The Bay Gateway

The new Bay Gateway (the M6 Heysham link road) was finally opened last Monday. By all accounts the road to Lancaster is a lot quieter.

People have been asking for such a road all the time we’ve lived in this area, over 40 years. It’s finally been built & opened. The building has caused several years of absolute chaos but if it achieves what it’s hoped it will, it will have been worth it. Maybe we’ve finally reduced the amount of traffic trying to cross the bridges to & from Lancaster. Most people don’t actually want to visit Lancaster. It’s just they’re really the only bridges across the River Lune between the M6 & Heysham port.

We were surprised yesterday when we left the golf club. Usually the road in front is busy with heavies, but no, there were only cars. But then I suppose if you came from the north you would have got off at Carnforth (another place for a bad snarl up) & gone along the A roads rather than tackle Lancaster.

We’ll really see the difference when we tackle going into Lancaster next week. I’ve got two hospital appointments, both at different times when the traffic has usually been horrendous. Lancaster may once more be a pleasant place to visit, to shop, without that sinking feeling as you thought of the journey in.

At the moment, many people are trying the new road just for the novelty of it. What is more, the schools you usually pass have been closed for half term. By next week all those children, being dropped off & collected by their parents, will be back at school.

Anyhow we’ll find out next week.

Liberation

I’ve now progressed to the more demanding physiotherapy exercises. These involve getting my arms above my head. It was a relief to find that I could happily stretch as far as I can without any extra discomfort.

With this in mind I feel the time to get back to try living as normal. So today I had a shower & washed my hair. There are still some steri-strips across the incision. Even getting wet doesn’t seem to have loosened them. I patted them dry as best I can. As far as I’m concerned the hospital can take them off when I go there next week, that is if they haven’t dropped off on their own accord as the instruction sheet suggests they will.

My breast remains a colourful sight. The nipple area remains the blue of the dye though the natural flesh colour is starting to peer through. The area from the nipple to just beyond the incision is a mixture of reds, purples, yellows & greens, just one giant bruise in other words.

Yesterday I cooked my first meal – a Greek stifado. It was wonderful just to be handling ingredients again. Admittedly I was a bit on the go slow, but I’ll soon get back into my stride I’m sure. The only thing I really did differently from before the op is that I just took out the potatoes I wanted for the mash, rather than move the whole bag to the sink for peeling. I thought that might be a bit heavy at the moment. We’d bought a new large sack on Wednesday.

In the afternoon we went off to the chemist to get our regular pill supplies. I pushed myself around in my wheelchair. Freedom at last! Independent moving! We later popped into a local supermarket for a couple of items & again I pushed myself. It made life so much easier than the Fox having to push me with a trolley attached at the front – it makes for a very long unwieldly push - as we’d done on Wednesday. The Fox happily carried the basket & stretched for higher items – so much simpler.

All this liberation has done much for my morale. I’m leaving the surgical stocking until the weekend, when they can go in the wash. I’m still wearing my new, full support bra at all times, though it did feel wonderful to have it off for a period while I had my shower.

I will admit I am still feeling the need for extra rest. Most days I’ve either had a lie-down at some point or a very early night. But then that is only to be expected. It’s only just over a week since I had the op.

On the mend

I’m slowly getting there. Friends have been surprised how bright & with-it I seem. However, yesterday was the first day I didn’t have a bit of a doze during the day. I ended up going to bed at 8.30pm, too tired to stay up a moment longer. I was already half asleep in my chair.

Yesterday I took off the outer dressing. I was nervous about this. The instructions suggested I did it on Sunday but I thought I should give it an extra day. At least on a weekday, if the wound did start gushing there would be someone who could help me. Clearly from the dressing there had been some leakage but it looked dried & old. There has been none since I removed the outer dressing. The inner dressing should fall off of its own accord. I’m certainly not going to touch it unless the dressing’s still there in a few weeks’ time.

The physio exercises are continuing. After the first week I should be starting some exercises that involve bringing my arm up above shoulder level. It all seems very easy so far. I’m also wearing the elasticated stockings at night – to avoid DVTs. The leaflet suggests I should continue that until I get back to normal mobility. As someone who is a part-time wheelchair user, I was that mobile the moment I woke up. Still the nurse did say I should use the stockings for at least a couple of weeks, so I’m using them.

The Fox has not let me do anything much. I finally got him to let me yesterday scrape & parboil some potatoes for sautéing in the evening. I’ve just peeled some more for some mash this evening.

We’ve a busy morning ahead. My care worker will be coming. While she is here, we’re also expecting the plumber coming to service the central heating boiler & the gas fire, ready for the coming winter. We’ve also got some people coming to treat the lawns with some fertiliser. I suspect I’ll be ready for that doze after that lot.

In the meanwhile I’ll continue taking things easy…