wagwaan?: The one where I'm grateful I don't commute any more

Today was a good day - I had an appointment with the rheumatologist in London this afternoon, and I was feeling pretty good about things. I popped in to tell the people at the Community Centre that I wouldn't be able to attend the chair-based exercise class, then I made my way to the Tube station. Now, bear in mind that I used to do this every day and it only took me 15 minutes each way; then bear in mind the fact that until quite recently walking 15 minutes would leave me totally exhausted. I didn't have the cashola to get a taxi, but I figured it would be the same distance as walking into town and then I'd get to sit on a train for an hour to recover. I was very proud of myself because I did it. I didn't feel exhausted like I have done in the past, I just felt nicely tired.

The hospital where I go is near where I used to work, and the journey is about 1 hour on the actual train. It's a smooth journey, with just one change on the same platform, so not that tiring if you aren't doing it in the rush hour. I had planned it so that I would have a bit of time to stop by and see some old colleagues, although I missed a couple of them who had been sent on an errand by one of the Directors. Nevertheless, I did pop in and see the Office Manager, and one of the other PAs came down to see me too. It was really nice to see old friends and familiar faces - everyone who recognised me waved or came and said hi. The stories were still the same old same old, though, which is rather funny to hear when you've moved on. Several people told me that the second girl who took my job (the first having left after 2 weeks) is really struggling with the guy I used to work for, and they all said I "must have had the patience of a saint" to last 3 years. Well, yes, I think I do - but I'm not doing that any more, oh no. Life is too short to spend it organising a grown man who should be able to tie his own shoelaces and blow his own nose LOL! Ok, if you've ever been a PA you know what I mean; obviously I didn't really have to do those things for him.

Anyway, I made it over to the hospital with a few minutes to spare and took a seat in the waiting room. I could see the Consultant was there, but this time I got to see his Registrar. He was a very pleasant chap who said he'd been reading in my notes about the haemorrhage, and said I had been really lucky - then touched wood! After the haemorrhage I had to stop taking the medication that really helped with my joint pain, so it has been a lot worse. The plan of action is now to up my other medication to the maximum dose AND take Paracetamol four times a day to try and keep the inflammation at bay, and then I'll be reviewed in January when we'll decide where we go from there.

Of course, by the time we were done it was the rush hour, and I know how awful that journey can be from past experience. I didn't get home till 7pm, like in the "good old days". On the way home, all I could think was "thank goodness I don't have to do this every day any more". I've had a quiet evening with Claire, and now I really should get off to my bed. Hopefully I'll get some photos taken tomorrow, to jazz up the posts a little bit. Nite nite!