You may remember me mentioning my two prolapsed discs. I have been undergoing hospital treatment to relieve their detrimental effect. One of the little sods (T4, I think the doc said) is buggering up my left leg, making it numb and weak (in the region of the knee), causing a number of recent falls (one down the stairs – good job I was only on the second step, the main casualty being the dog who I frightened to death as I knocked over - and fell on top of - the gate which prevents him going upstairs spreading gob and dirty footprints further round the house than he already does).
When he sees me heading downstairs now (backwards, of course), he rapidly vacates his bed before I'm halfway down. Anyway, the treatment recently involved my having something called a farominal root injection in the lower back. Cortisone is now sloshing around my nether regions and, coupled with the rattling of the numerous pain-killers (common or garden Paracetamol (Tesco), Calcium Phosphate and Diclofenac - both on prescription - I wish I hadn't read the leaflet in the Diclofenac box), I sound like a plastic bottle containing water and marbles when I walk (oh, haha!); hopefully, it will do its stuff in due course.
At the hospital, when I was called from the Clinical Radiology waiting area, a nurse took me to a changing room where she instructed me to take all my clothes off, except my pants (that's knickers to all you northern folk). I did wonder why I needed to remove my socks to have an injection in the back but I meekly complied (it's the uniform that does it, y'know) and put on the gown provided. Another nurse then came to take me into to the treatment room. "Doctor Bentley…", she began. "…does it gently?" I poetically suggested with lashings of optimism. "Ooh, I never thought of that before", she said (yeah, right), "he definitely does and he'll explain everything to put your mind at rest." And he did, very succinctly and with a highly commendable bedside manner.
In the end, I don't know why I'd been worried - the worst part of the whole process was one of the nurses having to put my socks back on for me while I was sat on a disabled toilet (all the changing cubicles were taken).
When he sees me heading downstairs now (backwards, of course), he rapidly vacates his bed before I'm halfway down. Anyway, the treatment recently involved my having something called a farominal root injection in the lower back. Cortisone is now sloshing around my nether regions and, coupled with the rattling of the numerous pain-killers (common or garden Paracetamol (Tesco), Calcium Phosphate and Diclofenac - both on prescription - I wish I hadn't read the leaflet in the Diclofenac box), I sound like a plastic bottle containing water and marbles when I walk (oh, haha!); hopefully, it will do its stuff in due course.
At the hospital, when I was called from the Clinical Radiology waiting area, a nurse took me to a changing room where she instructed me to take all my clothes off, except my pants (that's knickers to all you northern folk). I did wonder why I needed to remove my socks to have an injection in the back but I meekly complied (it's the uniform that does it, y'know) and put on the gown provided. Another nurse then came to take me into to the treatment room. "Doctor Bentley…", she began. "…does it gently?" I poetically suggested with lashings of optimism. "Ooh, I never thought of that before", she said (yeah, right), "he definitely does and he'll explain everything to put your mind at rest." And he did, very succinctly and with a highly commendable bedside manner.
In the end, I don't know why I'd been worried - the worst part of the whole process was one of the nurses having to put my socks back on for me while I was sat on a disabled toilet (all the changing cubicles were taken).
