The Dressing Awards 2009!

I'm going to outpatients on Friday so yesterday I stuck some of every single dressing on my arm so by Friday we can look at any reactions I have. I am also going to use this opportunity to see which dressings are the best in certain categories.

The contenders are...! (in order as placed on my arm):

Opsite, Supasorb

Cosmopore E, Mepilex

Dermafilm, IV3000

Tagaderm

Please if anyone knows of any other dressings for me to try let me know!

OK so I can do a few of the categories now...

Most appealing to look at: It has to be opsite, it is transparent but not shiny, more matte. Worst are cosmopore E, its furry! Mepilex, its a funny peachy colour and supasorb which is so shiny and makes your skin wrinkly! IV300 is pretty ugly with it orange edges too!

Most comfortable: Again the opsite or the dermafilm as because they are more matte it means they are softer if you know what I mean? They don't bond to the skin like some of the others and make it all ripply! Least comfortable is supasorb its so plasticy, iv3000 isn't great either, it has pointy, rough edges.

Most hardy: I can't tell you the winner but supasorb is definitely the loser at the moment, it is already peeling off at the edges and it's been on less than 24 hours.

Easiest to put on: Cosmopor E, its just like putting a plaster on, so is mepliex but that's not as easy to put on due to its weird sticky texture. People who have dealt with dressings will know the dressings people like to devise new ways of putting them on to try and trick us! Dermafilm is relatively easy, so is iv3000. Is it me or is tagaderm the craziest dressing to try and put on, yes we all have got used to it now over the years. But if your a tagaderm virgin, it's pretty difficult stuff! Supasorb comes pretty close to tagaderm, it's evil really!

So the Winners are...!

Best Looking & Most Comfortable:

Easiest to use:

Should come with a manual!:

As for me, well I'm not feeling great really. This cough is getting quite bad, its like a wheezy cough, imagine a smoker coughing, its kind if like that but then also productive (phlegmy) at times. I'm getting headaches (I think the coughing might be contributing to these) and I'm sleeping alot and have less energy, for example I slept for 3 hours this afternoon and about 2 hours yesterday afternoon. My exercise tolerance is lower than normal, I'm getting breathless easier and it's making me cough. So overall I'm not too great but I shall survive as I always do!

I've been monitoring my blood sugars like I said I would do. On Saturday morning I felt all weird so took them and they were 3.6, then yesterday I felt weird and they were 3.9. I think they are supposed to be above 4, so now I know this is what is making me feel all light headed and not with it. I did stock up on chocolate to eat when I feel like this, but I kind of ate them all.....! It usually happens when I've been doing something quite active, if I'm just sat at home it doesn't usually happen, I guess because I'm not burning as much energy. This is why I hate shopping, because it always happens then.