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Its 4am and that is my partner leaving for work, he is a postman, which explains for the early start.
I must check the alarm is set, as it’s my morning to manage the BackCare Helpline.
After my essential cup of tea I make my way down to the local pool for my daily swim. The water is
cold but a perfect tonic for waking me up fully. I do the usual 30 lengths, alternating freestyle,
breaststroke and backstroke to work different muscle groups and avoid forcing my spine into one
position for a long period of time. Swim finished, hydrotherapy exercise done, with a few minutes
to spare, I sneak a treat in the Jacuzzi.
Home by 8.40am, just time to dry my hair, make a coffee and log onto the Helpline. My first call comes
through at 9.15am. On average I receive around six calls on my shift since the Helpline started. Calls
vary from someone with arthritis wanting advice about coping better to someone facing a job change to
prevent further worsening of his back condition. I advised the next caller to go to their GP as the
problem sounded too serious for just advice over the phone or from a fact sheet. In between calls I
make numerous cups of coffee to keep me going.
The remaining calls include a referral to our expert adviser about persistent problems after surgery, a
young person who has been told the long wait for surgery has meant it is now too late and, the last call
is for advice about surgery and nerve block injections.
All in all a busy morning but hopefully, I’ve been of some help to the callers. At midday I log off and
go online to email the BackCare head office with orders for fact sheets and to enter the statistics for
the morning (no personal details go into the statistics).
My friend arrives. Off we go to be ‘Ladies who lunch.’ It’s a good way to unwind after a busy morning.
I mentally plan to keep the lunch brief, as I will be playing Bridge come the evening. I find it a
great hobby as a back pain sufferer, as the level of concentration helps me to override the pain for
longer.
Well done to BackCare for pioneering this way of running a Helpline. It means we can stay in the comfort
of our own homes, with our own tried and tested ways of coping with sitting, standing or lying arrangements,
while staffing the telephone. Thank you for the brains behind this idea, it has certainly given me a new
direction in life.
To end a good day my partner and I came out tops at the Bridge Club.
“Calls vary from someone with arthritis wanting advice about coping better to someone facing a job
change to prevent further deterioration of his back condition”.
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