To quote Saint Augustine, “What then is time? If no one asks me, I know what it is. If I wish to explain it to him who asks, I do not know.”
A quantitative expression of time, defined in physical terms, is that it is a measure of changes of a system. However, from a philosophical perspective if we are the system, this will have a large impact on how we think about time and the temporal aspects of reality. So, why the venture into the thorny subject of time, and run the risk of getting all bogged down in quantum physics? Well, it seems that it’s been a few weeks since my last blog entry, yet ‘lymphoedema-time’ has different characteristics and, in my system, time is on a go-slow.
It’s been a tough learning curve to realise that for my body, the healing process is now incredibly slow-moving, that an injury which should realistically have cleared up within weeks has instead taken months. My new reality has undergone a temporal shift but finally I am getting to a place of equilibrium and acceptance. I now fully understand that time moves at a different pace to my pre-lymphoedema entity and having acquired a new life-skill of patience (though not particularly graciously!) I am now on the road to recovery. My softly, softly approach and willingness to spend hours doing laps in the swimming pool seem to have paid off and this week I have managed a couple of hours of riding and even a 1 hour walk / run session. My knee isn’t completely fixed, but I have a handle of what I can do without ruining all the good rehab work that I’ve done, and as long as I continue to take small steps forward, I feel optimistic. This is a major breakthrough for me and means I can start to contemplate the prospect of riding the 520K from London to Paris this June.
I signed up for this event back in November last year, blissfully unaware of the problems that were to follow, and managed to persuade one of my friends from my days at University to do it with me. Imagine how troubled I’ve felt recently when I didn’t know whether I’d be able to participate, especially when I tell you that Rich is coming all the way from Brisbane! It may still all go horribly wrong, but if I can manage back-to-back 2 hour rides this weekend, followed by back-to-back 3 hour rides next weekend, Coach Helen and I reckon it is 'game on'. We then have eight weeks to build the necessary layers of fitness.
The other example of ‘lymphoedema-time’ is the period that has followed since my diagnosis pre-Christmas and obtaining relevant and useful assistance. I come from a long-line of problem solvers and there are more than a few ‘project managers’ in my life, all of which I can pretty much hold my own with. Hence the tasks of identifying specialists, making arrangements for consultations, and following up with practical applications should all have been straightforward to tick off the list. Not so. Being proactive, I have been lucky enough to build a network of people that can help me, notably experts like Prof Mortimer. But from a day-to-day lymphoedema-management perspective I have had no sway over the time it takes to get into the local NHS system. Thankfully this has started to happen in recent days and I am now under the care of a registered lymphoedema therapist, I have been prescribed with the first tranche of medical compression garments and a request for funding for Manual Lymphatic Drainage has gone to my local PCT.
Adopting a new ‘take’ on time has helped me build on the Zen state of mind alluded to in my blog entry on 13th January and not to get completely stressed and depressed either about being injured or having to deal with lymphoedema. Is there any relevance of time in the present in connection with time in the past? I guess not. Focusing on the now, it all seems to be coming good again, and I fervently hope this augurs well for the future. Tick tock.
