Having had back problems for the past 10 years on and off, I've finally really messed my back up big time and have been restricted (imobile) to the sofa for the past 3 days. Even the vast quantities of painkillers and other assorted pills haven't helped a huge amount. I was particularly disappointed by the Diazepam which I'd always thought was some sort of valium-related wonder drug, but it appears to mostly turn me into a dozy bleary-eyed mushy brained mess. If putting me to sleep is one way of getting rid of the pain then I suppose it's doing it's job, but it would be nice to be able to retain some sort of brain function!
After an extremely crappy visit by a totally disinterested doctor who obviously knew nothing about back pain and was even more disinterested when he found out I was merely a woman who looks after children I think I've lost my last remaining strand of faith in the medical profession. I can't help thinking that if I'd been the male breadwinner of the family then I'd have received rather more attention, sympathy and treatment. Still, can't complain, after 10 years of back pain they've finally conceded to give me painkillers (at last!) and booked me in for an MRI scan. Downside is that the waiting list for the MRI scan is 2-3 months. Hmm....Anyway Mr Doctor Doom cheerfully suggested that I could be like this for around 2 weeks to a month, which I thought was a really well-educated prognosis considering he didn't even seem to know exactly what was wrong with me. Even the explanation that I had 3 young children to home educate and that I really couldn't face the next month confined to the sofa and having to pee in the kitchen jug (needs must), didn't extract a tiny bit of sympathetic advice from him.
So...
Took things into my own hands. Got dh to hire me a pair of crutches from a local chemist at a very reasonable rate and at least now I can slowly and painfully hobble across the room. I've even managed to limp dangerously up the stairs to the bathroom which has got to be my best achievement ever. Everest? Hey, that's a doddle! The luxury of washing my hair, albeit in a painful and slapdash way, has made me feel even more positive about the day.
Dh is desperate to go back to work (2 weeks at home with me and the kids is probably 2 weeks more than he'd like) so hopefully by Monday I'll be mobile enough to act as baby sitter, even if I wont be doing a lot of parenting. The kids have been great, but still wondering how I'm going to get out and about with them. The painkillers have made me too drowsy to drive and I don't think I'd be able to walk to a bus stop yet, so perhaps I could use a taxi on a few occasions just to get them to burn off a bit of energy at the park or similar.
In the meantime there is SO much to be done in the garden and allotment that I'm finding it frustrating not to be able to just get on with it. All the digging needs to be done now before the horsetail, thistles and couch grass take hold and to prepare for putting potatoes in which are nicely chitting in the conservatory window and need to be planted soon.
So what else has been going on? Well last week dh and ds2 went to STEAM at Swindon for the day (not my cup of tea) to look at trains and well, more trains I guess. We also spent a good day at Legoland making the most of the kids' annual passes. Still trying to persuade ds1 to finish off his application for a blue peter badge so I don't have to fork out for another annual pass when his runs out in May this year.
Some rides are just too scary!
It's no fun being eaten by a Lego Lion!
Also spent a day at the 'Living Rainforest'. There have been some improvements to the rainforest since we last went, with more 'hands on' activities and a larger cafe area.
Lots of emphasis too on sustainability and recycling, which I though was rather ironic considering that at least most of the food I saw served in the cafe was overly packaged in plastic wrapping! Still, overall we were fortunate with the weather for a week where the forecast was bleak.
Turtle/Terapin at The Living Rainforest
Wow! What a big fish!
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