Let’s get the prostate stuff over with. Last week’s consult with Dr P was almost identical with the previous one, except for another rise in the PSA — up to 200 this time. Fortunately, I’m pretty inured to these kinds of figures, particularly when, as this time, Dr P said he was happy with how I’m going. I’ve been having difficulty with full body scans, insofar as the radiation therapist has to tie a velcro strap around my ankles to stop me wriggling around (thus blurring the scan). By the time the scan head gets to my ankles and feet, I’m in fairly decent pain from the sciatica. I’d reported this to Dr P, and he said he’d give me a prescription for some opioids to help with the pain. I thought he’d just give me a script for one box, but he wrote on for about 10-12 boxes! (No-one need be concerned that I’ll be tossing them down like lollies. Some time ago I read a book about Oxycontin and the dreadful legacy of addiction that that left behind. We also saw and enjoyed Addiction on one of the streaming services. So I’m well aware of the potential for addiction from this drug. But for pain relief, opiods leave things like Panadol in the dust.)

I gave these a bit of hiding, though, over the new year. I got a strain in the sacroiliac region on 23 December — just as we were about to leave for the airport to pick up my sister-in-law, who was having Christmas with us. I had been about to pick up an (empty) plastic Esky the way I’d been taught, i.e. bending my knees and keeping the back straight. Unfortunately the Esky was on my right hand side, not straight ahead. Anyway, this resulted in an almighty pain, recovery from which required lying down for several hours while my beloved continued to the airport. I was up and walking around about five hours later, albeit in a fashion that resembled Dr Frankenstein’s monster.

The happy pills have also been part of the treatment regimen I have been put on by my GP for a spasm in one of the lumbar spine muscles I’ve been having for a week now. This also gives me pretty decent pain when getting up or sitting down — just at various angles. My GP gave me two types of opioids and Panadeine Forte, all of which make me pleasantly woozy, but are only masking the pain. I’ve also had some adjustment by a chiropractor, who said she thought I might need another session (truer words were never spoke — I’m seeing her tomorrow afternoon). If that is unsuccessful I’ll try some needling therapy, either by an acupuncturist, or dry needling.

This pain is pretty disabling in terms of doing any cooking, or basically anything that involves lifting. It’s remarkable how many things, such as appliances, are stored in low cupboards. Fortunately my beloved is working from home this week. (One of her friends went down with Covid last week, so my beloved and I have been isolating for a few days. We both took a RAT test which came up negative, though, so that is one bullet we may have dodged!) My beloved has stepped nobly, as ever, into the breach of the household stuff. I have been supporting insofar as I’m able, including setting up a Click and Collect for the groceries.

One takeout from these two incidents for me is that my back has become rather fragile. I’ve become like a vintage car which requires consistent maintenance. To that end I’ll try seeing the chiropractor and massage therapist alternately each month. Another is that GPs in general don’t really know that much about the workings of the musculoskeletal system, and often only have time to write you a prescription for an analgesic or (if you’re lucky) an opioid. So one must find a practitioner in that realm of medicine deemed “complementary”, e.g. an exercise physiologist, chiropractor, or acupuncturist. (Caveat emptor, and all that, but that applies just as much to Western medical practitioners.)