Hi everyone, hope all’s well with you. It’s been an eventful enough week for me and not including some things that have happened that are not my story to tell, but I’m sure it will all be ok.
Saturday went on as Saturdays do, some sport, tv and a couple of films. Sunday I was nearing the end of a few books I was reading so I decided to finish them off and try to not read quite as many books at the same time. I had planned to start back on the treadmill on the Monday but decided why just wait when I can start now, I put on my Fitbit, aligned my tablet holder over the treadmill and started walking and reading.
The walking will take a bit of getting used to, it’s not easy and there are a few different pains that I need to overcome. Initially there is a stiffness pain in the back but once I start moving around it eases which is great but then there is another pain that comes along which makes my stomach muscles tense up which then also adds to the pain. There also seems to be a pain in my hip, if I raise my left leg higher than you would in a normal walk it doesn’t seem to hurt but then it’s not a normal walk and uncomfortable to do.
I was “able” to do my 10k steps, it was not easy and had to do it in segments the let the pain ease, I know I may be pushing it and being a bit too optimistic with the goal levels but there’s no point doing half a job and not finding my limits of what I can and can’t do. I would be happy getting 5k steps, anything really is better than what I was getting with just sitting around. I was able to do the 10k on the Monday and Tuesday although I did have a technical hiccup on the Sunday, as I hadn’t synced since back in about March so 6k of the steps were reset to 0 when I synced, but at least I know I got the 10k that day, looking back over the data, if I ever do I’ll probably not remember.
Tuesday I was up at hospital and had to make my own way over, this would be the first time I’ll have been out in the car since about February or something, I seemed to be able to manage ok, I don’t think I caused any accidents. I think I’m generally a pretty laid-back driver and just toodle along, I’m never really in that much of a rush to get anywhere and don’t really let other drivers annoy me too much.
The only parts I really struggled with was going over ramps, it’s pretty sore the sudden jolt in the back, even going slow catches it but just going along is grand. I do have a cushion to sit on so I can see out ok but with the warmer weather and usage it’s not lifting me up as much and with losing some height too, at least and inch, I’ll need to get a new one to feel a bit more comfortable driving, mentally that is.
At hospital: I went in, bit of a wait and gave bloods, then had to go back and give more bloods as they forgot to take a couple of extra ones. A bit more of a wait with some reading and then in to see the doctor, of course the lovely nurse that called me in said I’d put on a bit of weight, which was a compliment, although I think most of it is fluid retention. I lost about 4kg last week with taking the diuretic but once I stop taking them it just comes back again. It can be very uncomfortable and if I put on socks the indents that are made are ridiculous.
The counts where all very good, either stable or improved from the previous visit, the platelets are up to 70 odd the RBCs are up a little and the WBCs are staying low (in a good way) and the liver functions are all improving too. Everything seems to be going well, also mentioned about being able to get the flu and covid jab but I’d have to speak with my GP to get that sorted. I’ll not be getting any of the other jabs you get when you’re younger until I’m off the IVIG which I’m still getting once a month and will be another while before I’m off.
We were also talking about the back and that being the only thing that is really “wrong” at the moment everything else seems to feel and be going ok, nothing he can really do about it but I do have the appointment with my osteoporosis doc in September so it’s pretty much just pain relief until then. I said to him codeine rather than co-codamol and he gave me a script for the codeine but that will not be a bad thing, I’m trying to take as few pain killers as I can so the step down to codeine if it helps will be a good thing.
I’m back again in a week to sync up with the IVIG infusion and then back to every two weeks, the rest of Tuesday I got a few steps in and a few films. I had a look on my old hard drive for what films I had there, specifically for Final Destination, as that’s the only one of the series I can’t get on tv or streaming, unfortunately I didn’t have it so I ordered a cheap second hand one.
I also wanted to test the 3d on the projector and got the Jurassic Park trilogy on Bluray, the first of which was also in 3d. Had a look initially on the PSVR, which worked but the quality isn’t the greatest on it. Then had a look on the projector and looking forward to watching a few films on that, the quality seems pretty sharp on it but I don’t have the projector set up in the house properly yet.
Wednesday I had to leave the house for a while as there was a survey being done so I UVed the house before leaving, and again when I got back again. I decided that I’d go to Currys in Bangor as there is a speaker there I’m thinking of getting and wanted to see the size of it, I’m waiting on a decent price drop on it though before I properly contemplate getting it. After Currys I still had a decent amount of time to kill, as it was turning into a lovely day, I was thinking of driving round the peninsula but thought that would be too much and I went to the beach in Milisle, I sat in the car for a while reading and a short walk along the beach and then watched the seals and the tide come in. It was nice just sitting there and the world going on around me.
I did feel quite rough on Wednesday nothing I could quite put my finger on but I think I was dehydrated as I didn’t have a drink with me, so apart from a coffee in the morning I didn’t drink anything until tea time about 4ish. Was a bit more sore than normal too and this was the same on the Thursday so I didn’t push it getting the steps in either day, but I did get on to the treadmill even just for 30 mins which I was happy with.
I got in touch with the pharmacist in the GP surgery to update them on the tablets that I was taking as I’ll have to start going through them to get the tablets as the frequency up at the hospital increases. I also got in touch with the GP about getting the covid and flu jab, so need to get in touch with the trust about the covid jab and the new flu jab isn’t out till about October through the GP. I was only able to find an email for the trust but they got back and have forwarded it to the correct department, hopefully hear back soon about that to get it sorted.
Friday evening I felt a lot better so I decided to go on the treadmill and get the steps back in but I didn’t push it too much and ended up just shy of the 10k. The Saturday I watched the football and waited for a few deliveries and then round to my parents for a while. When I got home watched a couple of films and was dozing off towards the end to Final Destination 3 so decided to watch the rest up in bed and then sleep.
So far today I’ve just wrote this with the tv on in the background. Now I’ll get a bite to eat, watch tv and maybe a bit of a read on the treadmill before the football comes on.
I hope you all have a good day and speak to you next week.