The first two weeks of the month I wasn’t really allowed to do too much apart from get plenty of bed rest. So I decided seeing as I’ve got to spend a lot of time lying down I’ll put all my old diaries up on the website the ones that use to get sent out by email before I had the website, it wasn’t a very hard thing to do as I already had them as emails and it was just a case of copying and pasting which is easy to do whilst lying down just a bit boring! But it did bring back some wonderful memories. I suppose I really should have tried to get on with writing my book but it’s very hard typing whilst lying down and I find it difficult enough writing at the best of times as you can probably tell from the diaries!! The website has also been upgraded or rather it’s been switched to a different host provider. I’d been having problems with the website since before Christmas not being able to do certain things and it kept crashing which apparently was all down to the host so hopefully now it’s been switched it should be a lot quicker to load and more user friendly, I’ve also added a Favicon the little icon that appears next to my website name.
I went to see my consultant three weeks after my operation who after examining me could see that there was no movement in my left foot and my left leg was still numb and very weak so once again I’ve got to go for another MRI scan but not until the end of March, I’ve got to allow my last operation to settle down first, he did however say that he wanted me to do as much as possible, i.e. exercising whether that’s walking or riding a bike just do as much as you can! I did question him as I remembered last time not being allowed on my bike for at least six weeks after the operation, but no he said as much as you can! Maybe he felt sorry for me this time and could see how much I was struggling to do anything!
My first ride out I really wasn’t very comfortable at all and found it really quite painful and only managed to cycle 2 miles, I didn’t intend going that far as it hurting me, it was more that I couldn’t stop! I was just so uneasy and apprehensive that I would fall off, which foot should I put down first? If I put my left foot down I can’t feel it and I can’t take any weight on it! If I put my right foot down I can take the weight but feel so unbalanced! In the end I had to jump off and put both feet down or stop next to some railings or post to hold onto.
At one point I really started to get down, my sciatica seemed to be the worst it’s ever been and I was really struggling to do anything, it was bad enough not being able to walk more than 20 yards without being in pain but when I found that I couldn’t cycle that was it! Cycling is the one thing that I have always been able to do in all the years that I’ve had this back trouble but now even that was a problem! I persevered for a few days getting more depressed that I was now unable to cycle or not very far, then one morning as I was cycling along my foot came off the pedal (as it keeps doing due to me being unable to feel it) when I got it back on the pedal it was now out of the toe clip and on top of it and I found it so much easier to pedal I could actually put some pressure onto the pedal instead of relying just on my right leg doing all the work! I’ve now changed my riding style and instead of putting my foot in the toe clip on the left pedal I’ve taken it off and I now use the back of my foot rather than the ball it’s still a little uncomfortable but nowhere near as uncomfortable or painful as before and I’m feeling a lot happier now as I’m at least able to cycle, maybe not as quickly or as far as before but at least I’m mobile again now! (Now that I’ve adapted my bike can I get a blue badge!?) And now at the end of the month things seem to have settled down a bit, possibly because I’m taking so many tablets (14 a day) but at least I am able to do some things without too much pain but only for a short periods!
Physio started this month which I was a lot happier with this time, Simon the physio said that I was doing really well and to continue with the exercises I’d been given by the hospital but thought that I could probably benefit from doing some hydro therapy. The hydrotherapy went really well and I felt as if it was really doing some good although I did nearly miss the appointment for some reason I thought it was at 10 o’clock but it was at 9 o’clock, I was still faffing around at home at quarter to 9 so I had to make a quick dash on the bike to get there and made it just in time! Before they started they took my blood pressure which after my mad dash to get there was pretty high so I had to just sit there for a minute or two until it came down which luckily it did and I was able to continue with the session.
Now that I’m back on my bike and I’ve been cycling around locally a lot I’ve noticed just how many pubs have closed in the past few years, which I always think is sad to see. To me a pub plays a big part in any community it’s a focal point a place to meet up with 
friends and neighbours a place to keep in contact with each other it keeps communities together. Now I know that pubs aren’t as popular as they use to be, possibly down to the smoking ban or maybe there are just so many other things that people can do at home these days i.e. so many different TV channels, the Internet or playing computer consoles, but a lot of it is also down to greedy landlords who charge to much, to them it’s purely a way of taking as much money off people without giving anything back! I.e. a free pint at Christmas!!
