Monday 27 September 2010

I have 2 arms!!!

The plaster cast came off today, yay!! I'm surprised at how swollen and painful my wrist is. I've got a good range of movement though, even the Dr in the fracture clinic was surprised at how good, so I'm hoping that'll make for a quick recovery - pain and swelling free!
I drove a little bit this evening which made me wrist quite painful initially when changing gears, and it was definitely more swollen afterwards, but I've got no plans to use public transport now I don't have to so I'm sure my wrist will adapt to driving again quickly!

I seem to have got the beginnings of the lovely cold that everyone seems to be moaning about. I've got a sore throat and looking very pale (which was commented on at the hospital this morning - it's one of my 'warning signs', I often go very pale before having a big asthma attack). Bloody great timing considering I'm trying to wean down the Pred right now! It hasn't really effected my chest so far, I have used my salbutamol slightly more than normal but nothing drastic, so I'm knocking back Vitamin C, Zinc and Echinnacea tablets in the hope I can get rid of it before it develops into something worse and makes breathing fun.

Saturday 25 September 2010

I want my arm back!!

I still have a plaster cast on my left arm and it's driving me mad! I have a review at the fracture clinic on Monday, I'm hoping it'll come off... I sat in my car to assess whether I could drive, I decided against it and playing around with the gear stick caused some pain. Over the past few days I've noticed pain occuring when it didn't earlier on in the week. I'm hoping that it's because the swelling has gone down rather than I'm going to need the cast on for longer.

I finally had my second dose of Omalizumab last week! So now I'm trying to decrease my steroids, yet again. I feel that I'm continually trying to reduce Pred. My aim isn't to come off them for once though, I'll go down to 10mg and see what happens, then maybe down to 5mg and stay there until I next see my consultant in a month (as per his recommendation). I start to notice not being on them once I drop below 20mg so that maybe too ambitious but we'll see what happens.

My life has been really boring with this cast on, more so than normal. Due to not being able to drive I haven't been able to get out and meet up with friends. Granted, they could have come to my flat or I could have met them during the day at the weekends (buses and trains don't get me home on weekday evenings) but clearly they had better things to do than go out of their way to meet up. Yeah, I'm feeling pretty bitter right now over the lack of good, supportive, reliable friends I have!

I had an assessment to assess whether I can return to being a nurse a few days ago. It wasn't much fun, and I'm waiting to hear when the second part of the assessment will be. Almost 3 years this has dragged on for, and I seriously cannot wait for it to be over and a decision is finally made! I had hoped it would be resolved this year, but I've said that every year, and now I've reluctantly come to accept that it's likely to be resolved next year, but I'm slowly getting there.

Another reason I can't wait for this cast to be off is so I can make a start on my Christmas cards! I went to a craft show yesterday and bought a few bits. I thought the show wasn't as good as previous years and I didn't spend anywhere near as much as I thought I would, so I have a small shopping list of things I need to get, then I can make some cards! :-) I LOVE christmas, the shops are already selling christmas chocolates and decorations. It's pretty early, but oh, I just realised - it's only 3 months away!

Wednesday 8 September 2010

Ahhh independence, how I miss you!

Hmmm it seems like so long ago since I last wrote here! To pick up from where I left off....

I had a respiratory outpatient appointment to assess whether I was well enough for the second dose of Omalizumab. I was, and was told to return the next day for the injection. All day I felt poorly, spent the night being sick and retching, which in turn made me feel wheezy and generally rubbish so I didn't end up having the Omalizumab :-(

After this, I decided that I needed to whack my Pred up to 60mg as I was off to Manchester to stay with a friend and didn't want to end up having an asthma attack up there! Pred took a few days to kick it but finally did. First night in Manchester I went ice skating, fell over and ended up spending a few hours in A&E to be told I'd suffered a broken Scaphoid (small bone in hand, very commonly broken during a fall), and had my first ever plaster cast!
Saw my favourite band whilst in Manchester - Muse!! I <3 Muse, they're absolutely amazing live.
Had a lovely time whilst in Manchester, but to be honest, I was very glad to get back home for a few reasons.

By the time I got home my poor hand was really starting to hurt, so the day after I took myself off to the local MIU to get it looked at and try to arrange an appointment at the fracture clinic. Turns out that not only did I break my scaphoid, I also chipped a bone in my wrist and broke my radius (big bone in wrist). The hospital in Manchester had put a full cast on which hadn't allowed for the wrist swelling hence the increasing pain!
Ughhhhh, I'm so over public transport already. I hate hate hate not being able to drive, struggling to do pretty much everything, not being as independent :-( Ah well, it could be worse. It was my left hand and I'm right handed....

Monday I had a phone call from my respiratory consultant's secretary asking me to go in and see him today. I went in fully expecting to be moaned at over the Omalizumab situation and be told that I couldn't have it again. I didn't get moaned at (lol) but I was told that the Omalizumab isn't going to work if I'm not 'well enough' to have the injections, which is perfectly understandable. So the plan is, I have the injection next week (if well enough!), then I think if we can't get into a routine with it then that will be the end of that :-(
I've never believed all the hype that it's a wonder drug so I'm not THAT upset, but I have been pinning quite a few hopes on this drug - that it would make even a small difference. The next step would be to try drugs like Methotrexate, and I'm really not keen on that idea.

My consultant is also going to arrange for me to have a DEXA scan in view of my poor wrist. I had one about 5 years ago which showed my bone density was below what it should be, and I was put on preventative medication to stop it from getting any worse. Hopefully I just landed badly and the pretty much continuous steroids haven't caused me any more problems :-(

And that is that. I'm pretty fed up in general but that's purely because of my wrist - I hate struggling to do simple things and not being able to just get in my car whenever I like. I live in a rural area, the only thing within walking distance is a farm shop and buses are less than hourly. Beats where I used to live where buses were weekly I guess!!!!!!!