Hi everyone, how’s everyone doing? Been a bit longer this time round from the previous post mostly because I’d just be repeating myself from everything that I’d already been moaning about. With twinging my back the previous week it gradually got a bit worse for a few days but not to the extent of how bad it was the previous time.
On the Monday night I fell asleep lying on my side, I’ve had to sleep on my back for way too long now and it’s just not as comfortable as being on my side or belly. But when I was in hospital with the wires I had to sleep on my back. Normally when I get out and back home I can sleep on my front again but now with the ribs and back I haven’t been able to do that. I didn’t intentionally fall asleep on my side, I was just sort of stretching out, testing the waters to see if it was sore or not but I dozed off and of course woke up and felt a weakness in the ribs on that side.
Later that day I started getting a referred pain in the right shoulder and was again getting progressively worse. When I went to bed that night and lay down the area that seems to be about the bottom of the right lung, it was very painful but after a few minutes it had settled again.
The pains continued to get worse for a few more days before reaching its peak and starting to what seemed to be “getting better”. The pain killers didn’t seem to help much with the referred pain and it was every breath in I felt it and when I lay down it was really sore for a while before finally easing to just when I breathed in.
I got a call from the dietician who was quite happy with my progress, the weight has increased to a sensible level. Although I did think I was back to my pre-everything weight but going back over stats on the Fitbit and Omron I still have another 10Kg I can put on to be at the same weight. But with what I think is potentially water retention and bunging me up I’m not feeling overly comfortable, I don’t think size, shape, weight matters as long as you’re comfortable and I’m not, so I need to get rid of whatever is making me uncomfortable.
While on the phone she asked about seeing a physio which I think the docs have been trying to get me booked in to see, I think or thought, but she said she would also chase it up and the next day I got a call from them about going to a local health centre to see a physio. She also said that my BMI is on the lower side of good and that I could put on a few Kg, which I hope when I am able to do a bit of walking etc it will build up a bit.
The next thing of note was seeing the physio, a lot of medical history, tablets and all that carry on which takes a while but then he recommended a few stretches. A couple were a bit hmm dunno if I trust my back with that one but after doing them for a while it seems to have helped and strengthened things a bit. A few of the stretches I was already doing something similar to but I would assume the way he has said to do it is less risky and more stable than how I was doing it, but stretching the same areas.
It has certainly seemed to help, feel a bit more flexible rather than being a stick man. I’ve been trying to walk a bit more but I can only get about 10-15 mins before I can’t go on any more and really pushing it. I’m sore as soon as I start but battling through it till it gets to a point where I just have to stop. I’m hoping that if I’m persistent that the pains will gradually settle, but in all honesty I haven’t noticed a difference. I’m hoping that it’s caused by all the sitting and lying around the last couple of years the stomach muscles have just dissipated and I need to build them up again. It could also be that I have actually damaged the muscles when I was taking the coughing fits, which is what I thought the pain initially was before the MRI and x-ray to say it was the fractures, or it could be the fractures that are still causing the problems. I don’t know, I’d just like to be rid of it and be able to even sit comfortably never mind walking comfortably.
I got a call from the dermatologist about the biopsy and it is what she thought it was which was a thing that needs to be removed. So she’s referring me to plastics to get the thing removed. No idea how long that’ll take to get though, but I’ve had it for a while and hasn’t exactly been getting any worse so a few more months won’t do any harm.
I did have a bit of fun with the RC car, I went to Henry Jones to the gravel pitches and zoomed around with it for all of about 5 mins before the batteries died, but totally worth it. I did charge it up but I think it had been sitting about a few days and may have drained a bit. It may be a good idea to get a 2nd battery but will try it again and see how it does. It’s great fun though and really fast so needs a fair bit of space, preferably with no dogs about.
The only other thing that’s been going on is my body temperature regulation, most of the time I’m either too warm or too cold, I just don’t seem to be able to be just right which is quite annoying. Like I could have a blanket wrapped round me and feel cold but too warm to wear a hat. I think it may be a circulation thing so the heat isn’t being distributed properly, but until I start to walk and move about properly again I don’t see that improving much.
Monday night I was dreading going to bed which was totally founded, I dread going to bed every night but more so tonight. I didn’t get to sleep till after two, I was tired but my back was sore, chest was sore, stomach was sore. I was way too warm under the sheets and freezing out of them. At 2 I finally decided to get up and take some paracetamol and sat downstairs for a few minutes hoping the bed wouldn’t be as warm when I went back and when I got back it was cooler and I was able to get back to sleep, woke up again about 6ish. Tuesday I had hospital so got up washed and on over.
I was also dreading going this week, it’s infusion day and so there longer. I’m never comfortable on the chairs and always feel rough after on a normal trip but being there an extra few hours will just be worse. Also after the infusion I always get absolutely freezing. It wasn’t quite as bad as I had expected it to be but kept on shuffling in my seat as I kept getting sore and uncomfortable, and the same when I went round to get the infusion. After I wasn’t too bad I was still cold but not half as bad as I was the last time.
All the counts were pretty good though, stable or improved. The volume of the red bloods cells is up which could be causing a glucose/gluten intolerance, I can’t remember which he said. Apparently is a thing with newly formed bone marrow, red blood cell production and hopefully with time will settle… everything is hopefully with time lol.