MRI, Legs, Hands - Any More>

1 October 2025. Yesterday was the first redressing of the legs after going back into compression. It removed 90% of the slough / dead skin in one go. Unfortunately that came with quite a bit of blood and a real mass of pain.

I was sitting on the clinic bed literally shaking with pain and on the verge of yelling the place down. Still very sore but did manage to sleep most of the night from 1:00am onwards anyway. Very damp day here so won't be risking getting them wet by going out today. Keep catching myself falling asleep when I'm sat at my desk or trying to watch telly. I'm turning into my Grandad... Well I could do a lot worse!.

Later in life he developed double vision but was still driving his little Commer campervan about. "How do you manage?" asked my Dad.
"Well if I see two gates when I drive onto a camp site I just aim in between them!" he said cheerfully.

Meanwhile, I stopped driving during COVID, we take taxis to and from the Doctor's and anywhere else when we don't have any offer of a life (I hate asking...)

Another trip to the District Nurse this afternoon. After Tuesday's torture I was surprised that this only became apparent last night. Although the blood and gunge appears on the heel, the pain is higher on the back of the calf but despite the apparent slim look of the leg under that top layer is an absorbent pad and three or four layers of netting and bandage.

8 October 2025. Today was a trip to Fleetwood but not to take in the sea air... No, this trip was to a hut outside the health centre for another MRI scan on the cancer. The legs managed to behave whilst I had it done, but are voicing their displeasure a bit now. "Is it your first?" The radiographer asked.
"No, it's about my 31st..." I answered. Results in around 2 - 4 weeks or so, I imagine.

District Nurses this afternoon. Although there is blood on my heel again we think it came of my boot on Tuesday when there was quite a lot again. So it's a good sign for today.

I am also a bit dismayed in that every slight knock does this to my hands or arms (see pic). Blood vessels must be fragile. First today though, heading into Poulton where a 1940s museum opens this morning for 5 weeks in the Teanlowe shopping centre. We were in yesterday and, as we passed, the door was open and final setting up was going on. I asked if they had any 78rpm records and they hadn't so I'm going in with some this morning including such recognisable ones as Joe Loss: "In The Mood" and Flanagan and Allen's "Underneath The Arches".

Cancer and Leg Ulcers Index

Leg Trouble and Playing 45s

27 August 2025. I'm still having bother with the legs. One leg itching like mad and the other leg so sore it's driving *me* mad... the wound on my right leg still looks grotty covering most of one side of my lower leg and still oozing a bit. it can be VERY painful.

1 September 2025. Painful visit to the District Nurses today, though I still think the legs are improving. Limping about manfully. I've done this crayon sketch over the last two days. Just one single lonesome page left blank in the A4 sketch book waiting for me to make my mind up whether to do a sketch or whether to add some details of who I am, what I do, why I do it, how sorry I am for doing it and a half-hearted doomed-to-be-broken promise not to do it again... The village shown is a place called Skradin in Croatia, at the end of a boat trip from the Krka National Park.

4 September 2025. The other day on Facebook I mentioned I was looking for a new record player. Yesterday we took a bus ride to Lytham to a place that renovates old players of a certain type. I invited my Facebook friends to guess what I bought - a Dansette was the most common response.

I did used to have a collection of such players, though sadly none of them actually bore the name "Dansette". Pictured here, the small suitcase Handy Gram went to the tip shortly after one of the cats we had at the time jumped on top of Max Bygraves and started spinning at 78 rpm. Max withstood this rather well but the fool cat broke the playing arm completely off... The rather posh Magnavox (top left) was sold after someone made me an offer I couldn't really refuse and the one top right at some point refused to work. I still have a Bush 1970s record player but it sounds somewhat naff and I wanted something with a better sound.

My Facebook friends now became fixated with brand names such as Bush, Ferguson, Bang & Olufsen, Aiwa, Panasonic etc. whilst one suggested that Tony Blackburn might be moving in...

9 September 2025. Well, today I had the legs redressed. 3.30pm but already the bandages are stained and the pain is lancing through my leg, making it impossible to settle for sleep.

The new record playing machine is due to be delivered tomorrow. Fingers are crossed and 275 45rpm records from the 1960s ready to be played. Final clue then: I asked for the type but everyone fixated on brands. So today's clue is designed to make you think of the brand... which may enable you to think of the type!

It was made by the firm responsible for a musical instrument famous for its association with Blackpool Tower. Once it's delivered I'll let the cat out of the bag. I'll be checking to see if anyone comes up with it first...

Well two people eventually got it. One person with a somewhat unrealistic idea of just how big my house is, suggested a Wurlitzer pipe organ... The clue prompted suggestions of a Gibson turntable - er... they make guitars I think! Also my use of the word retro in an earlier post made someone think of a wind-up gramophone... But one or two made the right connections.

10 September 2025. It's here, it's loaded and working and there's BUBBLES! Getting it over the threshold was not the easiest thing. The delivery man was on his own and it took both Fran and myself to help get it in, but in the end we managed.

20 September 2025. Sigh, yesterday it looked like a setback for my left leg which had been doing nicely. Still not sleeping well. I did manage to drop off watching TV today. Trouble was, I had a mug full of coffee in my hand at the time. My bandages are stained again...

23 September 2025. Had legs done again this morning - they have been a bit raw and yowchy (well if Shakespeare can make up words, so can I) but on the whole getting better. Looks like I'll be back in compression on Friday...

27 September 2025. Legs back in compression after yesterday's visit to the District Nurses. Horrendously painful whilst I get used to them again. Gasping and filling the night air with (mild) expletives. Managed a couple of hours sleep in the early hours then heard a crash from the bathroom. Somehow my shaving mirror had fallen off its extendable arm and was in shards on the stone floor. Oh good, like I need another seven years of bad luck...!

Cancer and Leg Ulcers Index

Managing The Legs, August 2025

5 August 2025. Just back from another excursion to the District Nurses. My usual nurse wasn't there again today but I'd seen the stand-in before and she was good at what she did.

I actually came out feeling less in pain than usual, though it's kicking in now as the painkillers I always take before an appointment are wearing off now.

Plus I managed to show her something she had never seen before when she asked to check my bum for sores... I did warn her beforehand and she reacted with a look of surprise and 'Well I've never seen that before, you learn something every day...' Oh alright, enough of the teasing... I told her about the fractures to the bottom of my spine which now have my tailbone do a bit of a jig to the right... It is not comfortable and not recommended as a fashion item.

11 August 2025. I am just getting to the stage where I want to get out of the house every now and then. Each time is a trial as yet. Still a lot of pain in the legs despite all the paracetamol, gabapentin nerve painkillers and morphine (I am currently on 33 medications per day). Walking onto a slope, whether an actual gradient of the ground, an uneven pavement or a slope because I'm passing a driveway, is an issue as trying to adjust my balance sends pains shooting up from ankles to calves ("What's that bloke doing riding that small cow on my driveway?")

Otherwise the legs are improving. Fewer and smaller wounds, but the main problem is the availability of bandages and dressings. Despite numerous orders going to the wholesale pharmacy by the District Nurses, we have received exactly nothing since I came out of hospital. By all accounts neither have the District Nurses. Every time I go to have my legs redressed they have to go filching supplies from other rooms, nurses or surgeries. Sometimes it's a case of make do with whatever they have got. This is obviously some sort of breakdown quite high up in the supply chain.

I'm managing to sleep with my legs raised in bed a bit better than previously. This does mean several trips to the loo during the night though but the good side of that is that my legs are more or less normal sized instead of swollen and solid all the way to my neck... I've still been wearing shorts in the house for comfort though I did try a pair of normal trousers the other day, gave a squawk of surprise and had to order some new ones in a smaller size. That's all good and well, but I'm sure I've shrunk in height as well as getting rid of waste er... I mean waist...

Still takes me ages most nights to get to sleep and as a consequence I drop off far too easily during the day, making it harder to get to sleep at night making it easier to drop off...

So standing and walking are still painful and pressure on my right leg for any length of time particularly first thing in the morning after I've had my legs horizontal can start the remaining wounds bleeding which can be excruciating. Sitting and lying on my back are not always pain free either because of both pressure on my calves when lying and on my bent and sticky-out tailbone when lying or sitting. When I say sticky-out I don't mean I appear to have a tail, but it's a bit more prominent under the skin than it would normally be.

Hoping to try a bus ride into Poulton this week. I need to sort out the new glasses I ordered just before going into hospital which when I got them were superb for one eye but didn't allow me to focus the other eye properly at all.

12 August 2025. Had a doppler test at the District Nurses yesterday - that's a bit like having a blood pressure test except the inflatable collar goes over the wounds on your legs and is tightened until you are just about to scream. Then a microphone is pressed to your leg above and the noise of blood trying to get through the restricted veins is measured in some way and a calculation then is performed which in my case said I couldn't have compression bandages...

I have very slight compression from the ordinary bandages but the upshot is that swinging legs out of bed in the morning feels very similar to being in hospital when I used to gush blood all over the place. Luckily that didn't happen but I'm hobbling more again and waiting for a second test to confirm either yes or no for the compression bandages or whether I need referring to the hospital vascular team again. Joy...

The lack of a few layers also meant that lying down last night was more painful and kept me awake quite a bit and I've spent most of the day so far trapping my nose in the middle of my book as I doze off and lean/fall forwards...

18 August 2025. Was waiting for this to happen - since they decided I couldn't have compression bandages on, I am now sporting a stain on the bandages over the back of one leg the size of a 50p piece showing where one of the few wounds remaining has split and started weeping again. Blooming painful too. And at 3:00am this morning woke up and the wobbly tombstone tooth that has been annoying me for a few weeks came out and made me play hide and seek for it with my tongue before I could get it out of my mouth... District Nurses appointment just after lunch, hoping it will be my usual nurse who we haven't seen for a couple of weeks.

23 August 2025. Finally! After almost two months of orders and reminders being sent by the District Nurses, yesterday the pharmacy delivered this lot... including the bag on the floor with more bandages but not the carpet sweepers or the bit of finger top left...

Since they stopped the compression bandages I have been very sore and at times leaky. Had a couple of outings though this week to Blackpool and Poulton to sort out various bits. Hoping to get new glasses back today with decent lenses for both eyes! Stand by for fully descriptive posts of everything I can see. Gosh Miss Franny - is that what you look like?

Cancer and Leg Ulcers Index

Medicals and Mishaps

19 July 2025. I missed a couple of days here. Nothing much amiss, just adjusting back to home life and trying to cope with what seems like a massive daily pill regime now that we have to manage it ourselves rather than just have a nurse bring them whenever the clock ticks!

My arms and across bits of my chest came out in a blotchy very itchy rash and I went to the docs with it. I thought it would just be a reaction to one of the pills and he agreed - so he gave me more pills and some cream to boot. This was 10:00am yesterday. I had phoned the District Nurses first thing to prompt them about the "twice a week" promise - yesterday was their last chance to meet it. They called me back whilst we were in the doc's waiting room to offer me an appt at the District Nurses at 12:00 noon. It wasn't going to be worth going home between so we just stayed all morning, treating ourselves to what I would class as one of the more horrible examples of a latte once we got downstairs.

It was very quiet down there for a change. Whether it was because the schools were all about to break up and mothers were all at home weeping at the thought I'm not sure... The poor guy on the Reception desk for all the clinics was standing in and was answering almost every query with "I don't know really, I'm just standing in..." Anyway 12:00noon was what I had been told. 12:15pm was what he had been told and it was one of the standard nurses not a District Nurse that saw me and redressed both legs. The nasty looking wound behind my toes on my right foot finally gave up the scab like the plug coming out of the sink (but without the gurgle noise) and underneath was a bit of a hole but all was pink and shiny down there so "Phew!"

Apparently I can look forward to another doppler test next month. I remember that without much affection as being VERY painful last time. It's where they inflate a cuff around your leg (right over the wound last time) and then do an ultrasound either side to measure the blood flow. It's to see if your veins can withstand compression.

Am expecting delivery of a foot rest stool any time which I can probably make room for a bit easier than a recliner to keep my legs up elevated. I am back to having water retention - Heaven only knows how - the amount of hobbling to the loo I do every day and several times at night... I must be drawing moisture out of the air by osmosis or something. I reckon it's having my legs elevated all the chance I get. They are nearer to the sky and any rain... As long as they don't get struck by lightning which is on the cards for us this afternoon again...

20 July 2025. Not much sleep again last night. My legs are a bit sore and leaky again. Supposed to be getting supplies sent direct to us but not sure when they will arrive.

The footstool arrived yesterday, all diagonal struts to keep it unfolded to full height.

"That looks like a trapped finger waiting to happen," I said to Miss Franny. Anyway I turned it over and made sure it was all tightened properly. I had tightened it ok because all of the hinges held in place as, when turning it back, there was a loud cracking and both wooden struts broke. The rest snapped shut like a vice and my middle finger got the brunt of things. Crushed at the nail which now is all discoloured presumably from blood underneath...

Don't you hate it when you can see something coming and it happens so fast? It still hurts.

24 July 2025. I am slowly getting back into some sort of ordered routine. I'm now on a fixed schedule with the District Nurses again, being seen twice a week and the only hiccup there is that as yet no supplies of bandages or dressings have been received from the pharmacy. But they have managed from their own stores so no problem as yet.

Have been today and both legs showing improvement, the hole in the foot is still a hole in the foot for now, but is packed with a dressing cut into a spring shape so what goes in should come out. Not ventured out yet other than trips to get the legs seen to but the walking is getting slowly better and am on the walking stick not the zimmer which is a good sign.

Sleep patterns all over the place, lying in bed is uncomfortable on the legs and keeps me awake until the early hours when I drop off to sleep and wake Miss Franny with either snoring or throaty bubbling - not actual bubbles, it's not worth trying to film actual bubbles escaping and floating on the breeze... You know what I mean. And if you didn't then sorry for spoiling the mind image!

This does mean a certain amount of daytime dozing. Which means doing anything can take a long time, this missive being one of those things. So I'll stop and see what the rest of the day brings. It's gorgeous weather outside, I had a little walk to admire the garden whilst waiting for our ride to the surgery earlier and there's plenty of colour in the roses along the borders. There's a few dead heads wanting pruning but they'll have to wait a bit! It's time for a snooze...

29 July 2025. Back now in a twice-weekly visit to the District Nurse and as of this morning I am back into full compression. 'Pon my soul I'd forgotten just how much that could hurt. And whilst I'm not sure it's connected, I'm so cold I'm sitting here in Miss Franny's hoodie and a rug over my knees...

Then I hear some scroat is sending out friend requests on Facebook supposedly from me. I was quick to say "If you get one don't accept it, I'd hate anyone to get scammed. Though why anyone who is already friends on Facebook should think I or they need to be friends twice over is a bit beyond me...

Bye for now, I'm just falling a bit behind with my shivering...

Cancer and Leg Ulcers Index