Chapter 197 - Return to Routine

This morning we are both completing 30 minutes of Wii Fit. My recent medical procedure discouraged me from exercising and that seemed to have a flow on effect on her as well.

Her leg pains have been intense. She had not been mentioning lower back pains which must have been mild in comparison. I encouraged her to use the TENS again, not called for in a long time. The TENS eases her back when attached there but has no effect on her legs, but placed on her lower legs is beneficial. She continues to shuffle to the tread mill a couple of times a day, then is able to take reasonable steps away from it.

I have encouraged her to reposition her meds timing to 6am, 11am, 5pm & 11pm to shift away from meal times, rather than adjusting those to suit, which is inconvenient when socialising. She takes Panadol 4 to 6 times each day. Soon I will encourage her to take some meds mid-afternoon to fill an off period that begins about 3pm.

She has been suffering much more since she has had to resort to Madopar HBS following the "supply" problems with Sinemet CR. Strange that PWP's in the Land of the Free (and Bullies) still has access to Sinemet CR, I believe.

Chapter 196 - Mis-reporting

Do I not listen? Does she not explain?

This morning as she lay in bed she said "It's so lovely laying in bed without pain." When I queried her I learned that as soon as she begins moving to get out of bed her pains begin, and worsen considerably as she takes steps. Today she needed the tread mill straight away. As she ramped up the speed I asked when the pain eased. It seems somewhere about 3km/hr; above this the sharpness goes away and she is left with a dull ache. She cranks the speed to 4km/hr but has to stop after 9 minutes because she is becoming breathless and her mouth is dry and sticky. Having shuffled onto the tread mill she is able to walk away from it. We discuss her pain; when it began; does she wish to go back to K; start in the pool again. She says she feels the benefit of both but pays with stiffness and pain the next day. I have misunderstood that she has continued with sciatic pain all along; that it's effects on her lower back and hips pale into insignificance with the "sharp" pain in her lower legs therefore she hasn't described the upper pains to me so i had assumed incorrectly that such no longer existed.

She just had a shower, needing the shower chair in her bathroom (it has been kept for sometime unused in the other bathroom) for safety. Yet when she finished showering she picked up the mat before returning to the bedroom. I complained that picking up mats and such was dangerous in such circumstances, but she says it's OK because she hangs onto the disability rails. She called me on the CB to clip her bra straps. Then I mopped the bathroom and completed the usual tasks.

She is now putting a couple of rollers in her hair as we are going to friends for lunch. She wants to do the Wii rowing squat because that alleviates the leg pain as well, I learn, when I want to put the balance board away so that she doesn't trip over it.

She calls me on the CB (saying "sorry" for calling me; I complain that there is no need to apologise for calling me) to get the Wii started; when she is shaking the Wii has trouble detecting her weight so fails with an error condition. We have tricked it by having me stand on it first. This morning even that fails so she is unable to weigh herself. She still wishes to do the rowing squat so I reboot the Wii and go straight to the Aerobics and the Rowing Squat, although I still need to stand on the board first. She has to hang onto her stepper to maintain balance but is unable to reach the blue line on the TV screen for any of her 45 squats, although the action attempts are helpful. She decides to do the stepping routine so I set that up for her with the board on its height extension. And I must remember to recharge the batteries in the board when she finishes; the Wii is complaining.

I check on her as she finishes 10 minutes of stepping. "Want to do it again?" "Yes, when I get ny breath back. I feel a little light headed." Her blood pressure is checked - 145/90. I leave her to begin stepping when she wishes.

Once more I check on her. She was unable to get into the rhythm of doing another stepping session, so put the Wii board away and charge the batteries in both it and our remotes. She asks for one of my dry biscuits because her stomach feels churned. She wants nothing to drink with it since she doesn't wish to go to the loo around at the friends' place while we are there for lunch.

Finishes the dry biscuit and goes to the loo.

Chapter 195 - Nothing Much to Say

Almost a month since I posted here and in consequence I suppose there have been a lack of readers. Her pains in her legs continue. A couple of days ago she came upon some comments about the combination of Sifrol and Madopar causing leg pains. I have not yet seen the comments.

Several weeks ago she began using our village pool for exercise with her friend around the corner. After each session, maybe half an hour, her tremors were worse and into the following day. So she has discontinued this gentle exercise.

Usually, at least once a day, she asks to use the tread mill for 5 minutes or so. I sit on a stool near the tread mill to give her confidence that she will not fall. The tread mill seems to be the only relief she has from the leg pains.

Last week end we spent 3 nights in our favourite motel in Hot Air City; one night before and two nights following a biopsy that I suffered. We return this coming Wednesday to learn the results. My only fear is that our caring roles may be reversed some time in the future.

She bought quite a lot of fabric for quilts for which she is busily embroidering designs; intending to make quilts for the next generation of nephews/nieces. And that is good for her.

We ran our local PD group last week. I showed Oliver Sacks YouTube videos about the role of music for neurological problems. One lady asked for a copy of the exercise videos I showed the previous month. Very satisfying to broaden people's knowledge (as well as my own) on these matters even if sourced from YouTube. Also a TED talk by Sacks. Another of his talks gave her an opportunity to talk about her Blue Elephants. I wondered how many in the group had experienced their own hallucinations but were not saying.