Back to back

Back in June I wasn't able to sleep in the bed for over two weeks.  I made do with the chair.  It's not great, and I have to be careful not to get into a position where my leg starts to ache, but there are some positions, well, really only one or two, where the pain in my leg is not enough to keep me from sleeping.

It's back, again.

My right arm is aching as well.  The right arm has been medically confirmed as arthritis.  The ache in both arm and leg is the same, which is what gives me to believe that the leg is arthritic as well.  So far it hasn't been enough to keep me from walking, although some mornings it's a near thing.  But, so far, the ache does tend to respond to "walking it off," and, after a while, or a few kilometers, the aching is somewhat reduced.  Although some days it doesn't actually reduce: it's just never enough to actually keep me from walking.  Yet.

At one point, not only were both the arm and the leg aching, but a headache developed on the right side as well.  So, my entire right side was aching.  The fact that it was my entire right side brought to mind the possibility of a stroke.  Although I don't think aches and pains are precursor symptoms for a stroke.  But, it brought strokes to mind, and the possibility of disability.  Although, initially, I was thinking that it might have been a good thing.  When you have a stroke on the right side of the brain, it generally affects the heart, and is more likely to kill you.  This is one of the reasons that most stroke survivors seem to be paralyzed on the same side.  But, that's the left side of the body.  The right side of the brain controls the left side of the body.  So, possibly aches and pains on the right side of the body would indicate a stroke on the left side of the brain, which is less likely to kill you, and more likely to leave you disabled, and, in fact, more likely to leave you aphasic, as well.

Oh, joy.  Being disabled, and unable to speak, in a town where nobody cares whether I live or die.

I've been referred for an MRI to figure out the details of what's wrong with my back and hip.  Presumably that might result in some ideas for treatment.  However, that was five months ago, and I haven't yet had the slightest indication of when the initial MRI might happen.

Oh, joy.