Obviously, as I have been almost totally immobile for the 2 weeks following my op, I have had to fill my time with various distractions, one of the obvious ones being reading and - at last - I have 'tackled' the Life of Kenneth Macmillan by Jann Parry. For one thing, I simply must finish it and return it to the person who lent it to me - I should have read it earlier, but it is so huge it was rather daunting and it cannot be carried around, especially since I cannot risk its becoming tatty.
I have read a little more than a quarter - it went pretty fast as the author writes well - and it has thrown up some intersting facts and themes. One is that Ninette de Valois - who we already knew helped to encourage and mentored KM - really took quite some trouble considering details of his new works, sometimes writing detailed letters of advice when they were apart. His early formation was almost totally unknown to me, as were the various twists and turns and different names for the 2nd company of the Royal Ballet in the 40's and 50's. I was entertained reading about Nora Kaye - she was quite a tough nut who seems invariably to have had an affair with the choreographer currently making a work for her ( or who she wanted to make her a ballet!)- these included Jerome Robbins, Roland Petit and K Macmillan. Then, once her interest in them waned, on she would go to the next 'victim'.
Margaret Hill was a great friend of KM. A dancer of great expressive ability, he made several roles for her, including the Girl in Solitaire. (Much later, in our 2nd year at the RBs, I was to dance that role (2nd cast) in one of our end of year shows, but ,unfortunately I now believe, I was taken on tour with the RB company instead. Mariona Linsey was the first cast- very lovely she was in it too. It is a beautiful role and I am sorry not to have had the chance to dance it publically).
The bio gives some sense of the choreographic and other influences on KM and others in the early part of his career as a choreographer and also describes the specific ballets well. More on that later as I progress through.
Meanwhile, I am on tenterhooks about my foot which had its first shower this morning since the op. I was quite nervous in view of last year's scar tearing experience, but I am doing everything I can to avoid that recurring this time..Today, the 2nd day since the foot has been much more exposed, I have been massaging E45 cream near the scar, have iced the foot several times and am not yet pulling and pushing the toe up and down. Much as I want to get on with the 'physio' aspect, it is not worth risking the possible consequent setback. The foot is very bruised and looks a bit gruesome - it is quite green or brown in many areas. I certainly felt the surgeon janking the foot like mad during the op - perhaps when the capsule was released? Also, the injections were a bit roughly done - even the fellow who has seen me for both post-op re-dressings remarked on that! However at the moment the scar is very neat.... I do hope and pray that I can get the foot through these next few days well, and then I will be able to start on the road to mechanical recovery. Patience, patience...
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Sunday, September 18, 2011
One year (plus) on...
Hard to believe, but this is the first blog in 1 year, 2 months.
Where has all that time gone?
Be that as it may, I am now at the start of my (I hope ) post op recovery from my 2nd bunion operation. I have 2 more days of almost total non weight-bearing to get through and then will have the 2nd redressing - i.e. the bandage completely off if it follows the same course as last year's. I have been very good - hardly walking most of the time, though very tempted to do more. I borrowed a pair of crutches. I have not relied on them , but when the foot gets very uncomfortable, I have been able to stay off it more. I am determined to do my utmost to avoid the tearing round the stitches that happened before. Quite whether I will succeed is another matter, but I feel positive - it has swollen up less than the other one so far and I am ready to bathe/smother the foot with cream etc etc to avoid the tearing..... More on that in the days to come.
Family, neighbours,friends and colleagues have sent mesasges etc which has been nice and my Significant Other has been good this time with meal preparations etc. especially in view of the fact that there has been an auction during the time and he has had a virus from which he is just really emerging today after 5 days feeling rough.Thank you H !
The wireless internet connection has worked as well - last year there was a running battle and stream of engineers from BT as I couldn't even get a normal connection and I really could not have borne that again.
One way or another I have filled the time, reading, knitting, radio - minimal televsion as it is so dire. I have also been reading every day for half an hour in French as they claim that that is a good way to improve speaking skills in another language.
I will need to get to my GP, probably a week or so after the re-dressing, once we see how it goes, to discuss a return to work date.
The weather has been pretty okay - no real cold - and a few quite nice days which makes the situation much easier to bear. In any case I am so fortunate that I will be back to mobility sooner or later - this is a temporary situation thank goodness - it does make you appreciate how hard it must be for solitatary disabled or elderly people.
Nadia from next door gave me a few pansies yesterday which was sweet of her. She has only been back in her house alone for a week or so and must be feeling very strange without Michael (her lovely husband who recently died), but she has 3 children with families who she sees a lot of, plus all her pupils/colleagues from the piano teaching. We 'borrowed' her gardener to have a blitz on our front garden the other day - so at least that looks reasonably presentable. The back needs some work, but I just have to go with the flow and think of it as a wild garden! I suppose the local bees will enjoy the clover and go back to work on the South London honey I sometimes buy! Well I hope it is local - I just heard a programme on r4 about 'honey laundering' - rather alarming , but it did also throw up a fact of interest to me:- one of my father's few spoken enthusiasms was for bee-keeping (I quite understand it) and they mentioned that one of the major honey blenders and suppliers is based in Wallingford, Oxon, not a million miles from where my father came from and in fact where one of my ancestors was mayor!
Another bit of news today - having written a little note on Stella's facebook wall yesterday, I found an email from her today with attached pics of her, me, Gill, Coralie and Trina from our meeting in July! Quite nice and a lovely memory. It is interesting how easily we pick up a relaxed and completely open friendship again after all these years. Boarding school does bond you so closely. Stella had been there 2 years before I joined the RBS already - she must only have been 9!
I shall post again in less than one year's time, dear reader. See you then
Where has all that time gone?
Be that as it may, I am now at the start of my (I hope ) post op recovery from my 2nd bunion operation. I have 2 more days of almost total non weight-bearing to get through and then will have the 2nd redressing - i.e. the bandage completely off if it follows the same course as last year's. I have been very good - hardly walking most of the time, though very tempted to do more. I borrowed a pair of crutches. I have not relied on them , but when the foot gets very uncomfortable, I have been able to stay off it more. I am determined to do my utmost to avoid the tearing round the stitches that happened before. Quite whether I will succeed is another matter, but I feel positive - it has swollen up less than the other one so far and I am ready to bathe/smother the foot with cream etc etc to avoid the tearing..... More on that in the days to come.
Family, neighbours,friends and colleagues have sent mesasges etc which has been nice and my Significant Other has been good this time with meal preparations etc. especially in view of the fact that there has been an auction during the time and he has had a virus from which he is just really emerging today after 5 days feeling rough.Thank you H !
The wireless internet connection has worked as well - last year there was a running battle and stream of engineers from BT as I couldn't even get a normal connection and I really could not have borne that again.
One way or another I have filled the time, reading, knitting, radio - minimal televsion as it is so dire. I have also been reading every day for half an hour in French as they claim that that is a good way to improve speaking skills in another language.
I will need to get to my GP, probably a week or so after the re-dressing, once we see how it goes, to discuss a return to work date.
The weather has been pretty okay - no real cold - and a few quite nice days which makes the situation much easier to bear. In any case I am so fortunate that I will be back to mobility sooner or later - this is a temporary situation thank goodness - it does make you appreciate how hard it must be for solitatary disabled or elderly people.
Nadia from next door gave me a few pansies yesterday which was sweet of her. She has only been back in her house alone for a week or so and must be feeling very strange without Michael (her lovely husband who recently died), but she has 3 children with families who she sees a lot of, plus all her pupils/colleagues from the piano teaching. We 'borrowed' her gardener to have a blitz on our front garden the other day - so at least that looks reasonably presentable. The back needs some work, but I just have to go with the flow and think of it as a wild garden! I suppose the local bees will enjoy the clover and go back to work on the South London honey I sometimes buy! Well I hope it is local - I just heard a programme on r4 about 'honey laundering' - rather alarming , but it did also throw up a fact of interest to me:- one of my father's few spoken enthusiasms was for bee-keeping (I quite understand it) and they mentioned that one of the major honey blenders and suppliers is based in Wallingford, Oxon, not a million miles from where my father came from and in fact where one of my ancestors was mayor!
Another bit of news today - having written a little note on Stella's facebook wall yesterday, I found an email from her today with attached pics of her, me, Gill, Coralie and Trina from our meeting in July! Quite nice and a lovely memory. It is interesting how easily we pick up a relaxed and completely open friendship again after all these years. Boarding school does bond you so closely. Stella had been there 2 years before I joined the RBS already - she must only have been 9!
I shall post again in less than one year's time, dear reader. See you then
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