Yeah, definitely feeling like Job

Spinal Fusion because of a collapsed disc. (chronic back pain since)
Gall Bladder Removal
Bad fall in Denmark, W.A. (bruised entire right side, lost chunk of meat on right palm. Probable scaphoid injury.)
Inflamed mass removed from back (turned out to be ruptured cyst)
Injured knee tripping over Wing's shoes.
Total knee replacement.
Car accident 5 months later.
5 more months of knee rehab.
Fall in Broome.
Walking Pneumonia
Hemi-dystonic seizures
Fasciotomy for compartment syndrome
Enesthopathy (acute plantar fasciitis)
Vertically fracture molar due to clenching teeth in pain.

And just as I was getting things back to normal, my cat jumped on my knee last August and injured it.

I'm tired.

Tick tock tick tock tick tock

Time and days keep moving forward, but I feel stuck in loop.

I've had three different doctors, specialist, etc etc, look at my knee and I will sum up their findings:

My knee is borked enough to make my life rather miserable, keeping me mostly housebound, or on just short trips, with a healthy dose of neuropathy, but not bad enough to have remedial surgery/measure.

I'm trying to stay upbeat, but I'm tired. Tired of plastering a smile on my face, putting up cheery conversation, when all I really want to do is put my head under a pillow and cry.

I am on medications galore, and one of them makes me queasy, dizzy, dry mouthed,  and drowsy. Two others make me drowsy, another will give me horrible acid reflux unless enough 'with food' is eaten. And two of them give me another problem, but I'm going to give that description a miss.

I've been told that the symptoms from the first one I described 'should' go away after a few weeks.  Anyone else ever want to ask the doctors  "Define 'a few weeks', please."?

I will muddle through, leg propped on foot stool, Loki snugged up next to me, and hope for the best.

That's one helluva long time for a photo op

Today I laughingly reminded Wing that someone accused me of setting up a nectar feeder just for photo op.

Really? 5 years on, and several more feeders put up is a helluva long time for a single photo op, yes? 

I first set one up, with bird molting vitamins, to help an injured Red Wattlebird. It has long since recovered, even raising a few broods, although it took about a year of it pretty much staying in our front yard garden. 

I was going to just take it down, and that's that. But then we had a neighbor chop down all the native nectar bearing shrubs and trees. The reason: the birds made too much noise.  7 feeders in the front yard, 2 in the back, and the birds are welcome to make as much noise in my yard as they want.

New medication, new side effects

GP prescribed duloxetine to help with the 'hyperalgesia' in my left knee.  Been on it for going on a week.

Why is it every medication to 'fix' problem make me drowsy, sleepy, brainfogged?

Current new side effects:  Feeling dizzy, blurred vision, feeling nausea (thankfully, no vomiting) and dry mouth.

I have been told they will lessen with time. Oh gawd I hope so. Walking around feeling half asleep. feeling the room spin isn't fun.

The Babylon 5 Universe gets smaller

Babylon 5 Star and Lost Actress Mira Furlan Passes Away

YAY! It's *not* all in my head.

I had a very exacting and precise examination of my left knee, and its surrounds. Here is the prognosis:

S***** has had an MRI scan and orthopaedic review, with the opinion that no surgery is indicated. There are medial meniscal changes as well as knee OA and some signs of anterior knee oedema following her injury on her MRI. She had a local knee cortisone injection which she reports flared her knee for three weeks and provided no overall benefit.

S***** remains very limited in her walking capacity, requiring a walking stick even for short distances. She reports prior to her injury, she was increasing exercise under supervision, losing weight and walking on uneven surfaces without difficulty. *

**** has a combination of local underlying knee pain as well as signs of increased pain sensitisation (including localised sharp hyperalgesia). Her knee strength is mainly limited by pain inhibition. Her antalgic gait is likely also impacting on her recent increase in low back pain.

Got the crutches (uhh yay?) and have been told to use them when walking around outside of the house. Fun fun. Now, I will wait until I hear from Meg The Merciless as to how we shall proceed. And in the meantime, find a pool somewhere, as swimming was one of the recommended things to do.

How about that. 2021

I made it. A bit battered, bruised, and dented, but I made it.

I keep counting down the days until Trump is given his walking papers, but I am worried about what he and his cronies will to to f**k things up before they leave.  Yes, he and his crew are that spiteful and petty.

Wing had a trapeziectomy (save you the google time, he had bone removed from his left wrist because of stage 4 osteoarthritis) and then some of his own body parts used to create a capsule to give the long thumb bone a place to sit.  His hand is already in the proper "hold a can" position. Dr L is very pleased with the results. Now comes the hard yards, of slow physical therapy, and monotonous exercises.  He's doing quite well.

My left knee. Hmm. Today I saw my GP, and told him about the less then stellar performance of Dr B L.  Dr H examined my knee, and said, nope it's not all in my head. There is degenerative arthritis in my knee, and with amount of grinding in there, yeah, it's painful.  He said the medication suggested when I finally get to see the psychiatrist Dr B L referred me to (haven't seen said person yet) is not just an antidepressant, but can also calm nerve pain.  I will keep using the lidocaine patches on the knee to make the skin surface less painful. He has also increased a non-opiate medication dose.  He said if the psychiatrist Dr B L referred me to doesn't contact me in a month, call him and he will write the prescription himself.

He knows me. He knows that when my right knee was going, I was walking around lakes to get photos of wild life. Walking around the woods, and other places, even though yeah, it hurt.  I haven't been doing that with how my left knee is. I have to use a cane, because not only does it hurt worse, it feels like it's going to fold all the time.

I just want the pain dulled. I know the knee will need replacement (family history of osteoarthritis in the knees; mother, aunt, grandmother, great grandmother, and now me).