What has been happening.
Well, a lot, and not on the creative front! All my plans for the year have been put on hold. They may be put on hold for a while longer too.. well, some of them....
It all developed in March-ish of this year when I got sciatica.
I had already been referred to the physiotherapy unit and was receiving treatment. I was given a series of exercises to do. That I did religiously.
The pain became infinitely more unbearable in June/July to the point I was taking two Tramadol (which is part of the morphine family) 3-4 times daily, a massive dose of Ibuprofen, Lanzoprozole, Paracetamol and then Amytriptiline. All these were leaving me pretty much good for nothing. I was even considering taking the lot at once to end it. I was in so much pain I could not see another way out.
When the pain became unbearable we tried to make an emergency appointment with the Physio department but could not because my physio was away. My Husband was told that I was not allowed to see a different physio or that no one else was allowed to read my notes so were unable to treat me.
At this time I had another visit to the doctor (I was almost living there). She noticed right away that I had a dropped foot. Now, if the front desk at the physio would have relented for 30 seconds A physio would have noticed immediately that there was a problem.
It was a long and difficult saga to get the needed CT scan. The doctor tried moving mountains, My husband was on the phone three to four times a day to various people and departments. He managed through strength of will to arrange one for me. After that the scans kept going missing! Eventually they turned up at my GP's desk.
A colleague of my doctor got in touch with a surgeon. By the time the surgeon saw the scans he said that my condition was urgent. I was in hospital within weeks. The surgeon was great.
I had no time to think about it after that. I was in bed one morning and I was woken by my Mother in law to be told that I was going in right away for the pre op. That was the Friday morning. I was first on the surgeon's list for the following Tuesday.
The operation should have only taken three hours but took five to six hours. I began to wake because the dose of anaesthetic was calculated for three hours. I was re sedated but I did not know anything about this. He found what he referred to as 'an impressive' herniated disk in my L4-5. One of the surgeons visited me almost straight away to say what a difficult case I was! This disk has done permanent damage to my right leg and foot. I have a weakened right leg with little control. My right foot is well, pants really. But I can waddle about. The unbearable pain has gone but I am left with back pain. In comparison to what I had before I am happy about that.
All this happened between the Olympics and Paralympics.
I kept trying to come off the painkillers but could not. But finally the pain had subsided enough to succeed. I could not wait to come off them as I could not see properly and this stopped me doing the creative things that keep me going. The medication is addictive but I had this incentive to come off them and that was more powerful than the addiction!! Creativity can save us in many ways this is one of them!
I am in convalescence. I am not supposed to do any housework or sit too long. No standing for long periods, leaning or bending. This is hard to stick to as a lot of what we do is automatic. I have to really concentrate on my posture now. I still keep falling and tripping over as I have no control over my right foot and little sensation there either.
Yesterday I was fitted with a foot brace. This is an ingenious little device that fastens with Velcro around the ankle and attaches to the laces of your shoes by a piece of elastic. This pulls my foot up, otherwise it just flops. I can now put my heel down first and can try to walk better. I still need my crutches but in time I should not be dependant on them at all.
One of the paralympic Cyclists who won two medals (One of them gold), Mark Colbourne, has two dropped feet. He got his in a more exciting way than me! But, he was being interviewed on the Paralympics as soon as he said what condition he had and then showed us his foot supports my attention was grabbed even more than usual. Those moments are permanently etched in my memory now. I cried. I have always loved the Paralympics even more than the Olympics. I now have a hero to inspire me.
I have not been able to do any exercise for a year now and I am feeling it! I used to cycle everywhere so that is my aim now. I want to be a good cyclist. But I have to recover first!
The strange this is I dreamt of the Paralympics whilst I was anaethnatised....
http://www.markcolbourne.com/
