Going through a bit of a rough patch with my health

It has been a busy couple of weeks for myself and my husband, starting with five days in Queenstown and then shortly after returning home, a visit from my oldest brother and his wife for four days. It was wonderful to see them both and to show them our ‘new’ home that they haven’t visited before. They are always great fun to be around. They hired a rental car and we all went up from Kaiapoi to Kaikoura together and they stayed a night and we had dinner together. My husband and I stayed for an extra night and had a lovely couple of days away with each other.

When we were on our way back home, we stopped at a place called Gore Bay which has a lovely beach that we enjoy walking on. I am still in recovery from my back operation 14 weeks ago and so was a bit dubious walking down the rather rugged steps and onto the uneven surface of the beach. However, I managed it quite well and had a short walk on the beach with my husband and then he went a bit further down the beach while I sat on a log and admired the view. After a wee while, I got up and decided to meet my husband on the way back from his walk. I didn’t want to miss out on being together and walking on the beach as we always do. I managed quite well, but then things changed a bit for me physically.

Shortly after joining up with my husband, my legs started to feel really heavy and I started to be concerned that I might not make it back up to the road. It came on suddenly and I’m not sure why. I think I may have referred in my blog to a similar event in Arrowtown where I started having the same heavy legs feeling and suddenly a bit dizzy and headachy. I managed to make it up the steps back to the road and into the car. It pulled me up short though, thinking that this is another progression for me. Last week I rang the nurse attached to my Neurologist and left a message asking for her to ring me back so I could discuss whether I need my medications adjusted. They have not been changed for perhaps two-three years. I’m not exactly sure. So far she has not rung me back and I had hoped to have a conversation with her about my concerns. I am seeing my GP today and perhaps will request that he makes contact with her. Correction, I am seeing my GP on Monday! I have just been typing this post and gone ‘Oh shit, I have to get to the doctor!’ Then I realised it’s tomorrow! That was an anxious moment!

Another thing that has happened is something that occurred overnight. As I have done on several occasions in the past, I started to have chest pains. They start off reasonably low on the pain scale, but unfortunately, they can quickly progress to being extremely painful. A nine or ten out of ten. The pains were really strong and I did what my GP has suggested I take some Gaviscon when it starts and then two squirts of Nitrolingual spray under my tongue. Then a further two puffs ten minutes after the first, followed by a third time of two puffs under my tongue. Doing this is supposed to ease the pain, which was significant at the time. We ended up calling an ambulance and they recommended going into the Emergency Department at our local hospital to be thoroughly checked out. I have been told in the past that it is not my heart and while that could be seen as a matter of fact, it is such a horrible pain that builds up in my chest and goes up my neck on the right hand side. It is easy to say that I have no need to worry about anything cardiac related, but the pain is so intense that I wasn’t coping with it. As usual, my husband has been there with me all the way and it is comforting but there is not a lot he can do, apart from offering moral support.

My husband reminded me that the last 2-3 times we have gone to hospital, everything turned out nothing to really worry about. The thing is, this time we were in hospital for 8 hours before we were allowed to come home. So, neither of us got any sleep last night. He was very good and supportive, but I’m not sure if he thought it a waste of time going to hospital. He keeps trying to reassure me that any heart issues have largely been discounted and that the pain in likely caused by my hernia. One problem is that I do get more anxious about things these days. My husband has remarked on it and I think he is absolutely correct. It’s hard to stay calm and wait for the pain to subside, but if I am to carry on with the things I want to do in life, then I will have to find a way to better deal with the pain and get my anxious self to calm down. One suggestion is that the pain is caused by my hernia with my distended body and extra weight causing it to be squeezed perhaps?

I really am a concoction of medical conditions and pains and any one of them can cause me pain at any time. My knee is still quite sore from my knee operation, but hopefully is on the mend. My carrying extra weight as I do at the moment is probably not helping. Also, I am determined to lose weight so I am more energetic and able to enjoy playing and being able to do so well.

I’m feeling like I need more medical support as I navigate the various things that are happening for me with my health at the moment. I also have caught a virus or something and am having coughing fits on a regular basis. Also, when you have a strong cough and a pelvic floor that is not particularly good in controlling things, there is also leakage to be anxious about. I will always find something…

So, a few things to do this week in addressing these issues, managing my Parkinson’s medications and also managing my anxiety.

Life is never all sunshine and lollipops is it!

Far from it.

But, for me the main thing is to acknowledge when my health conditions are bothering me and being honest and forthright about what I am feeling and how I am feeling.

It does no favour to me or to those following my blog to try to pretend all is happiness, when my health reminds me it can sometimes be hard.

All I can do is find ways to cope and find the positives in life.

With support I will cope and flourish once more.

Today is just a bit tricky.