A whole new world

A couple of weeks ago I went on a journey and it turned out to be a journey into a completely different world!
I decided to take a trip to the NEC in Birmingham to one of the huge craft fairs they hold there. Rather than driving I decided to take the train.....and so my journey began!
It was quite early, earlier than I am usually up, let alone stand on a station platform. It was just before 7am.
I shuffled into the little shelter to sit on the cold plastic seat and took a look around. There was already one other occupant, a balding man in his fifties I would say, wearing a warm winter coat and holding a small holdall bag. We nodded 'good morning'.
A few minutes later, walking across the foot bridge and towards our little shelter came another fellow. An older chap wearing a well worn overcoat, a flat cap and glasses and clutching a brown soft briefcase. He said morning to 'Mr Baldy' and they stood momentarily silent side by side in the shelter. 'Mr Baldy' then proceeded to get out his mobile phone and read what he called a 'factoid' to 'Mr Flatcap'. It was a factoid about the origin of the saying 'to sweat like a pig' which apparently has no relation to pigs at all but to the smelting of pig iron! Who knew?!
Once he had read out this vital piece of info Mr Baldy proudly deposited his phone back into his coat pocket and so began a most strange conversation between these two men. It became apparent that they meet every morning at the station, and exchange pleasantries and other vital bits of information before the train arrives.
Once the factoid had been aired subjects covered within the five or ten minutes before the train arrived were pub quizzes, which of course could be a good place to show knowledge of the aforementioned sweating like a pig info. Mr Flatcap was annoyed slightly at the fact that the latest pub quiz he had been to at a local pub had seemed to focus solely on the subject of horses and horse racing! Not it would seem a subject close to Mr Flatcaps heart.
They also pondered on the whereabouts of another fellow traveller whom they had not seen for a few days. From what they were saying it would seem she was a junior doctor at a local A&E hospital who was very nice but as Mr Flatcap pointed out was probably working shifts which would explain her apparent disappearance from the station platform.
Mr Baldy went on to ponder as to what life would be like married to such a person as the lady doctor and whether she would get annoyed if he kept asking her for medical advice such as a sore throat or an achy joint. Mr Flatcap soon put him right though with quite a sweeping comment, explaining that people like the lady doctor 'tend to marry their own'! Luckily, to save Mr Baldy from embarrassment, our train slowly pulled into the station.
As we boarded the train I was surprised to note the Mr Baldy got on and turned right and Mr Flatcap got on and turned left. So these two men, whom I had begun to assume were work colleagues were obviously just early morning railway station acquaintances. Or perhaps they are work colleagues who prefer to travel to work separately. Who knows?

Once I boarded the train I was deposited into another world. I found a seat with a table and space for three other people. Already there was a lady opposite me who was reading,reading,reading from a laptop and then writing, writing, writing, lots of notes in a big hard backed book. Her most annoying habit however was her constant polite type cough followed by a big sniff. It's one of those things which you slowly tend to notice, it creeps up on you until all you can hear is a loud sniffing noise. Unfortunately I only had one slightly used tissue on my person and even then I was so tempted to thrust it into her face and say, ' here, use this, for gods sake, anything to stop you bloody sniffing!.
Next to Mrs Sniffy sat a younger chap who was reading the paper but as the journey progressed it seemed he also had started to notice Mrs Sniffy and perhaps he too was wishing he had a spare handkerchief to hand. He also seemed quite interested in what I was doing!
I had managed to get a seat by the window which was nice but I had brought with me an activity as I couldn't bear the thought of a train journey of nearly two hours relying solely on the interesting land flying past the window for company and entertainment. I had brought a ball of wool and a crochet hook with me so I crocheted for the whole journey.
At the next stop the seat next to me was filled by a young woman who was obviously a science teacher. How do I know this? Because she took up most of the table with papers which she was marking! It got me thinking though. Why had she left it to this morning to be marking them and putting on comments. Did she go out last night, leaving the papers behind? She perhaps had a better offer than sitting marking papers. A meal or a film was much better company than a red pen. Perhaps she had so much marking that she had had to give in by bedtime and this was the final bit before getting to work. How sad to spend your whole life ticking answers on pieces of paper.
I'm glad I had my crochet hook and wool with me. A much easier and relaxing way to spend a morning on a train!


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Foot operation - the final installment

Finally after many weeks of going back and forth to the hospital my foot healed up. I was quite worked at one point after the consultant had said that I may have to have it surgically sorted out. Thankfully he obviously did enough on that visit because within two weeks it had healed up nicely.
I'm still being wary about what footwear I wear especially if I'm going to be doing a lot of walking. But it has been great being able to put my wellies on and take Maisie dog out for walks again.



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Foot operation -week 10

I would have liked to have shown you some lovely photos of my new foot by now but sadly not.
Way back in July, only 10 days after my operation, when I returned to the nurse to have my foot examined again, she decided to take off some of the steri strips that was effectively holding my wound together. Despite the letter from the hospital clearly stating that these should be left in place until they fell off and also my protestations, she felt there were 'far too many'.
Unfortunately this meant that any weight I put on my foot kept the wound in that area open. Although it felt ok, it had started to go red so I returned to the nurse and ended up having two courses of two different types of anti biotics as there seemed to be an infection in that area.
I'm pleased to report that the operation on my toe seems to have been a success in that I can move it. However after I had the anti biotics I had the check up with the consultant at the hospital.
Sadly it wasn't the consultant who did the op but one of his underlings and she said I ought to return a week later to see the consultant himself as the wound didn't seem to be healing properly.
I had kept the wound undressed and a scab had formed.



I didn't see the consultant who had done my operation but another surgeon who decided to cut off the scab as it was still weeping a bit and was possibly still infected underneath. I then had to keep it dressed for 2 weeks, changing the dressing after one week,
When I returned on Friday last, no scab had formed and so he decided to take out the white, creamy flesh which had taken its place.



I was shocked at how deep the hole was, nearly a centimetre, and I have now been told that I will have to keep it dressed for a further 2 weeks, and if it hasn't healed then I shall have to go into hospital to have the wound cleaned out and sewn up again!
To say I am worried, disappointed and annoyed doesn't cover it!
It's been 10 weeks now and I had really hoped to have been back fighting fit. I have been driving for a couple of weeks now although only locally really so I can reach my clients.
As a self employed person I feel the pressure to keep working as I can't claim any sickness leave or pay.
I am still sitting down and resting my foot as much as I can but with a house to keep clean, dog to walk, meals to cook and a garden to harvest and tidy its not easy!

On the plus side hubby will be home in a few days again and I have taken the big step of starting a website and Facebook page showcasing some of the items I have made myself, mostly knitted items.
I have received my first commission and have booked my first Christmas fair to sell some of my things! I have to make the most of having to sit down somehow so knitting is my salvation.
If you are on Facebook check out my page called ' Handmade by Sharla'

Foot operation - week 4

Glad to say that my foot is healing well. I'm still using my crutches if I go out because I've found that my foot does hurt when I'm on my feet for too long. It's still swollen too but not as bad as it was. It's very tempting to think I could do more, perhaps even try and drive but the wound itself is still very delicate so can't over work it just yet.






I've been out twice this week! My very kind neighbour took me for a ride out to the local town so I could get a few things from the shop. I suggested we had a bite to eat too so treated her to lunch.
My other outing was to my knit and natter group. I haven't been since before my op and although I haven't done a lot of knitting at home I was really ready to see my friends and catch up on each others news. I'm lucky enough to live near the railway station so I hobbled round there and got the train. It's only one stop on the train and then one of my knitting friends kindly picked me up and took me to the cafe where we meet.

I've realised and appreciated a little bit more just how isolated so many people must feel. Many of the people I visit to do their feet live alone and have no access to cars and don't live near a train station. Having to rely on other people to help you out can be hard and although I have had plenty to occupy myself I have found it hard to motivate myself to do anything.
For the last couple of weeks I've invited a few of my patients to visit me at home to have their feet done. I don't normally treat people in my own home but these were people who didn't really want to wait too long to have their feet done and could easily travel to my house.
It was lovely to see them and have a bit of company. I could understand how many of them feel when I go to visit them. Don't get me wrong, I'm not someone who craves company, in fact I'm quite happy being a hermit. However not being able to go out when I want makes it a little frustrating.
I have spent a little of my time at home knitting, trying to avoid daytime television and being thankful for technology in the form of an iPad.
Being able to order my food shopping online as well as playing various games on it has helped my days pass by easily.
Yesterday I had a burst of energy and made some lemon curd. It tasted very nice on my toast this morning.


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Foot Operation - week 3

Being able to sit still just isn't something I can easily do. I'm so used to doing this, doing that, just running upstairs for something, driving there. The last few weeks have been a real challenge.
I returned to the nurse a couple more times to have my foot checked and happily everything seems to be looking good.
On Wednesday, two weeks after my op, I went along for the last time. This was a day I'd been really looking forward to because I could finally wash my foot! The instructions I'd been given were to only soak it for less than 5 minutes.
Until now I have been using something called 'Limbo'. One of my patients kindly lent it to me to use and it has been an absolute godsend. Basically it means I've been able to have a shower without getting my foot wet or having to wrap a plastic bag around it.



Anyway I was very excited that once I got home I could take off the dressing and I washed it in a bowl of warm salty water. Every morning since I have sat outside and done this, just dipping my foot in, keeping the actual cut out of the water but using pieces of cotton wool, dipped in the water, to gently clean some areas of my foot. I have then, sat with my feet up in the warm for at least an hour before applying a new, smaller dressing.






The foot is still quite swollen and a bit bruised but overall it's looking good. I have also started to not use the crutches so much around the house. It's mainly because its easier if I have to carry something.
My hubby has been an absolute star, doing all the cooking, cleaning etc which to be fair he does a lot of usually anyway but he has also driven me around places and had to listen to me saying, 'could you just.......?' more than once a day!
However after 2 weeks he has to return to sea so the last 4 days I have been looking after myself. Another reason why I need to be able to carry things.
I'm using the stairs ok now too. Shuffling up and down on my bottom was effective but not very elegant. I am careful though that I don't stand up or walk for too long as I am still not putting a lot of weight onto my big toe so a lot of weight transfers onto the outside of my foot and that can ache at times.
If I have been stood up or walking for too long my toe and side of my foot starts to hurt and I think, 'right, time to sit down and put my feet up'.
Hubby also made sure I wasn't too bored by bringing down a nice big basket of ironing.



I won't be able to drive for at least another couple of weeks or so I should imagine, which is annoying and frustrating but people have been very kind offering lifts to me, back and forth to the doctor mainly.
My own foot patients have all had their feet done before my op and a few that are due to be done in the next three weeks have agreed to come to my house and have their feet done instead of me visiting them at home. It will only be about 5 per week but it will be good to be busy.
I have also saved lots of mundane jobs, such as my tax form, to do whilst I'm housebound. So I'm sure I won't get too bored.

Foot operation - week 2

So one week after having my operation I have to visit the practice nurse at the doctors surgery. It's so they can have a look at it and redress it. I have been looking forward to seeing what my foot looks like and as the weather has been so hot it'll be nice to get a bit of fresh air to it too.

The nurse started by taking off the original dressing.



I was quite nervous about this because I remember when I had broken my finger a few years ago and had to visit the nurse for redressing. I always ended up in tears, it was so painful.
Luckily the dressing had not stuck so they came off easily.



The bruising round the ankle is from where the consultant put in one of the local anaesthetic injections! The yellow is the iodine!



Traces of the black pen used to remind the consultant which foot he was supposed to be operating on!
I wasn't surprised to see how bruised and swollen my toes were though. I was surprised at how long the cut in my toe was.



My toe had obviously been bleeding judging by the amount of dried blood which had gathered around my big toe. The nurse seemed quite pleased with it apart from a small area near the very top steri strip which looks a bit red and raw. So she has redressed the foot but I have had to make another appointment to go back on Friday to make sure it has not become infected.
Until then I have to rest it as much as possible which is easier said than done!

Foot operation - week 1

As a foot health practitioner you would think that I would have perfect feet.....wrong. I've always had odd shaped feet, inherited from my mother and grandmother. Neither of my big toes are straight.

Before - my strange shaped feet!

They've never caused me much hassle thankfully and I've always worn sensible shoes. I don't wear heels very often, just on special occasions.

Over the past year I have noticed that the toe on my left foot had moved so that it rested underneath the next toe slightly. The joint was also a bit uncomfortable at times too. 

Last summer I  wrote a post about my feet and what had  happened when I'd slipped down the stairs and landed heavily on my left foot.
This had resulted in a small piece of bone, being chipped from the joint and floating around so that when I walked my toe would randomly lock in position, leaving me cursing about the pain and hobbling until I could click the joint again into a comfortable position.
I was eventually referred to see a consultant and after more X-rays ( revealing the loose bone) it was agreed that I would have an operation on it to straighten the toe and remove the offending piece of bone.
Last Wednesday I drove to one of our local hospitals with hubby to have it done as a day surgery case under local anaesthetic.
The consultant came along and gave me the anaesthetic which hurt for a start! Slowly though my foot started to go numb, a bit like when you have a job done at the dentist.
Eventually the nurses came to wheel me into theatre and get me ready for my operation.
I watched as they applied an ankle tourniquet and then covered my foot in iodine.

The ankle tourniquet

After that they reclined me slightly and put up a small screen so that i couldn't see what was going on. The consultant came in and had another chat with me and then got on with the surgery whilst I wisely put my earplugs in, selected some cheerful music on my ipad and turned up the volume.
From time to time I could feel my leg moving and my foot being tugged but having no idea what was happening i just closed my eyes again and listened to my music.
After about 25 minutes I sensed that things were reaching a conclusion so turned off my technology and came back to the real world.
Right enough, after just 30 minutes I  was being wheeled back to the little room, where I was offered a drink. I had a cup of coffee, had a surgical stocking applied to my left leg and then was given a few boxes of painkillers to take home with me.
Next was a few sheets of paperwork, explaining what had been done, what exercises I should do, plus dressing for the doctors nurse next week. I could then get dressed again, before being given a quick lesson in how to use crutches. My hubby appeared and I was wheeled off to x-ray before being deposited safely in the car to go home.
My first night and the next day were not nice. The local anaesthetic wore off at about 0230 in the morning. I was in a lot of pain and although I took some painkillers, my foot was still hurting. I got up to go to the toilet and found I couldnt even put my foot to the floor without pain shooting right through me. I was trying to be as quiet as I could as I didnt want to wake hubby. He had a long day ahead of him, as he had to go to a meeting down on the south coast and i knew he had to get up at 0530 so didnt want to wake him beforehand. I was up again at 0445 and in the toilet again trying to cry quietly! Have you ever tried this? Its almost impossible!
Anyway I managed to sleep a bit more once he had left and then he called my mum and she came over to stay with me for the day. That was really nice and although I felt awful and in a lot of pain it was nice to have the company.
6 days on and today I went out for a little walk today which afterwards seems to perhpas have been a little too long! My foot has ached for the rest of the day. I have reduced the amount of tablets Im on however and tomorrow I go to the nurse to get my dressing  changed.
I hope to be able to see for the first time what my new look foot is like and take a photo! In the meantime I'm learning to sit down more and put my feet up and rest. Its not easy!!

Water Babies

Today I had quite an emotional experience. I can be emotional, don't get me wrong, I'm good at showing my feelings! But this was a feeling which took me quite by surprise.
My little step-granddaughter, who is now 17 months old, has been attending Water Babies since she was about 3 months old. Emma, her mum takes her and we've been to a class and watched as she has splashed about, happy to be dunked underwater, and admired some wonderful photos of her underwater too.
Water Babies is a concept which was started about 10 years ago by a couple who enjoyed swimming with their young children. The main aim is to teach parents how to teach their children to swim and enjoy the water. At such a young age babies are able to control their breath underwater which is quite a strange thing to get your head round but a wonderful thing.

A few months ago a newly pregnant Emma asked if I would be prepared to come along to Water Babies and take Baby No2 swimming. After all how would she juggle two swimming babies? Of course I said yes, I'd love to.
Well today was that day. Me and the little man, we had our first swimming lesson together. So what you may say. Well if I told you that it was the first time we had met each other because he was only born 5 days ago perhaps you may understand my excitement/trepidation/emotion.

He was sleeping when we met, in fact, he slept through his sisters swimming lesson, he slept while his mum was trying to feed him and when she changed him into what seemed like a massive swimming suit!
He slept when I handed him to the instructor as she demonstrated how to safely get baby and yourself into the pool. He slept when I gently wet his face, when we 'splish splashed' around the pool and he even slept when he got his first underwater experience.
Basically he slept from start to finish, I was relieved to say the least because I was so worried he would start crying and then what? Oh yes, try to get him to stop.

I should just point out here that I am not the maternal sort. I never have been really, children were never really my thing, nor did I desire any of my own. When I met my husband, I did think it would be nice to try and have a family of our own. However one vasectomy reversal and two IVF treatments later, it hasn't happened and to be honest I'm quite glad. I'm quite a selfish person really, I like my tidy house, I like being able to do things when I want to and hubby and I enjoy ourselves with the grandchildren! Our dog is our baby I suppose and she does as she is told so we're happy.
I never had young children around me before they came along so I've sort of learnt what to do along with their parents really. I love them to bits, I enjoy showing them things, playing with them. However I can honestly say it hasn't made me regret not having my own!

Today however I almost floated home. my head was filled with the extraordinary experience I had just had. I felt extremely privileged and honoured that Emma and her partner had asked me to be the one to take their precious son swimming. I thank them for giving me that wonderful experience which I will treasure forever. And every week me and the little man will improve our swimming together. I can't wait.



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Time to spare

It's amazing how time flies. We've had Easter, jumped into British Summer time and I realise I haven't posted since January.
Where has the time gone, what has been going on?
You would perhaps suppose that big important events have occurred to mean I haven't had time to spare.
Well we've had a couple of mini breaks away, I've done a successful talk, I've worked, we've been to watch a comedian do his stuff, been sledging, I've met up with friends I haven't seen for ages, (in one case 9years) and I've kept a couple of medical appointments. In summary, life has happened!

My literary juices will no doubt flow again soon :)

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Having the ability to say No

Do you have the ability to say no?

My husband would agree that I often say no, I'm not doing that, I'm not going there, I'm not saying that!

Stubborn apparently!

However until a year or so ago I found I couldn't say no to other people! Would I like to be on a committee? Yes

Could I help out doing this? Yes

The words just slipped out of my mouth so easily, after all I do like helping people and I do like being involved in a lot of things.

Anyway about 18months ago I just felt the time had come to say no. It was hard at first but I carried on with my previously agreed commitments but said no to new ideas and opportunities.

To be honest I was so busy it felt very liberating to say no, I had a bit more time for me.

But this year I've decided it's time to become involved with stuff again, say yes , but only a little bit!

So yes,yes,yes, I've already said yes!  And now I'm wondering what on earth I've done!

I'm an active committee member for the local branch of the Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI) and love being involved and doing my bit. This year however my bit just got a wee bit bigger!

Every year we organise a Fish and Chip supper, last year about 90 people attended. We have a guest speaker, usually on a nautical theme, who gives a talk for about 45 minutes and then we serve fish and chips from a local fish and chip shop. It's a great evening and we raise a lot of money for the RNLI.

This year I've agreed to be the guest speaker! Me! I'm it! Eeek!

To be honest we were desperate, a few people we had in mind weren't able to help us out so it was suggested that as I had had a nautical career it would be interesting to talk about it.

So I've got 44 days to prepare a talk about my life at sea. So what would you want to hear about if you came to hear me talk?  Help, if you were my audience what would interest you?

All comments welcomed

New Year, New challenges

Firstly Happy New Year!
It's only taken me a week to finally get round to my blog again.
After a lovely Christmas and new year  spent with family, celebrating Christmas and a special 1st birthday on Christmas Day  for our grand daughter, life has returned to 'normal'.
Hubby is back at work and I've started this year with a more positive attitude than 2012 ended.
I've got a new business idea which I've decided to research  and see if its viable and today I went to my first ever  art class!
I've always had a romantic yearning to be able to paint but a box of watercolour paints which hubby bought for me about 8 years ago have been sat waiting to be used.
The wife of one of my patients has been telling me about a class she goes to in a local hall and when she reminded me about it last week, I decided that today was the day.
The group of 7 were a lovely bunch, very friendly and this week they were trying their hand at still life painting.
I set to and was pleasantly surprised when the tutor came round the group and said, ' oh yes, you can draw',
The two and a half hours flew by and I came away with a good drawing ready to be painted and a lovely glowing sense of achievement.

The still life subjects

An almost complete drawing