OUR FIRST RUNNER BEANS

I didn’t get up until late and after having my shower I just listened to some music and podcasts, whilst lying on the bed and promptly went back to sleep - for some reason podcasts have that effect on me.

When the bell rang, I was surprised to see my sister, who said she had been to the hospital nearby, so thought she would call in to see me - so we had a good catch-up chat together.

My appointment with the Consultant Spinal Surgeon, Mr. O. was at 3.10 but we got there at about 2.45 and before we even had a chance to sit down, my name was called and we were taken to his room.

He asked me one or two questions and then asked me to walk on my tiptoes, which I couldn’t do without experiencing severe pain in my legs and when he asked me to walk on my heels, I couldn’t do that without pain either.  

He had my MRI scan from a couple of weeks ago and said he could see quite clearly that two of the discs were bulging and the gap between them was very narrow, so he recommended surgery.  I must admit I was quite shocked because my GP had intimated that surgery would be the last resort.  

However, Mr. O said that my condition would not get better and although he could do an injection, that wouldn’t last that long.  He said that if I continued as I was without surgery, then I would just get worse and would have to rely on the Mo-Rollator more and more and would end up walking badly and would still be in considerable pain.

He was very honest and explained everything very well, but as I said, it was a great shock to hear this, so we are now considering our options.  He doesn’t do NHS work so it would have to be done privately and he could do it in about 2½ weeks.  He said that NHS waiting lists were very long, but it was my decision and there was no pressure from him, but I could be walking out of the hospital in a couple of weeks with no pain in my legs.

I am going out to Worship Group Practice tonight and will discuss the situation again with Mr. HCB when I get back, but I think I will be having the operation so it is good to think that in a short time I could be pain free and walking without a Mo-Rollator or crutches.

I am thankful that we have had an early appointment with this consultant, who was very open had a sense of humour and answered all the questions I had written down in my book - AND he thought I was too young to have to have this constant pain - gold star to him for that comment!!  

I took this shot in the garden just after we had eaten and you can see the runner beans have reached the top of Mr. HCB’s contraption and he picked the first ones today.  If you look carefully, you can see lots of birds, most of them gulls, obviously enjoying the flying insects.

I was listening to a podcast this morning about pain - and this quote says it all:

“Pain insists upon being attended to. 
     God whispers to us in our pleasures, 
          speaks in our consciences, 
but shouts in our pains;
     it is his megaphone 
          to rouse a deaf world.”
C.S. Lewis