Thursday was actually the first day that I had not had the Naproxen tablets. They are strong pain killers and anti inflammatory for arthritis. For the last few weeks I have had severe pain in my left knee to the extent that I could not put any weight on it at all. It eased off and I thought I was getting better then one day as I went upstairs carrying a tray with 2 mugs of tea my knee suddenly ‘went’ – something snapped/went ping…. difficult to describe but extremely painful. I ended up using a walking pole to hobble around. Going up and down stairs was only possible using one leg/one step at a time and then I gradually risked using both legs equally with a pole for extra support. I eventually went to the doctor as I didn’t know whether I should rest it, use it or what. And the ibuprofen didn’t seem to be making much difference.
I had not gone to the doctor earlier because of the coronavirus situation. I didn’t want to take up his time and add to the NHS workload. However, I had to phone the surgery about picking up a prescription for someone so while I was on the phone I asked the receptionist about seeing the doctor. She arranged for the doctor to phone me that afternoon. He diagnosed arthritis over the phone and prescribed the drugs, which I was able to pick up at the same time as the other person’s medication. I am thankful that the village has a doctor’s surgery which also dispenses. And in normal circumstances they also have a no appointment morning clinic.
The painkillers have worked and very soon my mobility increased. Friday (day off) I walked 4.72 miles – the furthest I had walked in over a year. I felt really good about it and no pain in any joints. A bit tired and found the last bit difficult, but not too much so. The day also turned out a bit too hot for comfort.
Here’s an extra photo (not part of the challenge)
The next day’s photo is fairly obvious. I live in a vicarage and part of our church’s support for the community is to collect food for a food bank operating in a nearby town by another church. It is good to be able to do this.
One of the good things to come out of this current situation is that I don’t have evening meetings. Oh joy!!! I could get used to this. I have enough energy at the end of the working day to relax, watch a film with hubby and do some knitting. This is yarn that is Aran weight and was originally bought to produce a lovely jacket for myself. Unfortunately I ran out of yarn and couldn’t get any more. It sat around for a few years – long enough for me to increase at least 2 sizes, so if I had finished the jacket it would no longer fit me anyway. So I unraveled it and dug out an old pattern that I knitted for myself probably in the 1980s in a dark maroon fluffy yarn. I wondered if it would work and with not having enough yarn for a jumper full of cables I thought I’d try this one. I think I will have enough. My measurements are bigger than the biggest size on the pattern so I have added some stitches to each side and hope that when I come to the sleeve and neck it won’t matter. We will see.
Elizabeth Jones' Diary 