Umph it’s been a long slog to get here, trying to put off steroid injections so they can be assessed in their natural state. It’s a shame the hand surgeon hasn’t got to see them, but forever hopeful it won’t be long.

So it’s back to the hospital today and get them assessed and checked, hopefully see if they can refer me to a rheumatologist as I still haven’t had bloods taken for many years. I’m hoping I’ll get to have new gloves and splints, but not sure if I’m dreaming, and they can’t do that.

I was given new exercises and told to ditch my old ones, now that the thumb on the right hand has collapsed in 2 joints. 

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In warm water squeeze slowly an oval sponge, hold for 5 real seconds, slowly open and repeat. Aim is to do 2 mins a day each hand. But will need to work towards it.

I also was given new splints as mine are no longer working. New compression gloves and an oval 8 ring too. I felt seen and heard for once. The second opinion I’m seeking was highly recommended by this therapist, to explore possible fusion, or implants.

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Didn’t and couldn’t get a rheumatologist referral so it’s something I need to chase via gps or micats. The delaying of steroid injections is encouraged as they are fastly collapsing the bones, and speeding up the deformity. Hard to delay as when you get some pain relief however short, is bliss.

All in all it felt great to be seen and assessed, to be helped rather than medically gaslit as usual.

I was advised on lots of gadgets and gizmos to help me be independent and safe around the home.

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I can’t believe it’s been 5 weeks since I was last here!! That’s crazy, time really does seem to be whizzing by, and other things seem to taking my attention more than the hip. Which is good in a way, as it means I’m naturally moving on from being acutely affected day to day.

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However it’s also bad as it means I’m not truly focusing on healing and improving this nagging psoas issue. But that’s the devil of having more than 1 health issue, going on in your life. Sometimes you have to choose to rest when you don’t want too, and to focus on other joints as they hurt worse. And that’s definitely been me lately.

On demonstrating my ability to hip hitch lying down, it was decided it’s too weak to progress to standing version. I showed my knee to chest, requiring to use my hands to fetch the leg. This is a massive set back, so we’ve discussed hydrotherapy while land physio is causing such pain. But there’s a heck of a wait for that yet. So in the meantime I’m to go back to hip hitching lying down, and knee to chest stretch on the bed.

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This stretch has been added as my opposite hip is having golf ball sensation issues.

I showed them how the Right hip that’s 3yrs old is also suffering, so I’ve been given the stretch above to try and help ease the pains off.

So it felt a little disappointing, but the plan is for him to devise me a full physio routine and he will post it to me, and do that for 4 weeks, then go back to see if any improvement has been made. And then do the checklist for hydro at that appointment.

Functionally I feel ok, but to do steps, stairs or lift the leg I am struggling a lot, so I will do exactly as I’m told and hope it helps.

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We managed to get a walk in before this hectic week staying in for hospital appointments, and what an epic walk it was!!

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The only non rainy day we snatched it while we could, so it’s 9 days after the previous walk, so hoping the Right hip behaves, but we made sure that it had no Stiles and not much elevation.

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We wandered off our track hunting out a stone, and we got more than we bargained for. Discussing adders and how we never see them, Mr Moon only nearly stood on one!!

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And then luckily we didn’t disturb him too much and proceeded to run into a herd of Deer. Thank goodness the wind was blowing towards us, so we managed to see them well.

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We sat and ate cheese and onion sandwiches, drank a beer and thoroughly loved seeing the views and people walking, we even caught a glimpse of a fighter jet, certainly heard it first!! This has to be one of the best walks ever!!

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Managed to see small waterfalls, I was sad I hadn’t brought my crystals to cleanse, but we didn’t expect water on this route. We ended the day with Mr Moon taking a photo for a couple, as he’s a good one like that.

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Even though the Hand Surgeon appointment was cancelled, I still have a full week of hospitals, and doctors. First we have Physiotherapy at Cannock Hospital, to check on progress and discuss anything else. Then it’s Smear test day on Wednesday and Thursday I’m back to Cannock Hospital for Occupational therapy.

Which will mean staying in this week and potently no big walk. So instead it’s a bone cleaning week. ie pop them into some biological washing powder for a good amount of time, before scrubbing with a wire brush.

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Our most recent finds, Sheep and Fox skull

On a local small walk we found some feathers as well, so need to clean them up ready for our Steampunk hat. They will look perfect.

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And we also picked up a lot of broken glass and ropes from either climbers or bivvy set ups, and took them away to bin, and fluff up the ground to make sure the tiny glad shards were buried. We’ve recently been collecting rubbish from walks when we can.

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We also found hints of secret local witches which makes my heart sing. Spotted some pentagrams over the water.

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I’ve had such issues and flares lately with my hands, and the only thing keeping me going, was knowing I was seeing Mr Craigen soon at Royal Orthopaedic Hospital.

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And as I was just on the final countdown and a few days away, I got the call that it’s been cancelled, and will be rescheduled soon but with Mr Brewster. Not sure why, or what’s caused the change in specialist either, I just hope it’s not too long a wait.

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Least I have an appointment with occupational therapist later this week, so I’m hoping for maybe new gloves or splints. Maybe this will help me cope while I wait for an new appointment.