The 20th & 21st; Nothing left inside me.
The 20th of September.
You know when a day starts off absolutely fine, but by the end has descended into shit?
I got up, and halfway down the stairs I realised I was accidentally bending my knees! I haven't walked down the stairs normally since I fell, but this morning, I did! That must mean progress, if my right knee feels good enough to bend without much pain.
I had booked in at Black Sheep for 10.45 to have my hair washed and blow dried, so Daddy took me down. Told the story of the fall a few times, had a nice little head massage, hair is nice and clean now!
Back home, it was nearly lunchtime, so we ate, then Mommy went to Grandma's. I started watching an episode of The Hot Zone, during which I began to feel pretty awful. My stomach seemed to be tying itself up in knots, and I had to pause the programme to have a trip to the bathroom. While I was in there, Daddy let me know he was going out as well, which I said was fine because I didn't think he'd be able to help me much anyway.
I managed to finish the show, but I didn't feel much better. I was squirming away in my chair, trying to find a comfortable position (which didn't exist), so grateful that I could bend my knees today because having to keep them straight as well would have been a nightmare. I texted Mommy to say that I was really in some trouble, and she happened to arrive home very soon after. She had a bit of a panic when she got here, because there was an ambulance parked outside. I hadn't seen it because I'd got the curtains closed, otherwise I would have warned her. Needless to say, I had not called paramedics for myself. I moaned and writhed, and she rubbed my back in the places I asked her to. She got me the hot pack for my stomach, and we convinced ourselves it wasn't the bad liver pain because that is very stabby, from front to back, whereas this was more twisty and windy, plus I could talk, and with the really awful pain I am just wailing. After a few hours, another bathroom trip, even making myself throw up to find there was nothing left inside me, I was getting nowhere, and my body was urging me to lie down. I moved over to the sofa, where I lay on my right side, hot pack crushed up against my stomach. I asked Mommy to shove cushions and a rolled up blanket between my back and the back of the sofa because they didn't quite meet, and put another blanket over me. I then asked her to come and sit with my calves resting on her legs so she could gently rub my left side, because it seemed that what my body needed to have pressure on every side.
Slowly, this idea seemed to start helping. I have no idea how, or why the pain even started in the first place, but I was so grateful. And grateful to have a mother who will sit with me and do that. I know not a lot of people do. She sent Daddy round the corner to buy a pizza from Sainsbury's, then when it was ready she left to eat it with him at the dining table, and I remained steadfastly in the position that was working. I half-listened to whatever was in the television, sort of sleeping, just waiting for it to feel better.
By nine, I knew I was going to have to sit up if I wanted to go to bed after Masterchef. I'd had to take my blanket off and swap my fleecey joggers for my pyjama bottoms because I was getting so warm I was spiking. My stomach had practically stopped hurting entirely, so I sat up, and knew I was just going to have to take my tablets slowly. I did everything slowly, and ended up getting to bed about my normal time. Still not a normal temperature, so I actually took the pyjama bottoms off and slept under a sheet.
Not the way I wanted my afternoon to go, but really glad it ended the way it did, not in another trip to A+E.
The 21st of September.
Obviously I feel fine today.
Still, I've been very careful to look after myself anyway. I slept until half nine, and realised that in the night, one of the dressings on my knees had come off because the sticky bit round the edge had curled under, so I called Mommy up for a patch/tape job. Chose some slightly less toasty trousers, and went downstairs.
Somehow I managed to be really slow, so I didn't get round to making my coffee until an hour after I normally do. Super relaxed kind of day, eating very simple food, watching the TV. I watched the first episode of American Horror Story: 1984, and How To Train Your Dragon. Spent a lot of time trying to find the right words for instagram posts for World Marrow Donor Day, and wrote about yesterday.
Happy to say that is literally it. No pain, knees behaving, and later, Strictly!
