Hungerford allotment blog - grow your own, harvesting and vegetarian cooking. Enjoying allotment wildlife, weather and other things that catch my attention.
Enjoying time on the Marsh Lane Allotment site in Hungerford, Berkshire.
A record of successes, failures and a handy reminder for me.
From 2017 each post title brings a song to add a little extra music to the world - enjoy!
This week I’m celebrating the first 16 years of my kidney transplant and enjoying the life it’s given me. I may still be mostly sheltering, due to Covid, but it’s so much better than if I was still on haemodialysis so I’m not complaining (well, most of the time anyway!).
I always celebrate our NHS and give thanks for a lifetime of treatment and care. All down to being born in the right place at the right time.
The lifespan of a non-live donated kidney is on average 15-20 years, but this average keeps increasing thanks to improvements to drugs and the after-care of transplant patients. Technological improvements continue to work towards an artificial kidney which will reduce the risks inherent in the dialysis or transplant treatments of kidney failure, meanwhile robot-assisted transplants are reducing risk during and post-surgery. AI is everywhere but we need human involvement too.
I have to pay for my immunosuppressant and other life-saving drugs, but my annual bill is significantly lower than the actual cost and I’m lucky that I can currently afford the charges. Poverty due to ill-health is a very poor reflection on society. Private healthcare in some countries limits post-transplant care based on available insurance - ugh, that’s not something I want to be worrying about as my transplant ages.
I hope one day our health and social care services won’t need the back-up of charity, but I fear we’re a long way from that world. Over the years I’ve celebrated my transplant anniversary and raised funds in different ways. Saving the 10ps for my 10th anniversary was most memorable. It was pre-Covid so I was at work and people were still using coins - I’ll have to think differently for my 20th anniversary, times have changed!
Talking of changing times, I’ve been playing with AI recently at work and using the fun Microsoft AI image generator. You should have a go, if you haven’t already. It doesn’t always get it right… I asked for ‘humanoid robot painting number 16 on a wall’ 🤠As I said, we’re not quite ready to trust AI entirely!
I’m on leave and the weather’s not great for allotmenting, so here are a few more 16th ‘kidneyversary’ AI creations, using various descriptive prompts. Pretty aren’t they?
The song title is provided by the Lightning Seeds - we never know what this life is going to throw at us, but try to make the best of it, appreciate what we have and don’t blow it!