Update

I have this morning spoken to the orthopaedic hospital who have advised me that the consultant doesn't think he can do anything for my knee and so has referred me to a doctor in the pain clinic. I felt that I had no option but to accept this appointment and so will be travelling up to London on 10th July to see the pain management specialist.

I was hoping that by going to the orthopaedic hospital, that cartilage transplant may be an option and may have put too much hope into this and I am now left feeling disappointed. I know I need to trust God's timing in this but it is very hard to see what the purpose of all this is at the moment.

Please pray for a positive outcome to my visit and also if anyone fancies accompanying me up to London, please let me know.

Car, Friends & Cheesecake!

Since my last post, I have picked up my car from the garage. It is a lovely car and very easy to drive and I love driving it.

Having the car now means that I have a level of independence back, being able to go where I want, when I want. However, I am learning that this is not always a good thing and this is where having good friends comes in.

On Sunday evening, I decided I would go to church, since I could now as I didn't need to worry about how I would get there and back! When I arrived, everything was fine...or so I thought. Towards the end of the sermon, I began to get a sharp pain behind my kneecap...it was horrible. My friends realised there was something wrong and began praying for me as well as making sure I was a comfortable as possible. It soon became clear that the reason I was in pain was because I had pushed myself too hard during the week and my knee wasn't happy.

It then came to deciding how I would get home from church as only mum and I are insured to drive my car and to call her out would not be fair on her or dad who would have to bring her. My friends decided that one of them would drive me home and the other would pick me up on Monday morning to take me to fetch my car.

My friend Michelle arrived on Monday morning and took me up to the church to fetch my car. We did this, dropped my car home and then Michelle took me over to Wokingham for coffee and lunch. It was such a lovely day and the cheesecake we had for dessert was the yummyist I've ever had! I felt like I was on holiday as we sat outside this lovely little italian restaurant. It was such a relaxed day and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

One of the things that came out of Sunday night is that I am not to apologise for needing help. I am to ask for it and receive it with thanks rather than feeling guilty that I am relying on people too much and putting people out. It became clear that I have friends who love me and will do anything they can to help and will lovingly tell me I am not driving home even when I think different!

So, I just want to take this opportunity to say thank you to all my lovely friends, family and church community. I think you're great!

Holding On.

Since March, I have been following a bible reading plan which will take me through the bible in a year. I have been following the same one as others that are part of Kerith Community Church. However, I got behind in April (but have been trying to catch up!) and have now got up to Ecclesiastes 9 and read these verses this morning, which in the light of what has been happening in the past week are relevant to where I am at now:

"When life is good, enjoy it.
But when life is hard, remember:
God gives good times and hard times,
and no one knows what tomorrow will bring." (Ecclesiastes 7:14, NCV)

"There is a right time and a right way for everything,
yet people often have many troubles.
They do not know what the future holds,
and no one can tell them what will happen." (Ecclesiastes 8:6-7, NCV)

Although I do not understand what God is doing with regard to the treatment for my knee, these help me to know that He is in control.

I am still holding on to the promise of Romans 8:28 which says:

"We know that in everything God works for the good of those who love him." (NCV)

So for now, this will have to be enough for me to hold on to and know that God has only my best interests at heart.

On a lighter note, I will be going for a drive this afternoon in order to get used a left foot accelerator ready for when my car arrives in approximately 3 weeks!

A Tough Week

A lot has been happening since my last post with regard to hospital appointments.

I received a telephone call on Monday morning from my consultants secretary advising me that due to a letter received from my physio (which I had sent on to them due to the cancellation of my previous appointment) which advised that they were restricted with what they could do with me due to the pain I get in my knee, they have decided to write to my GP to refer me to the pain clinic and were cancelling my appointment.

I was not at all happy about this and having called the secretary back and explaining my situation I still came away with no appointment! I then called my physio and she advised that she would try to speak to the hospital for me to find out what they're doing.

I began to feel as though I may be making a fuss about nothing and maybe should just go to the pain clinic and see if it helps but at the end of the day it will just be treating the symptoms of the problem and not the problem itself. I have made an appointment with my GP to discuss my options.

I had a Hydro appointment yesterday which went well but anything I am able to do in the pool just keeps my knee moving the little it can but no matter how much I try it doesn't transfer on to land!

That's about it for now, but will keep you posted with updates.

Hope you're well.

Update

Sorry I haven't posted for a while but there hasn't really been much news.

I've been continuing with the Hydro and I was supposed to have a review with the consultant on Monday but that has been postponed until the 18th May.

In preparation for the consultants appointment, I went for a review by one of the physios at Heatherwood so that they could write a report basically advising that my knee is not making any improvement and that something needs to be done. The physio review went really well and she was pleased with the strength I have built up in the muscles at the top of my leg which is great news.

One of my friends has advised me to make a list of all the things that I now can't do because of the problems with my knee which I will take with me when I go to see the consultant in May. This should add weight to our request that they look at more options than just physio, especially now that my left knee has started to give me a few minor problems!

Over the past few weeks, I have discovered that although I feel fine apart from the problems with my knee, I get tired quicker than I used to and therefore I can't do as much as before. I learnt this from experience when I got to a point where I was no use to anyone as I had used all the energy I had.

I am now trying to plan my weeks so that I still get to meet up with friends etc but that I don't end up with no energy left by the weekend. This has been difficult as my head still goes "it's OK, I can do it" when in reality this is not the case and I push myself too hard.

There is no news on the car front yet. Hopefully, I should have it by the end of May. Then comes the challenge of learning to drive it with my left foot!

That's about it for now...will hopefully fit in another post next week.

Hope you're having a good week.

Hydro #2 & Update

I had my second hydro session last Wednesday and again found that it was very painful when putting any direct pressure through my knee.

Since then, I have been for a car adaptation assessment to determine what adaptations I will need to be able to drive safely. The assessment went really well and all being well, I will soon be getting a car with a left-foot accelerator. Dad and I are going for a test drive on Saturday morning of one of the cars I really like.

I have also been taking some more photos recently and I'm especially proud of the one below as it is the first one I have taken using manual settings on the camera. I have also entered it in a competition with the topic of harmony on a Digital SLR Users forum I am part of.

I think that's about news for now. Hope you're having a good week.

Hydrotherapy #1

I had my first Hydrotherapy session on Tuesday and found it to be very painful.

I was given various different exercises to do which often involved putting direct pressure on my knee and even though it was in water was still extremely painful.

I have another session booked for Tuesday afternoon and I am still feeling sore from the first session which was now 3 days ago!

That's about all that's news for now.

Have a great weekend and I will post again next week.