20 December 2020

First contact with a medical person

When I signed off sick, the only thing I could do was take it easy and wait for my phone call with the physiotherapist on Wednesday. I went for a run! My arms never feel better then when I am running. And later I just did the usual thing of having dinner and such. And the day after I made a little phone stand so I could talk to my phone without having to hold it. And I did some home chores. And of course I went for a run.

On Wednesday I made sure I was ready for when I would get the phone call. She was supposed to phone at 9:20. But nothing happened! I got really scared. Would she just not call? And if not, would that be another three weeks of waiting? That would be awful!  When I had almost given up she finally phoned. Phew!

She asked me a lot of questions about my situation. She didn't seem to be too alarmed! That was good. She suggested I have inflammations in the tissue around the tendons in my arms. And that can be treated. She said she would send me some exercises to do, and suggested I cool my arms with ice, and wear wrist braces. And put anti-inflammatory gel on my arms. And she said that if it wouldn't help I could switch to oral anti-inflammatory medication. And she would send me a sick note. But she also said I should swap GPs. I said I would!

When we were done I felt better already; I now knew what to do to recover as quickly as I could. And that she hadn't been too alarmed was good too. But I had stuff to do now. I quickly ordered the braces. And phoned the local GP surgery.

The first thing I now had to sort was get me a new GP. I had kept my Menai  Bridge GP when I moved house, not realizing you are not supposed to do that. But I suppose now I know, so I went to the surgery to sort that out. There is a pharmacy there too which was good for the gel. But the GP requiring information I didn't have, and the pharmacy having a lunch break, resulted in me making three trips. But in the end I sorted it!

I also defrosted the freezing compartment of my fridge; that would get me ice to cool my arms. And I went for a run. Of course!

So then I had a new routine. Ice, gel, exercises and runs. And I did some reading and chores.  The sort of thing I otherwise never have time for! And by Friday my arms were not feeling the least bit better yet, but I had hope that things would improve. This problem had built up over months; it was not likely it would be solved in a few days!  

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