One week post op. The pain is awful. I feel like there is a gnawing in my bone and I swear I can feel every bolt in my bone. My arm is so bruised and tender that it hurts to have it in the sling. I took two tablets of tramdol and have never been so ill – a crashing headache, sweating and a bit doolally and the codeine gives me such a dry mouth that I just can’t take it. The consequence? I am trying to cope with the pain on paracetamol – I can only have 8 a day, 4-6 hours apart. I am trying to last for 6 hours but it is hard. If I don’t I know that it is longer until I can have the next lot.

I have downloaded an app on my phone – RxmindMe – there are others – to make sure that I keep up with all the tablets I have to take and don’t overdose on paracetamol. It is really useful and I would recommend using it as it is hard to keep track when you are in so much pain it is difficult to think straight.

I can’t sleep. I literally can’t sleep. I have got all my pillows as high as possible so that I am sitting up in bed which is the most comfortable but I just can’t sleep. Mr F did warn me of this – his tip? Netflix. I have downloaded a load of books on my kindle and spend most of the night reading them.

The pain and the lack of sleep means that I am really, really grumpy. I am normally such an active person, literally never in the house as I am up with the horse or out with the kids and now I am stuck here, in pain and with no sleep.

The days are long and the nights are longer. Once I have got myself up ( which is a drama in itself) I move from sitting on the sofa, to sitting in the kitchen, to sitting in the garden – you get the picture. I am making myself walk a mile a day so at least I am getting some exercise and I am lucky because the kids are still on Easter holiday and the sun is shining brightly on us.