To say it’s been a busy couple of months would be an understatement!
Physio
The weekly sessions have been going well I think on the whole. It’s weird that I can have one week of feeling something is improving, and then the next back to it being a struggle. For example one week I thought that I’d really nailed the standing from a chair with my weak foot behind, but the week after i could barely manage doing 10 reps. Another week I felt I was doing well with the balance pad, doing head turns, passing the ball around me and doing throw and catch. The next week I couldn’t even get my balance to stand on it, let alone do any exercises.
I’ve finished my planned sessions in the gym now, but have an assessment session with the physio on 2nd March, so will see how (if) I’ve improved since my last assessment before Christmas.
Pain team
Not really sure why I’ve even put this section in my update. The only contact I’ve had was a voicemail on a Monday to say they’d had a cancellation first thing on the Tuesday morning if I could get in for it. They were ringing round other patients to fill the slot, so by the time I picked up the message the slot was most likely taken even if I had been able to rearrange my diary. Back in the waiting list then.
General feeling
As much as I try to deny it, it does seem like there’s been a deterioration. I’m generally managing the pain, although that has been particularly bad the last couple of days as well. My balance and overall leg control is noticeably more of an issue. I think I’m more conscious of the drop foot, and have had a few stumbles as a result of it. I get the shakes in my legs more frequently when I stand up, and sometimes randomly when I’m sat or laid in bed. I haven’t had any fall as yet, but a couple of near misses.
The saga of my thumb continues. I’ve seen two different nurse practitioners in the last few weeks. The first was really helpful, acknowledged that it needed to be excised and said he’d look into the best way to get me referred quickly. He put me back on flucloxacillin to deal with the latest infection and made me another appointment for later in the week. In the meantime he told me to keep putting the inodine dressing on it. I went back at the end of the week and saw a different nurse practitioner who told me I should leave it open because keeping it wrapped up with inodine won’t be doing any good. I asked about the referral to get it excised, and she told me to self-refer to the podiatry service. They have a self-referral session tomorrow so will see what happens then.