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MRI

Following my recent A&E visit with my numb leg I had an appointment to have an MRI scan. On a Sunday. Apparently in order to keep up with demand they now offer appointments 7 days a week. Still, it was quite a novelty being in a hospital on a Sunday and not being an inpatient!

MRI scans involve going into the tunnel which is so tight you can barely move. 



Luckily I'm not claustrophobic but I can understand why people don't like it. You have to wear headphones because there's a lot of clanking, banging and other loud noises. Despite this I tend to fall asleep!  

To be honest, I'm really not too sure what they're looking for. I'm guessing that there has been some nerve damage given the numbness. The results go to the orthopaedic team at the Princess Alexandra hospital so I'm sure they will be in contact if it needs following up. 

I can't believe how different I feel this week compared to last. I don't know if I have an energy hangover (love that phrase Kitty!) or if I'm just overdoing it slightly (hard not to when the kids are on school holidays) but I am exhausted. I had to have extra TPN today because I was feeling dizzy and just not good. I wonder if I'm dehydrating faster due to being more active and the warmer weather. Just need to keep an eye on it I guess. 

I'm going to the GP tomorrow to discuss how I'm going to be weaned off my painkillers. In hospital they put me on a lot of medication as I was in huge amounts of pain. Now my pain has gone (and yes, I am still pain free in my bottom- whoop whoop!) I need to come off the meds but I need to have medical guidance to prevent me experiencing cold turkey. I have experienced this in the past when I decided I no longer wanted to use fentanyl patches so just took them off. It was really dreadful- 48 hours of twitchy arms and legs, muscle cramps, headaches, vomiting...something I'm really not keen to experience again!! It actually made me feel sorry for the proper hardcore drug addicts that try to get clean. 

I also need to discuss my continence and follow up the referral the hospital should have made to the local incontinence service. I'm running low on some of my tena pads and they are very expensive to buy. I'm hoping that I should be able to get some on prescription. 

I'm not totally incontinent but there are times when I have to make a mad dash to the loo (and don't always make it in time). I'm doing pretty well at night but am still going to the loo anywhere between 2 and 7 times. It's leading to broken sleep which may be contributing to the tiredness. 

But on a positive note, after dinner tonight we decided to go for a walk in our local country park. We are very lucky that this is literally 2 minutes from our house and Hubby and I are determined that this year we will take advantage of its location with plenty of walks, bike rides and picnics. We didn't walk for long but it was so nice being outside in the fresh air, watching the kids ride their bikes, holding my Hubby's hand and seeing the sun go down. Well worth the blisters I've encountered. Got to toughen my feet up- they're not used to walking after months spent in flip flops on the hospital wards. 

NB x


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