Damn Beasties.....

A short while ago, there was panic in the more Farageist elements of the press about assorted immigrant spiders that were going to do for us all.  That was of course if the big freeze to end all freezes didn't get us first.

Now I'm never one to take any noticed of rags whose ethos is dictated by long dead Nazi sympathising founders, but this week has left my gardening activities delayed while dealing with a hole in my leg, courtesy of an insect bit that won't heal.  I've had the thing for a few weeks now and the damn thing has now left me with a centimetre diameter weeping pit in my shin.  Now, my days as a candidate fir Miss Lovely Legs of the Balls Pond Road are long gone, but this is pretty unsightly by anyone's standard.

I'm now on heavy duty antibiotics, with the advise that it should start healing in a week or two.  Thus I feel sluggish and slightly queasy, as if force fed cotton wool soaked in washing up water.  Even with a dilligent intake of live yoghurt, I am finding certain food totally unappealing.  (Which, granted, may not be a bad thing.  A couple of weeks free of carb loading may turn out to be a help, and in any case, tube travel at this time of year can be nauseating for anyone)  In the meantime, keep it clean and covered, and do everything to avoid getting any dirt in the wound.  Oh joy.  Back to two years back, when I was writing step by step instructions for Howard to do the gardening tasks I usually did.  Tomorrow's tasks - planting the last of the onions, garlic and shallots in module trays, and the tulips in bulb baskets.  (May have those from 2011, but will redo them anyway).

Anyway, it seems that there has been a problem with unusual insect bites this year.  My GP said he'd had to treat a lot more this year than for a while, but mine seemed to have been that latest by a few weeks.  I guess my habit of wandering a few feet down the garden path first thing while waiting for the kettle to boil may have something to do with that.   At least at this time of year that onesie and bed sock combo will provide something of a barrier to all but the most blood hungry beasties.

But look on the bright side.  I too get to do Movember.  On my right shin.

The pain has a name

Plantar fasciitis.

Two years after breaking my ankle, it's still giving me trouble.  Finally, my foot is no longer so swollen that my footwear choices are gravely limited, but I still feel nervous when faced with a new staircase.

Anyway, I finally (after 12 years) got referred to physio about my knee.  Turns out some ligaments have become too weak to keep my kneecap in place and sometimes after bending it doesn't pop back properly.  But after a couple of sessions and targetted exercise I'm seeing dramatic improvement.

Second session in, I mention how much pain I still have related to my ankle.  Physio decides that I can never regain full fitness until this is addressed.  With the help of a life size model of the bones and ligaments of the foot, I demonstrated how I fell, after which he says that I should have had physio straight away, and fixing the damage will be a long job.

My achilles is still tight, but the stretching regime is gradually working.  The biggest problem in the tendon in the sole of my foot, as it seizes up as soon as I rest.  So every time I get up, I have to stretch it so as not to hobble the first few yards I walk.  Not that easy on public transport, I can tell you.

He has, however, told me that I can get special insoles to ease the problem, and gave me a list of them.

Does not make you feel all that much better when all the "models" used in the ads are a good 20 - 30 years older than yourself.

Right, where's the Saga brochure?