Canes and pains

Some years after marrying we went back to Hong Kong on holiday and I asked Alice to take a photo of me in the exact spot where I had taken one of her while plucking up courage to pop the question. It was reasonably successful although the record shows that even way back then I often had a stick. This was way before the emergency ripping out of my innards. Instead it was a usual thing for me to do in an ankle or knee just before any holiday. Why, I don't know but it seemed to be a regular occurrence, which was a bit irritating.

I became quite used to wandering around clutching a stick and bought a few different types, solid, collapsible, carved wood, aluminium and the like.

However post belly carving it became essential and I struggled to get by at work, where I avoided carrying a stick to prevent people assuming I was past it. But since I quickly became unable to stand still without pain something needed to be done.

I knew of shooting sticks but googling did not bring up much, it seems that the name is mostly restricted to UK, and a search on 'walk', 'seat', 'cane' and other variants was much more productive. As a shortarse I needed an adjustable one and after a while settled on the one above, which comes with a rubber spike cover enabling it to be used on hard surfaces. What a splendid thing this is, being able to sit quickly anywhere soon reduced the pain. It was used often as we wandered around the Botanical Gardens and elsewhere, here of course I took advantage of the occasional seating that is provided. This was taken some years after the one taken in the Phils above yet I am still using the same tee shirt - obviously fashion is not something I follow! And now I am stepping out regularly without any walking or sitting aid. I had thought that this would never happen again, but the fixing of the five high level hernias has sorted me out. Maybe soon I will be reaching a size and shape to allow me to get back on the courts with Alice.