Bye Rosalien

Rosalien (my ex-Physiotherapist)

Today I said goodbye to Rosalien. Perhaps we’ll still meet eachother at Hydrotherapy but I can’t be sure. Rosalien was my favorite therapist in the RCA. She was the one that went “Nordic Walking” with me when I couldn’t lift my right arm, went cycling with me when I couldn’t cycle (I forgot to put my right foot down) and played badminton with me to make me run and jump without me noticing the pain.

She applied all kinds of techniques (e.g. massage) if my right arm, shoulder, hip, calf, leg and foot were hurting. But above all she considered me “her” patient. That felt so good, that personal touch. Thanks Rosalien for your listening to all my boring problems, for helping with the ‘politics’ in the RCA and thanks for being my favorite physiotherapist!

So much pain!

It is our wedding day today.

I woke up 3 times last night according to my wife, I remember only one of them. I was standing in an unknown room with white tiles and I had no idea how I got there and how to get out. Must have been our bathroom. Sleeping pills do strange things to me. What I do remember though were the horrible cramps in both legs. As if all muscles contracted at the same time. No matter what I did, no matter how I tried to relax and stretch the muscles, nothing worked. And this in both legs, front and backside. So much pain! 

Early this morning my hand started to throb while in the bakery, I couldn’t spread my fingers and I expected a fourth seizure. That didn’t come, fortunately. The uncomfortable feeling in my hand was there until late in the afternoon. I hope I shouldn’t take it as a sign that tumor has grown through the functional area of my right leg and is now nibbling at my right arm and hand.   

This morning one of our financial advisors, a very friendly guy, came to see me. He owns the company with which we closed and re-closed our mortgage deals, a long time ago when he had just three people working. His company has grown substantially and his life is good. A real self made man, nice car and filling every minute of his free time with scuba diving. I asked him for personal advice last week and today he came to Amsterdam to deliver it. Cool to see. We discussed my tumor and he was interested to hear what the medical plans were and then he discussed our mortgage and our options and he told us full enthusiasm that he would come by with a final proposal next week. He told us not to worry and so we don’t.

Around noon I had to go to the Physiotherapist but as I didn’t trust the situation with my hand did I ask my wife to go with me inside the hospital. I asked Wilfred for help with my muscles and the man worked wonders with his hands again. It was painful at times but well worth it as I felt the tension slip. Thanks Wilfred!

After the visit to the Physiotherapist we went to the market in Amstelveen and while we were there we looked around for signs of available real estate. There were several and we recorded their names. We will keep you posted of progress.

Highlight

I’ll refrain from talking about my morning ritual, it’s the same everyday. I did some work in the morning and went, with a headache, for Physiotherapy with my new shoes. Wilfred spotted them immediately and had to laugh. The shoes are high and difficult to take off so I decided to skip the massage. So 15 minutes on a home trainer (that went well) was followed by learning the basics of walking.

How to step forward with and without looking at my foot (difficult) and how to step forward with a bend knee and then stretch that leg (very difficult!). Wilfred wants me to put down the heel of my right foot first and then roll the rest of my foot forward in a controlled way. I have not that much control over this foot-ankle system with the result that after I put down my heel the controlled roll is actually a loud ‘flap’. That causes a strange sound effect “FLAP flob FLAP flob”.

Wilfred will take care of postponing my Physiotherapy (last treatment 21st of April) and he will talk to my Rheumatologist to discuss my participation in this hospital’s dedicated “Neurology Team”. I hope that a holistic approach (Rheumatism and Neurology) will maximize my chances that I will recover any functions that I may have left. I guess though that recovery and revalidation of my functions related to the functional area for Speech and Emotion will also need attention. Today I have no idea about the scope of the “Neurology Team”.

The Dexamethosone has an effect similar to Enbrel (Etanercept) on my Psoriatic Arthritis although it for sure is not as effective. I had to stop with the Naproxen to avoid the build up of too much Gastric Acid and I am therefore afraid that when the treatment with Dexamethasone against the Edema stops (I’m still taking 2 x 4mg daily) I’ll be right back where I started with the Rheumatism. Perhaps at that time I can restart with Naproxen again but I would prefer going back to Enbrel.

Eating Frenzy

Long night, little rest. Monling wakes up all the from my trips to the toilet and has decided to take a sleeping pill. I wake up at 06:30am and can’t sleep anymore but still decide to stay in bed. Headache. The sun is shining, the cat settles on the pillow and my iPod Touch is helping me to relax. Nice and warm. I get up at 9:00am, feed the cats, prepare my medication and have breakfast with a nice large cappuccino (Illy 100% Arabica). Good for the headache. Aspirine as well.

We’ve started thinking about a new place to live last week although our house is actually ideal in many ways: conveniently located near shops (15 minutes on foot), highway (5 minutes by car), the centre of Amsterdam (20 minutes by bike) and public transport (5 minutes on foot). Living left and right from us do we have very kind, understanding and helpful neighbours, they are about our age. We live along a rather busy street (Dutch standards) but opposite from a park with a great lake. And last but not least there are a massive sports centre and a swimming pool on the other side of the lake (15 minutes by bike) to burn those calories.

Our house is also what we’ve always wanted to have. It is spacious, it is bright, has good environmental parameters, it is low maintenance, has modern architecture and we turned a respectable part of it into a great functional office (almost large enough to put a full size pool table). We’re very pleased with our house.  

“So why consider moving?” I can hear you think. Good question! There are a few reasons, some more important and relevant than the others. Very important is that we would like to live in an apartment rather than a house to avoid having to walk stairs (I assume that my right leg will at least not become better than it is now). Also important is that we have the impression that this neighbourhood is perhaps not developing itself in our best interests. Then there is our (my?) dream to still live a few years in Asia (Taiwan, Japan) or at least in the centre of a city like Amsterdam and with my life expectancy we better do something soon or forget all about it.

So this morning I queried the Internet for construction projects for new apartments in the area of Amsterdam, preferably the “Nieuwmarktbuurt” (centre and the place of China Town).  I was not very successful so I extended the search area to Haarlem (a very nice “town” with an old centre with lots of restaurants). My first conclusion is that either nothing is (becomes) available or the prices are 4x of what we have now. I’ll keep you posted.

This afternoon we went cycling for the first time in weeks. With my new basketball shoes, my new sweater and my new cap. The shoes give me a lot of support and I was able to do about 75% of the lake before I got tired and my foot started flopping around. We didn’t stop though, we went for the full lake. Putting on these basketball shoes is a pain in the neck. I have to undo some of the shoelaces and then still I can barely manage to put them on. For sure I need a shoehorn. It was a great trip though and a big confidence builder!

The attached foto was made today in the “office”. I look fat because I have become very fat. I’m not proud of it. The Dexamethasone is making my face swell like a football and the eating frenzy it gives me is not helping very much. No matter how often I go to the toilet: this is the sad result. Bear with me.

Basketball Shoes

Last night our evening walk took us to the local supermarket and there we bought the last ingredients needed to survive today and the next two days. So no compulsory Saturday morning shopping today but instead a good opportunity to get basketball shoes. My wife Monling drove me the nearest sports shop, mostly friendly people but their goods are unpredictable in quality, supply and price. We finally left with a nice cap, some sweatshirts and socks. Because the salesperson kept repeating how nice the offer was.

While walking to the next shop I received a txt msg from my sister Marjolijn. She had obviously read on this weblog that I was looking for Basketball shoes and briefed me on shops, brands and types. My sis is a fountain of wisdom. So I looked up the address of the nearest sports shop she was talking about on the Internet (using my PDA) and off we went to the area around the Ajax Football Stadium. We found the best bright red basketball shoes (closing high around the ankle) but of course they were NOT in my size. Monling found however a good alternative: the blue Nike Air Flight basketball shoes you see in this picture! I hope that my Physiotherapist approves of this model. Dear ladies thanks a lot to both of you!

I would like to be able to watch TV and use my private and office computers from my sick bed while recovering at home. I get easily bored so I need plenty of things to do. I do not want to be surrounded by a lot of IT, just the most essential stuff. That prompted me this afternoon to spend some time on the Internet looking for either (1) a proper LCD monitor for my PC that also allows me to watch HD TV or (2) an HD TV that also has the capability of doubling as a PC monitor.

You probably know that I have a kind of impulsive purchasing style so I was very disappointed to learn that these were requirements that could not easily be met. Many different and clashing technical standards, problems with resolutions, cables and boards and when I thought I had figured it out I found that my PC’s do not even do HD TV or at least can’t transfer as they do not even support HDMI and PCI Express. I feel so stupid! Anybody out there with some clever ideas?

So why all these details? Just to let you know that today I feel splendid! I don’t think I have had so much energy in weeks. Leg is fine, I have had relatively little headaches today, my stomach is just a little sensitive but my right hand has fully recovered from seizure III.

Foot and Leg

I slept not so bad last night (I had to go to the toilet ‘only’ 5 times during the night), got up at 8:30am with a headache but had a pretty productive day today. I used to morning to chase a few people on the budget, I tried to understand the intricacies of more advanced Salesforce reporting (I failed) and prepare myself for Physiotherapy. My leg was pretty sore again so the Physiotherapist did his magic on my inner thigh and Tibia that rapidly felt better. It is annoying me though that the effect does not last and I wanted to know why that was.

Remember that on the 31st of March the Physiotherapist discovered that I’m unable to control the horizontal position of my foot (in a plane passing through the standing body parallel to the floor). That is not the only problem. For some reason my foot does not want to stay flat on the floor. He explained that this has to do with a combination of different muscles and tendons (Peroneous Longes, Peroneous Brevis) that run down from the knee all the way through the right side of my right leg to my foot and the Tibialis Anterior that runs through the front of the leg. Then there are several other smaller muscles for my toes that are also involved. It is very complex. I’m however convinced that I should do something to reduce the need for physiotherapy all the time. I have an alternative for the hiking shoes: basketball shoes and I’m going to get them this weekend so I can practice a few times in the gym with my Physiotherapist.

In the afternoon a friend came by with an excellent CD (“The space between us” by Craig Armstrong), just the music I like (thanks Marcus!). He feels it is music suitable for a movie and I believe he right about that. As a matter of fact when I checked Google I found this link about Craig Armstrong that proves that he is not only a composer but also writes music for movies. I couldn’t prove that “The space between us” is movie also music. Anybody out there who can confirm that? 

A package with a beautiful Italian tie was delivered today. I was from a colleague who lives in the area of Brussels and his wife. I used to work for a while in Brussels and it was a great time. Life in Belgium is completely different from living in the Netherlands. They are a bit more formal I think but they have such a great culture. Last week the city of Antwerpen was introduced on TV (I believe that it is the second city of Belgium, right after Brussels). There are so many lovely and special restaurants there. We will have visitors over from Italy next week, I think we will take them to Restaurant Lieve (the only real Belgian restaurant in Amsterdam). I’m getting hungry again! Magda and Hendrik, thanks so much for the tie. A very special gift very appreciated!.

Stretching the Adductor Longus

This morning it was time for my second appointment with the physiotherapist. She explained that especially the muscles and tendons in my right inner thigh are very tense. She suggested to work on that first. I agreed not knowing what I got myself into: a lot of pain! She told me that these are one of the most sensitive and largest tendons and muscles. I can only agree with her now. 

She worked her way through the muscles and tendons, stretched them to the max and after 20 minutes the result was great. Unfortunately this little lady will be on holiday for the next 6 weeks, travelling through South America. I hope her successor will be as skilled as she is. By the way this clear illustration is from the website eOrthopod, a great source of information by the Medical Multimedia Group. Great work guys!