Andrew's Rehab
I guess the story starts at the time that I let go. I've said that it was a concious decision. Now I'm not so sure. This is the way it goes:
- Stay on the ground (failed)
- If you are off the ground, hang on, hold tight
- If you are holding a line, hold it firm, don't let it slide. If you can't hold it firm, let it go.
On the way down, I remember thinking "This is going to hurt...". Although the pictures shows that I was leaning forward, my memory is that I was going straight down and thinking "that's my feet broken, legs broken, pelvis, back...".
I was on the ground, with everything hurting, trying to work ou what the damage was. Kathleen lay down in the dirt so that I could rest my head on her. My right foot looked all wrong, bent towards the other foot - clearly broken. The ambulance guy just held it in his hands and eased it back into place. With lots of help, I hobbled into the ambulance.
In the ambulance they wrapped the right leg beneath the knee for a reason that still escapes me.
In the hospital, they x-rayed me from head to toe. This showed that by elbow was broken but no serious damage elsewhere. They made a plaster splint for my elbow and left leg/foot and bandaged them up. The surgeon said that they would not operate on my elbow for 10 days (I understand now that this is to give time for the swelling to subside).
The last thing they did in hospital was an ultrasound exam. The doctor said that there was no internal damage but that there were fatty deposits on my liver. Kathleen immediately put me on a diet.
When I got back to the hotel, the team arrived with wheel chair, stick and clothes that I could get on and off easily. I was determined to get to dinner, but it had been called off and people were doing their own thing. I met several folk in the resturant upstairs, including Peter Lynn who took particular pleasure in laughing at my predicament.
Sunday 17th Feb
Sunday was the last day we could all fly together. Ben Dantonio had given me a custom ultralight Rev and I had intended to try and fly it, but I never got that far. I had a nap in the tent for a while. One of the women suggested that I should be loaded into the back of a Jeep, so they fitted it out with something comfortable to recline on and I got driven round the field. I encouraged the guys in repairing the kites and supervised the lunch of the Kuwait kite. Late in the afternoon, with the wind and the light beginning to fade, we finally made the target - all three kites flying in the same place at the same time. It was quite an emotional sight - One that will stay with me forever.In the evening, we went to a resturant, where thanks were given and presentations made. We retired, exhausted to the hotel.
Monday 18th Feb
This was departure day. The Japanese and French had flown off in the middle of the night. New Zealand and England in the morning. Abdulrahman took a generous slice out of his morning to look after me. He brought an ice pack and anti-inflamitary gell.When the hospital had fitted the splint, I had been unable to straighten my foot properly, so the support was in a "high heel" position. We cut it off and bandaged both ankles without splints. I started to make progress toward walking.
In the afternoon, we jumped in a taxi and went to Marina Mall. We had French onion soup and looked for luggage.
In the afternoon, I walked with the crutch in the hotel room. All the way from the toilet to the coffee table.
Tuesday 19th Feb
Today, we got more adventurous, we went back to Marina Mall and followed Faheed' directions to find the luggage we were after. Then back to the hotel to drop it off an on to the gold market and the local souk. Then another taxi to Tunis Street to see the best kitchen showroom in the city, then down to the nearby mall. Abdulrahman came to pick us up, only for us to find that the wheelchair doesn't fit in his Maserati Quattroporte. I winced as we squeezed it into the leather back seat.We were privelaged to have been invited by Om Driese to a surprise birthday dinner for
Wednesday 20th Feb
Flight home tody. But not before I done some walking. 20m at a time. Abdulrahman had kindly upgraded our flight to comfortable and spaceous business class seats and a direct route. All went well until we got to Heathrow. I got out first and was whisked away. Up the lift, onto a golf cart, through the terminal down to immigration. I had no passport, no wallet, no phone, no way to contact Kathleen who knew that if in doubt, I would have stayed close bye. Eventualy we were re-united and made it home. I learned to go upstairs on my bum (maybe I could manage the climb but the banister is on the wrong side and there is too much risk of a fall) and attended to some urgent email before falling asleep.Thursday 21st Feb
Down to my local doctors surgery to enter the healthcare system. He explained that it is impossible to dislocate my ankle without breaking the bone yet no break had been identified in Kuwait. He sent me down to casualty to have it re-checked.Casualty did a fresh X-ray and examined it thoroughly. They found some chips (some old, some new) but nothing serious - I hadn't dislocated it. They recommended that I took my ankle bandages completely off and to concentrate on putting my feet up high and ice packs (exactly what Abdulrahman had suggested several days before.
The absence of the bandages and the rush of blood to my feet when I went from "feet up" to standing put my walking progress back by a few days.
I am back at work now but working from home. Mostly catching up on left-hand email.
Friday 22nd Feb
A work day. Slow progress. Kathleen has discussed my diet with the fishmonger. As a result, I have fish for breakfast, lunch and dinner.Saturday 23rd Feb
We spent most of the day in bed with my feet up. In the evening, I go for a walk round the block. 440m. Without bandages and mostly without the stick.Sunday 24th Feb
In the morning, I walk round a bigger circuit. 1000m We went for a bit of fresh air and a drive in the afternoonMonday 25th Feb
Spent most of the day in hospital. Removed the support and X-ray on the elbow again. The choices are:- Bolt the bits back together with screws and plates.
- Open it up and just remove the broken bits.
- Attach a new, artificial bit to replace the broken part.
I need to phone the ward at 7:30 tomorrow morning to find out when I'll be done. Nothing to eat or drink after midnight.
I have done loads of walking today. I would guess at 3km. Trying to walk with less of a limp. I have some glorious brusing on my lower arm. I keep catching sight of it in the corner of my eye and thinking that I am a tattooed thug.
Tuesday 26th Feb
Ok. Here we go. Op will be this afternoon. They have a bed for me, they just don't know where...I was at the hospital early becase Kathleen gave me a lift on the way to work. I met the anaethetist and discussed the options with the surgeons. I remember being wheeled to the theatre, having sensors stuck on my chest. They plumbedd in a feed into the back of my left hand. They were to put a "block" in my shoulder to turn off the arm. I remember asking if they had put anything in the feed in my hand that might make me flle light headed. Next, I woke up back in the ward with my arm in plaster.
I was to stay in overnight. They told me that the pain would kick in at around 2am. It never arrived. I was offered painkillers but didn't need them. I had a discussion Oliver, my nurse about exactly what this action shoul be termed. I felt that I had discussed the pain management options and had agreed to "decline" the offer. However, his form only had an option for "Patient Refused", which I felt was unnecessarly harsh.
It was a long night. Not particularly comfortable. No Kathleen. Woken at regular intervals for blood pressure, temp, pulse check.
Wed 27th Feb
All that ws scheuled for today was an X-ray and aa debrief with the surgeons. It took all day.In the meantime, I tried the bedside internet service. This is free, but only if you buy the 2.90/day TV service (that I never turned on). "Patientline" deserves an award for offeribg the worst internet seervice anwhere. You get a single window cut down version of IE.
- browser identified it'sself as a "mobile" device, so all web pages with a low-quality option would use it.
- Facist firewall policy. Anything that hadn't been explicitly allowed was blocked. This blocked my own web site and my personal webmail.
- no shortcut to google.
- no windows or tabs
- all images bigger than some unreasonably small size are dropped
- arabic not rendered
- flickr would cause a stack overflow
- nasty small keyboard - squeezed into the size of a phone tv remote but horrible "squashy lentle" keys.
- And, of course, it was slow...
We wait and see...
Thursday 28th Feb
Unpromped, I am puting together a "Healing plan". Everything I can think of that might help the healing process:- Rest.
- Warmth.
- Calcium
- Vitamins
- Fresh fruit & veg
- exercise
- Visualisation (I'll think myself better)
- elevation (to keep down swelling)
Friday 29th Feb
Trouble with left ankle today. Sharp pain. Difficult to walk on. I suspect that one of the little fragments of bone has got into the wrong place. Back on the crutch. When it is bad, I can't put any weight on it at all. When it is good, I can walk a few meters. *sigh*Didn't walk very much at all today but now, in the evening, after some rest, it is feeling better. I just walked across the house without crutches again and hope to resume progress again tomorrow.
Saturday 1st March
I have won a photography competition! The theme was "Power" and to make a level playing field, we had to take the picture in December 2007. This is my winning picture:
A long lie in this morning. In the afternoon, we drove for an hour or more to visit my mother and to take her to see my brother and his young children. Being rattled in the van is tiring but altogether, a relaxing way to spend a Saturday.
Sunday 2nd March
After another lie in, we decide to go shopping. First, we try to find a pony shop because I want to get Kathleen a pony. It turns out that you can't just look them up in the catalogue and collect it at the counter in Argos, so we drive on and go shopping in Ikea. We come home with a table suitable for supporting the fishtank. Ikea involves a lot of walking and I did well.Monday 3rd March
Back to work. By the time I've been bathed, dressed, fed, taken to work and logged into my computer, it has been so much effort that I feel ready to pack up and go home, but I slog it out for the day. I come home exhausted and climb straight into bed.We stopped wathing live TV at the end of last year and cancelled the TV licence. We got a letter today, telling us that we are under investigation, so I composed a reply explaining that we didn't need one. The web site says:
You need a TV Licence to use any television receiving equipment such as a TV set, digital box, DVD or video recorder, PC, laptop or mobile phone to watch or record television programmes as they're being shown on TV.
We still have the equipment but we certainly don't use it to watch or record television programmes as they're being shown on TV, so the decision is clear-cut but I have a strong suspicion that the enforcement folk work on the basis that "TV=guilty", so we might have a fight on our hands. We don't want to get rid of the expensive screen (it makes a glorious computer screen for watching DVDs) and I certainly don't want it to be legal for me to sit, zombified in front of QVC.
Tuesday 4th March
Another day at the office. Everything is hard work. My productivity is down.My friend Andy Riley brought his new model helicopter into the warehouse to try it out. I watched a few minutes of tentative set up as he tried to trim the controls for a stable launch, then several seconds of flight before the inevitable explosion of rotorblade against concrete floor. Watching this helped me to deecide not to buy an RC chopper...
We go to sign language classes on a Tuesday, which in turn means dinner out and a late night. They cancelled the class but only sent a facebook message. The half of the class who have not entrusted their personal information to Facebook and instead use email spent half an hour in the cold, wondering what was goling on...
Another day early, exhausted to bed. I've got customer visit in Wales tomorrow.
Wednesday 5th March
A day in Wales. Exhausted.We have a new project going. Weight lifting. This'll involve collaboration between Volker from Germany, Craig from New Zealand, TV folk from England, Gerrard in France and of course, our friends from Kuwait. I'm not going to be flying it but there is bound to be stuff to organise.
Thursday 6th March
All day meeting at work. Not even a break for lunch. Nearly killed me.I'm getting occasional sharp pains in the wrist and elbow. I think I'll drop into the fracture clinic in the morning to get it checked.
Friday 7th March
Not good news from the fracture clinic. Everything has moved. I will be back in to see my surgeon on Monday. I suspect that he will open it up, remove all the metalwork and spare bone and replace it with prosthetic radial head.But on the up and up, the ankles continue to heal. We went for a one-mile walk round town in the evening, without difficulty.
Saturday 8th March
Decided on a whim to go up to London. I had a shopping list of odds and ends that I want for the camera including:- NDX400 Neutral Density Filters. So dark that you can look at the sun.
- Hoya UV circular polariser.
- Starbirst filters
- Spare Tripod plates
So we trudged up and down, into almost every shop in the TCR. Enough to exhaust both of us. I ached but I feel the benefit in my anckles. No joy with the filters, but we got the 50mm lens and tripod mounts.
Too tired to drive home, we checked into a hotel and stayed in town. We saw "I am Legend", which was an ok flick.
Sunday 9th March
This month's photo competition is "Viewed from Above". From a fourth floor balcony in the atrium, of the hotel, I snapped this:
The picture was taken with the camera upside down in my left hand, using the trigger on the battery grip.
Afterwards, we dropped into Ikea to pick up a bedside table but it was out of stock. We did find some gossamer curtains which we will probably fly from pilot kites. Again, loads more walking, which only does me good.
I'm in to see the surgeon tomorrow morning. No more updates till I get back.
Monday 10th March
I don't seem to be able to second-guess the surgeons. They looked at the X-ray and decided to do nothing. Things might have moved but the bits of the bone that are meant to be in contact with each other are still in contact. Displaced, maybe, but still good enough to work with. They want to leave the bone to keep healing. I'll be back in hospital next Monday, when they expect to start moving the joint.Tuesday 11th March
Another day at work. I have to write a report. The result seems too short. Sure, I can type with my left hand, but it hampers the creative process.Sign language in the evening. I struggle by with my left hand but I do a little bit with my right. After two hours, I am exhausted and drained.
Saturday 14th March
We have been saving for a long time and have finaly decided to take the plunge. We went out today and bought the camera of my dreams. It is a Canon 1Ds MarkIII. It is, in my opinion, the best digital camera that money can buy. It has a stonking 21 megapixels, but that isn't the main driver. It is a full blooded professional camera, it will rattle off five frames per second, it has outstanding autofocus, huge sensitivity range, and it uses a full size 35mm sensor.A converation on a forum drove home some of the differences between Kathleen and my Ex. My divorce papers listed "buying digital cameras" (note the plural) amongst my "unreasonable behaviour", where this referred to exactly one Sony Mavica. By contrast, not only hs Kathleen encouraged me with all of my photography purchases but she drove me all the way to Burgess Hill to pick up the 1Ds and even bought me a handstrap for it. There was some amusement afterwards when I spotted a used car for sale in Brighton and realised that for only 700 quid more, we could have had a Rolls Royce.
Sunday 15th March
The new camera is charged up, the fiddly handstrap fitted, Extreme IV memory card intalled, all the custom functions investigated and set to my liking, but I havn't shot a single frame yet. The elbow is still in plaster till tomorrow, so I can't bring it to my face. I might be able to do some tripod work at a stretch, but the weather is blustery and the light is very poor. *sigh*Back to hospital tomorrow. I think they will remove the plaster. Can't wait.
In the afternoon, we decided that we just had to get out and shoot something. Tradition says that the first wildlife shot with a new camera should be a duck, so we went hunting down at Cavesham bridge. The only way that I can hold the camera is in my left hand, using the trigger on the battery grip. Here is a sample shot both full frame nd 100% crop. Dull, grey light. 800ASA. 400mm.
Monday 16th March
They took the plaster off. Now, I need to get movement back into the joint. As of lunchtime, I can't reach my nose with my right hand unaided. With my left hand helping, I can just touch it and no more. Straightening the arm is also triky - standing up, with my back straight, I can only get the tips of my fingers into the pocket of my jeans. But at least I can wash my arm and scratch it too!The registrar kindly sent me the
Tuesday 18th March
Ok. I messed up the dates somewhere above. Get over it.Today was the first day back at work without the plaster. Great progress. When I left hospital, I could only touch my nose briefly with the aid of my left hand. Tonight I touched it with my right thumb and held it there for a second. I think that stretching is improving too, but it is more difficult to judge. Tonight I've stick a sheet of paper on the wardrobe door and marked off how high I can reach with both hands together. We'll see how it improves. I can lift the camera up till it is an inch or two from my eye. I can see the centre of the image in the viewfinder, but not all of it.
Oh, and during the day, my keyboard use progressed from occasional right handed mouse or arrow key use through to full blown two-handed typing.
Wednesday 19th March
More progress. I can touch the corner at the bottom of my nose, just above the lip. I also drove to work this morning.Yeah! I can see through the viewfinder on the camera!
We went down to a local nature reserve in the evening to tke some pictures but we don't hve anything worthwhile to show for it.
Thursday 20th March
More progress today. I can grasp my nose in my fist. I can get my arm closer to being straight.I have been puting together a list of the things that I want to be able to do:
- See the through the viewfinder of my camera and press the trigger. Done!
- Drive. I steer mostly with my left arm, but it is very workable. Done!
- Deoderant. I can bend my right arm and aim the can towards my left armpit but when it is there, I don't have the strength to squeeze the nozzle.
- Do the actions to "Head, shoulders, knees and toes"
- Drive a screw into wood with screw driver. That's a long way off.
- Put my own socks on.
Thursday 20th March
>P> We spent most of today taking photographs. We went to a local bird reserve and to down to Frensham ponds. We have a web page of our adventures.Friday 21st March
Spent the morning with Shona. We went 10-pin bowling. The cards were stacked against me. Shona had "bumpers" down the side of the lane, to keep her ball out of the gutter, which would sink away when I played. I had to bowl left-handed. She wiped the floor with me.Whilst in Basingstoke, I snapped a frame for a competition on the "Talk Photography" forum. The theme is "Structures":
Monday 23rd March
We have spent the last two days at the Hawk Conservany in Andover, taking pictures. You can see somme of the better ones here
