Saturday, January 14, 2023

A Perfect Storm

 as they say - or would if they  (whoever they are) could.

 So what do I mean by that? Well, we've had a series of medical problems - and that's the nicest way I can think of putting it.

It all started when as a result of my failing vision I had a fall - and it wasn't just any fall, no siree. It was a doozy. I landed on my right - and dominant - wrist and may have said a few words my cleaner didn't think I ever would. She and Pisces came racing from various parts of the house and helped me off the floor. My wrist was already swelling by then and I was pretty sure I'd broken something. The pain was excruciating and I put an ice pack around it and made a quick phone call to Virgo to see if she could help. It wasn't ideal timing since she was doing the school pick up run but she managed to get child care sorted. Long story short and after a trip to - and a long wait - at urgent care, yes, I had broken my radius near the wrist. With a cast in place and a referral to a specialist the next day we all went home.

The specialist confirmed what I had known as soon as I saw the x-ray - it would need surgical repair. I was booked in for surgery and went home to wait armed with a bunch of heavy duty pain killers. Surgery happened and after sporting a spiffy red and blue splint for a couple of months - much delight to Mr Three who said it looked like I'm a racing car driver. I'm not convinced. I've been  seeing a hand occupational therapist to try to get as much movement as possible back. I never knew such folk existed - and that's despite there an OT in the family. I'm close to where I was before the break now and I'm still diligently doing my exercises so I'm hopeful all will eventually be well. I'm only just back to typing normally which I'm very happy about.

With my wrist under control I was hoping other things would at least stay as they were. Unfortunately that was not the case with us finding out the day after I came out of hospital that Pisces who has some health problems his own is no longer permitted to drive - I haven't been able to drive for several years due to poor vision so this is a serious blow. Then there was an appointment for me with the eye specialist with more bad news. I knew already that things were not great - since the middle of September I had noticed a dramatic decline in my vision but - had hoped for better news than that to find out my central vision is just about gone.

All of this is taking some adjusting to so blogging may be a bit patchy for a while as Pisces, Virgo and I work out ways to cope with all the changes.

2 comments:

David M. Gascoigne, said...

My goodness, you are run smack into another hurdle as soon as one has been overcome. We all know that getting older has its challenges but this is ridiculous. No doubt your whole life has to be reorganized. I can do nothing more than wish you all the best; little consolation, I am sure.

Helen V. said...

Thanks for the kind thoughts, David. It has been a difficult few months but - fingers crossed - I'm hoping that once we get some reorganising done that things will start to improve.