Score to date, 9-5

That's 9 to 5 in the first fortnight, favour of the Beast. This could be worse. There are shortcomings, however. One is that four of the five days without significant pain came in one group, after the first visitation. We then had eight days of amusement, which included the belated family holiday.

There are those who seem to think that people who live with chronic illnesses get something out of it; that we kind of enjoy the attention. I can't speak for everyone, of course, but I find this business of spoiling family gatherings very embarrassing. I could do very well without it, thx.

I wouldn't even bring it up now save that there seem to be a few readers out there who understand this business. They deserve to hear that other people see things their way.