If you had
asked me in the middle of the week how things were going, you would have
received a very negative reply. It was about then that I had decided that
France really didn’t like me and was wearing me down bit by bit. Because, since
we have been here, I have been beset by strange and unusual ailments, which
have made me quite miserable at times. To start with it was the dreadful
chilblains that I got when we first arrived. Having never lived anywhere that
experienced such cold, I was obviously a prime victim, but no-one warned either
of us. So, for the next year, I had to put up with missing toenails and the
discomfort of wearing socks (to keep my feet warm) and shoes which rubbed on
the sensitive part of my toes. Happily that is now a thing of the past and my
nails have almost entirely grown back.
In the same
year, I had quite a bad fall and although I didn’t break anything, something
got shaken up and after a while I started having severe pain in my hips and
lower back. I was prescribed a number of physiotherapy sessions but although I
religiously went, I was less than satisfied with the results. I am well aware
that I am a dreadful patient and that I always want to be cured immediately but
I would have settled for less, if there had been any obvious results, but there
hadn’t been. However, they say time is a great healer and after a while I
really thought my condition had improved without any outside help. That was
ignorance thinking and a month later after spending a couple of weeks in the
most deliciously soft and bouncy beds each night, I was right back to square
one. When the pain became almost unbearable and I was in danger of becoming a
pain-killer addict, I thought that it would be a good idea to get some help,
but not from my original physio. After asking around we found another person
who turned out to be just what I needed and after only two sessions there is
already improvement.
In between
all these strange ailments it was suddenly discovered that my eyesight was
failing and that there was treatment available but that it had to be started
promptly or I would lose my sight altogether. It was a real wake-up call but I
had no option but to go through with it. In the end, it sounded much more
horrendous than it actually was, thank goodness. I mean who would willingly
have injections into the one’s eyeball? But as I said, it turned out to be not
so bad at all and also turned out to be a fairly routine procedure with at
least twenty patients arriving every Friday morning and being dealt with in a
very matter-of-fact way, reminiscent of a sausage machine! After six injections
into each eye, spread over about five months, I think I can honestly say that there
is improvement here too, for which I am very grateful. It wasn’t quite what I was
expecting when I went to the eye clinic on Tuesday afternoon for an assessment
after the twelve injections. I bounced into the consulting room fairly
confident that I would have an eye test and a new pair of spectacles would be
prescribed but things didn’t go quite like that. A scan of my eye showed that
there was still room for further improvement and another two injections were
ordered with another assessment in May. Hopefully then, I will be given new glasses and be able to read
easily again. It will be such a relief.
So, you see,
in the middle of the week I was fairly down-hearted but with good reason.
However, by the end of the week my spirits had lifted again and there was once
again light at the end of the tunnel. If the weather would now just warm up a
bit things would be wonderful again.
I apologise
to all my regular readers for burdening you all with my moans and groans but at
least you now all know why I sometimes don’t seem my usual sparkly self!
In spite of
all this, we both still love living here and would not have things any other
way. We couldn’t wish for better or kinder neighbours and we love the thought
that at least half our family is within reach. We still miss our friends a lot
but are slowly making new ones although they will never be like the friends we
had in South Africa. Our door is always open for visitors, don’t forget.
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