We’ve been having a bit of a nightmare with Wendy. She was off work for months after being diagnosed with a knackered heart valve or something. It was a bad time for her as she was bored witless, just sat on the sofa all day long, or scared by nasty chest pains every time she did anything to break the boredom. It was a long 3 months for her. She finally got the operation date, 14 weeks after the diagnosis. They said it was go in, 45 minute procedure to insert the stent, wait 4 hours to check everything had settled, go home. Should be over the operation in 3 days, don’t drive for a week. All good.
We went in, they did her without any painkillers of consequence (just paracetamol) and it took them 2 hours. It seems like they were training up a new guy. So two hours of agony. At least they did it, so she just had to get over the severe bruising and pain.
They said 3 days, which is what I’d booked off work, then I had my normal 2 days off, so 5 days. She was still in a bad way after 5 days and had to go to the doctor. He said the nausea and bad back pain was a kidney infection, so gave her antibiotics. “They will clear it up in 3 days”. I was back at work, doing long shifts, leaving her on her own. Less than ideal. A few days later she was still in such a state she had to go back to the doctors. This time it was a woman. She said Wendy definitely didn’t have a kidney infection. Super. She said her back was badly tensed up. She sent a urine sample to the hospital, they confirmed no infection, and arranged for a blood test and kidney function test. We did that today. As she said “we have to relax that back” to Wendy, I’ve been giving her massages morning and night, which is providing temporary relief and making it bearable. Hard to think what it could be. If it was a damaged kidney you wouldn’t think massaging it would ease it. If it’s muscular you’d think the massages would stick. But the pain and stiffness keep coming back. I don’t understand.
It’s grim for Wendy and it’s inconvenient for me. It’s really hard to do training around looking after her, which obviously has priority.
I managed to get my Harley into the specialist Harley garage today. It’s up by Birkenhead. They are going to fix it so it runs right and test my charging system. The battery seems to go flat really quickly, so if there’s a problem I want it diagnosed so I can fix it. If it’s the stator, it’s not too expensive (£100) and I’ve had it off before. I’ve also asked them to MOT is, so it will be all legal and on the road. I had thought I’d get a lift there and ride it back, but started worrying about it breaking down. I asked the guy and he said to err on the side of caution. Take it home in a van. Take it for a 1.5 mile lap. Let it completely cool. Do it again. 4 or 5 times. Then slowly build the distance. He said that’s what they do after an engine rebuild. And mine was stood for 20 years.
On the sort of bright side, work has gone busy, so there is money coming in to throw at the Harley to get it finished. I sold my CB550K. And I’ve got all the kit I need for my LEJOG. Pay for the Harley and everything else is spare cash.
So now we just need Wendy fixed. My Harley fixed. And me back to training. It’s been a while since I last blogged, I forgot, there’s something else needs fixing. I was having pains in my arms. That shoulder impingement thing again, I think. It says one of the symptoms is it get worse at night. It had flared up enough that I couldn’t find a position I could lie in to get to sleep. I had one night with about 4 hours sleep. I looked it up again. Rest it and refrain from activities that involve raising you arm above your head, such as swimming. That is less than ideal advice for triathlon training. I’ve rested it a couple of weeks and there is no pain now. I suppose I should risk getting back to swim training. Perhaps two sessions a week, days apart? I’ll try it, see what happens.