Wednesday 29th September 2021
Tick Tock
Hi everyone, how’s everyone doing? Been a bit longer this time round from the previous post mostly because I’d just be repeating myself from everything that I’d already been moaning about. With twinging my back the previous week it gradually got a bit worse for a few days but not to the extent of how bad it was the previous time.
On the Monday night I fell asleep lying on my side, I’ve had to sleep on my back for way too long now and it’s just not as comfortable as being on my side or belly. But when I was in hospital with the wires I had to sleep on my back. Normally when I get out and back home I can sleep on my front again but now with the ribs and back I haven’t been able to do that. I didn’t intentionally fall asleep on my side, I was just sort of stretching out, testing the waters to see if it was sore or not but I dozed off and of course woke up and felt a weakness in the ribs on that side.
Later that day I started getting a referred pain in the right shoulder and was again getting progressively worse. When I went to bed that night and lay down the area that seems to be about the bottom of the right lung, it was very painful but after a few minutes it had settled again.
The pains continued to get worse for a few more days before reaching its peak and starting to what seemed to be “getting better”. The pain killers didn’t seem to help much with the referred pain and it was every breath in I felt it and when I lay down it was really sore for a while before finally easing to just when I breathed in.
I got a call from the dietician who was quite happy with my progress, the weight has increased to a sensible level. Although I did think I was back to my pre-everything weight but going back over stats on the Fitbit and Omron I still have another 10Kg I can put on to be at the same weight. But with what I think is potentially water retention and bunging me up I’m not feeling overly comfortable, I don’t think size, shape, weight matters as long as you’re comfortable and I’m not, so I need to get rid of whatever is making me uncomfortable.
While on the phone she asked about seeing a physio which I think the docs have been trying to get me booked in to see, I think or thought, but she said she would also chase it up and the next day I got a call from them about going to a local health centre to see a physio. She also said that my BMI is on the lower side of good and that I could put on a few Kg, which I hope when I am able to do a bit of walking etc it will build up a bit.
The next thing of note was seeing the physio, a lot of medical history, tablets and all that carry on which takes a while but then he recommended a few stretches. A couple were a bit hmm dunno if I trust my back with that one but after doing them for a while it seems to have helped and strengthened things a bit. A few of the stretches I was already doing something similar to but I would assume the way he has said to do it is less risky and more stable than how I was doing it, but stretching the same areas.
It has certainly seemed to help, feel a bit more flexible rather than being a stick man. I’ve been trying to walk a bit more but I can only get about 10-15 mins before I can’t go on any more and really pushing it. I’m sore as soon as I start but battling through it till it gets to a point where I just have to stop. I’m hoping that if I’m persistent that the pains will gradually settle, but in all honesty I haven’t noticed a difference. I’m hoping that it’s caused by all the sitting and lying around the last couple of years the stomach muscles have just dissipated and I need to build them up again. It could also be that I have actually damaged the muscles when I was taking the coughing fits, which is what I thought the pain initially was before the MRI and x-ray to say it was the fractures, or it could be the fractures that are still causing the problems. I don’t know, I’d just like to be rid of it and be able to even sit comfortably never mind walking comfortably.
I got a call from the dermatologist about the biopsy and it is what she thought it was which was a thing that needs to be removed. So she’s referring me to plastics to get the thing removed. No idea how long that’ll take to get though, but I’ve had it for a while and hasn’t exactly been getting any worse so a few more months won’t do any harm.
I did have a bit of fun with the RC car, I went to Henry Jones to the gravel pitches and zoomed around with it for all of about 5 mins before the batteries died, but totally worth it. I did charge it up but I think it had been sitting about a few days and may have drained a bit. It may be a good idea to get a 2nd battery but will try it again and see how it does. It’s great fun though and really fast so needs a fair bit of space, preferably with no dogs about.
The only other thing that’s been going on is my body temperature regulation, most of the time I’m either too warm or too cold, I just don’t seem to be able to be just right which is quite annoying. Like I could have a blanket wrapped round me and feel cold but too warm to wear a hat. I think it may be a circulation thing so the heat isn’t being distributed properly, but until I start to walk and move about properly again I don’t see that improving much.
Monday night I was dreading going to bed which was totally founded, I dread going to bed every night but more so tonight. I didn’t get to sleep till after two, I was tired but my back was sore, chest was sore, stomach was sore. I was way too warm under the sheets and freezing out of them. At 2 I finally decided to get up and take some paracetamol and sat downstairs for a few minutes hoping the bed wouldn’t be as warm when I went back and when I got back it was cooler and I was able to get back to sleep, woke up again about 6ish. Tuesday I had hospital so got up washed and on over.
I was also dreading going this week, it’s infusion day and so there longer. I’m never comfortable on the chairs and always feel rough after on a normal trip but being there an extra few hours will just be worse. Also after the infusion I always get absolutely freezing. It wasn’t quite as bad as I had expected it to be but kept on shuffling in my seat as I kept getting sore and uncomfortable, and the same when I went round to get the infusion. After I wasn’t too bad I was still cold but not half as bad as I was the last time.
All the counts were pretty good though, stable or improved. The volume of the red bloods cells is up which could be causing a glucose/gluten intolerance, I can’t remember which he said. Apparently is a thing with newly formed bone marrow, red blood cell production and hopefully with time will settle… everything is hopefully with time lol.
Anyhoot all caught up, until next time.Sunday 12th September 2021
Two Steps Forward
Hi everyone, hope you are all doing well as usual. I read some sad news a couple of days ago and would like to send my condolences it can’t be easy, but you are in mine and many others thoughts.
Monday afternoon I just done the usual tv, reading, games and in the evening I thought it would be good to try and go for a bit of a walk outside, it’s very much different from being on the treadmill. I went out and pretty much within a minute I knew I wasn’t going to last too long. I went round the block and little bit through the park, the worst part is that there is the slightest of hills to the house and had to stop on the way up my lung capacity is severely reduced. Home, relaxed and bed.
Tuesday, I finished FFVII remake, pretty good game, just a pity it’s only the start of the game. I have the original on the Switch so decided to play a bit of that. Tuesday again was the same as yesterday although I didn’t attempt the walk again. I phoned up the GP to get the sutures removed, but they didn’t have any spaces until the week after, I told them that I tried to book a slot last week and was told to phone back today and would have to phone back again after they’re due out to try and book a slot. They said they’d get the nurse to phone me to try and “squeeze me in”, thankfully not long after I got a call and have to go on Thursday to get them removed.
I fell asleep early and woke up again when I would normally be going to bed and the rest of the night was a very broken sleep. It didn’t help that the next morning I was at hospital for and echo scan.
I got a call last week about going for it, thought it was for the BMT docs, in a way it was but was the cardiologist that had booked it. They didn’t really give anything away but at least there wasn’t anything serious as they let me go on home afterwards. I do think there is some abnormality as she had said about comparing it to previous scans. There are a couple of known issues so hopefully it’s just one of them. There was a moment when she stuck the scanner into the side of my ribs that made me laugh, something like the “electric shock” thing you done when you were a kid that was incredibly irritating. On home and then nothing until the evening when I watched the Northern Ireland game and another attempt at a walk.
The walk was much better than the other night, I was able to get a bit further but didn’t push it, seemed to do the optimal distance as when I was coming down the street to the house I seemed to reach my limit. It was spitting a little, I always enjoy walking in the rain but this was a nice step towards that, rather than getting soaked just feeling the mizzle on my face.
Thursday I went and got the stitches removed, we were having general chat and I said something along the lines of “it’ll not take long, will be straight forward enough”, which it is, you cut the plastic and pull it out. She said in reply “oh well you can’t do it yourself” “well no I can’t, I can’t see it, maybe if I had eyes on the back of my head, but then even if that was the case, I still wouldn’t be able to see it”. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but writing this makes me think I should have been cheekier.
Anyway, before I go off on one…
*Deletes rant*
Now I’ve got that off my chest lol. I needed some milk and thought I would go to Tesco and get some supplies for a nice lunch also. It was the first time I’ve been in the shop since well before the national lockdown as I had been locked down months before then too. It was nice, genuinely a bit of normality again. It was also the first time that I had ever got a trolly, I always just used a basket before but with how my back is I was never going be able to carry and empty one around the shop never mind after I’d put stuff in it. So a wee stroll around and throwing a lot more in the trolly than was needed, at least I have lunch for a couple of days sorted and even longer. On home and made lunch.
Later in the day I went out to get the bin in and of course going up the steps to the back of the house I felt a twinge in the back. Started off like someone was just poking their finger in my back and a sharper pain when trying to get up from a sitting position or lying down. This is how it started last month and got gradually worse for a few days before it peaked and very, very slowly improved. That evening I just went to bed a lay down moving as little as possible and similar on the Friday too so that it doesn’t trigger too much. It was still getting worse and the seemed to peak on Saturday and not quite as extreme today.
On Friday I was in the mood for a proper chippy chip, but I had a decent lunch and wasn’t hungry enough to make it worthwhile. Instead on Saturday I didn’t have much of a lunch and got a battered sausage supper for an early dinner just in time to watch the all-Ireland final and football. Ate about half of it which is the norm but they are proper greasy chippy chips and are lovely. I was tempted to just go up to bed, stick on the tv and doze off at any point, but instead I stayed downstairs and played Hitman 2.
I had seen on Prime the tennis was on and though I’d watch it, it’s not often I do but I was glad I did, I feel like I watched a bit of history and you know the way you can watch some things and they’re not very good but are history all the same, this wasn’t like that. It was genuinely a really good match to watch and considering it was two teenagers shows there is going to be years of this ahead. Hopefully it will be more than just the two of them and there is a whole batch of great tennis players coming through. It was a great match and well worth watching. Off to bed and then this this morning, can’t get comfortable with my back so may need to lie down for a bit to try and ease it, but I’m trying my best to take as little pain killers as I can and doing quite well with it, they are very much needed though.
Generally, I just feel a bit crap, always feeling a rough in the mornings when I get up and neck/head is sore in the evenings and the fluid retention too. It’s always pretty bad in my feet in the evenings and feel it around my body in the mornings. I’m hoping with doing a bit of walking this will gradually ease, which I think it is. Everything I do takes at least twice as long as it should. Just throwing on your socks or shoes is a real chore and rather than taking a few seconds can take a few minutes. Pretty irritating. Progress is slow but there is progress.
Until next time, keep well.Monday 6th September 2021
Hold Fast
Hi everyone, how is everyone doing? My last blog was just over a week ago on the Saturday morning. The weekend consisted of pretty much the usual weekend stuff tv, reading and sports. I was keeping it pretty low key as I had a relatively busy week ahead of me. I didn’t get too many steps in and didn’t really bother with the treadmill. I was tempted to go out for a walk on Saturday evening but got a bit too tired and thought better of it. Monday entailed pretty much the same, the number of series links I have alone would fill your day.
Tuesday came along and the busy few days began, I had my hospital appointment but I found out the main doc was isolating, he had phoned me the evening before to make sure a few extra blood tests were done as he didn’t have access to the notes to write it in. I didn’t think much of it at the time, thought he was off and it was just when I was at hospital they mentioned it.
The nurse taking the bloods got the needle in first time and took the samples, it was mentioned about three or four times about the extra bloods that were needed by about four or five different people. While I was keeping the pressure on after to try and prevent the arm bruising, she discovered she was missing a bottle and so we pretty much had to begin again.
There is a good vein on my right arm, it’s small and close to the surface but very reliable. Beside it is a much bigger vein but with all the use over the years it has a callous over it and is prone to moving around quite a bit. Similarly on the left arm there is a lovely big vein but it moves around a LOT and has a quare callous too. I’d say at best the success rate of getting into that vein in one in three, I always warn them about it, but the inexperienced ones always go for it anyway and with them it’s pretty much not going to happen, but I let them do it anyway, they need to learn.
After a couple of failed attempts, they got a more experienced nurse who got it in first time and filled up the one bottle needed. No real surprises with all the counts all pretty stable and doing well. On the Thursday I’m getting a biopsy so the platelets would need to be over 70, if they were lower they would have given me a unit of platelets but as they were 90 odd there was no need for that. There seemed to be a lot of people getting infusions today with the bank holiday the day before as I wasn’t placed in the usual side room I go to and put in the main treatment room instead, bit more of a wait but it’s not like I’m in a rush.
The infusion all went as planned and once finished I went to the loo and then started to make my way out. After the infusions I always end up absolutely freezing and I was shivering so much my jaw pretty much locked up, I sat in the car for a while with the heating blasting until I warmed up. Home and had a bite to eat and a quiet rest of the day.
Wednesday was going to be a long day but I’d been looking forward to it for a while, I wasn’t quite sure how I would do, yesterday I was still going about with my walking stick, which reminds me, when I got home from hospital, I emptied the car of everything, this included the stuff in the boot. I had thought that I would be able to use the walking stick to hook onto the boot door and pull it down but wasn’t able to. I tried and wasn’t going to stretch in case I done something to my back. Just as I was about to go in and get my stepper in the kitchen I noticed someone walking past and asked them if they could pull the door down, thankfully they did and I had a bit of a laugh at myself.
I got up that morning, had a small bite to eat and then into the car and off to Derry to get the car serviced, I could have got it moved closer to home but they were sort of doing me a favour as it had been delayed two months but more importantly, I wanted the adventure. After driving for a while I realised a few of things, it was getting very sunny, I was wearing a winter woolly hat and I didn’t have my walking stick with me. It’s been a long while since I bothered checking the weather and it being warm didn’t really bother me but jointly with wearing a woolly hat seems a bit stupid, I’ve no idea why I wore that hat as I had planned to wear my cap which I had sitting out so I don’t know how I ended up walking out of the house with the winter one on. Similarly with the walking stick, I had it sitting out to take but just didn’t pick it up.
Neither things really mattered in reality and not having the walking stick was a step in the right direction. Getting there in the car was grand and the back didn’t play up at all. I waited there for the service to be done and so I just sat and read for a while and then a look around the showroom, nothing much to see though, a few vans which if I was to get a new car I’d probably go for but I’m more than happy with the one I have at the moment and should last me a few more years at least.
Service was all good with no issues, after, although very much out of the way I decided I’d go to Portrush and possibly get an ice-cream, which I’d regret later, prrt. I got there and it was surprisingly busy. Obviously a lovely sunny day people are going to go to the beach. Got a spot to park at Ramore Head and walked up the hill towards the town centre but round the back/upper road to avoid people and down the steps to the loos. I was thinking of getting a bite to eat in Indigo Café but I had left my mask in the car and couldn’t be bothered going back and getting it or going to the café and not having the mask. I quite like wearing the mask, it doesn’t bother me, but then I always wore a snood/neck warmer anyway so not too much of a difference. After the loo I went towards the harbour but cut off up the hill using the footpath at the road, round the street at the tennis courts and back to the car park. Got my ice-cream, medium for only £1.50 was surprised it was so cheap and was quite large and most importantly it was lovely. Went and had a seat and watched over the East Strand.
Annoyingly there was a group close by that was feeding the gulls and they were all swooping down and flying around. We were close to the café there too which I’m sure they weren’t too pleased about either. Bloody idiots. Once I’d finished I went back to the car and home.
I was surprised at how well I was able to manage, not only without the stick but in general, it wasn’t a massive walk but it was definitely the longest walk outside that I’ve had in maybe a year or even longer. It was nice but not exactly relaxing, I’m still quite tense and stiff but that will ease in time. Fresh air though and a bit of an adventure.
That evening I did feel a little rough, again similar to the last few times I’ve went out and it’s been a lovely day, I seem to get used to the warmth and then sitting around in the evening I get a tension headache and the heat in me stays centralized and my arms and legs get cold. The house isn’t cold it’s sitting about 20 degrees and I could just stick on the heating but I don’t think it would help.
Thursday I had a Tesco collection and called round to my parents for a short while and off to hospital for a biopsy of a thing I’ve had on my head for at least a couple of years. It may have been there longer but with my fringe moving further back, pretty much the top of my neck now, it’s much more obvious. It scabs over and falls off, leaves an indent, scabs over falls off leaves an indent. Pretty much does this every couple of weeks. It had scabbed up and was very tempting to pick off but I was doing my best not to and of course on Tuesday it fell off itself, there was still enough there for them to get the sample they were after.
My tinnitus was really bad with being in the car the day before and the room was a bit echoey, the nurse and doc/surgeon, not sure how to refer to them… the two people were talking over each other a bit and hard to hear properly. All went grand though and ended up with a couple of stitches where they took the sample. Phoned the GP to get an appointment the following week to get them removed but had to wait until 3 or 4 days prior before I could book it. Seems a bit silly but I can only imagine it’s something to do with covid and they want it to be as close to the booked day as possible so if there are any symptoms they can prevent you coming in.
Seen the most atrocious driver I’d seen in a long time, I was in the car park just facing the Cancer Centre and they overshot the turn to go up the ramp from the disabled parking to the first floor and literally kept just going back and forward without changing the angle of the steering wheel, finally they thought oh if I turn it this way when I reverse then the other to go forward, I might actually make it up. I kept my distance from them as that is a two-lane ramp and getting out the exit is much tighter. They surprisingly got in to the exit ok. I say ok but only to reach the machine to put the card in. If they went forward, they would have hit the rail with the side of the car… but they mustn’t have paid or lost their card or something cause they were pressing the button to speak to someone rather than just putting in the card.
I did leave them plenty of space for them to reverse out but I wasn’t taking any chances and put on the reversing lights, the woman behind me moved back and I did too to give even more space. Eventually they realised they couldn’t get out and reversed and drove off somewhere, I then quickly went to the machine and got out before I seen them again. Shocking they are allowed to drive.
Gradually as the evening went on, I noticed where they took the biopsy was getting more and more sensitive. I watched Clash and Wrath of the Titans in 3d with the newer projector, I was very impressed with it and wish more things were in 3d like tv and sports, would be great. When I leaned back and put my head on the pillow it moved where the biopsy was taken and was a fair bit tender, this was pretty much how the whole night went when trying to sleep. Any pressure on the back of the head or if I moved it put a bit of pressure on the cut and, not exactly sore but definitely an unpleasantness. I’m sure this will settle in time.
On Friday I took it easy, doctors orders for a few days and I started playing Final Fantasy VII Remake, I’ve been meaning to for ages but just haven’t. Now that I have, I’ve completely got sucked into it and really enjoying it. I always enjoy getting zapped into things and been a while since something like this. Pretty much the whole weekend was taken up with playing that and some tv, not much reading and fewer films too.
On Sunday morning I remembered about the Covid jab and still hadn’t any word back about it. The hospital doctor got a nurse to talk to me about where to get it, which I knew how to do but the GP told me to get advice on it which I assumed would have been more than just where to get it but meh. I thought since they aren’t getting back to me I may as well go over and maybe get some advice there or just get it. It was at Queens and when I went the nurse I was speaking to on Tuesday was there so she was the one to give me the jab. Didn’t even notice it going in and had to wait around for a while after and then went on home.
Apart from the arm being a bit tender and a tension headache, the tension headache I had that morning before getting it anyway, all is pretty normal. The rest of the day was spent on the PS4 and finally to bed, head is still a little tender but is gradually easing.
Got some great news from a friend that morning too, as precisely what we were talking about at the time too this sentence is for you. The rest of you can all wonder what it is.
Now that it’s Monday morning I’m going to have another quiet day, I might, very much might try a go on the bike and see how I do, I think the main problem will be getting on and off and the stopping. My back is still pretty tight but the aches have settled a hell of a lot. Still get the odd niggle but it’s very much bearable. I don’t want to do anything that’s going to trigger it. I’ve had enough of being sore and would just like a day were I can be asked “how are you today?” and genuinely reply and say “I’m ok” and actually mean it. I don’t think it’s far off now.
Well until next time, enjoy your week.