The Diary Of Onebrokelady Aged 60 And A Half

Onebrokelady

foxgloves said:

Hello OBL,
I was sorry to hear that the family split was in evidence during the funeral. These things are so difficult. I know we will have a similar thing in time. The thing with these rifts is that they go on for so long & so much water under the bridge that they are not easy to mend. I can't see the one in my extended family ever being resolved tbh. As you say, the thing to concentrate on is that your Dad isn't suffering any longer. It sounded as though it was his time - not much fun for the elderly once they can't enjoy the things they liked because of dementia.
I don't have anything constructive to add about your difficulty getting a Dr's appointment....& indeed getting some kind of solution when you do get one. At our surgery, a new system has just been launched. Haven't had to use it yet, so can't say if it is effective, but it is for people wanting to book an appt with a GP which is non-urgent. This was virtually impossible under the old system as it was always a case of 'You have to ring us tomorrow at 8am', then when you ring, you are not an emergency/urgent so can't be seen. I wonder if there are early signs of things being missed because of this, as the new system is that you request a non-urgent GP appointment & this list of people is triaged by a GP, I assume to ensure that the right people are prioritised. Sounds good, but I'll reserve judgement until I've tried it.
I too wondered about you not getting your daily walks now that you no longer have your dear old B, as I remember something you told me  - & I often quote it - "Motion is lotion". I have got really tight hip muscles at the moment & nothing frees them up as well as walking around. Sitting makes them seize up. I agree that knitting for long periods can challenge arthritic hands. Mine don't like to be too cold either. On very cold days I do sometimes wear my wrist-warmers indoors & sitting with my hands on a furry hot water bottle is helpful too if they are sore (thankfully they are not too bad atm).
Re getting a diagnosis, I wish I had something practical to suggest, but you will know the medical sector better than me. I can't help wondering if you have some kind of long Covid sort of scenario which has interacted with your fibromyalgia & other conditions, but I have no clinical knowledge, so am only speculating. You did have it more than once though, OBL, & I think were quite poorly with it.
Ah well, this is just to convey my sympathies & to say 'Keep on keeping on'. I hope things pick up for you.
F x

You have my sympathies when it comes to family divides,it just makes everything so much more difficult when something happens that needs everyone involved. I didn’t mind that my sisters didn’t speak to me as I knew they would but it hurt that I couldn’t be with my mum to console her and none of the nieces came over and spoke when they normally do speak to me. I’m moving on from it now though because dwelling on it won’t help.

MY surgery has that system and it does normally work really well if you have a problem that needs sorting urgently but if you just need a routine appointment you still end up waiting weeks. I know they can’t help it because they are literally run off their feet and it doesn’t help that my GP is very part time so that makes it harder still. I’m not sure what the solution is though 🤷‍♀️

As for getting a diagnosis there has been a development today which I’m going to post about in a minute 🙂

Onebrokelady

Makingabobor2 said:

Have a lovely day with your friend and stay warm  The cold definitely makes pain worse. My arthritis is a lot worse this time of year and I wear wrist warmers nearly all the time now.  3 pairs for £4.99 from the Big River site, and they are really warm, but also thin enough to wear under my leather gloves when I go out. They also come up over my knuckles as well, which is lovely and cosy. 
Maybe a nice thermal top and some fleecy leggings would help you as well. 

Definitely notice a difference in the cold. I am considering thermals this year, I dithered about them last year and by the time I made my mind up it was warm again 😂 plus I think it was quite mild last year whereas today has been freezing cold. I do have a couple of really thick jumpers so that helps but definitely think my hands need something 

Onebrokelady

debtfreewannabe321 said:

I'm so sorry about the family disputes putting a downer on what should have been a day to say goodbye in peaceful circumstances...my family is much the same a big divide down the middle so I completely empathise with that.

I've only tried to make a few Drs appointments since lockdowns and honestly- I've cancelled all of them before even being seen they ranged from 3 weeks and upwards of a month to wait for them! I dealt with the problem myself each time. I just can't understand that wait time.... Also sympathise a lot with the pain problem and being sent away with painkillers instead of them trying to find the solution..I ended up spending a lot of money to go private (all on CC!) as Dr had diagnosed me as hypochondriac I'm sure with my bad back. Turned out it was hip dysplasia from pregnancy and it was causing horrendous sciatica and I had two hernias!! So don't give up ...you know your own body better than the Dr who sits with us for five minutes...keep on at them and I hope you get somewhere soon with it.

I hope you have a lovely day out with your friend today 😊 

It’s a pain isn’t it, luckily I have my half sister here who I grew up with from 11years old and her family are so lovely they don’t have a bad bone between them, we sat in out own corner and decide we were on the naughty step and we also took comfort in the fact that it was Dad that used to cause most of the arguments and I know he would have found it funny on the day 😀 me and my half sister have leaned to not take life too seriously and are able to laugh at ourselves but my other two sister live for the drama. 

I actually rarely go to the doctors despite being chronically ill because it’s normally a waste of time. I think that’s why I get so upset because by the time I go to the doctors it’s usually really bad and they still don’t listen 😟

Onebrokelady

Cherryfudge said:

Someone on another thread commented about using old socks to make fingerless gloves... quicker than knitting but might be fun! Then you could take your time over knitting the wrist warmers.

I hope you have a lovely time with your friend tomorrow.

I tend to mend my socks and then wear them to oblivion but that is a good idea 

Onebrokelady

There has been a development 🙂 I got a phone call today from the rheumatologist I saw and he wanted to speak to me about my blood results. He has now said he thinks it’s possible that I do have Polymyalgia Rheumatica because my CRP ( inflammation levels) are elevated and they were at normal levels back in May. So the plan is I have to go and have two more blood tests tomorrow and he has sent a prescription for steroids and folic acid plus iron tablets because I’m also anaemic ( that’s normal for me ).
 I have to take the steroids and let him know how I’m getting on in a weeks time, if the pain improves then it’s probably PMR if not it’s something else. He has also arranged for me to have a CT scan of my chest because he wants to check out why I get breathless and it sounds crackly. He did a chest X-ray so I’m wondering if somethings come up in that ,he didn’t say and I didn’t ask ( will find out about that when I need to ) he was asking me about how ill I got when I had Covid so I told him that although I didn’t end up in hospital I was quite ill and I’ve had the damn thing three times now. I told him that before getting Covid the first time I had just recovered from a chest infection but that my chest has never been the same since that first Covid infection. Hopefully the CT scan will be ok and won’t turn up anything sinister 😳. He has said if the steroids work he will get my gp to prescribe me more and that he wants to see me again in three months . 

Today we had quite a good covering of snow so I didn’t meet my friend for coffee. The schools were all closed so she had to look after her granddaughter and I stayed at home in the warm. The buses were also all cancelled and it took DD2 and the friend who picks her up 2 hours to get to work in what is normally about 15 minute drive 😳 she said the car slid across the road at one point so they had to pull up on the grass. It was so icy out there and it hasn’t melted either. I have to go up to the hospital tomorrow so I’m hoping if I leave it until mid morning it might have thawed a bit more otherwise I have to walk down the hill to the bus stop 😳 hopefully we won’t get anymore and the buses will be running again tomorrow.

Makingabobor2

At last they may be on to something with your diagnosis. Hope blood tests & xray goes well. Stay warm.
And if you decide to get thermals. I've discovered MandS ones are the best. Thin so you don't know you are wearing them, but really cosy & effective. 

jwil

I'm really pleased that you've got someone looking into it all for you.  Hopefully it will make a difference.

Cherryfudge

It's great you've heard back and the rheumatologist is clearly seeing something and trying to help. The steroids helped in the past, didn't they? I know they aren't a long-term solution but if they can reduce your symptoms in the short term it might indicate where to go next with your treatment. I had a quick read-up and it seems they are investigating other treatments for Polymyalgia Rheumatica.

foxgloves

Oh, at last something to work on, @OBL. It must be so frustrating living with all that pain & tiredness & not getting any nearer a diagnosis, so I was glad to read your update. Fingers crossed that a treatment path will have you feeling more like your old self.
F 

dawnybabes

Fingers crossed the steroids work,  you should start feeling better with some iron in you (and should help the breathlessness as well)