23. Nose Bleeds, Movement & Housework

Nose Bleeds

I noticed that I hadn’t experienced as many nosebleeds since my attack in January.  However, I still had a small number, usually triggered by uncontrollable sneezing fits, probably from being in the garden.  It was difficult to stem the flow of blood because of the blood thinning medication I was taking.  The downstairs W.C. looked sometimes like a murder scene from CSI, as I desperately tried to stop the never-ending flow dropping onto the floor, toilet seat and sink.  Every time I grabbed a new piece of toilet roll, more drops spread about the place, while I miserably failed to clear the mess at the same time.  Every time I turned, I inadvertently created a new “red zone”!  It was horrible and I felt totally useless, as I waited for the episodes to pass.  Eventually, I cleared up the devastation, but how on earth could so much blood have come out of my little nose?  Colin wondered about that too …..

Richard’s Garden Party: First time in a big group, Shared Medical Experiences – 1^st September

I was with Colin this time, at Richrd’s End of Summer party, as I had missed previous years due to our bi-monthly print deadline.  Colin previously always escaped and went alone, so I usually suggested a cardboard cut out of me that he could introduce as his “Phantom Wife”.   I looked forward to going this year, as I hadn’t the usual work reasons get in the way.

Lovely Party: This was an ideal opportunity for us to see old and familiar faces that we hadn’t seen in a long time.  It only reminded me that I’d buried myself away far too much from social gatherings because of work reasons in the past. I had problems standing for long periods, so was “parked” on a seat on the terrace area with other guests.  Most of them came and went as they pleased, but Colin constantly kept a watchful eye from a distance, while he renewed old acquaintances, and came up periodically to see if I needed a drink or something to eat.   I really missed the freedom to move around and mix with clusters of friends and catch up on their news.  People had been kind to offer to get me a drink or food, but I really wanted to do these things for myself.  Unfortunately, the reality was that I had to depend on others. It became quite exasperating being in that position.  Another lesson in patience for me ………

Imagine In Hospital for 2 years!!:   I was given a new perspective in comparison to my recovery. I began a conversation with a man next to me. He noticeably was helpless, like myself.  We traded tales of our ailments, medicine and hospital experiences, which was only been natural between us.  Why would anyone else have been interested in our stories, when it was supposed to be a jovial party?  I was horrified when I discovered this poor man had been in the hospital for well over 2 years with severe sepsis!  I realised that my mere experience of one month, had been absolutely nothing in comparison.  I noticed that he had lost a great deal of weight, by the loose fitting clothes. However , he had such a defiant glint in his eye, and a “spit and fire” attitude toward his experience and recovery.  I was in awe and admiration for such a character.  Good for him ……

Time I Moved: I decided that I had enough of sitting around, pulled myself up, to tentatively shuffle around on the soft lawn, and joined Michelle and a group of girls.  I was really glad that I made the effort.  We had a laugh, sharing the usual female banter, until Colin collected me to go home.  Yes it had been a really lovely afternoon ……

Pamper and Therapy Session – 7^th September

My Nails: Della decided it was time for another pamper session of nails, massage and facial.  First she tackled my nails.  We noticed, that as my right hand was more active, the nails on my bad left hand had become much longer.

My Massages: Were better as I could actually feel her hands, while she manipulated my bad arm and leg.  However, it felt like she wore thick gloves, so my sensations still had to be worked on.  We concentrated on movement of my left arm to move up and down, more flexibility in my wrist, my left knee and ankle to bend more naturally.  However, although I could raise my arm higher, I got more pangs of pain as the muscles had tightened at the top half of my arm for some reason. The pains shot down my back like an electric shock.  In spite of these obstacles, I had no choice but to continue with my exercises. 

My Facial: Della decided that I deserved another facial.  I really hadn’t been sure, as the previous “green glop” experiment ended with me resembling a female “Shrek”.  I became even more “twitchy”, when she announced that she had something new to try out on me.  Oh Nooooo!  However, I surrendered and let her loose with the treatment.  I had no idea what she put on my face, but it was damp, clingy and cold.  The cheeky monkey took another sneaky photo of me while I was laid back relaxing.  The photo looked like a jelly fish had landed on my face!

Oscar Grew Rapidly & More Mad! – 11^th September

We couldn’t believe how much Oscar had grown in such a short period.  When he first came to us, he had been small enough to scrabble into the garden through the cat hole from our office!  He had grown so much, the hole was too small for him, so he had to wait for us to let him out to run havoc in the garden area.  Unfortunately, he began to dig holes in our lawn.  His frantic efforts looked like he was trying to dig his way down to China!  Colin had read online that if you put an inflated balloon in the hole it would disturb the dog and the popping sound should shock him and he wouldn’t approach the hole again.  Wrong!  We tried this little experiment, but Oscar thought it was a new game. He squared up to the balloon, then ran away!  That was when we decided to rethink the lawn rescue project …….

New Foot Support – 14^th September: Michelle and Della had noticed I didn’t walk too well on my bad left foot.  For some reason it kept shifting and pointing over to the right.  They were right.  None of us had noticed this before, as we’d been concentrating on getting me back on my feet.  The fact that I could walk, was a cause for celebration alone.  As I became more aware of the problem, it was time to focus on the smaller details.  Colin bought me a couple of ankle supports to rectify the bad and lazy habit I got into.  I began to notice a small difference.   I became more conscious of my bad ankle as I learned to walk slower and forced the ankle to turn more to the left and this made my pace more naturally straight.  I was learning how to walk all over again.

Starting A Blog of Recovery – 14^th September

Start of a Monster: I discussed the prospect of a blog with a few close friends. I had been keeping a diary from the beginning of my recovery.  At first, I had very much been against any attempts at writing about my experiences. However, I was persuaded to explore the possibility that anything I shared could be of benefit to anyone else vulnerable, frightened and might experience something similar to my situation.    I would be speaking about my anger, frustrations and feelings.  A personal account could also be of help for carers, as well as sufferers. To be angry and frustrated would be natural, but there wouldn’t be any harm to have fun along the way. 

I gave it some thought.  I had never excelled at English grammar in school, so the prospect of anyone reading my scribbles, like an English teacher, to correct my every mistake absolutely mortified me.  What on earth did I have to say?  The more I thought, the more I overcame my fears, and looked into what internet tools I could use.  I began to enter unknown territory. However, that never stopped any challenges in the past.  I researched how to create a blog.  Most of the information had been “gobbledy gook”. and quite intimidating.   I finally settled on “WordPress”, which I had heard of.  I looked at a few tutorials, took the plunge to sign up, and began to create something.  The blog site and the hosting site, at “Blue Host”, had been incredibly patient and helpful with their chat section.  After several draft attempts, I made my first amateurish journal post, and crossed my fingers. It definitely needed to be worked on it at a later stage ……..

Improvement Up and Down the Stairs – 17^th September

After a few days of concentration on my walk with the foot support, I noticed that I no longer had to tackle the stairs one step at a time.  Although slow and tentative, I became more confident about the stairs. 

I was pleased, but noticed that I still kicked out my bad leg to the left and unconsciously bent my bad arm while I climbed the stairs.  I probably concentrated too hard to get to the top as fast as I could, rather than being aware of these faults.  Good job we had videos to show me.  Back to the drawing board …..

Better Arm and Finger Movement – 20^th September. 

I shared a video to demonstrate improvement with my left arm & fingers.  In reality, I had pain as I pushed myself.  In the previous video, when I held my arm up, it was strained and mainly worked through my shoulder and not my whole arm. On this occasion, I showed more flexibility in my arm and fingers, but it was painful afterwards . So more work to be done.  Naughty Della panned down to show my odd shoes. When she saw me earlier that morning, she asked me, “Are you going out like that?” I’d completely forgotten!

Wedding Ring Back On – 20^th September

After over 9 months, my knuckles had finally gone down, so Colin could put my wedding ring back where it belonged.  Guess he’s stuck with me now. No mention of renewing our vows though.  Hee, hee …

Morning Fresh – Reminder Post from 2012

I saw a reminder post I had made back in 2012.  It still makes me giggle, so I had to share it again, at Colin’s expense.  “COLIN’S MOUTHWASH – Colin came out of the shower grimacing and smacking his lips. Handed me a green bottle and said “Does this mouthwash look funny to you? Certainly doesn’t taste right …..” The penny dropped when I told him it was liquid soap ……… His annoyed reply was “who would name liquid soap “Morning Fresh???” – should have gone to Spec Savers!!”

Yeay, I can lean Back! – 27th September

In a new video, I had showed off my hair cut by Della. I thought I also could show that I was able to lean back on both elbows, and wave with my bad arm.  I later realized that a major diet was definitely due, as my legs looked really huge!

Housework Chores:   I wanted to contribute something towards helping around the house a bit more.  I was so pleased to grip the cat food tins or dog packets with my bad hand, as I pulled back the metal ring, or cover off the pet food carton.  It probably sounded ridiculous, but it was so wonderful to feed our pets myself.  I couldn’t do any washing up, but tried my best to rinse off pots and dishes, one by one, and load into the dishwasher.   Who could have imagined to load the dishwasher could be such back aching work?  I did what was necessary.  I couldn’t make excuses not to try though, so I had to have a go and tried slowly get myself back into some sort of clumsy domestic routine, as best as I could.

The Jersey Boys Tribute Band Party – 28^th September

What a really good end to the end of El Paraiso Golf members week.   There had been the usual great organization, amazing prizes, good food and fantastic entertainment with the Jersey Boys tribute band.  It was wonderful to see so many golfing buddies under one roof. A really fun night.  I was sorry not to have taken any photos as I’d been too busy joining in the dancing! ……….

Please view next page 24 at link “Emotions, Speed Limping, No Hospital”: https://www.rebootinglinda.com/emotions-speed-limping-medical-update-no-more-hospital/

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