Not a bad start to the week

There was a time when I regarded getting up at 0700 as being pretty normal but in recent years, basically post Covid, post stent and post (semi) retirement, that’s not been the case. However I’d agreed to an 0815 appointment at Addenbrooke’s on the grounds that it would be an easier drive in than the one for the other time I was offered viz 0915.

I was on the road by 0730 and although the traffic on the M11 was slow at first and despite the multiple traffic lights between it and Addenbrooke’s I drove into the car park at 0800. Then, wonder of wonders, a parking space opened up in the first floor just by the lifts so I ended up arriving early for my appointment. The extra time meant that I could appreciate the sunrise.

My appointment was with Julia, my occupational therapist, who updated the measurements relating to my left little finger. She did this with a little pragmatic technology viz the sort of plastic protractor which I’d have used in primary school.

The flexion has continued to improve and is evidenced by my ability to do just about everything which I would have done before my fasciectomy. Most recently I’ve been able to squeeze a toothpaste tube by gripping it with all four fingers. The strength isn’t quite there but it’s coming.

flexion	16 Sep 24	14 Oct 24	13 Nov 24	16 Dec 24
bottom	42	58	86	78
middle	64	72	82	90
tip	36	42	50	62

Julia rationalised the worse bottom joint flex in terms of it previously compensating for the inability of the middle joint. Since the sum of the two flexions is unchanged at 168 there’s some sense in that.

I’ve been working diligently to straighten the finger and it was good to see that this has produced a positive result.

extension	16 Sep 24	14 Oct 24	13 Nov 24	16 Dec 24
bottom	-16	-18	-22	-16
middle	-42	-34	-42	-38
tip	-16	-10	0	0

It was a quick visit. Julia said that the scar tissue was healing well, recommended ‘theraputty’ as a means of continuing to build strength in my hand, and recommended that I now be discharged. I was quickly out and back at the car park within an hour which meant that I had no need to avail myself of the special day rate for patient.

I don’t easily get up at 0700 there has to be some extra motivation and that’s a decent breakfast so I headed over to Brew in Eddington. I had a bit of a scare from the traffic news which told me of slow traffic after a breakdown after the Girton interchange but that did not slow my progress and I was walking into the coffee shop at 0900.

To round off a productive morning I managed a session in the gym where I completed a first treadmill run for some time. There was a time that I ran 10km but now my ambitions are much lower and 2km this time, along with the rest of my gym session, gave me the satisfaction of continuing to do enough to keep my body in something like good condition.

For 10 days or so I’ve been driving with a warning that my ‘left dipped beam’ is faulty. This is risky, probably against the law and makes for uncomfortable driving at night so with a clear afternoon I had no excuse not to get it fixed so I rang SRG and it confirmed that it could be done whilst I waited.

I like SRG. It’s a local success story and always gives good service. I’m pleased for owner Mervyn Smith who’s done well and benefitted by the move to its current location round the back of the Rec in Impington. I’m especially pleased that he’s kept the name, Station Road Garage, albeit just the initials even though he’s no longer on Station Road. He’s built a brand so why risk that with a gratuitous name change?

Finally to end a good day the TV schedules delivered. First Only Connect where I was pleased when I answered one of the challenges in the first two rounds, shouted at the contestants for missing obvious connections on the wall and had a hit rate of 50% or so in the missing vowels round.

This was followed by the first episode of the sixth series of Strike. The plots in this series do stretch credulity, but it is fiction after all, but I like the moodiness of the eponymous Strike and his interplay with the tough fragility of his partner Robin Ellacott. I hadn’t realised that the books are written by JK Rowling of Harry Potter fame but the crit in the Guardian makes it clear that they are self indulgent and that the TV adaptations are much better.