June 2025
A Surprise Physio Appointment
27/06/25 13:18
This week I had an appointment at the Walton Centre. When I first got it I was a bit surprised by it, as the Neurologist consultant on the appointment was someone I had not heard of or met before. But I have just changed my medication (to Tecfidera from Copaxone) and also volunteered to be part of a study on the effects of the drug, so maybe another consultant would not be that unusual.
In actual fact it turned out to be down to some technical issue at their end in that the appointment was real in terms of date and time, but it wasn’t with the named consultant. It was with a physiotherapist (and a trainee).
It was actually good timing in some ways. Usually I work three or four days but last week I’d worked on five days and on Friday I’d had an issue with severe fatigue in my legs. Friday evening my legs kinda folded underneath me and I ended up sat on the pavement when I was nearly home. A Good Samaritan was passing by and cajoled me into getting into his car for a lift of all of a 150 metres. The stress on my legs with that issue and the general fatigue maybe suggests that I should stick with four days max so that there is more time for recovery. I ended up using a walking stick on Saturday and Sunday to take some pressure off my left knee having not needing it for months.
So on Monday I went into the physio at the neurological centre unsure if it was a good time to be there or not. As it happens they were generally pretty happy with my range of movement and walking (when I thought it was worse than usual). There are obviously issues with the strength and stability but they were happy that I didn’t actually need a follow up physio appointment until I request one. Shocking. They gave me a bit of a runaround the place and then gave me a couple of pages of exercises to do. And I will indeed do them regularly. They said there is no need to stress about missing a day, but to aim for 5 days in 7.
They were very happy about me delivering beer due to the exercise it gives me. They were pleased to hear I always had my walking stick in my bag in my Boy Scout way, especially if I didn’t often need to use it. Always Be Prepared. Of course physio exercises are in addition to the general day to day work and leisure movements.
Hopefully I won't need the walking stick again for many months (or to rely on passing Good Samaritans (that said it was lovely of them to do it and boosts my faith in humanity—even in North Liverpool)). Onwards and Upwards.
In actual fact it turned out to be down to some technical issue at their end in that the appointment was real in terms of date and time, but it wasn’t with the named consultant. It was with a physiotherapist (and a trainee).
It was actually good timing in some ways. Usually I work three or four days but last week I’d worked on five days and on Friday I’d had an issue with severe fatigue in my legs. Friday evening my legs kinda folded underneath me and I ended up sat on the pavement when I was nearly home. A Good Samaritan was passing by and cajoled me into getting into his car for a lift of all of a 150 metres. The stress on my legs with that issue and the general fatigue maybe suggests that I should stick with four days max so that there is more time for recovery. I ended up using a walking stick on Saturday and Sunday to take some pressure off my left knee having not needing it for months.
So on Monday I went into the physio at the neurological centre unsure if it was a good time to be there or not. As it happens they were generally pretty happy with my range of movement and walking (when I thought it was worse than usual). There are obviously issues with the strength and stability but they were happy that I didn’t actually need a follow up physio appointment until I request one. Shocking. They gave me a bit of a runaround the place and then gave me a couple of pages of exercises to do. And I will indeed do them regularly. They said there is no need to stress about missing a day, but to aim for 5 days in 7.
They were very happy about me delivering beer due to the exercise it gives me. They were pleased to hear I always had my walking stick in my bag in my Boy Scout way, especially if I didn’t often need to use it. Always Be Prepared. Of course physio exercises are in addition to the general day to day work and leisure movements.
Hopefully I won't need the walking stick again for many months (or to rely on passing Good Samaritans (that said it was lovely of them to do it and boosts my faith in humanity—even in North Liverpool)). Onwards and Upwards.
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