This week my leg gets more uncomfortable & I go to see a Doctor. He wants me to go back to see the nurse so she can check my legs for at least a month. He gives me tablets to help with my circulation & tells me I have to wear compression stockings. Apart from that it was a quiet week because I did as the Doctor told me & rested my legs.
Week 46 of 2022.
Monday, 14th November.
Today I woke around 7 am, I got a coffee & sat at my computer working for an hour or so before filling in a form that I have to mail back to England today.
After taking a shower I decided that as I have been getting large white spots on my television for about 6 months I am going to replace it. I have seen some very good Black Friday offers & found a great TV with a large 43% discount. I read the reviews online & order one, it will be delivered tomorrow. The old TV is one I brought with me from England over 7 years ago, my mum had bought it about 2 years previous to that so it will of had to be replaced sooner or later. It is another appliance that will no longer have an English plug & require an adaptor for it to be used. When I purchased the new set from PC Components, I paid an extra amount for an extended warranty to replace it if anything goes wrong for up to 6 years.
With my new purchase made I go out on my disability scooter to post my letter & to get a few bits for the dinner I am making today, Asian pork. If it is any good I will post the recipe, if it sucks I will never mention it again. After getting my shopping I have a sandwich in my apartment before sitting down to rest for a while.
This evening I start to make tonight's dinner. I make Asian Pork, & the smell of it in the kitchen is amazing. It takes around an hour & 15 minutes & once it is finished I eat one portion. It is gorgeous & I have to stop myself from eating all of it. The remainder gets split into two plastic pots to cool & will later be put in the freezer.
After dinner, I watch television before going to bed at around 11:00 pm.
Tuesday, 15th November.
I woke up around 7 am & get a coffee. I am very impatient when I am waiting for something, so to kill some time whilst I wait for my new television, I do some more work on my website.
The delivery arrives at about 1:30 pm. When I see the size of the television I am worried about lifting it & dropping it if I get it out of the box on my own so I message my friend Bob to see if he can help me. While waiting for Bob, I download many photos from my Amazon photo storage. As I look at them I realise I had some there that I thought I had lost so I add them to my website on the Arizona & Senora Desert Museum photos page. I had forgotten how good some of these photos were & I enjoy seeing them all again.
I work on my website until around 6 pm when Bob & Connie come around to help me lift the TV into position. It is soon up & I am surprised how much bigger than the old TV it is. After Bob & Connie leave I begin setting up the new television, it is quickly connected to my TV box & whilst I am looking at the apps I see an app labelled Samsung TV. It turns out that Samsung TVs have a built-in app to watch live TV being streamed through the internet. I get quite a lot of stations, Im guessing similar to when you are in a hotel or hospital, it is all the free-to-air Spanish stations as well as Sky News & a couple of other English TV News stations. Very quickly I work out how to watch television & get YouTube on it. The picture is amazing & the 55-inch screen makes it feel like you are there in the place the program is set. I watch a film before switching it off, I will look tomorrow at how to access Amazon Prime on it.
My left ankle has had a small red mark on it for the last two days which has been growing in size & is itching & causing a bit of pain, it looks like an insect bite. I rub some E45 cream on it & go to bed around 10:30 pm. If my leg does not look or feel any better in the morning I will go to the Doctor. I always feel a bit like a hypochondriac when I go to the Doctor but with my history of illnesses & problems with my legs, I can't be too careful.
Wednesday, 16th November.
I woke up around 6 am but fell asleep again, waking up later at around 8 am. My ankle doesn't feel as bad this morning & the redness has gone partially. The bit that looked like it may have been an insect bite has receded & looks a bit better, I will rub antiseptic cream on it after I take a shower. Before having my shower I get a coffee to wake me up properly & check my computer for messages. After my shower, I drop some coffee off to my neighbours John & Christine that I can't use in my coffee machine but will fit in their machine.
By mid-morning, I had gotten worried about my leg again & I head to the Doctor to make an appointment to see him. I am lucky & I don't have to wait he can see me very quickly. The Doctor asked me some questions & asked if I took anything for my circulation. I told him I took Sintrom to prevent my blood from clotting & CBD to help the healing of the open wounds. He called the nurse in to take a look at them as well & they decided that I needed to start wearing compression stockings to help with the circulation, he prescribed me tablets that I have to take two of, twice a day, to help my circulation & told me I need to come & see the nurse at least twice a week for the next month. After being given a prescription to take to the pharmacy I go through to the nurse who puts cream on the open wounds on my right leg, about 5 of them & puts plasters over the wounds, she then makes me an appointment to go back to see her on Friday.
When I leave the doctor's surgery I go to the pharmacy. I get my normal tablets, Sintrom & Omeprazole & also get some stronger painkillers. I handed over the prescription to the pharmacist, she has the tablets & the oil on the prescription but needs to measure my legs for the stockings. Straight away we run into a problem, my left leg, the smaller of the two by a long way, is too big for anything they stock but she can order me one to arrive later today. My right leg is too large for anything they stock or can order. I order one for the left leg & then go to another pharmacy to see if they can get me a larger stocking. I get the same response at the next pharmacy, my legs are too big for anything they have or can order.
I head back to the Doctors surgery to see if the nurse can suggest anything. She takes me into the treatment room and wraps a compression bandage around my leg & then sends me on my way telling me that it is very important that I keep my legs raised as much as possible so that my feet are higher than the level of my heart. I decide to get breakfast at Balneario San Antonio over the water on my way home but I am told that they have a problem with the cooker. I head home via the supermarket where I get a couple of rolls for lunch.
It takes some skilful design but I eventually stack enough cushions on my sofa in a way that will keep my feet above the level of my heart, & won't fall down whilst still being relatively comfortable. The afternoon & evening is spent watching films that were too boring to remember 10 minutes after they finished. I am glad about my new television though as the picture quality is fantastic.
Thursday, 17th November.
I woke around 6 am & after half an hour of fidgeting & not being able to get back to sleep, I get up for a coffee. I decide to look for some compression stockings on Amazon & after much searching, I find & order several pairs from a Dutch company that can get them to me by tomorrow. Whilst online I also order a sound bar for my new TV, it appears I am going to be spending a lot more time in front of the TV for the foreseeable future so I may as well enjoy it. I also update my recurring order of toilet rolls as there is a special offer that beats the special offer I already had. Buying toilet rolls in bulk is the way forwards my friends, when the shit hits the fan I will be well & truly stocked up.
I spend all day in front of the television with my feet up. The stocking on my left leg does make my leg quite sore but I am getting used to it. The worst part is having my toes covered up, I don't wear socks normally & having my toes covered up all the time feels really strange & irritating. The compression bandage on the right leg does become loose but I am able to tie it back up.
I went to bed at about 11 pm but after fidgeting around trying to get comfortable I take the stocking off of my left leg & the bandage on my right leg, which is by now hanging loose again anyway, is discarded. The release of my legs from their imprisonment must have helped because not long after I fall asleep.
Friday, 18th November.
I am awake & lying in bed when my alarm goes off at 8 am to remind me to take my morning tablets. I am taking so many different tablets at the moment that I have set four alarms on my phone to remind me to take the tablets throughout the day. I take my omega 3 tablet, multivitamin tablet & my omeprazol tablet & then go & take a shower.
After my shower, I get myself a coffee & sit at my computer for a while whilst I have a foot circulation massage for the next hour. At 9:30 am my phone alarm goes off again to remind me to take my next lot of tablets, these ones are supposed to help create oxygen in my blood cells which will in turn help to open up the veins & aid blood circulation through my body. I take these pills after the circulation machine has stopped, put the stocking back on my left leg & get ready to go to see the nurse at the Doctors surgery.
I am expecting two deliveries today one by Seur & one from Amazon. The Seur one arrives at about 10:30 am. I say it arrives the driver arrives with the parcel & I buzz him in. He doesn't appear but I can hear him shouting something in Spanish. In case he has gone up to the next floor I walk around to the stairs & see him disappear out the door. Not very impressed I turn around to go back to my apartment & as I do the elevator door opens & inside is my parcel. He has thrown the parcel into the lift & set the lift to stop on each floor & then run off. The delivery company Seur will not be getting a high mark on the usual questionnaire I fill in after every delivery.
I take my parcel inside & put it away. At 10:45 am my neighbour John came round to my apartment. He has agreed to wait in my apartment whilst I go to the Doctor in case my Amazon delivery arrives whilst I am there. Part of the delivery is for the compression stockings that I have to wear & I really don't want to miss them being delivered. I then head off to the Doctor on my disability scooter.
Whilst I am waiting my turn my friend Elaine arrives at the Doctor, she is having her flu jab. We have a quick chat before Elaine goes in to see the nurse & after she has had her jab I then go in so the nurse can look at my leg. The Nurse & the Doctor both examine my legs again, they seem quite concerned. I am able to show them images of my leg after surgery, which I have on my website, so they can see the extent of the operation I had 8 years ago. The nurse cleans & covers the open wounds on my right leg & places plasters over them, she does not put a compression bandage on it as I have explained that I am having some compression stockings delivered today & can put one on as soon as it arrives. On my left leg, the one I went to see the Doctor about, the swelling & redness is going down but it is still very sore. The nurse takes off the compression stocking from my leg, rubs some of the oil that I was prescribed into my leg & then puts the stocking back on.
The nurse tells me to make an appointment to see her again on Monday. I ask her if I can make an appointment to have my regular blood test as well. Unfortunately, the blood test has to be done early & she wants to see me later in the day about my leg. The receptionist makes me an appointment at 9.30 am for the blood test & one at 6 pm to have my legs examined again. I leave the Doctors surgery & am home by 11:40. John tells me there have been no more deliveries & he goes back to his apartment next door. Thank you for your help, John.
The rest of the day is spent with my feet up resting until the Amazon driver arrives with my delivery in the afternoon. Unlike the Seur driver, he is very good & brings my parcels to me. He makes so many deliveries to me I no longer have to show him my id every time he drops something off & he knows me by my first name.
The first parcel is the compression stockings that I ordered. I open the parcel & check them before putting the XXL stocking on my right leg & the XL stocking on my left leg. They are made from a different material to the one from the pharmacy & have no toes or feet. They are a lot more comfortable to wear & don't itch as much.
The second parcel was a sound bar for my new television. I have never had a sound bar for my television before & I was surprised at how easy it was to set up. It has a blue tooth connection & the TV picked it up straight away. I am immediately impressed with the sound quality & try a few of the different settings out. The movie setting will get a lot of use when I watch films over the next month & I hope one of the settings will be good for when Im watching the football World Cup during November & most of December.
This evening I have one of the portions of the Asian pork, I made earlier in the week, for my dinner. I have it with a pack of noodles that I just have to mix with hot water. My Asian pork is beautiful the pack of noodles were not so good. After dinner, I watch television & go to bed after watching today's episode of "I´m a Celebrity Get me out of here". The person I thought would be voted out, was voted out. Especially in the early stages of the competition, you need to have some sort of character for fans of the show to get behind, whether they love you or hate you. Charlene White didn't have the sort of character that fans can either love or hate & so she became the first person to be voted out & leave.
Before I go to bed, I go down to the garage & put my disability scooter on charge overnight.
Saturday, 19th November.
I woke when my alarm goes off at 8 am, reminding me to take my first lot of tablets. I take my tablets, get a coffee & type up some notes on my computer whilst I use my circulation foot massager.
By 9:15 I am ready to go out & get a bit of shopping. I get dressed & head towards the shops to get a few things & just to get some fresh air. I go to Mercadona for my shopping & I am soon headed home with everything I needed. I drop my stuff at my apartment but notice that the lock on the lift in the garage is sticking. The key goes in fine but will not come out without a bit of a struggle. I notify FAIN the people who maintain the lift & then go back out to Balneario San Antonio for breakfast. Breakfast was very good but it was a little chilly sitting outside, I will definitely come back for breakfast but next time I will sit inside.
When I get back to my apartment my fingers are very cold. I know this is because of my poor circulation & I hope that the pills I am taking & the compression stockings I am wearing will slowly help & that I won't be as cold as I normally get during the winter. I decide that I have had enough fresh air for the day & I set myself up for a day under a blanket on the sofa, watching television, with my feet raised up in the air.
After watching "I´m a Celebrity Get me out of here" I can't help but think that the trials used to be a lot harder. So far they are very similar, contestants have to put their heads underwater with creepy crawlies, snakes, eels & the occasional baby croc & collect stars. I seem to remember they used to make them eat the creepy crawlies, snakes, eels & much worse. Oh, how times have changed.
Sunday, 20th November.
I woke at 8 am when my alarm went off to remind me to take my tablets. I took my tablets, had a coffee, put my bed linen in the washing machine & sat down at my computer for a while.
Today would have been my dad's 86th birthday if he was still with us. I had some great times with my dad when he was alive. On several occasions he & I would fly to Florida for a week around his birthday, we would play golf & then visit Hooters for lunch. If there was a rocket launch we would go to see the launch. Because of the amount of medication, I am taking at the moment, I will make a toast to him with a cup of Horlicks later.
The Football World Cup Finals officially start today & I wonder if the opening ceremony will be targeted for some sort of demonstration about the Human Rights violations this Arab state continually abuses. Someone made a lot of money from allowing Qatar to be the venue for this competition & I hope that this mistake is never made again. The money Qatar has spent on holding this sporting event would have been better spent elsewhere. The only good thing about it being staged here is that it has thrust Qatars, in my opinion, criminal behaviour in the way it treats its own people, into the world's news. It will be impossible for the people in charge there to now hide away from the charges made against them.
Now I have had my little moan about the competition I can enjoy having my feet up for a while whilst I watch nearly every game at the World Cup. I want England to win because that is where my footballing allegiances lie but I will also be following Wales as this is where a lot of my ancestors were from.
This afternoon I watch the opening game of the World Cup. The first half of the game was good to watch but I think everyone who watched it will want to know why the first goal for Ecuador was disallowed, surely Qatar hasn't started paying off the VAR officials already. The second half was quite poor & I fell asleep, waking up with about 5 minutes of the game left. The final score was Qatar 0, Ecuador 2. It was strange to see a game at the finals being played in front of a half-empty stadium at the end of the 2nd half, if it was empty then, for the home nations game, it doesn't bode well for games involving some of the less well-supported teams.
The rest of the day was spent with my feet up under a blanket on my sofa. The temperatures are dropping quickly now when the sun goes down. After watching "I´m a Celebrity Get me out of here", I take my last lot of tablets for the day & go to bed.