The Big Decision

Hello, and welcome to my blog. This month, I’m going to chat about decisions.

Most of our day-to-day decisions are pretty low risk: what to have for breakfast, what to wear for work, whether to have a glass or a bottle of wine?  But even deciding on our wine consumption doesn’t change our lives (unless we are down more than our recommended units 😊).  So, it makes sense to me that big, higher-risk decisions can be stressful, like the one I am currently contemplating. 

I don’t generally shy away from making decisions, and during my career, I’ve had to make many, some very difficult.  I admit my decisions have not always been right, but at least I made them and “hopefully” learnt from my mistakes.  There’s a lot of research to suggest that wise decision-makers can be more successful in life. Still, I think people who don’t procrastinate and make relatively quick, informed decisions are the most successful, even if their road to success is bumpy.   Sometimes, you can overthink and lose an opportunity.

So, I am today faced with a big decision involving Coronavirus.  As you can imagine, my good friend Dr. Google is having a field day with this one and through this blog, I will explain my dilemma and bring you up to date on where I am now.

I do not normally worry about media hype and a stock market crash. Still, I have had to put my “sensible” hat on for this decision and consider the implications more carefully. 

My disease is currently active, and my blog readers will know that 2 years ago, after securing funding for a biological drug, I suffered an allergic reaction.  This was a huge setback for me as the natural drugs can slow down the progress of my ankylosing spondylitis.   However, my Rheumatologist has now secured funding for me to try a different biological, Secukinumab, which I can’t pronounce.

I am nervous about the prospect of another allergic reaction and don’t particularly relish the thought of visiting A&E again. Still, I’ve been assured the risk of this happening is very low, and it’s not my main concern.

A main side effect of taking biologic medications is that they suppress your immune system, and you put yourself at risk of infection.  Biologic medications change how our immune system works, and whilst it will help control my inflammatory disease, it will affect my natural ability to fight off an infection. 

I also suffer from asthma; people with AS are at a higher risk of developing it.  Ankylosing spondylitis can also cause pulmonary problems, which include lung disease and ventilatory impairment due to chest wall restriction.  So, taking all this into account, it’s not the lower immunity itself that’s my main concern; it’s more a combination of my pulmonary issues and what we know about Coronavirus causing respiratory tract infections. 

To understand Coronavirus better, I decided reading most media hype was pointless.  Jamie reads New Scientist, which has been a good source of information for us.  I have also taken advice from my Rheumatologist and NAAS (The National Ankylosing Spondylitis Society).  There appears to be a relatively high risk of developing serious complications in people with underlying conditions such as asthma.  That, coupled with my age and a lower immunity due to the biological, is somewhat concerning.  Having worked all my life and saved for retirement, I would be pretty miffed if I got really ill before I could enjoy it.

That said, after careful consideration, I’ve decided to start on the biological as soon as I receive it.  Living with chronic pain is challenging, and I don’t want to procrastinate and lose the funding.

However, after my week of contemplation, I received a phone call from the hospital a couple of days ago, and it looks likely there may be a delay in receiving my biological medication after all.   It appears my baseline blood tests may have got lost 😊.  Under normal circumstances, this would be frustrating, but I don’t feel too upset about it or the prospect of another round of blood tests.  I’d had enough blood taken to fill 20 little test tubes last time, and I can’t help wondering where they are.

On the plus side of the debate, there is evidence to suggest that people who are HLA-B27 positive (like me) demonstrate increased natural immunity toward several viral infections, such as HIV-1, hepatitis C and influenza, although whether this natural immunity carries over to coronavirus has not been studied so perhaps it’s not all doom and gloom.

Regarding the Coronavirus, I am fascinated by the panic buying of toilet rolls in Australia.  In the UK, chicken is very important in our fight against Coronavirus; Sainsbury’s has been out of stock for days.  The shelves are also completely decimated of pizza dough and pasta.  There was no Nurofen, and you couldn’t buy hand gel for love or money. 

So, is it all media hype and panic or will this be an event we will only see once in our lifetime?  Will I get my biological drug soon, and will the biological affect my ability to avoid Coronavirus?  Will I suffer another allergic reaction, and more importantly, will Jamie and I be able to go on our holiday to France in July?  

Only time will tell.

Keep safe, and thank you for reading my blog until next time xx.