Greetings,
So, I mentioned something a while ago about my knee giving me troubles. Well, I have had an x-ray and ultrasound just for them to find out that it is a perfectly good looking knee which is there. This means of course it that my fibromyalgia has decided that it was high time to come up and bite me in the butt again. I thought that I had this all under control, not to be by the looks of things.
So, this will make my trip to the orthopedic surgeon most interesting, but at least I will know for sure what is going on with the knee, whenever they get around to it. Likewise the trip to physiotherapy is going to be interesting, but at least I should get around to seeing them. Needless to say I am on a waiting list for the both of them.
So, what's the story? The knee is alright in the morning, and gets worse during the day. It also gets worse when it gets cold. Yup, FM all over. Obviously if I use it too much there is an issue, and just to confuse things, if I don't use it enough there are issues. No winning with this one. So, I have been saddled with a knee brace to assist the knee and it is working alright. Similarly I have also been saddled with a walking stick for when I need it.
Looks like I have a trying time ahead, but it is just another bit to get through, like the rest of it. I am figuring that I can work around some stuff and just leave some alone for a while. But be stuffed if I am simply going to put myself in a corner and complain and do nothing. I have stuff to do which needs to get done, and stuff to do that I want to do. Onward and upward I suppose.
Cheers,
Henry.
Monday, June 2, 2014
Sunday, May 11, 2014
Another Mother's Day
Greetings,
This is a picture of Linda Caroline Walker, my mum, she was awesome. She unfortunately passed away from lung cancer a few years ago (For me the number of years does not matter). For me it makes Mother's Day a little hard each year because I miss her one hell of a lot. However it is not only that she is gone she left behind some great lessons for me and my awesome brother and sister. So I also like to celebrate this.
My mum always supported me in what I was doing regardless of what the chosen field was. I decided that I wanted to become an historian by the time I was about 11. Rather than telling me that I should become a doctor or an accountant or something which would earn lots of money she supported me in this endeavour. I had joined a couple of sporting clubs in my time and she supported me in my choices for them, even when I decided that I wanted to fence. She even supported me when I decided that I wanted to do Renaissance Martial Arts a few years later, not sport fencing.
I believe it was my mother who taught me how to cook. Sure I did a Home Economics class or two at school, but it was my mother who sat by me and told me better ways to do things, and how to follow recipes. She was also the one who would support me in this when I decided that I wanted to try things which were a little out of the ordinary as well. This put me in good stead for when I left home I can tell you.
Most of all I have no doubt in the world that she loved me as much as I loved her. She was always there to tend a skinned knee, or for a trip to the hospital. I have lost count the number of days she sat by my bed, or waited in doctor's surgeries, or travelled so I could get the best care that she could find for me. It was her insistence that I should see a specialist about my random pains, the basis of which resulted in first me being relieved it was not all in my head, and for second the diagnosis of fibromyalgia. Sure I pulled a couple of "sickies" in my time, but she was there when there really was a problem or I really was sick.
I also have no doubt that she loved me as much as I still love her in the way her love was unconditional. Even through, tantrums, crankies, misbehaviours and all the other things children do she was always there with a smile showing me the right way. This did not stop when I left home but continued, she was always there with a willing hug and a kiss, always happy to see me. Regardless of the girlfriend who I brought home, she was always welcoming of them, always including them into the family, always trying to help. It is this which I will always remember her most for. Her open heart, her loving attitude toward me.
She touched the lives of many people and none of us will ever forget her. I miss you Mum.
Cheers,
Henry.
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Knees... Why do you not like me?
Greetings,
So, I figured this one was worth the blog, especially because it has some relevance to the overall picture here. Once again, I am going to be writing off the top of my head and not editing it. I have begun to find this most useful, even if the thoughts do get a little jumbled and I do end up a bit off track. I will, however, try and make at least a decent amount of sense.
When I was 15, I was diagnosed with "patela melanasia", also known as "rough knee-caps" undoubtedly a result of over-use and doing too much. Yes, this sort of thing started at least that early if not much earlier in my life. So, the knees have always been a little irritated at times. Now we fast-forward to today....
Still doing too much, add fibromyalgia, a bit of age and you have a pair of knees which are not really happy with me at all. My biggest symptom from fibromyalgia that I get is joint issues. I have joints, they ache or are just plain painful, usually for no good reason whatsoever. For the most part I deal with this myself with exercise and bits of rest here and there, however this is different. So I have taken myself along to my doctor to ask him what I am going to do with myself, etc. So referrals off to the hospital, on waiting lists, blah, blah, blah. I have no idea what the hospital is going to say or do, especially considering I was referred to both Physiotherapy and the Orthaepedic surgeons.
So here I wait. I figure that in the mean time I can keep the doctor up to date with what is going on (situation normal), and see how I can deal with things myself. This is something that I will be discussing with the doctor. What does this all mean? My mobility has reduced quite a bit. I am having more pain in my knees that before. However, I am not quitting fencing, I will find a way around this and lots of other stuff, even if I have to ask for.... help. Something I hate doing. Luckily I get picked up for my school training, now all I have to do is figure out the rest of it. Figure I am going to end up cane shopping a little earlier than I expected.
So, with winter coming on down here in Australia in the next couple of months I can see things getting a little "interesting". I will keep going, I will keep doing stuff, I have no intentions of hiding myself away, though I do think I will have to figure out this "rest" thing, a bit at least. Anyway, I may get around to keeping people up to date with this one, but I do not guarantee a thing.
Cheers,
Henry.
So, I figured this one was worth the blog, especially because it has some relevance to the overall picture here. Once again, I am going to be writing off the top of my head and not editing it. I have begun to find this most useful, even if the thoughts do get a little jumbled and I do end up a bit off track. I will, however, try and make at least a decent amount of sense.
When I was 15, I was diagnosed with "patela melanasia", also known as "rough knee-caps" undoubtedly a result of over-use and doing too much. Yes, this sort of thing started at least that early if not much earlier in my life. So, the knees have always been a little irritated at times. Now we fast-forward to today....
Still doing too much, add fibromyalgia, a bit of age and you have a pair of knees which are not really happy with me at all. My biggest symptom from fibromyalgia that I get is joint issues. I have joints, they ache or are just plain painful, usually for no good reason whatsoever. For the most part I deal with this myself with exercise and bits of rest here and there, however this is different. So I have taken myself along to my doctor to ask him what I am going to do with myself, etc. So referrals off to the hospital, on waiting lists, blah, blah, blah. I have no idea what the hospital is going to say or do, especially considering I was referred to both Physiotherapy and the Orthaepedic surgeons.
So here I wait. I figure that in the mean time I can keep the doctor up to date with what is going on (situation normal), and see how I can deal with things myself. This is something that I will be discussing with the doctor. What does this all mean? My mobility has reduced quite a bit. I am having more pain in my knees that before. However, I am not quitting fencing, I will find a way around this and lots of other stuff, even if I have to ask for.... help. Something I hate doing. Luckily I get picked up for my school training, now all I have to do is figure out the rest of it. Figure I am going to end up cane shopping a little earlier than I expected.
So, with winter coming on down here in Australia in the next couple of months I can see things getting a little "interesting". I will keep going, I will keep doing stuff, I have no intentions of hiding myself away, though I do think I will have to figure out this "rest" thing, a bit at least. Anyway, I may get around to keeping people up to date with this one, but I do not guarantee a thing.
Cheers,
Henry.
Thursday, April 3, 2014
A Patient and the Importance of Being Patient
Greetings,
The entry which follows may be a bit muddled and a bit random in nature as I am writing it off the top of my head. I am looking at this word "patient" and seeing what I can get out of it at the moment. More to the point it is also looking at a person as a patient in a medical sense.
A medical patient is a person who is under medical care for the reason that there is some medical issue that needs to be solved. This issue can be acute or chronic, life-threatening to minor, it does not matter as soon as you come into contact with a health care professional you become "the patient". In some instances it will feel like you have also turned into a number, and this can happen more the more public the situation that you are in.
Hospitals, or more to the point emergency departments, are designed for sick people. In the case of emergency departments this is for people who have an immediate threat of some seriousness to their health, or they should be anyway. In some situations this is not the case and some of the patients really should be going and seeing their private doctor rather than gumming up the system, but the way that the economy goes it is really not surprising that some do it.
In emergency departments they work on a triage system. This means that the patients are evaluated as to the seriousness of their issue and then are seen in turn from most serious down to least serious. The system is not designed for "first in, first seen". What this means is, if your issue is relatively minor you are going to be waiting a long time. Obviously this is suited to the situation for an emergency department.
Waiting is an issue for some people and they will get very angry if they feel like they have been made to wait too long. Some people will even get quite aggressive about this and start causing issues for the staff. This is not the best way to be dealt with in a positive fashion. In most situations with regard to the public health system, and indeed the health system in general, there will be waiting periods. There is no point in getting angry as this will not get you any further along the queue, more to the point it will irritate those who are working there and will result in a negative opinion of you.
One of the keys to surviving the wait is having something to do. Bring a book if you are going for an appointment. Find something to occupy your mind that will take your focus off the wait. Believe it or not your patience as a patient is really appreciated by the staff. You will be remembered for your patience and your consideration and this will also lead to a more positive outcome for yourself and will assist others around you. The patient patient is a boon and those in the health care profession will thank you for it.
Cheers,
Henry.
The entry which follows may be a bit muddled and a bit random in nature as I am writing it off the top of my head. I am looking at this word "patient" and seeing what I can get out of it at the moment. More to the point it is also looking at a person as a patient in a medical sense.
A medical patient is a person who is under medical care for the reason that there is some medical issue that needs to be solved. This issue can be acute or chronic, life-threatening to minor, it does not matter as soon as you come into contact with a health care professional you become "the patient". In some instances it will feel like you have also turned into a number, and this can happen more the more public the situation that you are in.
Hospitals, or more to the point emergency departments, are designed for sick people. In the case of emergency departments this is for people who have an immediate threat of some seriousness to their health, or they should be anyway. In some situations this is not the case and some of the patients really should be going and seeing their private doctor rather than gumming up the system, but the way that the economy goes it is really not surprising that some do it.
In emergency departments they work on a triage system. This means that the patients are evaluated as to the seriousness of their issue and then are seen in turn from most serious down to least serious. The system is not designed for "first in, first seen". What this means is, if your issue is relatively minor you are going to be waiting a long time. Obviously this is suited to the situation for an emergency department.
Waiting is an issue for some people and they will get very angry if they feel like they have been made to wait too long. Some people will even get quite aggressive about this and start causing issues for the staff. This is not the best way to be dealt with in a positive fashion. In most situations with regard to the public health system, and indeed the health system in general, there will be waiting periods. There is no point in getting angry as this will not get you any further along the queue, more to the point it will irritate those who are working there and will result in a negative opinion of you.
One of the keys to surviving the wait is having something to do. Bring a book if you are going for an appointment. Find something to occupy your mind that will take your focus off the wait. Believe it or not your patience as a patient is really appreciated by the staff. You will be remembered for your patience and your consideration and this will also lead to a more positive outcome for yourself and will assist others around you. The patient patient is a boon and those in the health care profession will thank you for it.
Cheers,
Henry.
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Back Again... Transport Fun
Greetings,
Sorry it has been so long. I decided that I would wait until I could come up with something related to FM rather than just going through detailing my own existence along with great piles of stuff not related to FM. Well, I have sort of come up with something. I will tell you right now that this will not be one of my best posts because I am going to just have a bit of a chat.
So, out with my wife today travelling by public transport. This can be a simple matter and a reasonable joy or it can be a real chore I can tell you. Now, the public transport in Brisbane is not all that bad, even if it is one of the most expensive in the world. Things run reasonably on time and where they are supposed to go and so forth, so there are no complaints about Brisbane Transport in this blog. Some of those who use these services, that is another matter.
There are those who use the transport because they have to (like me), and there are those who choose to because it is better for their health, or it is easier than trying to find parking or whatever. Each to their own...
My first occurrence today was a pair of "gentlemen" and I use that title extremely loosely. They did not use a card nor did they bother to purchase themselves a ticket. More to the point the pair of them looked like they were looking for trouble. They were talking at the height of their voices, bitching about the price of transport for starters, the irony did not hit them at all. Little do they realise that their non-compliance with paying for a ticket is one of the reasons why Brisbane Transport justifies putting the prices up.
My second, I got on a bus sat down in one of the seats near the front with my wife. Comfortably sitting in the spot having a chat. Then some older lady gets on the bus, looks at the pair of us glares and then finds somewhere else to sit. Like she was expecting us to get up and move. This is not the first occurrence of this at all, once again it comes down to the "invisible illness" issue.
I am extremely tempted to buy a walking stick just so I can have it with me so there is something visible that says that there is a problem and maybe people should not judge so quickly. In this I just get irritated by the expectation that because I am younger I will instantly move because the older person wants to sit there. Sure, if it is the last seat on the bus, I may have moved, but it was not. The "lady" had to go a whole one seat back on the bus to get to another one. The shock. The horror of it all. Please do excuse the sarcasm.
Anyway, I am thinking that there may be more entries to come. However, I would not hold your collective breaths on this one. I feel that this blog has come to a stage where I am just going to write when I get the inspiration to do so. I had considered taking the whole thing down but was counselled against it as I have some regular readers who get worth out of my ramblings. You can thank them for the continued presence of my blog.
Cheers,
Henry.
Sorry it has been so long. I decided that I would wait until I could come up with something related to FM rather than just going through detailing my own existence along with great piles of stuff not related to FM. Well, I have sort of come up with something. I will tell you right now that this will not be one of my best posts because I am going to just have a bit of a chat.
So, out with my wife today travelling by public transport. This can be a simple matter and a reasonable joy or it can be a real chore I can tell you. Now, the public transport in Brisbane is not all that bad, even if it is one of the most expensive in the world. Things run reasonably on time and where they are supposed to go and so forth, so there are no complaints about Brisbane Transport in this blog. Some of those who use these services, that is another matter.
There are those who use the transport because they have to (like me), and there are those who choose to because it is better for their health, or it is easier than trying to find parking or whatever. Each to their own...
My first occurrence today was a pair of "gentlemen" and I use that title extremely loosely. They did not use a card nor did they bother to purchase themselves a ticket. More to the point the pair of them looked like they were looking for trouble. They were talking at the height of their voices, bitching about the price of transport for starters, the irony did not hit them at all. Little do they realise that their non-compliance with paying for a ticket is one of the reasons why Brisbane Transport justifies putting the prices up.
My second, I got on a bus sat down in one of the seats near the front with my wife. Comfortably sitting in the spot having a chat. Then some older lady gets on the bus, looks at the pair of us glares and then finds somewhere else to sit. Like she was expecting us to get up and move. This is not the first occurrence of this at all, once again it comes down to the "invisible illness" issue.
I am extremely tempted to buy a walking stick just so I can have it with me so there is something visible that says that there is a problem and maybe people should not judge so quickly. In this I just get irritated by the expectation that because I am younger I will instantly move because the older person wants to sit there. Sure, if it is the last seat on the bus, I may have moved, but it was not. The "lady" had to go a whole one seat back on the bus to get to another one. The shock. The horror of it all. Please do excuse the sarcasm.
Anyway, I am thinking that there may be more entries to come. However, I would not hold your collective breaths on this one. I feel that this blog has come to a stage where I am just going to write when I get the inspiration to do so. I had considered taking the whole thing down but was counselled against it as I have some regular readers who get worth out of my ramblings. You can thank them for the continued presence of my blog.
Cheers,
Henry.
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Clumsiness
Greetings,
People with fibromyalgia will relate to this one instantly... "You reach over to take something, grab it successfully and then, in the process knock something over on the way back." Next think you know someone is accusing you of being clumsy, and admittedly the failure here could be related to this. One thing I have noticed however is that this is not improved by FM.
The post which follows is a little personal as it relates to something which plagued me while I was a child and has only gotten worse thanks to the fibromyalgia. I am talking about being clumsy, about attempting something and then for some inexplicable reason your hands or whatever do not do what they are supposed to do and a mess is made. Sure everyone has their days where things are not going right, but for some of us it is systemic.
As a child my hand-eye coordination was horrible, so much so that I was sent to a physical therapist in order to improve this situation. It helped, but I can tell you that it had only been through lots and lots of work repeating actions and being very careful about things that it has improved. This is one of those times where playing console and other games really has helped me. Well, just as things were looking up FM, arrived to haunt my days.
Now I have days where I feel like I am back in the body of that clumsy little child. Things go wrong, I knock things over, I make a mess at times where something seems simple. Sometimes for me it is an achievement to get through a day without me knocking something over or spilling something or something similar. On these days I have to be especially careful. I suspect that this has something to do with neurons not firing or something or other all I know is that it is bloody annoying and really frustrating.
So, some of my regular readers are going to ask me, "But you fence, how can you achieve this with such an issue?" Practice, practice, practice. Oh, yeah, and some days where stuff just goes wrong and I get hit lots. Learning new skills for me takes a long time, and a lot of going over the same thing again, and again, and again. Needless to say with the time that I have had fencing, I have had a lot of time to do this.
So, I have two points to make with regard to this:
1) If you have FM you may not actually be as clumsy as you think you are, you may just be having one of those days where the "brain fog" travels in to a more physical situation. We have issues with nerves and so forth don't be too surprised if it is this rather than you just being clumsy.
2) For those who do not have FM. Stop. Think. Is this person just having a bad day? Is there an issue which you cannot see which may be going on? Please try not to point out the clumsy bits and incidences and make too much of a deal about them, they are probably having a hard enough time on their own, and are probably more frustrated than you are.
In my own case, I know that things are going to take work. I know that I will have days where things are going to be annoying as hell. So I figure that I will do as I usually do, work through it. Work on it, and try not to beat up on myself too much when stuff happens.
Cheers,
Henry.
People with fibromyalgia will relate to this one instantly... "You reach over to take something, grab it successfully and then, in the process knock something over on the way back." Next think you know someone is accusing you of being clumsy, and admittedly the failure here could be related to this. One thing I have noticed however is that this is not improved by FM.
The post which follows is a little personal as it relates to something which plagued me while I was a child and has only gotten worse thanks to the fibromyalgia. I am talking about being clumsy, about attempting something and then for some inexplicable reason your hands or whatever do not do what they are supposed to do and a mess is made. Sure everyone has their days where things are not going right, but for some of us it is systemic.
As a child my hand-eye coordination was horrible, so much so that I was sent to a physical therapist in order to improve this situation. It helped, but I can tell you that it had only been through lots and lots of work repeating actions and being very careful about things that it has improved. This is one of those times where playing console and other games really has helped me. Well, just as things were looking up FM, arrived to haunt my days.
Now I have days where I feel like I am back in the body of that clumsy little child. Things go wrong, I knock things over, I make a mess at times where something seems simple. Sometimes for me it is an achievement to get through a day without me knocking something over or spilling something or something similar. On these days I have to be especially careful. I suspect that this has something to do with neurons not firing or something or other all I know is that it is bloody annoying and really frustrating.
So, some of my regular readers are going to ask me, "But you fence, how can you achieve this with such an issue?" Practice, practice, practice. Oh, yeah, and some days where stuff just goes wrong and I get hit lots. Learning new skills for me takes a long time, and a lot of going over the same thing again, and again, and again. Needless to say with the time that I have had fencing, I have had a lot of time to do this.
So, I have two points to make with regard to this:
1) If you have FM you may not actually be as clumsy as you think you are, you may just be having one of those days where the "brain fog" travels in to a more physical situation. We have issues with nerves and so forth don't be too surprised if it is this rather than you just being clumsy.
2) For those who do not have FM. Stop. Think. Is this person just having a bad day? Is there an issue which you cannot see which may be going on? Please try not to point out the clumsy bits and incidences and make too much of a deal about them, they are probably having a hard enough time on their own, and are probably more frustrated than you are.
In my own case, I know that things are going to take work. I know that I will have days where things are going to be annoying as hell. So I figure that I will do as I usually do, work through it. Work on it, and try not to beat up on myself too much when stuff happens.
Cheers,
Henry.
Friday, December 6, 2013
The Future
Greetings,
Just a really short one...
Recently I had a crisis of the mind. I had serious considerations as to whether or not I was going to remove this blog from the internet. For all my avid readers, you will be glad to hear that I have decided to leave it where it is in order that information presented can still be used by those who find it interesting and/or useful to them. I have thoughts that I may make future posts on here, should I get inspired at the time, however these entries will be sporadic to put it politely. I thank all of my kind readers for their support of this blog and I hope that I will find something suitably inspiring to put on here again, at least sometime in the future.
Cheers,
Henry.
Just a really short one...
Recently I had a crisis of the mind. I had serious considerations as to whether or not I was going to remove this blog from the internet. For all my avid readers, you will be glad to hear that I have decided to leave it where it is in order that information presented can still be used by those who find it interesting and/or useful to them. I have thoughts that I may make future posts on here, should I get inspired at the time, however these entries will be sporadic to put it politely. I thank all of my kind readers for their support of this blog and I hope that I will find something suitably inspiring to put on here again, at least sometime in the future.
Cheers,
Henry.
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