Mutter Bundle #20: Life Goes On. Bright Colours Sprinkle, Sprinkle.
13 Jul 2025 21:15
My (yet another) take on giffgaff’s recent decision to remove 2FA-to-Email from the eSIM swapping process.
I’ve tried quite a few SIMs from both UK and foreign networks and, whilst with some of them it feels like you’d need five references from past employers and a DNA sample just to swap eSIMs, others (giffgaff, until recently, being one of them) make the whole process so easy-peasy you almost want to join the network for that reason alone.
And I wonder if SIM swap fraud rates are dramatically different between networks that make the eSIM swap process super easy and those that don’t? Do the “easy‑peasy” providers really suffer from fraud of that type a lot more?
iD Mobile, for instance, simply send the QR code to the email address registered on your account. And honestly, what more do you need? I’ve said this before: if the weakest link is the email address which could be compromised, wouldn’t it make more sense to educate customers on how to keep their email secure, rather than just removing it from the equation altogether? Surely an email address is still important enough these days not to be treated like some inconvenient, annoying anachronism?
13 Jul 2025 21:37
Culross, Scotland.
21 Jul 2025 09:42
Right. So, there it is. Beatson Cancer Centre. Haematologist. 12th of August. Writing this out and seeing it in black and white, staring at it, looking at the word “cancer”, still feels like someone else’s story. I can’t believe it’s me. Why me? I’m still struggling to wrap my head around it. Brave face on, but inside it feels like I’ve been walloped with a hammer.
I never imagined I’d even consider using this journal to gather my thoughts before a meeting like this, but here I am. Below is a tangle of questions that have surfaced as I try to steady my mind for what’s ahead. Perhaps it’s as good a place as any to collect the things I want to ask the clinician when I’m there. So here they are, in no particular order, just as they come to mind:
1. Sometimes, when I lean to the left, I feel a “foreign object” sensation on the right side. I’ve had this for years. Could this sensation in my lower right back be related to lymphoma in any way?
2. I occasionally get a pulling sensation in my abdomen, in various locations, along with bloating and a pins-and-needles feeling. Could this be related?
3. I sometimes experience itching on both sides of my abdomen. Could this be linked?
4. Does the lymph node growth pattern suggest it’s speeding up now?
5. I know the largest lymph node found on the CT scan is 3 cm. Does this mean the other nodes are still within the normal range? What’s their growth pattern?
6. What difference would it have made if the lymph node growth had been picked up and monitored earlier?
7. Should I be having any regular blood tests?
8. If it spreads to the bone marrow, would that mean treatment is needed?
9. Are there any supplements or medications I should consider to help my body cope (understanding this wouldn’t be, and shouldn’t be seen as, a cure)?
10. Are there any clinical trials I could take part in?
11. Are my elevated LDH levels, and the degree of elevation in recent blood tests, consistent with a lymphoma diagnosis?
12. Are my elevated C-reactive protein levels, and the degree of elevation, consistent with a lymphoma diagnosis?
13. Could lymphoma be affecting my tonsils? I ask because my tonsils have often been noted as large, and I have a lump-like feeling on the right (from my perspective) side. This has always been dismissed, but I’m not sure whether the lump sensation is lymphoma-related or just tonsil stones (as I do tend to accumulate them).
15. Is the size of the largest lymph node far from the upper limit of the normal range?
16. Should I have been concerned back in 2023 when the CT scan showed it was 17 mm? I am asking because I believe I was previously diagnosed with IBS, and some sources claim that "although its mechanisms are not completely understood, patients with inflammatory bowel disease are speculated to have an increased risk of malignant lymphomas" (https://radiopaedia.org/cases/follicular-lymphoma-mesenteric-lymphadenopathy#image-38702957).
17. Since the largest lymph node mentioned in the CT scan reports has consistently been a mesenteric node, do you see any reason for additional focus on the mesenteric area, particularly with regard to any mass, fat or otherwise, even if non-malignant?