Helena Handbasket

By Tivoli

Gingerly

I've jiggered my back. I've not done this for ages. I first did it in my teens and still recall sitting in school exam halls sweating in an elasticated corset. 
At 24 I had ruptured a disc so terminally that it needed to be surgically removed. That curtailed my horse-riding and motorcycling and prevented me from partaking in the charity-sponsored parachute jump for which I had enrolled. 
At 42 I popped another, but luckily, recognised it immediately and spent a fortnight flat on my back on the sofa alternating ibuprofen with paracetamol and washing prescription diazepam down with red wine. Worked a treat and that disc remains as an integral part of my anatomy.
Since then, years of not sitting at a desk but instead, travelling on foot up and down steep hillsides have strengthened the muscles supporting my spinal column.
Yes, there is permanent damage caused by the two prolapses. My left foot is utterly convinced that it is always en-robed in a sock, even when it isn't. I try to tell it otherwise, but it doesn't hear me.
I did get an awful fright when I fell heavily backwards 19 months ago, but recovered swiftly having taken the choice to learn from all my previous experience.
So awaking this morning, barely able to move, came as a nasty surprise. Especially when I needed to devote hours to form-filling, sitting at a desk.
I wrote as much as I could manage and then went for a lie-down on the ladder-free shorty bed.
That wasn't working. I went for a gentle stroll up the hill (not the steep part), round the park for a bit, gently down again and then round the aisles at Wickes, which is wide, level, interesting and mostly the people there tend not to stare at you if you are walking oddly. And if you happen to select the kitchen showroom part of the store, the display worktops are all sturdy and at an appropriate height for good support. Thank you Wickes!
I was thrilled to find that they had even devoted a tile display to me.
Since then I have soaked in a warm bath, laid horizontal for several hours, and bit by bit things are improving. I have also managed to complete my application form so I think that tomorrow I might go out on the bicycle in order to discover if that is the sort of exercise my lumbar region prefers.
Blip is my most efficient way of communicating, and I have no intention of sitting at my desk any longer than is absolutely necessary. Please excuse the absence of private email contact while I do my best to recover.

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