I have a surgery date and some learnings

Finally, I have a date for my surgery. It will be on 3/2 with a pre-op appointment prior next week. That is 11 days to my surgery and counting. I know there will be a six to eight week recovery period, but I have always coped better with recovery pain than pain prior to an operation. I always say ‘healing pain is good pain’.

I sometimes think that perhaps some people might wonder why this blog, which is supposed to be about my journey with Parkinson’s is often peopled with writings about my other health issues. There is a very simple reason for this. That simply put is that I am not just a person with Parkinson’s, I am a person as a whole entity and that entity has other health issues alongside Parkinson’s. To have a blog about my journey, is to have a blog about me as a whole person and that therefore necessitates to me the need to talk about other issues. As I write this, it could seem that I feel that I need to justify myself and how I do things in this blog. However, the real truth is that as this blog represents my life it is far more than my condition.

I am looking forward to being independent again. To think of just popping down the shops for something, or go out on impulse to look at Op Shops. To be able to go to lunch with a friend, without having to check if my husband is able to drop me off and pick me up. I think one of the most difficult things about these months of pain has been that lack of the ability for either of us to be spontaneous, and/or to go and do something the other wouldn’t necessarily be interested in. Our time together is precious, but has been somewhat tainted by the need to be together most of the time and my poor husband having to act as chauffeur.

It brings home to me also, that these months of pain and limited mobility are a bit of a dry run for the future when my husband may need to be around to support me more. It may be a long time in the future – and I certainly hope that it is – but in many ways it has opened my eyes to the challenges of having mobility issues both in the home and in the community.

I have looked at the world differently with this ‘blip’ in my mobility and independence.

• The stupidity of ‘accessible’ toilets that have heavy doors to get into the toilet area in the first place.
• I will never again hop into an accessible toilet. I have had many occasions when I have needed to go to the toilet and had to wait, only to see there has been someone without mobility issues come out. With about a four to one ratio in toilet stalls with the higher number being the normal stalls, surely the wait wouldn’t be long enough to justify occupying the one stall that is needed for people with crutches, wheelchairs, walkers and other issues.
• I am amazed how many people do not hold doors open when you are struggling to push a door, while trying to get through it at the same time. I will always ensure that I hold the door open for anyone struggling to manage, whether it be someone in a wheelchair or someone with a child in a buggy or any other issue that makes it difficult to manage getting through the door.
• Our house has been a wonderful place to live in amongst all this happening. The hallways are wide and the toilet has a great turning circle. We have double doors to our bedroom, but they are easily pushed open.
• I have tried my hardest to support my husband and appreciate everything he has done for me. He does not do things the way that I do and I have to let go of my fussyness and let him manage things the way he likes to.
• The world is not going to end if I don’t deadhead my roses. I will try to hold my breath and leave it a while before I request my husband’s help to deadhead.
• Keeping busy and occupying my brain are essential whilst waiting for my operation and during recovery. Having a laptop I can use now is invaluable. Keeping up with my brain exercises on lumosity daily is very good to me and I try not to miss a day. Look at it and see what you think. I just do the free exercises and am happy with them. https://www.lumosity.com/en/ .There is a train game which is very challenging and frustrating, but it gets my brain and body working. Writing this blog and doing podcasts has been a great boost for me. I will try to continue as much as I can while in recovery.
• I am trying to line up some interviews before I go off for surgery. I will put them up separately in a post of their own.

Counting down to surgery and looking forward to getting back to the ‘normal’ me that I want to be. It may not be perfectly back to where I was before all my current problems, but it’s got to be much better than right now and my current mobility and pain issues.

Thank you for following me and I especially appreciate any comments on my blog. I like to think I am reaching people and helping them in some way.