MEDICAL MATTERS

[Stanley]

Thanks to all of you...... important support!

Here's the story....
All went well yesterday. In Airedale at 7AM, in theatre at 9AM, in recovery at 10AM and home by 5PM. Nurses were lovely, surgeon very pleased with the op and the recovery. In short, a text book experience. The deep pathology will take a few days and I will get results by letter. Susan delighted and looked after me wonderfully.
I am fine, no pain apart from the boiling lead pees which are so sudden the washing machine is full! Much more comfortable and manageable this morning after a 5 hour sleep and I am taking it very easy. Jack had a good stay with Jackie and will be home at 12:30 today.
Things couldn't have gone much better, now I wait for a definitive verdict on cancer and treatment. The NHS is magnificent!
P, no worries on that score, I am optimistic and not worrying at all about the dreaded cancer! More immediate concern is to get to pee before I need another change of trousers!! (It is better this morning......)

[Marilyn]

Having a bit more washing is normal, Stanley. It can take a day to settle. Don't forget the warm shower technique if spasms become annoying. The warm water is very comforting and aids flow.
( now you know why I pack a wide necked bottle in the car for our 2 hour drive home)
Have they given you sachets to help with the boiling lead? They really do help.

[Cathy]

Happy to hear everything went so well Stanley. Follow your recovery advice to the letter.

[Stanley]

No Maz, It's rapidly subsiding and is not a problem. No other pain either.
I am looking after myself Cathy! I have decided to ring Jackie (she's looking after Jack) and get her to bring him back here after his afternoon walk at about 3PM so he can have his tea here. I shall just have frequent short walks today to guard against DVT and get fresh air down me, luckily we have a dry cold day.
Everything is coming to nicely and by the end of today, if progress so far is any guide, things will be much more stable!

[Sue]

Excellent news Stanley.

[Tizer]

It's great to hear your op has gone so well and that you're in fine form again, Stanley. Yes, the NHS staff do a wonderful job. I had a 20 minute session at our local GP's surgery yesterday to remove skin growths from my scalp, ear and forehead. Local anaesthetic, quick action with a scalpel, cauterisation with one of those electric thingies and all with no more pain than you'd feel from a slight scratch from plants when gardening. No pain afterwards, either. My op didn't warrant, fish & chips on returning home, just cup of tea and a biscuit!

[Stanley]

Good! I'm glad it went well and Mrs Tiz will be reassured as well....
My short walks went by the board, I have just slept like a log for three hours, not feeling guilty at all. my personal fitness trainer will soon straighten me up!

[PanBiker]

Glad you are picking up Stanley and good news for you as well Tiz.

For my part I have sore ribs at the left hand side, can't remember bumping them so no idea how I have picked that up, easing since yesterday anyway. I received an appointment today to see the Orthotist at Burnley General Hospital in January. Emma my physio has referred me for this as my "foot up" seems to have lost some of it's efficiency. Worth seeing if there is a different design that might be better for me.

[Big Kev]

Met up with a friend yesterday, she's going through a similar recovery process as you Ian. Her condition was brought about by a blood clot in her neck breaking up and causing a stroke, not something you'd expect for someone in her mid thirties. Unfortunately she also had a seizure which set her back a bit, she's staying very positive though.

[PanBiker]

That's the key Kev, you have to stay positive and take recovery a day at a time. With any brain related ailment it can be a long haul and depending exactly where the bleed or tumour is directly affects the ongoing recovery. Mine was motor region related hence the weakness and muscle memory loss on the right. Many others can suffer seizures where non presented before. Touch wood, I have been fortunate in this regard as well, next hurdle for me is a good MRI result in January. I hope your friend as speedy a recovery as possible, she has age on her side and I would assume reasonable health otherwise?

[Big Kev]

A regular runner, it's knocked her for six. She has taken up Tai Chi which is really helping with balance and coordination.

[PanBiker]

I assume she will be receiving physio as well Kev or is she further down the line than that? Bleeds and tumours take no prisoners, I shared bays in LGI with a couple of student aged lads, one with a bleed and the other with head trauma from being beaten up after a night out.

[Stanley]

The thing that strikes me about the above posts is something I was told by a psychological therapist in Montreal who worked with children. He told me the key thing about recovery from anything in his experience is one step back almost always precedes two or three forwards. That fits in with my own experience, I think he may have a point. So what seems like a set back could actually be a good thing. Good luck to all of you!
Peeing is suddenly less painful and more manageable. Gott Sei Dank!
Jack is back in the kennel and normal service is resumed..... Lovely, makes such a difference. Normal walks back on this morning but Cathy brings my meat order up for me to save me carrying it. She looks after me!

[Big Kev]

Good to hear you're feeling better Stanley.

Yes Ian, 10 months of physio so far, she wasn't far off getting her driving licence back, to the point of having her car modified, until the seizure added another 12 months.

[PanBiker]

Aye a seizure will do it with the DVLA, that seems to be the main concern. You can get your licence back if your medication regime is solid. But its still not a level playing field when they will let someone who randomly falls asleep still drive. The whole process could do with reviewing but I suppose to do it right would cost a huge amount of money, so one form fits all has to do.

[Tizer]

You'll remember the problems I had trying to get my father to stop when he was obviously no longer safe to drive. The GP wouldn't do anything. I wrote to the DVLA explaining why he was no longer fit but instead of replying to me they wrote to him and simply asked him to confirm that he was fit to drive. In the end I had to take his car keys away from him while he was in hospital. It caused a lot of stress and may have pushed him further into dementia but other people's lives were at stake if he was allowed to continue driving.

[Stanley]

My wife's husband was a similar case but nobody took his keys. How he never hit anything is beyond me! That's why the kids were so pleased when I kicked driving into touch over 10 years ago, I don't need a car in Barlick, we are a walking distance town. It suited me and I have never regretted it. I suddenly became a wealthy man......

[PanBiker]

Just managed today to do the reps of my knee bend exercises correctly. I have been hampered for the last few days with my left calf playing up for some reason, it has been extremely stiff and painful. As the exercise relies heavily on the calves I have not been able to adopt and hold the position, let alone for the duration and multiple reps. I will mention it to Emma when she comes tomorrow. I'm wondering if its the fall off in efficiency of my "foot up" device which I wear most with my trainers that is forcing my left leg to compensate again?

[Stanley]

Ian. Have you ever considered more rigid footwear than trainers? I don't have any trainers but find I walk much better in stout brogues or boots, in fact I wear them in the house rather than slippers for that reason, far more sure on my feet. (Think army ammunition boots.... Nothing flexible with them!)

[PanBiker]

I need to have flexibility for the "foot up" to work, I have limited movement in the toes on my right foot. The physio's say that trainers are the ideal footwear during treatment. I have exercises in bare feet for that reason. My boots were fine but your walking action in any kind of rigid footwear is not natural. They will be fine for building up strength in the calves, thighs and the muscles around the knee. The aim of the game at the moment is to retrain my brain into walking correctly as you would in bare feet, cant do that outside very well in bare feet so flexible trainers are the next best thing. In the long term I may need a more permanent compensation device for the dropped foot depending on the level of recovery.

[plaques]

They will be fine for building up strength in the calves, thighs and the muscles around the knee.

Stiff boots stop you wobbling over sideways and give the appearance of walking correctly in a straight line. My experience is that they do nothing for calf muscles. Your foot just goes through a rocking motion with no lift in the calves. I get an idea of my calve strength but doing calf raises in the swimming pool. I have to immerse myself to waist depth before I can get any lift from my right leg. Wait for the physio before you 'jump' to any conclusions.

[PanBiker]

Indeed Plaques, I do as I am told, it seems to be working. I will ask Emma as to why my left calf is tight and painful as reported earlier. Started after I had walked in my boots hence my comment. Could be compensation or the change of footwear, I will report back.

[Marilyn]

hope you don't have a DVT, Panbiker.
(Shut up Maz...)

[Tripps]

(Shut up Maz...)

No - don't. Keep on giving us the benefit of your experience.

Me " hello - can you advise if this chest pain is an infection or perhaps a DVT like they tell you is a possibility in the booklet?"

Surgery " No - dial 999 immediately - they are better placed to help you"

They were right. . . . .

[PanBiker]

Emma confirmed that my calf problem was almost certainly to do with my walk last week. She went all over it and concluded that I have probably pulled or strained a muscle. Your calf muscles are used to bring your foot forward when you are on the ball of each foot in the normal stepping motion. Could have been the uneven terrain in the fields. My calf was easing since I first noticed the stiffness early last week. On advice, I tested the theory again, popped my boots on and set off to repeat the last walk. I managed only a half of a mile before I had to quit before doing more damage. She advised if this was the case to stay out of my boots until fully recovered continue with my existing regime but quit on any exercise that impacts that muscle as soon as it becomes uncomfortable. So, a bit of a setback.

The unsupported knee bends which is the one I was doing rather well on, holding position for 15 seconds each rep, (I was up to 10 with a target of 15), I will have to start again. I still have to work it but a steady build. Not due to deficiency in my weak leg but the good one, bugger.

She had a look at my right foot flexibility, I can flex the front of my foot upwards and there is a bit more movement in my toes, it is not being hampered by muscle tightness so still room for more improvement there which may be the target after Christmas. Emma has added a couple of core exercises to help with correct framing of my hips. Last visit this side of Christmas and she will ring me in the New Year with a possible visit depending on what I have to report. She wants to see me after my Orthotist appointment. In effect I am doing all I can do, I just need to continue, repeat, repeat, repeat.