Although not having been able to have my second batch of chemotherapy on Thursday was a setback, by far the worst thing that has happened this week has revolved around my back.
I had problems with my back on the way back from North Wales on Sunday night, which had eased by the time I saw the doctor on Tuesday. I am seeing the head of the GP practice and I feel that she is an exceptionally good GP, probably the best I have come across. She considered the problem to be muscular and felt that it would continue to ease.
As the week went on my back did get better, or at least it did until I had my Laughing (Cow) fit on Thursday night. Whilst laughing one's head off is good for the soul I can tell you that it isn't necessarily good for one's back.
When I went to bed on Thursday night my back went back into spasm and after eventually getting back to sleep for two hours I awoke in excruciating pain. I spent the rest of the night either on my hands and knees or laying in the bath.
From my own experience and from the experience of a number of people I know the NHS is adept at solving back issues that require surgical treatment, indeed Kitten benefited from this only last year. However, other back issues whether on-going or spontaneous don't always seem to be met with a game plan other than anti-inflammatory tablets or gels (which I am not allowed to use anyway).
I first used osteopathy for treatment of a relatively minor back problem over 20 years ago, so I know that there are alternatives and osteopathy is now considered by many to be a mainstream practice. It probably stands apart from many other alternative practices (especially in the eyes of the British Medical Association) because it is legally regulated and requires a 4 or 5 year degree course to become a qualified practitioner. Less recognised is cranial osteopathy, which has become a popular treatment with mums for young babies. I have been treated successfully with cranial osteopathy for acute tinnitus, for which the NHS was not able to offer me any options.
Anyway, the point of that little ramble was that the gym that I visit at lunchtimes, when working in London has resident osteopaths and physiotherapists for the treatment of sports injuries. They work in conjunction with the gym trainers to provide remedial programmes in parallel with standard treatments.
I decided that I would go into the office as planned and see whether I could get an emergency appointment. The mistake that I consider most make when considering alternative treatments is that they consider them as a last resort when the conventional approach has already failed them, or they wait for ages for a GP to refer them. To my mind there are horses for courses; Cancer specialists are good for treating cancer and back specialists are good for treating back problems. The secret in any situation is to get the problem treated quickly before it "takes hold".
The gym is only a short hobble from the tube station and Kitten was gracious enough to get out of bed at 6:15am to give me a lift to start the journey nearby.
I haven't ever had any major problems with my back but have used treatment to deal with minor problems and sports injuries. Also, I haven't had any cause to have treatment for at least a couple of years and I found that my usual practitioner is off on maternity leave. Instead I had the pleasure of an early morning appointment with a mad but talented Canadian osteopathist.
Not only was he able to identify the source of the problem but was also able to give me advice on how to avoid the problem going forward. He was generous with his time and used a combination of standard osteopathy and cranial techniques. He practices elsewhere and doesn't usually use cranial osteopathy at the gym because it is sports focused and much more aligned with skeletal manipulation, but he checked to see whether I was open to it. His reason for doing so was that it allowed him to work longer without putting my body under too much stress. My attitude to anything (medical or otherwise) is results oriented i.e. if it works for me at that time then that is all I care about.
When I left and as the day progressed the problem continued to ease but I was still left with the residual pain from all the muscle spasms that I had suffered overnight. I rang the hospital and spoke to my case nurse to see what types of pain killers would be appropriate (I cannot use anything that is Ibuprofen based and paracetamol would probably be strong enough). My logic was that I would need something strong if the problem came back and I also needed a good night's sleep to get me back to normal.
A visit to the GP yielded some Co-Dydramol and these and another soak in the bath were enough to promote a good night's sleep and I have gone from pure agony on Thursday night to being perfectly OK today.
The key point about the back problem was that I haven't been doing any constructive exercise since the outdoor ice-skating finished at the beginning of March (other than the Chi Kung that I have just started) and this is unusual for me. Because I have been working from home I haven't even been getting the regular walks back and forth to the station. The weather at the beginning of my chemo wasn't conducive to me getting out either.
The combination of an "alternative" therapy and regular drugs have got me back in one piece very quickly and I will now make sure that I am doing the stretching and general exercise necessary to keep me in one piece. I don't need additional problems as I progress through my treatment.
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