Chapter 158 - A Weekend Away
Rather than me travelling to Big Smoke by train on Friday 20th on my own for a check-up on my left eye, she decided we should stay the weekend at a motel of her choosing near the river at the bottom of the Mountains. From there she was to accompany me by suburban train into the city.
By the Thursday when we drove from home her lower back was giving her severe discomfort and pain. In attempting to identify the cause I learnt that she had discontinued the Inderal she has been taking for years. This had originally been prescribed by the Three Piece Suit years ago when we returned "home" down south after 10 years in other more westward places. Although several medical professionals had queried why she took Inderal, none had ever told her to stop taking it although they were happy to modify her other meds. What really frightened her was the anaesthetist attending her at her recent melanoma operation telling her that Inderal was "dangerous". No other comment was made & of course, no clarification was asked for, I have since found reference to Inderal being used to minimise the .memories of persons suffering post traumatic stress problems, although she has a better memory than I do so doesn't seem to have been harmed, although that side effect of the stuff is frightening. Inderal was originally prescribed for restless leg. Anyway, she has not taken Inderal again and her PD symptoms have not changed now over the fortnight since she stopped,
In hindsight, I suspect that her enthusiasm for taking up machine embroidery again in the week prior to our weekend away may have caused her lower back & leg pains. Too much sitting, hunched over the machine or PC while seated on an office chair, rather than her special ergonomic stool combined with no exercise at all since her melanoma operation 4 months ago. So we are attempting to correct this with some walking. Which began on the Thursday evening by walking from the motel to the suburban railway station to see whether she could accompany me into the city the next day. Fortunately we did so, because both lifts used to gain access to the the centre city bound platform, were out of order, had been vandalised the ticket office person told us. The stairs up and over the rail tracks were too long & steep for her to negotiate, so next day I made my appointment on my own while she relaxed at the motel by reading novels. That evening we walked about 1.5km to and from a restaurant for our 8 year old granddaughter's birthday.
On the Saturday, on the way to the wider family birthday party (no wonder the youngest generation develop into party animals!) we detoured into an outlet of her favourite brand of rag shop where we encountered a very helpful sales person. I dread them because their skills lay in the ability to encourage her to buy twice as much as she would without assistance. She says she enjoys their help because it saves her the trouble of fumbling through the racks to find her sizes.
Sunday found us in another shop where she bought numerous metres of pretty satins to be made into slinky nighties. "In case I need to go to hospital again" she told me, although I am sure there was no twinkle in either of my eyes.
So apart from her back & leg pains, she had an enjoyable weekend. On the way there we saw her Ugly Sisters (lunch with one, the other visited). The disabled room at the motel was comfortable for her, good beds, appropriate rails in the bathroom which had a dangerous small step at the door that she was careful to avoid.
Her leg pains were strange - sharp shooting pains in both lower legs, that fade as the day progresses. We try to walk each evening and by week's end she indicated that the pain was reducing. Except that yesterday she stitched a large design so this morning at 6am the pain was worse. I don't wish to discourage her sewing so there will need to be more exercise, a matter of returning to the routine she had following her satisfactory visits to the physio last year.
One surprising incident at her regular Monday physio group at the hospital - usually she can throw the majority of 10 quoits onto a peg, but last week she only managed one.
Last night we attended a musical evening at our Village hall. She enjoyed the time there. I remembered this morning that she was sitting sideways to the performers so was twisted to watch them. And that would not have helped her back. I must watch that sort of thing.
By the Thursday when we drove from home her lower back was giving her severe discomfort and pain. In attempting to identify the cause I learnt that she had discontinued the Inderal she has been taking for years. This had originally been prescribed by the Three Piece Suit years ago when we returned "home" down south after 10 years in other more westward places. Although several medical professionals had queried why she took Inderal, none had ever told her to stop taking it although they were happy to modify her other meds. What really frightened her was the anaesthetist attending her at her recent melanoma operation telling her that Inderal was "dangerous". No other comment was made & of course, no clarification was asked for, I have since found reference to Inderal being used to minimise the .memories of persons suffering post traumatic stress problems, although she has a better memory than I do so doesn't seem to have been harmed, although that side effect of the stuff is frightening. Inderal was originally prescribed for restless leg. Anyway, she has not taken Inderal again and her PD symptoms have not changed now over the fortnight since she stopped,
In hindsight, I suspect that her enthusiasm for taking up machine embroidery again in the week prior to our weekend away may have caused her lower back & leg pains. Too much sitting, hunched over the machine or PC while seated on an office chair, rather than her special ergonomic stool combined with no exercise at all since her melanoma operation 4 months ago. So we are attempting to correct this with some walking. Which began on the Thursday evening by walking from the motel to the suburban railway station to see whether she could accompany me into the city the next day. Fortunately we did so, because both lifts used to gain access to the the centre city bound platform, were out of order, had been vandalised the ticket office person told us. The stairs up and over the rail tracks were too long & steep for her to negotiate, so next day I made my appointment on my own while she relaxed at the motel by reading novels. That evening we walked about 1.5km to and from a restaurant for our 8 year old granddaughter's birthday.
On the Saturday, on the way to the wider family birthday party (no wonder the youngest generation develop into party animals!) we detoured into an outlet of her favourite brand of rag shop where we encountered a very helpful sales person. I dread them because their skills lay in the ability to encourage her to buy twice as much as she would without assistance. She says she enjoys their help because it saves her the trouble of fumbling through the racks to find her sizes.
Sunday found us in another shop where she bought numerous metres of pretty satins to be made into slinky nighties. "In case I need to go to hospital again" she told me, although I am sure there was no twinkle in either of my eyes.
So apart from her back & leg pains, she had an enjoyable weekend. On the way there we saw her Ugly Sisters (lunch with one, the other visited). The disabled room at the motel was comfortable for her, good beds, appropriate rails in the bathroom which had a dangerous small step at the door that she was careful to avoid.
Her leg pains were strange - sharp shooting pains in both lower legs, that fade as the day progresses. We try to walk each evening and by week's end she indicated that the pain was reducing. Except that yesterday she stitched a large design so this morning at 6am the pain was worse. I don't wish to discourage her sewing so there will need to be more exercise, a matter of returning to the routine she had following her satisfactory visits to the physio last year.
One surprising incident at her regular Monday physio group at the hospital - usually she can throw the majority of 10 quoits onto a peg, but last week she only managed one.
Last night we attended a musical evening at our Village hall. She enjoyed the time there. I remembered this morning that she was sitting sideways to the performers so was twisted to watch them. And that would not have helped her back. I must watch that sort of thing.
posted by Kilpike | 7:45 am
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home