar levels.  Something that my stomach is very grateful for, as the Metformin can upset it terribly.  Mind you, right now it is my bladder that needs relief, with all this water that I'm having to drink.

As you've probably guessed from this sudden reversion to updates about my health, I'm rather at a loss as to what else to write about here.  I just feel that I've run out of steam a bit.  It's not that I don't have plenty of pop culture related stuff on the boil, it is just that I don't feel quite ready to write any of it up yet.  I'm also somewhat distracted from this blog at the moment by my efforts to put together a new podcast for the Overnightscape Underground.  On top of everything else, well, it's January.  Despite the fact that it is a month which is meant to represent the idea of new beginnings and fresh starts, I generally find it difficult to actually get anything started in January.  The past, in the form of December and Christmas, hang heavily over it - memories of the festivities linger, making January seem bleaker than it really is.  I also seem to spend an inordinate amount of time just trying to stay warm every January.  Most disruptive of all, this January seems to have been one long round of medical appointments for me - luckily the outcome has been overwhelmingly positive as far as my long recovery from illness is concerned, but it has been wearying.  Still, January is finally coming to a close (as ever, it seems to go on for at least six weeks) and February beckons.  Now, I just have to somehow fit in another half a litre of water before I go to bed...