Busy living

I've so busy living I haven't had time to write about it! That's a nice way to be I feel.

So what has been going on for me? Some really positive things certainly.

- I've had a huge weight loss. I keep checking myself out in shop windows.

   22kgs off. Don't you think it's a big improvement!

- My hip replacement has been a phenomenal success. I have been able to run on it up until an   incident that will discuss later. I don't even remember half the time.

- I've been using a lot of self-talk to beat down my MS -"Shut up, I don't care if you make me walk like Frankenstein's monster, we are going to complete 5k or die trying." Haven't quite convinced it to let me eat normally or remember anything but at least I have regained a small amount of control.

- I've nearly finished my NZIM certificate in management. Just working on a group project. Doing OK for one who does not play well with others. Once it's over I'm through.

So those are the positives and now what about that incident?

Three years ago I was merrily running along when I stepped off a curb and was hit with a searing pain in my right ankle. It did not improve and after many battles I finally got to see an orthopedic surgeon who agreed that the split perineal tendon should be repaired and duly wrote off to ACC to say the same. This was the period of the unfortunate degeneration excuse and the poopoo heads said it was due to degeneration due to age and they would not pay. I had a new job and just didn't have the wherewithal to fight so I decided to just let nature try and do the repair.

Nature appeared to do an OK job until last year when I stepped in a hole while walking Millie

There it was, the same pain! My GP referred me to the orthopedic clinic at Greenlane. I had the usual uncomfortable examination and an x-Ray which was inconclusive. So I was booked for an MRI and then seen once the results were in. Yep, split tendon. So I was fitted for supports and orthotics and sent off for a steroid injection since the MRI also showed some arthritic changes.  The jab did nothing so six weeks later I trudged back to clinic to report. Only to discover that that was a good thing since it meant the pain was more than likely due to split than the arthritis. 

The next step was surgery and there were a couple of options. I could have the ankle fused which would kill the arthritis as well as having the tendon repaired (well one removed and it's remained stitched to the other). The down side was a reduction of movement in the joint. The other option was just to do the repair and see if that solved the problem. After some discussion we chose option number two.

Yesterday I got a call to say they had a cancellation in preop clinic and would I like the space. Certainly, I would.

So today I went along. I met with an anaesthetist but not the one who will be mine, naturally, because this is the public system and there is no real sense to it. I pressed home my desire to have a regional anaesthetic rather than General due to my MS and what issues it could cause. It's in the "we'll see" box. Then I saw the surgeon, who after examining my foot and making me repeatedly stand on my sore foot while I moaned and groaned, came to the conclusion that my high arches put me at risk of ankle instability and I supinate. So in addition to the tendon repair I'm having a calcaneal osteotomy where the heel bone will be cut and moved towards the outside and held there with two big ol screws. 

She felt the osteotomy would be necessary at some point regardless and it may as well be done at the same time so it meant only one period of six weeks non-weight bearing rather that two. I agreed that that sounded much better to me. So hopefully after six weeks non-weight bearing and then four weeks or so partial weight bearing I'll be doing much better and less likely to pop a tendon again.

So in just over three weeks on July 3rd I'm booked in. I've had to cancel a whole lot of courses that I'd enrolled in for July but hopefully enforced inactivity will result in a book or two. You have got to look for the positives.

My service to you is constantly developing medical problems so they can be blogged about for your information and pleasure. Remind me to tell you about my surprise diagnosis today.

My history

Here is a brief rundown of the past events that are now setting off alarms in my poor head.

In the mid 90's while training as a midwife I had an episode that lasted two weeks or so where I developed very slurred speech and had difficulty moving my tongue. It was investigated by physical exam and I was diagnosed with a post viral syndrome and sent on my way. Since then I frequently felt less mentally adept and sometimes quite foggy.

I started to suffer from an overactive bladder - the key in the door syndrome - when you gotta go you gotta go.  But after 5 children the pelvic floor probably wasn't the best. I recently addressed this through medication. Medication I initially suspected caused the blurred vision - it dries your mouth out so maybe it dries your eyes too.

I started to get quite achy about 7 years ago and worried that I had arthritis. A visit to a specialist left me with the diagnosis of Fibromyalgia which I have basically treated by ignoring it! I was achy, had brain fog and my hands felt tight most of the time and I am always tired.

When I was pregnant I developed Cholestasis of pregnancy and had many blood tests. One thing that showed up was the presence of Epstein Barr Virus antibodies.  I had glandular fever as a pre-teen following on from mumps and the mysterious post-viral syndrome so this is not surprising but many people with MS have higher than normal levels of the EBV antibodies.

Six years ago we moved to a new house with stairs. I slid on the stairs 3 times in quick succession - damaging my tailbone quite significantly. It became a major mission to descend the stairs and I still have to really concentrate.  Not helped by the removal of the stair rails for DIY.

I have often choked on my saliva and taken food down the wrong way. It's a transient thing but worried me enough to get a referral. Of course the day of the investigation it showed little more than a slowing/pouching at the back of my throat but nothing going into my lungs - I could have told them that without the machine! So I continue to choke and sometimes spaghetti dangles into my lungs and I cough madly and sometimes a small amount of food feels like (and I'm convinced it does) gets into the top of my lower respiratory tract and I choke and cough and feel like my lungs are seared.

I have irritable bowel syndrome though it's not been too bad for a few years - could be learned management!

I knew fibromyalgia responded well to exercise so I pushed myself to run.  I was enjoying it and getting quite a bit of zip when one day I managed to slip off the kerb (bit like stairs!). My foot felt like a knife had gone through it. This sent me off on a whole nother tangent - (ACC blaming my split perineal tendon on degeneration rather than accident because I'm so old! No payment for surgery so it's been two years and it is finally coming right due perhaps to the Steroids).

So running was pretty much out the door. But I could still walk my dog......until about 5 weeks ago when I suddenly struggled to make it up the driveway and could only hobble 300m down the road. It was a combination of weakness and pain in my right hip which has been part of my life since I was a teen.

The off-shoot of no exercise was weight gain! So I started a weights program which has helped a little but my lifting weights have dropped significantly. Where I could do 15kg per arm I'm now struggling with 5kg! I'm also too damned tired!

There have been other things which I was really not aware of until I began reading a book today and thought "Holy shit! That's me!". I 'see' sounds - I get bright flashes with loud or sharp noises.  When Simon gesticulates with his fork I feel like it is grabbing my eyes and pulling them. I can get vertigo on very small heights (anything more than 3 steps up a ladder is no go! I splash cups of tea and coffee all over the place.  I love hot baths but my legs get really tired trying to keep me from slipping under the water! After 15 minutes all the fun has gone out of it. It is also pretty hard to keep the book from falling in the bath (Can't have a bath without a book!) as my hands feel swollen and start to ache.

I can't keep my legs and arms still for more than 15 minutes - try 45 minutes in an MRI machine without going insane - I cried and would have screamed but I'm too socially constrained.

So I have a whole hodge podge of symptoms which have been investigated in isolation and never really linked.

Maybe a neurologist will pull it all together but based on my past experience I'm really not holding my breath. If I wasn't such a sceptic I'd really have little faith in medicine! I'll tell you one thing if I find out I have MS and I'd have had a better prognosis if it had been investigated more fully at the 3 crucial presentation points I will be up that postal tower pretty damn quick!