It's always so embarrassing!

You feel bad and book an appointment with the doctor, and then immediately feel much better. So much so that my doctor looked at me and said, "You' re walking well". And I was until I got back to work and simply walked from the car to my office. Then I began limping and had some pain. The trouble is, I am always worse first thing in the morning, getting out of bed is hell. So he gave me some exercises to do first thing in the morning....................... I promised to try. I also have some tablets that I was given once before, they made me feel very ill last time so I am now worried about them this time. I did get an MRI scan out of it so I'm not complaining.

Hard work

never hurt anyone, so they say. The problem there is that everything is subjective and completely circumstance dependent isn't it? As previously revealed, the week had a bad start. Then the weather went mad and it has been very hot here in Plymouth. I have problems with hot at the best of times, this week, I also had a hip joint playing me up - especially getting out of bed - and, probably as a direct result of the heat, my brain began to slow and nearly came to a halt this afternoon. Add to all of this a somewhat increased work load and the imminent loss of a lot of my work colleagues to voluntary redundancy and it hasn't been the best week ever. I did manage some work on the attic and even managed a take-away meal 

I had

a very strange weekend.

Our long time lodger and best friend, Cocky, died on Saturday morning. He was 35, or so, years old and he loved me and I loved him. He wasn't my pet, and that seemed to make our friendship even better. He belonged, if a very intelligent cockatoo could be said to be owned by anybody, to Hazels friend Denise. She and her husband live in Malta at present so we happily took on the care of Cocky. He had been with us, on and off, for a couple of years and was 'at home' with us. Anyway, he developed a bad tumour and on Saturday he had had enough.

On Sunday, I was feeling somewhat depressed about this but we had promised to spend most of the day with Lulu and the boys And, after a while, that cheered me up. Bye Cocky.

WOOO!, and very possibly, HOOO!

I did the same thing with my neck last evening and, once again, slept like the dead. This time I was prepared for it and made sure I was in a good position for my hip. The end result was waking up almost numb and comfortable, still a problem with my hip when I first got out of bed but, in general, even better than yesterday.

I am intrigued by how many hits my private YouTube video has had. Only about ten people were told about it and yet there have been 35 hits so far. Is this because my friends are telling their friends or is it that my friends just can't believe it the first time and have to watch it again?

No, I am not publishing the link here. And at 11pm it's gone to 52 hits oh dear

Let joy be unconfined!

Just before bed yesterday, I asked Hazel to rub my neck with Ibuprofen gel. Once in bed, I slept for a while with no pillow and, "BANG", my neck suddenly released all the tension and I could move it again. I fell into a deep sleep almost immediately and when I woke this morning I was very stiff, my hip was sore but my neck was still OK. I shall probably spend the next few days gradually losing the whole trauma thing whilst muscles tighten up again and bruises heal but, by the weekend, I would hope to be in a better situation than I have been for a couple of years. Then I will be able to gauge just how much my hip problem will be.

Well, now I know.

It gives me very little pleasure to be able to say this but.........................My doctor was wrong and I was right!!!!!!

I thought I had a hip problem and he said no, it was my pelvis. Well we have now seen the x-rays and it's bad arthritis in both hips. Hah! It's bad enough that, should I ask, he will get me in for surgery as soon as he can. In a perverse way, this is good news as I have a known problem with straightforward treatment. My only concern will be that my heart condition will require me to have the operation at Derriford Hospital rather than the unit where Hazel went for her knee replacement. Anyway, he suggested I think about it for a couple of months and I heartily agreed. Hazel immediatly booked our holiday in Malta...................................

The malady lingers on

It's come back to haunt me. The main problem may be gone but I now feel very bruised. I could hardly get out of bed this morning and, even now I'm moving again, the whole area still feels painful. I spent a good part of Sunday with my youngest grandson and that was a lot of fun but I appear to be paying for it today. 

It's gonna be embarrassing,

but the relief is worth it

I went to sleep yesterday in pain and woke up today bruised and very tired in the afflicted area but not, repeat, not in pain. At some point during the night, my hip / pelvis / back decided to re-adjust again and I'm walking without a limp and with no lean to the right. I'm sore but happy.
Now I have to tell the doctor on Tuesday.

My doctor

has the x-rays now and I have an appointment for next Tuesday morning so I should find out more then.

I have just written a post to the Arduino blog describing a very sophisticated device for saving wasted electricity and, of course, money into the bargain. I won't go into details here but, if I can build one, it should be a major saving for me and a terrific project for anyone else who cares to build one. It might even be commercially viable, although I doubt it, unless some clever Dick can build it onto one small, cheap circuit board.

There's good news...............

and, as always...............................

The good news is that the 'fix' I accidentally  applied to my back seems to be holding.

The bad news is that the problem with my pelvis remains. I suppose it proves that they aren't related other than each making the other more painful but it would have been nice to have lost all my problems in one go. The pelvis problem is always worse first thing in the morning, getting out of be is usually very painful. Yesterday, I was woken by Samuel who shook me gently and then was astounded by my cries of pain. It took me nearly ten minutes to recover and get standing up. All in all, it was an interesting weekend with both grandsons in attendance for most of it. Samuel was fine, well behaved and as helpful as a nearly seven year old can be. Corey, however, is just approaching 'the terrible twos' and beginning to be quite demanding at times. I suspect most of it is down to his lack of speech. He understands a lot and is learning his words very quickly but, obviously, not fast enough for him! He isn't going to be satisfied until he is a member of the chattering classes.

Interesting times (Revisited)

Yesterday, whilst sitting quietly in a fairly small room....................I needed to reach an area that isn't a regular spot, if you see what I mean. Well, I manoeuvred my legs into the required position and reached around when there was an almighty CRACK and something slipped back into place in my back. It was a bit painful and very tiring for the rest of the day but I was able to sleep OK and woke feeling OK this morning. Whatever it was I did, it has relieved the pressure somewhere as I am walking better and Hazel tells me I am looking straighter as well. Do it yourself chiropractic, it worked for me!

Oh dear.

I've just heard the news that Eric Sykes, writer, actor and wonderful person has died. He will be missed.

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Another weekend gone away.

Saturday was very busy and a lot got achieved as well. I even had a long chat with Russ that, I think, perked us both up. Then came Sunday and, for no good reason, suddenly I was depressed. It's such a long time since I was genuinely depressed that it came as a bit of a shock to the system. Hazel noticed it and so, amazingly, did I.  Anyway, I spent nearly all day copying Andre Rieu concerts onto DVD for keeping and got a lot of pleasure from that. I also managed to clear quite a lot of space in the attic and got quite a bit of satisfaction from that. In between times, I massaged Cockys foot, which he loves, and tried to get him to use it on his perch, which he hates and just will not persevere with. I had him out of the cage and on my lap for a while but he just wanted to get up to my face and tuck himself under my beard or gently nibble my ear. He is a very strange bird.