Hooray for corsets
2 June 2010
I have a new corset, and I am very happy.
I’ve mentioned before how weakened kidney failure left my muscles and how much it hurts my back to sit in an upright chair for more than about fifteen minutes.
At home and when I am at the hospice I sit in a reclining chair that supports my back at an angle and have my feet propped up. When my friends invite me out I have often had to leave early because my back hurt so much, or if I took painkillers or had a few drinks so I could ignore the pain, I’ve ended up spending the next day lying in bed in pain.
A few weeks ago I was reading a blog I follow and the writer, Jillian Ventners, author of “Gothic Charm School” had posted a photograph of a very pretty corset top that she had bought.
I thought “Maybe if I had a corset it would support my back enough that I could stay out with my friends a bit longer?”
I mentioned the idea to one of the hospice nurses and she arranged for their physiotherapist to speak to me. The physiotherapist agreed that it was a good idea on condition that I didn’t wear it all the time, because that would make my muscles even weaker if they started to depend on the corset. I solemnly promised that I would only wear my corset for gallivanting and she got out the tape measure and measured me up.
I had to wait a couple of weeks, but then my corset arrived.
It was a gorgeous sunny afternoon at the hospice and I celebrated by putting on my corset and sitting at the table outside with everyone else drinking iced Schloer. It was lovely.
Later some of my friends were talking on the Twitter website and said they were meeting up at the pub. I said “I’ll join you,” and I did. That was lovely to be able to do. I was tired the next morning and had a lie in for an hour or so, but my back didn’t hurt. Hooray!
The following Tuesday I went to the local Linux Users Group meeting. The last few times I had been I had to leave early, but this time I was able to stay until the end of the meeting.
It’s such a simple thing that has given me so much more freedom.
Its plain white, first you velcro it down the middle, then you wrap a strap round to you left to tighten it, and then again another strap to your right. If it was plain black it would look like an ordinary waspie belt. It’s actually quite stylish, but the important thing is it helps me spend time with my friends without being in pain.
Hooray for corsets!
Read other posts in Val’s diary here:
24 February – So what is a stent?
10 February 2010 – A nice cup of tea
3 February 2010 – The joys of negative thinking
26 January 2010 – My secret tattoos
20 January 2010 – Plumbing problems (part II)
20 January 2010 – Plumbing problems (part I)
6 January 2010 – Of vampires and vaccinations
29 December 2009 – Beauty and fashion
17 December 2009 – How the Doctor kept me going!
11 December 2009 – Why am I not depressed?
4 December 2009 – Why I didn’t want to attend Severn Hospice!
