The bad news is that the right foot is still bad. I may have to talk to my GP about it, get an X-ray or something to see what's going on in there. I don't need things that limit my walking even more than it's limited already. No "pins & needles" associated so I don't think it's the dreaded Peripheral Neuropathy, although at its worst it's certainly bad enough to keep me awake at night.
The USB handwarmer performed well at Tower last night and it's still pumping out heat (on setting 2 out of 4) some hours later. I think it should keep me going into the winter. The right hand finger split feels better, which has to be a plus. Last night was not too cold but turned to rain during the second match and we were all glad to finish it quickly and beat a retreat. Lost the first match 13-10 but that was after a dramatic come-back from 11-0 - a very good game in the end. The less said of the second one the better...
I have to go to the GP surgery later today to pick up a prescription (and one for Sue) so I'll have a word with reception about my Primary 3 vaccination. I know of lots of people who've had it already, but I haven't heard a thing yet. And it's further complicated by the need to make the timing work with the RUDY study's demands for more blood samples.
Got back home from Tower in the rain but feeling OK apart from that foot. And it may be relevant (but probably isn't) that his morning it was noticeably swollen - more than the left one which is usually the worse of the two. I had trouble getting my right slipper on, but no problem on the left.
Back to last night. I was just about to get into the shower when Sue appeared to tell me we had a plumbing leak in what we call the boiler room (in truth, a small alcove off the kitchen). I went down to investigate and found that one of the hose fittings that feed the waters oftener had somehow come a little loose and was dripping. So I went upstairs again to get my slippers to go out to the garage and find a plumber's wrench to tighten it up. Back to the shower. All that story says is that apart from a little pain from the right foot I was perfectly OK.
Finished my shower, went into my study as usual for a couple of hours of catching up on emails, admitting people to the Myeloma UK Support group, blogging, and watching the Great British Bake-Of that I recorded while I was out at the boules. Went to bed at normal sort of time. Within five minutes the foot became much much worse with intense shooting pains. Much the same in low back and - if possible - even worse in my neck. Impossible to find a comfortable sleeping position, or even to change position in a non-agonising way.. Gave up at about 05:00 and returned - slowly and painfully - to my study chair until 08:00 or so in the morning. My various devices agree on about one hour of sleep altogether, and i'm surprised it's that much. Didn't turn either TV or computer on,which says something for my state of mind.
Lucky that I keep a walking stick in my study, well within reach of my chair. With its help - I doubt I could have got out of the chair without it - I made very slow and painful progress to the bathroom for the necessaries - shuffling just a few inches at a time. Even when I had that first myeloma lesion in my hip, walking wasn't quite that bad. Didn't dare making it down the stairs for breakfast until well after 11:00.
Now (coming up to 18:00) things are returning to something like normal - I can get about in the house without a stick (although not up or down the stairs) and I'm starting to feel a little more human again - brain has been distinctly frazzled all day. Have been taking max.dose ibuprofen since mid-day, and also judicious applications of my massage gun on shoulders in particular.
Sue thinks - and she may well have a point - that I've bought this on myself through too much boules and particularly last night's cold,wet and windy weather. I'm going to have to stop trying to get to everything every week now the weather's getting colder and start to be a bit more choosy about the conditions I play in. Trouble is that I've got several match dates in the diary, and there's nothing to be done about them. Except perhaps to hope that if the weather is bad it'll be bad enouugh to force cancellation or postponement...
I'm wondering if the right foot thing isn't the onset of Peripheral Neuropathy after all. No pins & needles, but the rest of it - definitely including making sleep impossible - does match what a lot of people report. Something to talk to Dr.Ch about next time (the 18th), especially if it happens again before then.
And finally, the good news. As I was obviously not up to driving, Sue took over the GP surgery visit and came back not only with our prescriptions but also with two third COVID vaccination appointments for Sunday morning. I'm not even going to touch on whether they're "boosters" or "Primary 3" - I've had more than enough of that on the facebook group! Just glad to have the dates in the diary, even though it will mean postponing my next RUDY blood samples until five weeks after the shot (Nov 14th). Not much chance of getting them organised between now and Sunday.
Probably a complete coincidence but just (22:20) had a small nosebleed.I don't get those very often. This one's in no hurry to stop.
No comments:
Post a Comment