On to the Clinique Ster

This will really be about the clinic and the beginning of rehab, but I'll begin on the day I left  the hospital.  After breakfast the final physio session here and the infernal machine.  The swelling had really started to go down overnight and we hoped I could get up  to 90º, but by 75 some of the muscles were screaming and I realised that I had not been given painkillers this morning.  I asked and was told the doc had not prescribed them so, no.    Silly really, it's only because I'm leaving at lunchtime so he's effectively crossed me off his list.  My need for pain relief has not suddenly  changed like Cinderella's coach since midnight! The physio asked again and meanwhile I changed from straight 80 yo a gradual increase, chanting 'no gain without pain' the whiles.  I wonder what the equivalent is in French?  In any case it's odd that everyone is so concerned that you're in pain one minute and 'tant pis' the next.  In the end the nice male morning nurse magicked up some pills and the tant pis was instead that he had not been able to contact the doctor!

In France you have always the odd combination of bureaucracy and choice.  Like most  people we pay a complementary health insurance, and bills are met automatically by the CPAM (state) and 'mutuelle' (our policy) combined.   Extras (often as in the UK eyes and teeth) you pay direct.  You always know how much things are costing - for example I signed my feuille de soins on Tuesday 1100+ € for my week in hospital paid by CPAM, and then there are the optional extras, in my case having the top man operate, and it turns out our mutuelle will reimburse us 40% of that.  When Mary had her stroke and heart episode in 2010 the  system paid the whole 24k € and we realised what good value our complementary insurance is.  We'll see how well it does with the rehab clinic.

In any case you get choice at all stages.  Someone came to arrange my transfer by ambulance and the first thing she asked was 'do you have a preferred service'  I cannot imagine spending time selecting a favourite - it's hard enough to get a taxi in Lunel - but perhaps we should.  You never  know, perhaps you get frequent flyer  points.  Anyhow, one of  the ambulance men had worked in Lunel and knows and admires our doctor.  So I took the name of the company and now, yes, I have a preferred firm too!  We arrived at the clinic in the windy garrigue after a short drive, and the rest of the day was spent settling in, getting to know some of the ropes, and getting used to sharing a room.  I signed for single, but I'll only get that when one becomes free.  Happily the chap I moved in with is a quiet sleeper (I know because I'm awake such a lot) and does not seem to be disturbed by my tossing and turning.  He's here from Paris following shoulder surgery because his children  live near and can pop in and out. 

Once I know how this place works I'll describe it in more detail - meanwhile there is of course a website if you want to see and know more.  In the latest long wakeful night, though, I found myself both more restful and in greater pain because the beds here do not raise in the middle, so my leg has to be straight and the tendons pull something terrible.  There is pain relief but it does not last all night, and I need to learn to ask for more and stronger - I hate morphine, but maybe needs must.  In fact, for several years the knee had become progressively a bit bent with the arthritis, so I now understand that an important part of the rééducation is stretching them as well as getting the muscles back working properly.  If you think about it, there is little else since the knee joint itself is brand new.  I have an inelegant white stocking today to help reduce the swelling around the knee.

Nearly the weekend, more anon.