I went for my morning constitutional, picked up a paper and was reading it while waiting for visit from the MacMillan nurse I've had assigned to me, when I became aware of an odd sound.
At first I was convinced it was a cat snoring. So I ignored it, but it was persistent and a little bit too loud for that, so went to investigate, which is why I can show the latest table:
Cat Mouses Birds
Poussey 0 1
Boo 2 0
Boo, the little bugger had caught a mouse (or found one that had died peacefully of natural causes after a long and fruitful life) and wouldn't let it go, hence the low growling.
He then spent a few minutes tossing it about while I forlornly tried to separate the the hunter from its prey.
Realising he wasn't going to give this one up as easily as he had the first, I shooed him out of the house and left him to it in the garden.
This is the mouth he's going to kiss me with later.........
Friday 12 August 2016
Wednesday 10 August 2016
OH
A nice visit from Occupational Health today to see if there were any aids they could provide to help me around the house.
At the time we were originally referred, it's fair to say I was in a bit of a state. All due to this pain around my ribs. While I'm not completely pain free, I think it's fair to say that there has been and improvement.
So we got to meet Freya today and discussed a number of possibilities for helping me around the house, from steps to get into the shower, to raising chair legs to make them a better height.
I think we've opted for a device that will raise me up in bed - or simply allow me to sleep at an angle - which is a bit more sophisticated that than the pile of pillows and duvet covers I'm currently using, a bottle to wee into if I find it hard to get out of bed (a bit of an emergency device this one as getting up isn't causing me too much bother just now), and a non-slip mat for the shower.
--
All this thought about kit is starting to feel a little redundant as each day my rib pain gets better and better. It has a long way to go mind, to fully go, but there's a definite improvement.
This means I can start to think about doing things. No hang-gliding or ultra marathons just yet, but I am starting to feel I can plan to do things a little more. Like going to see the new Star Trek film, for example.
--
We are enjoying the Olympics - watched a great doc about Danny Boyle's opening ceremony for 2012 too - but some of these "first week sports" are a hard watch. We enjoyed the synchro diving, but found the canoeing and horse stuff, and skeet shooting, a touch dull.
But, of course, the return of the footie after such a long break is very welcome.
Thanks to all for your kind words and messages. They've been a real tonic over the last few months where we've been suffering.
At the time we were originally referred, it's fair to say I was in a bit of a state. All due to this pain around my ribs. While I'm not completely pain free, I think it's fair to say that there has been and improvement.
So we got to meet Freya today and discussed a number of possibilities for helping me around the house, from steps to get into the shower, to raising chair legs to make them a better height.
I think we've opted for a device that will raise me up in bed - or simply allow me to sleep at an angle - which is a bit more sophisticated that than the pile of pillows and duvet covers I'm currently using, a bottle to wee into if I find it hard to get out of bed (a bit of an emergency device this one as getting up isn't causing me too much bother just now), and a non-slip mat for the shower.
--
All this thought about kit is starting to feel a little redundant as each day my rib pain gets better and better. It has a long way to go mind, to fully go, but there's a definite improvement.
This means I can start to think about doing things. No hang-gliding or ultra marathons just yet, but I am starting to feel I can plan to do things a little more. Like going to see the new Star Trek film, for example.
--
We are enjoying the Olympics - watched a great doc about Danny Boyle's opening ceremony for 2012 too - but some of these "first week sports" are a hard watch. We enjoyed the synchro diving, but found the canoeing and horse stuff, and skeet shooting, a touch dull.
But, of course, the return of the footie after such a long break is very welcome.
Thanks to all for your kind words and messages. They've been a real tonic over the last few months where we've been suffering.
Sunday 7 August 2016
Long time
So it's been a while, dear reader. How to catch up nearly a month without boring either you or I.
Well, after we returned from our lovely stay in the south of France, I suffered with a very strong pain in the hip/pelvis area. So strong I could barely walk more than a few metres. This came on exactly a week before we were due to fly out to Italy to stay with my dad and his partner Jenny in Italy.
I'd also been feeling increasingly tired. Fatigued. Knackered.
After trying a few home remedies, I eventually got on to the Christie hotline to ask about pain relief and they, quite sensibly, said that we should find out what was wrong before simply throwing more drugs at the problem and asked to me to go to my nearest A&E for an X-Ray to find out what's was going on.
In A&E at Wythenshawe we encountered the first of many excellent medical staff, when the triage nurse, while checking me in for an x-ray suggested I looked "a funny colour" and so also ordered some blood tests.
These tests showed I was anaemic, that my kidneys weren't doing doing as well as they could, and that I had too much calcium in my blood, so I was admitted and a selection of treatment was given. All of which took time, and all of which had to to checked to see if they were working, leaving my discharge perilously close to the holiday we were looking forward to.
As soon as I had the blood transfusion, I started to perk up no end. I also moved off Ibuprofen and onto Tramadol for the pain and that helped a load too.
I was let out on the Thursday evening.
I can't speak highly enough of the staff who looked after me during my stay. What a brilliant thing the NHS is.
-----
I contacted Lufthansa and suggested I needed wheelchair assistance in my journey (via Munich) and I have to say they were brilliant. Wheelchairs, golf buggies, minivan transfer to the plane all took stress and effort for us all and made the journey so much easier.
My dad picked us up from Ancona airport and we headed off into the Italian hills for a week of rest relaxation and wonderful food. Le Marche is the province next to San Marino, Abruzzo and Tuscany on the Adriatic Coast. I was weak and in pain so spent much of the time reading by the pool, but it was a really nice break.
During our stay, Gel and discussed the fact that I needed to bring forward my next appointment at the Christie because I was still having so much pain, and also I didn't want to end up back in Wythenshawe having more treatment if that could be avoided.
Ancona is quite a small airport and caters for slightly smaller aircraft than many others.
--
The week after we got back Phil came over for a cup of coffee and gave me a present that my ex-colleagues at work had bought for me after a collection. A fantastic limited edition photo book by Joel Meyerowitz. I had a good cry over that.
--
That now brings us to this week which has shot by. Monday we had a visit from a physiotherapist from our local GP surgery who game me some great tips about moving about and exercise.
Tuesday we visited the Christie and met with my consultant who was fairly calm about my blood levels, but wanted to get to the bottom of the pain I was having to ordered an MRI, which I had the following day thanks to a cancellation.
Thursday I had a phone call inviting me back for treatment on the Friday. Whoosh! They had detected some cancer on my spine which was impinging on my nerves and probably causing me this pain in my ribs, and wanted to give it a blast of radiation to see it off.
So we went back on Friday, had a good long chat with one of my consultants colleagues who explained the procedure and then the process started, first with another scan in this:
This process also involved me being drawn on. On my chest and arms.
They then went off and spent a couple of hours planning the treatment which took about 15 minutes and delivered by this:
I felt a brief tingling on the skin on my back, I've had a slight discomfort in my throat (both of which I was warned of) and for one night the pain increased a little, which I was also warned of.
Between the scan and the treatment we wandered over to the Maggie's centre for a little peace and quiet.
A lovely peaceful place where you can sit and relax, get a cup of tea or coffee, and maybe some advice outside of the hospital environment, but still part of Christie's.
--
So where am I now?
Well, I'm a lot perkier than before my stay in Wythenshawe, and my pain seems to be a little better than before my radiotherapy - they did say it might take a few weeks for me to feel the full benefit - so all in all I'm feeling very positive.
I've had lots and lots of professional and personal support from friends and family, and from the healthcare staff I've encountered, but the one who's done the most and without whom I'd be lost is Gel. She's there for me every minute of every day.
I am a lucky man.
Well, after we returned from our lovely stay in the south of France, I suffered with a very strong pain in the hip/pelvis area. So strong I could barely walk more than a few metres. This came on exactly a week before we were due to fly out to Italy to stay with my dad and his partner Jenny in Italy.
I'd also been feeling increasingly tired. Fatigued. Knackered.
After trying a few home remedies, I eventually got on to the Christie hotline to ask about pain relief and they, quite sensibly, said that we should find out what was wrong before simply throwing more drugs at the problem and asked to me to go to my nearest A&E for an X-Ray to find out what's was going on.
In A&E at Wythenshawe we encountered the first of many excellent medical staff, when the triage nurse, while checking me in for an x-ray suggested I looked "a funny colour" and so also ordered some blood tests.
These tests showed I was anaemic, that my kidneys weren't doing doing as well as they could, and that I had too much calcium in my blood, so I was admitted and a selection of treatment was given. All of which took time, and all of which had to to checked to see if they were working, leaving my discharge perilously close to the holiday we were looking forward to.
As soon as I had the blood transfusion, I started to perk up no end. I also moved off Ibuprofen and onto Tramadol for the pain and that helped a load too.
I was let out on the Thursday evening.
I can't speak highly enough of the staff who looked after me during my stay. What a brilliant thing the NHS is.
-----
I contacted Lufthansa and suggested I needed wheelchair assistance in my journey (via Munich) and I have to say they were brilliant. Wheelchairs, golf buggies, minivan transfer to the plane all took stress and effort for us all and made the journey so much easier.
My dad picked us up from Ancona airport and we headed off into the Italian hills for a week of rest relaxation and wonderful food. Le Marche is the province next to San Marino, Abruzzo and Tuscany on the Adriatic Coast. I was weak and in pain so spent much of the time reading by the pool, but it was a really nice break.
During our stay, Gel and discussed the fact that I needed to bring forward my next appointment at the Christie because I was still having so much pain, and also I didn't want to end up back in Wythenshawe having more treatment if that could be avoided.
Ancona is quite a small airport and caters for slightly smaller aircraft than many others.
--
The week after we got back Phil came over for a cup of coffee and gave me a present that my ex-colleagues at work had bought for me after a collection. A fantastic limited edition photo book by Joel Meyerowitz. I had a good cry over that.
--
That now brings us to this week which has shot by. Monday we had a visit from a physiotherapist from our local GP surgery who game me some great tips about moving about and exercise.
Tuesday we visited the Christie and met with my consultant who was fairly calm about my blood levels, but wanted to get to the bottom of the pain I was having to ordered an MRI, which I had the following day thanks to a cancellation.
Thursday I had a phone call inviting me back for treatment on the Friday. Whoosh! They had detected some cancer on my spine which was impinging on my nerves and probably causing me this pain in my ribs, and wanted to give it a blast of radiation to see it off.
So we went back on Friday, had a good long chat with one of my consultants colleagues who explained the procedure and then the process started, first with another scan in this:
This process also involved me being drawn on. On my chest and arms.
They then went off and spent a couple of hours planning the treatment which took about 15 minutes and delivered by this:
I felt a brief tingling on the skin on my back, I've had a slight discomfort in my throat (both of which I was warned of) and for one night the pain increased a little, which I was also warned of.
Between the scan and the treatment we wandered over to the Maggie's centre for a little peace and quiet.
A lovely peaceful place where you can sit and relax, get a cup of tea or coffee, and maybe some advice outside of the hospital environment, but still part of Christie's.
--
So where am I now?
Well, I'm a lot perkier than before my stay in Wythenshawe, and my pain seems to be a little better than before my radiotherapy - they did say it might take a few weeks for me to feel the full benefit - so all in all I'm feeling very positive.
I've had lots and lots of professional and personal support from friends and family, and from the healthcare staff I've encountered, but the one who's done the most and without whom I'd be lost is Gel. She's there for me every minute of every day.
I am a lucky man.
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