Posts by Seven Hills Family Doctors
Covid and Christmas: Beware your Chronic Care
“I find it hard to remember Christmas,” reflected the 70 year old gentleman before me. He was not in cognitive decline, but was living the shared experience of millions with the calamity of covid19. Social distancing, hand hygiene, not seeing his grandchildren, not going out much at all really had become the discipline. But, thankfully,…
Read MoreCOVID-19
COVID-19 Currently, the world is dealing with a global pandemic caused by a virus called Covid-19 or a new or ‘novel’ Coronavirus. A pandemic occurs when a new contagious disease emerges, that no-one has immunity to and it is spread across the globe. Covid-19 is in Australia and cases are increasing very quickly. It is…
Read MoreMND and Me: A Long Road to help
I brought flowers and hugs: faced with the Goliath of Motor Neurone Disease, I felt like David without a sling shot. She managed a frail smile and a whispery thank you. I helped the nurse transfer her into a specialised maxi taxi for an outing. Seeing my mate’s Mum suffer with MND revealed again the…
Read More‘Tis the season to be jolly?’
‘Tis the season to be jolly? Resolving conflict in healthier ways We are constantly communicating with others and even ourselves. It’s something we all do every day, in every encounter we have with those around us. Given that this is something we all do all the time, you’d think we might be rather good at…
Read MoreHepatitis C in a Kombi
He was 6’4”, easily 130kg and agitated: “Get out of my way man, I’m going to my meeting!”. My medical colleague Matt and I had our backs to the wall and this fellow was not interested in our offer of a free liver test and $20 Woolies voucher. “I’m going to NA. Do you know…
Read MoreWhen should bedwetting become a concern?
Bedwetting, or primary enuresis, refers to a child passing urine while sleeping, after never having any periods of consistent night time dryness. It is a complicated process and can be exhausting and demoralizing for children and their parents and caregivers. So what’s normal? And what can you do if you feel your child has…
Read MoreIf you’re going to kill yourself please just call me first…
“If you’re going to kill yourself, please just call me first.” This was the plea from one of my greatest friends from medical school during a mini-reunion to lament the downfall of a colleague. It dovetailed with some of his other thoughts; “this doesn’t end well” and “none of us get out of this life…
Read MoreNew year, new you?
Setting New Year’s goals that are built to last It’s that time of the year when we face the end of one year and begin to move forward to the next. It’s a time that brings about a natural desire to do some internal, psychological housekeeping. Anyone who has made a New Year’s resolution or…
Read MoreSometimes the bully lies within
Have you ever found yourself feeling sad or anxious over seemingly minor things? Perhaps a conversation didn’t go as you had hoped, you find yourself fretting about an un-returned phone call or message? Sometimes, it’s the way we think about these everyday experiences which gets us in a knot. The way we interpret things, the…
Read MoreSometimes life gets difficult. Take care of yourself.
As my first contribution, I thought it may be useful to start with something which forms the foundation of good mental health. Too often, we look at new and complex ways of trying to improve our daily experience, when in fact, a simple, foundational strategy can make a large impact. Sometimes it can feel as…
Read More