Going Under The Knife, Again!
Yesterday saw me spend 2 hours at the hospital, waiting to see the consultant about my ongoing foot problems, which I'd already self-diagnosed anyway! My appointment was for 11:30am, so to be courteous we arrived at 11:15am, then didn't actually get called until 1:15pm, AND it wasn't even the consultant I was meant to be seeing! If I'd waited for him, I'd most probably still be sat there now!
So I eventually got to see another consultant and he looked through my notes then wanted to see my feet. Sods law and the problematic one wasn't all that swollen at the time because I'd been sat for so long, neither was it hurting but a diagnosis was still possible. Having had the same problem 4 years ago, he wanted to make sure there was no underlying problem causing it, but nope, nothing untoward was found so he simply got down to the nitty gritty. Remembering how it was diagnosed the last time I gritted my teeth and waited for the pain! He got hold of my foot, applied pressure to the ball with his thumb and squeezed the sides, basically squashing my foot. Yep, there it was! A pop and the worst pain I've ever experienced in my foot! Cheers for that, yep, it really is yet another Morton's Neuroma, just as had been diagnosed by my doctor when I went to see him!
Anyway, he said I had 2 options, cortisone injections into the trapped nerve (because that's basically what it is) which would be a temporary solution, perhaps lasting up to 6 weeks, or surgery to remove the nerve completely. Now what with me not liking needles all that much, and the horror stories I've heard about the injections, PLUS the fact that I'd probably still need the surgery after the injections anyway, I decided to go straight for the surgery. Under general anaesthetic of course! It's possible to have it done under a local, but I wouldn't trust it, plus I wouldn't want to be awake, knowing they're poking around in my foot, makes me feel ill just thinking about it!
He then asked if I had any questions about the operation, even though I've already had it done once, and I simply asked if it was possible to have the nerve removed from the top of my foot, rather than the bottom. Why? I have a lovely 2 inch scar on the ball of my foot from the last time, which is extremely prone to hard skin growth. It grows really thick and feels uncomfortable to walk on so I have to file it down all the time (sorry to anyone who may be eating while reading this!). My answer was that it IS possbile to do it that way, but there are added risks going in from the top. There are ligaments in between your toes that hold your toes up and it's necessary to move it out of the way to get to the nerve. If the ligament happens to be damaged during the surgery then your toe will drop and it could cause complications, meaning more surgery to correct that as well. In the end I decided to go with the flow. One surgeon goes through the top and the other through the bottom, so just whatever, as long as it gets done, and pretty soon if possible please!
I was then sent along to the pre assessment department to have my vitals checked. Height, weight, blood pressure, pulse, etc. I seem to have grown 4cm and their scales took 2lb off me so I was very happy! I was also told that my sats was 100, though I don't understand that, except that it's the level of oxygen in your bloodstream, so god knows if it's good or bad!
A few more questions about the medication I'm currently taking, and can I come at short notice if a cancellation pops up, blah blah and I'm now officially BACK on the list for the removal of my second Morton's Neuroma! I'm not dillusional mind, I know for a fact it's gonna be next year, possibly Summer time at least, before I get it done! Good old NHS...
I've Got The Power!!
Wednesday night saw the 13 times world champion darts player come to Station Road working mens club and what a turn out! He was due to arrive at 8:30pm, so me and hubby got there for 7:45pm, just to make sure we could get a seat! Not that we need have worried. No, it wasn't that the place was empty, far from it, at the peak of the evening it was standing room only! No, because it was their local darts team, one of the guys had gone in extra early to keep "their table" and was guarding it with his life!
We'd heard talk that he was going to be in the Legion from 6:30-8:30pm, but we didn't care, that was too early and too far away. Station Road was the place to be! 8pm arrived and there was talk that Phil had arrived and was in the back room. Various people came and went, showing off pictures on their mobiles and chattering excitedly! 10 minutes later, to the sound of his manager/agent/compere, and nothing else, Phil entered the room to rapturous applause and cheering! I've heard nothing like it in such a small club and the atmosphere was simply electric!
8 people had been chosen to play Phil, mostly from raffle tickets that had been handed out every time a pint or lager or bitter had been bought, but the highlight for my family was that my dad got to play, being the player picked from the darts team to represent the club.
No-one actually managed to beat Phil though some came pretty close, including one bloke getting the highest competing score of 125, but we were all witness to a magnificent 9 dart finish. Had anyone had their mobile running at the time, it could've been on YouTube now, alas no-one caught the full 9 darts!
The evening was rounded off with the selling of merchandise, with Phil willing to sign anything you handed to him, including posters and toblerones we'd pulled off the wall and tables! At least there wasn't clearing up to do! He also sat for photos and was a fantastic sport for getting his picture taken with the Station Road darts team, which I've now had blown up and took over to Newcastle last night!
So yesterday then saw the regional final of the Worthington Masters cup at St James' Park in Newcastle. We all piled into the car at 4pm to set off over there for the event getting underway at 7pm. Too early to set off..? Not at all! We got there just after 6pm, then thought it was in the Shearer Bar which turned out to be some persons birthday party, buffet and all. Oops... sorry! My dad asked at the bar and was told to head for the main reception, where we were greeted with A4 printouts telling us it was in the Bamburgh suite on the 4th floor!
We eventually got up there and flipping heck! I didn't realise just how big the venue would be and was hoping there'd be food coz we'd had no tea! I guessed there must be a buffet because we'd walked passed tables with plates, cutlery and big silver serving plates covered up so that was ok we wouldn't be dining on nuts and crisps from the bar after all!
7:05pm and the event got underway with Phil getting the night started by playing Sam Allerdyce, James Milner and one of the goalies from Newcastle United (sorry, can't remember his name!). None of them managed to beat him, though James Milner gave him a good run for his money! All the jokes and playing around that we'd been witness to on the Wednesday night were repeated with the trio and then it was time for supper! Pies, peas and chips. Yum! I got a bit of a shock mind, along with many other people when we realised we had to pay for it, but it was reasonably priced and we really should have realised, afterall, we'd got free tickets to get in there in the first place!
So then it was time to get the main event underway. The quarter finals came first, then Phil played all the players who had got that far, including the only Cumbrian entrant from Harrington Legion, with the first player not only getting a 180 against him, but actually beating him too! Both faces were a picture! Total shock, amazement, joy and misery! After that, Phil upped his game, scoring many 180s against the other players, giving us plenty of chances to hold up our 180 boards!
Once that was done it was time for more autographs and merchandise. Now we WERE hoping to get the photographs from the previous night AND the 180 boards signed, but were informed in the queue that we'd only be able to get 2 items each signed so that was that buggered! We had 7 photos between us and only 4 bodies to get them done! My mam bought a t-shirt to get signed too so I simply made 2 trips to get my own shirt and mug too! When we got to the front of the queue and handed Phil the photo he was simply gobsmacked and amazed that we'd got them printed so fast and got over there to get them signed. Each one was signed, including one for the club which (we hope) will have pride of place behind the bar for many years to come and both me and my mam got our photos taken too.
So then it was time for the semis and the final, which culminated in the winner from last year retaining his title! Phil then ended the night with some banter and gave us a shout out, to which we cheered extremely loudly, and told the audience about his 9 dart finish!
So then it was time to make the 2 hour journey home, arriving back just after 1am, exhausted but excited. We'd been told that part of the event would be screened on Sky Sports News all day today and also on Thursday coming on Sky Sports 1 at 7pm. They didn't show much today, just the players, so we'll be watching on Thursday to see if we make it on telly again, afterall, we were sitting on one of the front tables, so there could be a very good chance!
My photos have all been framed now and will soon have pride of place on the bedroom wall.
Chunking What..?
My daughter came home with some maths homework yesterday and we sat down to do it earlier on tonight. Now the way they teach things at school is totally different to the way they did it when I was there, so I was a little confused myself and was grateful for her teacher showing us on Thursday when there was a meeting outlining this years curriculum!
Apparently the way for doing division sums is now known as chunking (?) whereas I learnt to do long division, and as for hubby, I dunno, maybe he used an abacus or rune stones or something! Anyhow, you set it out as normal then set about chunking.
32/945 (why doesn't my keyboard contain a divide symbol??)
You try and work out how many times 32 will go into 945, usually starting with 10s, so 10x32=320, will it go another 10? Yes, 640. Will it go another 10? No.
945
640-
305
Ok, so can you take another 10 32s out of 305? No. 5? 5x32=160. Yes. 7? 224, yes. 8? 256, yes. 9? 288, yes.
305
288-
017
Can you take another 32 from 17? No, so you have a remainder of 17. Now we add up all the times 32 went into 945.
10+10+9=29r17.
It took a while for me to understand it but I got it eventually and so did my daughter after almost an hour and a half! 
I'm beginning to wonder who the homework is for these days and WHY they've changed the methods of doing such things?! Surely they don't expect all parents to be able to know how things are done these days without being shown first! My daughter's teacher has said that the homework is ALWAYS something they've done in class time, but if the child doesn't understand it during class time, then ultimately, one or both parents take on a new role of teacher to try and help them understand it. Already this term I've had to send her to school with a note stating that she didn't know what to do and neither did we, so are they making it too complicated these days or are we just too thick to understand..? 
What A Difference A Day Makes!
Well this week has been unsettled to say the least! Monday was wet and windy, yesterday was FREEZING cold, and today started out like Monday but has now brightened up again! I don't know where I am or what to wear anymore so I've just given up! I went out to work just after 9 this morning in my work stuff, plus a hoody and my big thick winter jacket, but now I've come home with the hoody in a bag and my jacket shoved under my arm! 
With a bit of luck it'll stay dry long enough for me to go pick the kids up from school (not that it's a long way or anything) and then it can do whatever it wants because I won't be going back out again. I'm gonna sit at home and feel sorry for myself, seeing as no-one else will! Bless my boss though, she kept asking if I was alright at work. Probably coz I've been moping around like something not right whereas I'm normally all bright and breezy! Oh well, we can't all be chirpy all of the time, can we..?
The Demon Dentist!
FOR ALL THE SQUEAMISH READERS, PLEASE LOOK AWAY NOW! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!
Yesterday I had to go for a routine filling, or so I thought, but it turned out to be much, MUCH worse than expected, which is extremely hard in my experience! Every time I've had to have a filling, I've always felt a certainly degree of pain, as if the anaesthetic hasn't worked quite enough!
This time was no exception. They use some kind of gel to numb your gum beforehand and then inject the anaesthetic which tastes HORRIBLE! I know this because I think I swallowed half of it after it dribbled down the back of my throat! Anyway, while that was numbing one side of my mouth, he set to work polishing a filling on the other side that's been bugging me for years. It's always been a bit rough around the edges, but now it's perfect.
Once my mouth was suitably numb, out came the drill and everything went downhill from there onwards! I don't like the drill to start with because of the pain mentioned above, so I was extremely nervous. The dentist told me if I felt any pain AT ALL to lift my left hand and he'd stop to find out what the problem was. So he starts and I get that familiar burning smell as he goes through the tooth, then I suddenly get this excruciating pain that rips through my tooth and I almost hit the ceiling! I raise my left hand, though I'm sure he'd have known something was wrong anyway from the look on my face! It felt like an electric shock, but in my tooth!
He decides to inject more anaesthetic to see if that will help and lets me sit for 2 minutes while it gets to work. At this point my hands are starting to sweat and I'm feeling extremely hot and uncomfortable in the seat so I take off my jumper.
2 minutes pass by, though it feels like a lifetime, and he lies me back down again to have another go. Off with the drill again which is now making my head vibrate and then BANG, he hits it again!! This time I make a gurgling sound as well as raising my left hand and he stops again. Now my pulse is racing, I'm sweating like a pig and I just want it all to be over and done with!
He starts using some pointy object thing to scrape at the tooth instead and asks if it hurts, which it doesn't till he hits the nerve AGAIN!! By now I just want to cry and make him stop, which he eventually does, but not before squirting water and air in there which also hurts.
Now I'm feeling like I could pass out but he's starting to fill the tooth so we're on the home straight. I'm still shaking when he finishes and I'm given some minty stuff to swill my mouth in which I end up dribbling everywhere because of my numb gob!
He then proceeded to tell me that it wasn't actually a large hole in my tooth, but it was deeper than he thought (it's always the way with me!) and is very close to the nerve so he put something under the filling to try and keep it away from the nerve. Apparently it's now going to be sensitive to hot and cold for about 2-3 weeks, but if it's still the same after that, then he may have to see about removing the nerve. Yeah right! Like I'm gonna let him anywhere near that tooth again!! No thank you mate! It wasn't even hurting before he started and now the whole of the left side of my mouth hurts like hell!!
It literally took till 9.30 last night for the anaesthetic to almost wear off totally, enough for me to have something to eat, and I didn't DARE eat on that side! It felt ok this morning till I brushed my teeth and now the toothache has set in so I'm glad I'm not at work today, I can just sit and feel sorry for myself instead. 
After I've caught up on housework anyway!
The Pain... AGAIN!
Yep, I'm gonna moan about my bad foot once again, so those of you fed up of me moaning about it, look away now!
I've had this swelling to my right foot since the beginning of August which HAD gone down a little, though not much, and has now come back with a vengeance! When it first happened, I had the redness to my ankle that I had with anterior tibial tendonitis, which I reported to my doctor, etc, etc but that redness has now gone and it's moved further down my foot! The whole of the top of my foot, including my toes are so stiff and swollen by the time I get home from work, I literally cannot wiggle my toes, except for the big one. The heel end of the arch is also swollen on the inside, though it's not tender, and I've got redness and heat at the base of my big toe, the 2 next to it, plus the occasional burning and tingling sensation! When I looked up the tendons of the foot, I found that I've most probably got extensor digitorum longus tendonitis. In short, my foot is knackered, AGAIN!!
I went back to the doctors a week and a half ago and he prescribed anti inflammatories that would probably interfere with my stomach, which they have, but they aren't up to much either! He said it should be ok within a week or so, possibly 2, but I'm seeing no signs of improvement yet, apart from them taking the pain away (as I found out over the weekend when I didn't take any...) so I can see another visit coming on in the near future! Maybe I'll carry on until I'm nearly out of tablets seeing as he gave me 4 weeks supply, just in case, then I'll see if it's improved at all before deciding what to do. I'm not holding my breath though and it bloody well aches CONSTANTLY!
Back to the trainers tomorrow I think...
Back To School Blues!
Today was my kids' first day back at school and I don't know who was the most worried - them or me! My daughter has just started her last year at junior school, and my son his first, so both were worrying about different things. Daughter, the upcoming SATs in May, and son, how he'll manage at his new school, if he'll like the dinners, etc, etc. Me? I was just worried that either would start crying, or they'd forget something, and everything else that mothers worry about!
Last night my son was feeling nervous because they go swimming in year 5 and he can't swim, but he's got 2 years before that happens, for god's sake! He was also worrying that he'd get told off if there was nothing he liked at dinner time, but they've always got sandwiches or salads so he was told that if worst came to worst, take the filling out of a sandwich and eat the bread and butter, then at least he's had something!
We got up at 7 this morning, like any other morning, and the pair of them were fed, watered and dressed by 8am with daughter wanting to go out at 8.15am! Son wasn't quite so eager to go, but once we got there he was fine. I told his new teacher that he was a bit nervous and he was shivering, but wouldn't put his jacket on, and by the time he came out at 3.15pm he was full of it!
Apparently, they can sit with whoever they like (can't see that lasting for long though!) in the classroom, the dinner was gorgeous so he ate everything, meat pie, mash and veg with cake and custard to follow, the playground is cool coz it's dead big and there's stuff painted on the floor, and his teacher called him a chatterbox coz he "couldn't" stop talking to his friend! Hhmmm... see why they probably won't be able to sit where they want for long..? So basically, all that worrying for nothing!
Once he'd finished telling me all about it, I asked him if he'd enjoyed it then and he said, "Yeah, it was brilliant!" 
Daughter on the other hand came out with a face like bad fat because people had been talking and they've now been told they're gonna miss 2 morning breaks because of it AND it wasn't even her! Oh happy days... 
