Feet and Fatigue Part Two

So, we got into the ultrasound room, and Ady lay on the bed. I was allowed to watch the telly with MrB and our nurse (she is really lovely).

He put the gel stuff on his ankle and put the thingy thing on it.

The nurse and MrB started saying “Oh my goodness, look at that!!..no wonder you are in pain”

All I could see on the telly was a load of red and orange colours as he was moving the thingy thing on his ankle...it meant nothing to me.

MrB and the nurse explained that all the red and orange was fire, burning and inflammation in his ankle and foot, and there was a lot of it!

They also showed me where the synovial fluid was. I cant remember if it was in the right place or if it had leaked. I was too amazed at the whole thing to take it all in tbh!

Anyway, I forgot that poor Ady was lying on the bed and this was his foot we were looking at!

The next minute, MrB got his needle out again to have another go at getting it in the joint.

Blimey, this needle was a few inches long!

So, there was Ady lying on the bed, and MrB had this bloody great needle in his ankle, trying to get the ultrasound to guide it into a space in his joint.

The nurse was telling Ady to take some deep breaths and that it wont be long and I was there thinking “Blimey, dont look at Ady cos I will cry, dont look at the needle cos I will faint...just look at the telly”

MrB was twirling the needle at lots of different angles trying to get it in and then suddenly he said “Great,,,got it!”

I thought “Feck me, thank God for that!”..I think Ady thought the same but for different reasons!

I was surprised at how much blood there was actually but anyway.

Mr B said that in an hour or two, Ady will probably be swearing a bit with the pain while it flares a bit more, but then it should all calm down. He didn’t know how long for but he hoped for a while at least.

He has also asked our nurse to set up an appointment with the podiatrist to sort out something brace like I think, or certainly something to lift his arches anyway, for his feet, to help out with the mechanical knackerdness problems.

She is also going to see us in the New Year to train me on how to inject him with the Methotrexate weekly.

There is another set of drugs which are even stronger called Biologics, I think. Unfortunately, Ady can’t have them for five years cos there is a concern that they could ignite dormant cancer cells.

I dont hold out much hope for the Methotrexate but I really do hope I am proved wrong!

He has started back on the weekly tablets at the moment so let’s see how we get on.

At the moment, Ady’s shoulders are really playing up, along with the top of his neck. His right wrist comes and goes, in fact the night before Christmas eve he woke me to ask for some morphine because it was hurting so much. His left foot is fairly comfortable with the odd pain here and there, and his right foot is starting to feel like his left foot did. Some of his fingers are looking like sausages.

Each morning, I bandage his feet with tubigrip and ankle supports just to make things easier for him.

Since seeing MrB, I think Ady has accepted that all his fatigue and pain is because of his arthritis, and his flare is because of stress.

He has stopped fretting about getting back to work now. Especially when he asked MrB if he should crack on and get back to work, Mr B said that he needs to win the lottery and go and live somewhere warm and do gentle exercise.

Poor Ady has really struggled in his mind about whether he is being lazy. His biggest problem has been when he has told people that he is in remission from cancer but is in pain from arthritis now, some people replies are “Oh, only arthritis? Everyone gets arthritis”..such brush off comments have mentally tortured him.

Ady says that the pain from the arthritis is far worse than any pain he had from his cancer operations.

Arthritic pain stays with you 24 hours a day, varying in severity. It is all over his body. His joints are hot, swollen and inflamed. His psoriasis has flared and is sore and his body is as stiff as a board.

And the worst thing of it all is that he is talking about swapping cars so he can drive my automatic cos it hurts his left foot with the clutch....Jesus, whatever next. I dont want his crappy Y reg heap of shit...*shudders*