From 'La Mole' to Penge

I got the phone call yesterday morning and was admitted to hospital in the afternoon.
My tendon repair was done between 4:15 pm and 8 pm. Apparently when I came round I was quite giggly - although in pain - and the nurses said I was lovely! LOL

The leg was rather painful but the morphine button for pain relief that the anaesthetist had promised wasn't there. The oxygen helped and it calmed down after a couple of hours. (No wonder that my blood pressure shot up).

I didn't sleep well at all in the night. I was very drowsy  but still aware of the noises and the time dragged on and on. Probably the longest night of my life: I got through by picturing myself snuggling up to Adrian. One of the other people in the room had a CPAP machine which for at least half an hour at around 4 am was making such a racket it was like having a small helicopter in the room.

The surgeon this morning said that that unfortunately the tendon was torn in the middle, and not near the bone as it normally does. So the leg will have to stay straight for 6 weeks and with no weight on it, to start with.
I'll have to sleep downstairs on the sofa bed as I cannot do the stairs. I'll be missing Adrian!

I think I'll go stir crazy.

I was discharged after lunch today and I'm at home now. The lack of sleep together with the pain and the disappointment had me in tears a few times. I hope I won't be driving poor Adrian nuts (he has been so sweet!)

On Monday last week as I got off my 'Boris' bike near Victoria, my lower back seized up again.
Since then, I've been in quite a lot of pain and have struggled to walk (Adrian says that I look like a mixture of Grandpa Simpson and Mrs. Overall).

My GP diagnosed a mechanical problem (without even looking at my back) and was of the idea that a few simple exercises repeated over time would solve the problem eventually. But this time (it's the 4th time it happens this year and the second time I went to see my doctor) I insisted, and I got an osteopath referral.

The osteopath I went to the other day was recommended by a couple of colleagues and he's based at a dance studio in Covent Garden.
He's in his 50s, very pleasant and Australian.
For a megalomaniacal couple of seconds (I blame the painkillers) I felt as if I had been in "The King's Speech"!

He was very thorough and diagnosed a blockage in the pelvic region on the right side that causes the pain. By looking/feeling my back he guessed that I sit at my desk at a right angle.
So far he hasn't managed to unblock it but maybe I'll have better luck tomorrow when I go back.

Weirdly - but I blame the painkillers again - when I stood and walked in front of the full-length mirror in only my underwear I thought that I didn't look too bad. He did say that I looked pretty fit and that obviously I work out but then I could just have imagined that. LOL!
Adrian and I have noticed that the strange posture caused by the back pain makes my stomach rather flat (and has the opposite, very unflattering effect on my buttocks). 

When he examined me, he always had to go back to his notes to write down about more scars. I told him about my skin that breaks easily and he said that it's a northern European skin with little collagen. I have to blame my genes, I suppose.

The worst bit at the moment is getting up from my desk. Exercise seems to help and once I have completed the stretches that my GP suggested and the ones recommended by the osteopath, it's sheer bliss for a minute or so, until gravity takes it toll again. Ouch!

On Monday evening I treated myself to a massage... last time was over 12 months ago, mainly due to lack of funds.
Anyway since Friday was pay day, I thought I could burn some money.

Now Martin (the masseur, and a gorgeous bear) works a couple of nights a week in the West End so it's easier for me to go.

It is never by any means a relaxing massage as he believes in doing what's right for your muscles, whether you like it or not... but this Monday it was SO painful!! I was close to screaming a couple of times!

I know he means well when he tells me what's wrong with my body, i.e.
- all my muscles are tight because I don't stretch enough
- the fact that the left side of my body has always given me trouble (I get bruises on my left elbow, knee and ankle by just touching things, and the muscles are weaker than on the right side) means that it could be a sign of problems with my inner organs (liver, spleen, etc.)

but part of me (well 90%) just doesn't want to know!

As always after the massage I felt much better (thought this time the wellbeing feel was kind of tainted with the relief of surviving a session at the dentist's!)

All was well until yesterday afternoon when a pain in my left thigh down near the knee and a tingling numbness in my foot started... I just hope it'll go away and it makes sitting still at my desk quite a challenge.