Rain.

A visit to see the surgeon today. That's a 15 minute walk to the station. A 20 minute train journey. A 15 minute walk to the hospital.

It was raining hard the whole time. I feel very sorry for the people in the north of England who have had to endure floods, many of whom have lost so much. I like the rain (not the floods) because it makes me calm. I don't have an umbrella, but I do have an old "Barmah" hat that a friend bought me in Australia. So I put that on and walk slowly, watching people hurry about trying to get back into houses and cars. What's wrong with rain? After all, getting dry again afterwards feels nice too!

The surgeon looked at me sideways as I 'squelched' into his plush office and parked my waterlogged body in a fine leather chair. The nurse, perhaps fearing for his sense of neatness and order, quickly invited me to move to the examination couch - PVC (waterproof) naturally! I described the pain & numbness and in less than 5 minutes was diagnosed as having Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. This had been brought on by the rigorous exercise regime I'd had to following after the surgery a few weeks back. Tough when the cure makes it worse, but you have to try these things. Further surgery is out of the question so soon after the last op' so I am scheduled to have some shots.

I remember having courses of steroid shots in both shoulders before they discovered I needed subacromial decompressions done. However, I am hopeful that they will be much more successful for my hand, and getting to the source of the pain must be better than swallowing pain medication each day. Hah, that will cut the number of daily pills by eight... my throat will be happy!

Pleased that I've now got an action plan, I walked home slowly in the rain, humming a tune to myself ("Invisible" by Infusion). Sometimes I feel like I'm invisible.