Something for the Wrinkles

Years ago, when I was still at school, and just when I started working, I started getting botox in my arm and leg to reduce the tone in my limbs. This stopped, one of the reasons being that my fingers started to freeze, and they ran out of hope that it was ever going to work.

Since this time, I was diagnosed with hip dysplasia, which required 2 pretty big operations to (sort of) fix my hip, and so my hand went unnoticed, pushed to one side. In the last 12 months, I have come to learn that my limbs do not appreciate being ignored, and will make it difficult for me good so. In this instance, my fingers curl in, my hand seizes, and my arm will just bang into anything going and come out in big bruises, for 5 minutes attention.

Last October time, I felt that as my hip had calmed down ever so slightly, I could give my hand a little bit more attention and try to improve function. This has lead me on a journey that, with physio and baclofen included, has seen me today 2 days post botox (with no sedation) feeling as weak as water, and as if I have gone in a big circle. Here's hoping that I can build my muscles up and it can be a second chance success!

I will let you all know how I get on :-) xx

Time to Relax

These past few weeks have been very busy and between work and health, I've hardly had time to breathe. This has left me feeling very uptight and wound up, so I thought if I wrote it all down it might help.

As many of you may know, I work 4 days, or 30 hours, a week in a training provider, creating reports, analysing data and looking after the upkeep of a couple of the systems. Although it sounds pretty fancy, its all pretty basic stuff, and I enjoy what I do. At the beginning of February, there was an office move, and we were moved downstairs to an office at the very end of a corridor. To start with, this was fine, but in the last week or so, I have had to be upstairs and down that many times that I'm exhausted. There is a lift, which I can use and do, but getting to and from it is about 50 metres, and my legs just don't seem to want to do what they're told to get me there.

Also, there is going to be a bit of a restructure, which, although my job is as safe as I ever could predict in this climate, has left me slightly worried that either I'll be given too much work, or that someone else will take over some of the job roles which I enjoy the most. We'll see what happens.

Over to health, and the only word I could use to describe how it feels is "deteriorating".

I went to see the physio for my hand, which ended in me being told to continue with exercises, but that there isn't anything else she can do until I have had botox and to give me a call once I've had an appointment. My first appointment at a clinic for tone/botox is at the end of this month, but the odds are that I'll be popped onto another waiting list for another few months before I get it in my hand, and without a physio stretching it every week, my hand has the tendency to tighten back up, which is worrying.

A few months ago, after quite a bit of discomfort in my leg, I saw my hip specialist, which I have written about in a previous blog. In this appointment, I was told that I had to just deal with the inevitable discomfort and that he didn't need to see me for another year. Since then, no one has looked at my leg, and without a referral, the physio for my hand wasn't allowed to even take a look. I have a lot of pain in my leg, and I suspect my muscles are tight.

So... My game plan to get sorted...

After I posted a photo of my foot on a forum, I have been told, and intend to, seek medical advise and ask to be referred to either my old orthopaedic surgeon, who deals with both paediatrics and adults, or at least to someone who understands that hemiplegia comes as a whole, and that I will always need assistance. Just fixing one part of my body will not mean I am perfectly fine and need to see no one else.

Finally, I'd just like to thank everyone who has answered my questions, supported me and even read this post as I moan about certain things. You give me the strength to not give up, which has entered my mind more than a few times. My gorgeous fiancé also deserves a mention, as he has been my rock and pushed me to do everything I can, even when I don't want to.

Thanks to all xxx