So things don’t always go to plan…understatement of the last few years for most people I know. And time has a habit of just flying by…even when you’re not having fun. However, sometimes, there’s still a little ray of sunshine that breaks through the thickest of storm clouds. First and foremost, I have to apologise to my previously regular readers for the vast amount of time that has passed between today and the last time I wrote on this blog at the end of 2021. Covid was mostly done, however here in Victoria, Australia, there were still some limitations about travel – even away from our own homes. I wrote a piece voicing my desire to make a trip to Japan in 2022. The last time I travelled to Japan was 2019 – I was and still am missing it like crazy. Covid wasn’t truly over for the people of Japan either and they had some of the strictest travel restrictions in place for foreigners wishing to travel there. In my last 2021 blog I also wrote about falling in love with the Doctor and wanting to travel to Japan with her as soon as possible. She too is fan of all things Japanese and travelled to Japan in 2019 – not with me though.

So I guess the big question is; what happened to Tokyo 2022? Tokyo 2022 was put on hold, not as a result of loss of interest, or deciding to travel elsewhere. It was put on hold because a few months later I became quite unwell with a physical condition. At the start of 2022, shortly after getting over my first bout of Covid, I had a tumble in the park while out walking. I didn’t think much of it – aside from a badly torn up knee. Shortly after I started to get a very sore neck, shooting pains down my left arm and a tingling sensations in several of my fingers on the same side. I started some physio and took some supermarket grade pain killers to get on top of it. The physio and basic meds quickly stopped having any effect as the pain escalated. The shooting pains in my arm intensified and the tingling fingers became fingers with no feeling at all. Concerning I hear you say – yes it was a little. My GP sent off referrals to the local public hospital for more physio and support from the pain management clinic. He also sent me for a full neck scan.

As it turned out, the scan showed my C5, C6, and C7 vertebrae were compressing and the nerves were being crushed. Yet another referral was sent by my GP to the hospital as I was going to need a neurologist to fix this one. Now here’s the problem; during Covid, the hospitals were postponing all non-essential surgery and procedures. They were doing life critical stuff only and of course looking after the Covid patients. But the people sitting at home in lockdown still had the need for those procedures, operations, specialists, and hospital beds. Once lockdown was lifted and the hospital tried to resume normal operations – they were inundated with a backlog of people in need. There was a long queue for everything and as a result the entire process was drawn out considerably. What should have been a relatively quick turn around dragged into almost a year before I had surgery. And my original referrals for pain management and physio went unanswered until close to the end of that year long wait. But the damage was already done.

I had a lot of complications with pain meds – something that the pain management clinic should have handled but wouldn’t. The long wait resulted in me being placed on ever increasing doses of opioids to manage the escalating pain. Life for me all but stopped. I didn’t pick up a camera or write or work during that time. I didn’t exercise or travel away from the house much. The pain meds only masked part of the pain and also resulted in me being so out of it that I was barely engaged in family life at all. Not the sort of person I ever wanted to be. By this point in time, things at home were pretty grim. I was a bit of a zombie, strongly medicated, and mostly vacant from my kids. The Doctor and her two kids had moved in with us by this stage. It was a move that I was over the moon about – I had met someone who got me and I got them. We worked, played and loved perfectly together. As a result of my state, the Doctor took on most of the responsibility for managing the household, all five kids, our collective of furry babies, and everything else. I love her proper. I couldn’t have done this without her support, the support of my kids and that of my family. Prior to surgery, I also had a range of tests carried out by disengaged and burnt out hospital staff that results in a whole range of unsatisfactory and questionable experiences.

Just before surgery, I received a notification that I was to attend a pre-admission clinic with various specialists including an anaesthetist and a neurosurgeon. I was to have a triple fusion of my C5, C6 and C7 vertebrae. What’s more, they explained that they would be accessing my spine from the front – through my neck and around either side of my throat. I expressed my concerns at the massive amount of pain meds I was on and that I didn’t want to end up opioid dependent. They both assured me that pain management would be in touch either before surgery or once I was in hospital post surgery. The anaesthetist was shocked at the volume of opioids I was one. I then went home to eagerly, if not anxiously, await surgery.

The surgery took place at the end of January 2023 and I recovered well in hospital and was soom home and recovering in bed with my family around me. The pain management team never contacted me before surgery and they didn’t even come to see me while I was right there in the hospital. I was told by a nurse that my regular doctor would manage it. Spinal surgery is a pretty big deal, it was made even bigger by the fact that they went in through the front of my neck. So I had to take it very, very easy for a number of months. As time passed the pain from surgery faded and it was time to talk to my doctor about coming off the meds. Now keep in mind that I’m not a doctor and I followed the dose and usage advice of all my meds to the letter. So I was expecting that my doctor would know how to handle taking me off my Fentanyl opioid patches.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case and I had my patch strength dropped by half overnight. My body went into shock and I landed in the hospital emergency room I was in such bad shape. It was only at this point that a consultant from the pain management clinic appeared in my hospital room to talk with me about my experience. I have to say he was pretty amazing – he was the first doctor to sit still, look me in the eye, and ask me to tell my story up to this point. He listened and what’s more he retained it all. He told me that my experience was considered complex opioid dependency caused by the duration and strength of opioids I had been on. It was going to take a lot of work and a long time to reduce my dependency and get me off the opioids. And so we began the slow work of making gradual dose drops over the rest of 2023 – I am pleased to say that I have stopped using opioid based meds as of the end of January this year. The relief is staggering.

So what comes next? Well, for one I am on here writing about my experience today. This is the first time I have written anything of considerable length for almost two years. Whilst this is a summarised recounting of my time over the last two years, it is also great to follow a stream of conscious thought without the opioid induced fog. And to be clear, I’m not recounting this experience for pity or for people to console me. I’ve always been open an honest on this little blog of mine by sharing my life, joys, passions, and real experiences. This is just another experience that shapes me. Another great change is that I have finally picked up my camera again and have been out and about taking street photography shots in my local neighbourhood. It is summer here in Australia and the weather has been hot and sunny. But I still try to get out almost every day for a walk to build my stamina and I ensure I take my camera with me.

It has been liberating and so incredibly satisfying to discover that I haven’t lost my passion for photography. I follow the light that falls across the urban landscapes and watch the people as they move in and out of the light. I am sharing a few of those shots here with you today. For reference, these images were all captured on the Fujifilm X-E4. I have grown to absolutely love this little camera for is compact size, discreet nature and of course its sensor and those gorgeous Fujifilm colours. I am yet to take the Fujifilm X70 out and about on a walk – soon. But the Fujifilm X-E4 allows me to work with my compact lenses. I pair it with the compact Fujifilm XF23mmF2 WR and Fujifilm XF16mmF2.8 WR lenses on most occasions – although that XF23mmF2 is definitely my go-to lense of choice. I also love to shoot with the Fujifilm XF27mmF2.8 WR pancake lense. That lens paired with the Fujifilm X-E4 is almost pocketable it’s so compact.

I have been loving the whole end to end process too. I walk, holding my camera in hand and not in a bag, and take shots and then return home to sit at my iMac and review and edit my shots. I’m still using Lightroom – although my iMac is starting to chug a little slower than before. I’ve also taken the time to play around with some new colour presets based on the Fujifilm Classic Chrome Film Simulation that’s in-camera. I’ve been experimenting with a new preset I call New Tokyo Chrome and applying it to my recent shots and also some oder shots from my Japan trips. As for work, nothing official just yet, but this week I am working with a past business to create some content for their site. Hopefully I will have much more to report and share on my next entry here.

As for Japan, I know it’s there waiting for me to return. That call to return to Japan is pretty primal for me as I have Japanese influences all around me at home. And SO many people are travelling to Japan at the moment – they are experiencing higher travel rates than pre-pandemic. The Doctor and I want to travel to Japan as soon as possible, but we have some responsibilities here too. My youngest son has just started high school and he is doing mostly great but also has some challenges that we will support him through. I also haven’t worked for nearly two years and the financial strain has been very real and very hard. Especially at a time when the cost of living crisis is impacting so many people and the cost of everything is out of control. With renewed health, increased physical condition, a return to work, and having my brain back in the game, I have every confidence that we will return to Japan before too long. It’s good to be back. G