54. Legs not quite working

Mile 51 – Level but quite exhausting.
This is usually a problem for the day after a marathon, when the lactic acid buildup makes it tricky to descend stairs.

This week has seen me very tired and mostly lying down, reading and napping. When I was discharged from Royal Sussex County Hospital a week and a half ago after breaking my leg, my last blood test showed my haemoglobin was way down at 87 g/L (the normal range is 135 – 180 g/L). That causes anaemia and a lack of oxygen to the body. It was even lower than when I left UCLH last October after the stem cell transplant (115 g/L) and I was bedridden for quite a while after that. I have only started to perk up over the last weekend.

In the meantime, the swelling on my right thigh has been gradually going down and it is starting to become a little more flexible. As for the walking aids, I no longer need the frame, and am now zipping about the house on a single crutch. I’m confident on the stairs: going up the good foot goes first (think of going up to heaven) while going down it’s bad foot first. I am still very cautious.

So, at last, things are getting easier for the real victim of this accident – Sue. She no longer has to accompany me every time I want to move and she can get on with all the other things she has to do.

—oOo—

It was Sue’s birthday last week. The morning was disrupted by the discovery of a leaking tub of hand sanitiser, which flooded the densely packed shelves under the stairs. Together, we washed and wiped, me parked by the sink, while Sue did the fetching, carrying and shelf wiping.

Things improved after that, and she spent a peaceful afternoon practicing her art club activities with some watercolour and biro. Then we enjoyed a busy evening the family and Bonnie the dog, for an Indian takeaway. For my part, it was the longest I have stayed awake sitting in a chair since coming home and my bad leg seemed frozen in position come bedtime.

—oOo—

Our Christmas present, a grow your own indoor Oyster Mushroom kit has been going crazy. We may be having mushrooms on toast later.

So there’s not much to report this week. I finished Ken Follett’s A Column of Fire and I’m well into CJ Sansom’s Revelation, both highly recommended. I even watched the visually stunning first Dune film on Netflix while Sue was out – she’s not keen on sci-fi while I remember reading the series in my youth.

Thanks for reading and take care.