Ouch (possible NSFW pictures of my rear to follow)
Discussion
Thanks chaps. This afternoon, I made it (on a Zimmer frame, admittedly) from my bad to the en suitebloo and back. I obviously had a “sit down” at the midway point... details of the journey route would be pictured below, but I can’t upload the panoramic picture from my phone. I’ll take one when I’m at the “start point” tomorrow.
I know BBers like a picture of a gash now and again, so here you go. I took the opportunity to take a quick snap this afternoon, while my dressings were being changed. The good news is that there is some slight nerve damage to my leg (b cause of the repeated incisions), so it doesn’t sting as much as it could. It’s actually very nice having it cleaned up as it reduces my urge to scratch it!
I’ve no idea how long the incision/scar on my hip is as I’m not quite brave enough to deal with the pain any poking and prodding round there causes...
It’s Friday, so it must be “chippy tea”. Let’s just say I was somewhat underwhelmed!
I know BBers like a picture of a gash now and again, so here you go. I took the opportunity to take a quick snap this afternoon, while my dressings were being changed. The good news is that there is some slight nerve damage to my leg (b cause of the repeated incisions), so it doesn’t sting as much as it could. It’s actually very nice having it cleaned up as it reduces my urge to scratch it!
I’ve no idea how long the incision/scar on my hip is as I’m not quite brave enough to deal with the pain any poking and prodding round there causes...
It’s Friday, so it must be “chippy tea”. Let’s just say I was somewhat underwhelmed!
The “green slime” is basically liquid plasma/scab. The pin sites are all clean and the dressings were changed today, with a god old scrub out around the pins, using a mixture of those alcohol sterilising wipes and swabs bathed liberally in chlorhexadine. Yes, it stings!
The staples will be in for 14 days, so in all likelihood it will be the district nurses removing them once I’m back home. I anticipate the ones on my hip will sting a bit more than the ones in my thigh, as the hip ones are a “new” site and the tissues there are more susceptible to feeling pain... can’t wait.
The staples will be in for 14 days, so in all likelihood it will be the district nurses removing them once I’m back home. I anticipate the ones on my hip will sting a bit more than the ones in my thigh, as the hip ones are a “new” site and the tissues there are more susceptible to feeling pain... can’t wait.
tvrolet said:
Glad to hear things are continuing to head on the right direction now. Your positive attitude remains astonishing after all this time. I hope it all progresses smoothly from now on 
Cheers. A few people have commented on my “attitude”. I’m generally a bit of a catastrophist and procrastinator.I’m not really sure what, if anything. I’m doing differently here; I don’t really have a lot of choice how this goes and at the moment, I’m in the hands of the gods (or at least the angels of the NHS). I think in some ways, having had work related PTSD diagnosed and treated in 2012/2013, mentally, I’m in a better place to deal with what’s going on at the moment.
That doesn’t mean I’ve not had my “down days”, because I definitely have! Fortunately, they’ve been few and far between. I’m very lucky I have such a fantastic GF who visits pretty much every day, takes care of my dog and gives me the frequent kicks up the arse I need!
I’ve got a few close friends who I know I can rely on and I’ve gained a few who I never would have expected to step up. The flip side of that is a few of my “friends” have been disappointingly all talk and no action. It’s probably levelled out in the grands scheme of things, although a couple of people have particularly disappointed me, which honestly, did upset me. I’ve mentally scrubbed them off the list of people I’d rely on in a crisis and I’d be less inclined to help them now than I would have previously. That’s just life, I guess!
I’m “lucky” because at the end of the day, all I’ve got is a broken leg. Ok, it’s a fairly “impressive” broken leg, but that’s all it is! There are people in this same hospital as me right now with serious heart problems and who are at death’s door. Down the road is a hospital with a regional cancer centre and a couple of miles further on is a world renowned childrens’ hospital, keeping seriously ill children and babies alive and giving the best treatment to those who won’t make it past their first few months, weeks or days...
I’ve kept my job and I’ve had insurance to cover being on half pay. I’m able to work from home and I’ve kept a roof over my head. Yes, I had to pull out of a house purchase in March when my leg “collapsed” and I lost a grand or so I’d spent on surveys. I could have lost that if the seller had changed their mind. I’ve had to rent, so I’ll have “missed out” paying off a mortgage for about 18 months or so, but now I’m actually looking at either renting long term, or buying a flat, rather than a house, so maybe that’s been for the best, too.
TL;DR I’m still upright and I’m still breathing.
Cheers again, guys.
Today’s update is that my heart rate is currently well into triple figures, I’m hot and sweating. The good news is that this isn’t due to an infection, but just because I’ve had my first go on my crutches since the surgery and it went fine.
That said, it’s amazing just how quickly you do lose what little bit of fitness you have, hence the racing heart and sweating! I’ve only “walked” about 30 metres altogether, from my room to the physio gym and back and not exactly at “race pace”, either! We went to the gym so I could use the weighing scales and parallel bars to check I wasn’t overloading my leg.
I’m allowed to weight bear up to 30% on the duff leg and having been weighed at 114.5 kg yesterday, that equates to a shade under 35 kg (or so my mental arithmetic tells me). Putting much over 25 kg of pressure on my leg was causing knee pain, so I’ve effectively got a self limiter fitted and won’t overload at this stage!
My weight has been static at around 115kg or so since July, when I was last weighed and I’m pretty pleased with that to be honest. Yes, I could realistically do to lose at least another 15 kg, minimum, but I’m pleased I’ve not put weight on, especially as I’ve eaten a bit less healthily recently and even managed to make it out once or twice for two or “three” pints.
This time on Friday, I was expecting to be in hospital until at least this time next week. Now I’m going to try and push to be out and back home by Thursday or Friday of this week. At the moment, the only limiting factor to that is whether or not I can “do” stairs. My hip at the graft site is still “tight” and sore, so I’m going to work on “standing up straight” and getting my heel down so my whole foot is flat on the floor. My duff leg has been “compressed” around the docking site, so it’s shorter again than my good one. I’ve got a bit of a “drunken pirate” wadddle going on at the moment!
I’m anxious to get home, just for a bit of peace and quiet, but I won’t risk pushing too hard if I can’t manage the stairs safely. The danger of falling and really damaging myself is too much to risk saving an extra night or three in hospital. Having done three months after the accident, a fortnight is a piece of piss - it’s a bit like having flown to Australia/Singapore a few times, doing a transatlantic flight to the east coast of 7-8 hours is really a short “hop”.
Anyway, that’s it for now. It’s lovely weather outside, so enjoy it while it’s here and get some miles in. Have a great week, everyone.
Today’s update is that my heart rate is currently well into triple figures, I’m hot and sweating. The good news is that this isn’t due to an infection, but just because I’ve had my first go on my crutches since the surgery and it went fine.
That said, it’s amazing just how quickly you do lose what little bit of fitness you have, hence the racing heart and sweating! I’ve only “walked” about 30 metres altogether, from my room to the physio gym and back and not exactly at “race pace”, either! We went to the gym so I could use the weighing scales and parallel bars to check I wasn’t overloading my leg.
I’m allowed to weight bear up to 30% on the duff leg and having been weighed at 114.5 kg yesterday, that equates to a shade under 35 kg (or so my mental arithmetic tells me). Putting much over 25 kg of pressure on my leg was causing knee pain, so I’ve effectively got a self limiter fitted and won’t overload at this stage!
My weight has been static at around 115kg or so since July, when I was last weighed and I’m pretty pleased with that to be honest. Yes, I could realistically do to lose at least another 15 kg, minimum, but I’m pleased I’ve not put weight on, especially as I’ve eaten a bit less healthily recently and even managed to make it out once or twice for two or “three” pints.
This time on Friday, I was expecting to be in hospital until at least this time next week. Now I’m going to try and push to be out and back home by Thursday or Friday of this week. At the moment, the only limiting factor to that is whether or not I can “do” stairs. My hip at the graft site is still “tight” and sore, so I’m going to work on “standing up straight” and getting my heel down so my whole foot is flat on the floor. My duff leg has been “compressed” around the docking site, so it’s shorter again than my good one. I’ve got a bit of a “drunken pirate” wadddle going on at the moment!
I’m anxious to get home, just for a bit of peace and quiet, but I won’t risk pushing too hard if I can’t manage the stairs safely. The danger of falling and really damaging myself is too much to risk saving an extra night or three in hospital. Having done three months after the accident, a fortnight is a piece of piss - it’s a bit like having flown to Australia/Singapore a few times, doing a transatlantic flight to the east coast of 7-8 hours is really a short “hop”.
Anyway, that’s it for now. It’s lovely weather outside, so enjoy it while it’s here and get some miles in. Have a great week, everyone.
ks X rays.I managed the stairs today no problem, full flight, up and down. The physios were happy and have signed me off as “safe”.
So I’m all packed, actually got clothes on, including the “altered” jeans and I’m just waiting for my stuff to arrive from pharmacy (which is always the hold up) and then the ambulance transport home. A few days ago, I was expecting to be here until this time next week then on Monday I was hoping to be out by Friday at the latest, so this is pretty good, I reckon.
As for the whole “being cheerful” thing, I’ve said all along, I’m still “upright”, still breathing and there are plenty of people with more serious injuries/issues to deal with.
I heard last night that a colleague from work who worked in our intelligence department had suddenly collapsed and died on Sunday. She’d had a few headaches and was due to have some tests to find out what was going on. It’s too soon to say whether or not it’s connected (I’d guess it’s quite likely, but you never know). She really was a lovely, kind person, literally no one had a bad word for her, ever.
She’d just bought her first house, had got a new post she’d applied for and it seemed like things were going well for her. She was only young, too, in her very early 30s. You could turn up at five past finish o’clock, with a massively ball aching enquiry, she’d happily take her coat back off, switch her computer back on and sort it without complaining and a smile on her face. She was quite quiet and understated, she just “got on” with stuff and there was never any drama from her, at all. It’s just awful.
So yeah, getting basically what’s a broken leg sorted, compared to stuff like that, really is a piece of piss.
Rest in peace, Claire. You really were “one of the good ones”.
So I’m all packed, actually got clothes on, including the “altered” jeans and I’m just waiting for my stuff to arrive from pharmacy (which is always the hold up) and then the ambulance transport home. A few days ago, I was expecting to be here until this time next week then on Monday I was hoping to be out by Friday at the latest, so this is pretty good, I reckon.
As for the whole “being cheerful” thing, I’ve said all along, I’m still “upright”, still breathing and there are plenty of people with more serious injuries/issues to deal with.
I heard last night that a colleague from work who worked in our intelligence department had suddenly collapsed and died on Sunday. She’d had a few headaches and was due to have some tests to find out what was going on. It’s too soon to say whether or not it’s connected (I’d guess it’s quite likely, but you never know). She really was a lovely, kind person, literally no one had a bad word for her, ever.
She’d just bought her first house, had got a new post she’d applied for and it seemed like things were going well for her. She was only young, too, in her very early 30s. You could turn up at five past finish o’clock, with a massively ball aching enquiry, she’d happily take her coat back off, switch her computer back on and sort it without complaining and a smile on her face. She was quite quiet and understated, she just “got on” with stuff and there was never any drama from her, at all. It’s just awful.
So yeah, getting basically what’s a broken leg sorted, compared to stuff like that, really is a piece of piss.
Rest in peace, Claire. You really were “one of the good ones”.
Today was my weekly session with the physiotherapists. Despite all being very slim and slender, they really can cause quite a bit of “ow” through seemingly little effort. They’re all so nice though, it’s impossible to dislike them! I’m maintaining a decent 80° plus knee bend and to keep that up, I get two, yes TWO, sessions of physio next week. I can barely wait. Yay.
I also got to see my most recent, post op X-rays today, taken on 13 November, exactly a week after my surgery. Comparing the first of these below (no squashed knackers, you’ll be delighted to know!), it’s obvious just how much “new” bone is growing at the “top/hip end” of my thigh. When I last saw my consultant a few weeks back, she assured me she could see “regenerate” (newly forming bone) but to be honest, I was sceptical.
On these recent ones, even a layman like me can see there’s something going on, albeit I’m a way off (several months) from having a “proper” femur. At the “bottom/knee end”, you can see where the bits have joined up and are in the process of healing. There’s an obvious “step” in the “width” of the bone, but that too will fill in and thicken up over time. Me actually being able to see the new bone has been a real lift today and I still feel on a bit of a “high”.
So everything is progressing ok, I’ve had my staples out but some of the pin sites are a bit “wet”, but that just means more frequent visits from the district nurses to change the dressings. I did take off an “old” dressing on Monday as there was quite a bit of “seepage” from it. It wasn’t pleasant but I’ve not photographed it, although it smelt worse than it looked... I left it “open” overnight and while there was some seepage from two or three of the pins, it dried out considerably, so now I’ve just got to remove the dressings first thing, before the nurses come later to do the redressing, which will give the wounds time to heal/granulate/dry out a bit. At this stage, I should only be getting dressing changes every 10-12 days, but the hospital have upped it to every three days. The scar on my hip is sorted and all but completely healed and even better, 90% of the pain from my hip is gone as well.
I also got to see my most recent, post op X-rays today, taken on 13 November, exactly a week after my surgery. Comparing the first of these below (no squashed knackers, you’ll be delighted to know!), it’s obvious just how much “new” bone is growing at the “top/hip end” of my thigh. When I last saw my consultant a few weeks back, she assured me she could see “regenerate” (newly forming bone) but to be honest, I was sceptical.
On these recent ones, even a layman like me can see there’s something going on, albeit I’m a way off (several months) from having a “proper” femur. At the “bottom/knee end”, you can see where the bits have joined up and are in the process of healing. There’s an obvious “step” in the “width” of the bone, but that too will fill in and thicken up over time. Me actually being able to see the new bone has been a real lift today and I still feel on a bit of a “high”.
So everything is progressing ok, I’ve had my staples out but some of the pin sites are a bit “wet”, but that just means more frequent visits from the district nurses to change the dressings. I did take off an “old” dressing on Monday as there was quite a bit of “seepage” from it. It wasn’t pleasant but I’ve not photographed it, although it smelt worse than it looked... I left it “open” overnight and while there was some seepage from two or three of the pins, it dried out considerably, so now I’ve just got to remove the dressings first thing, before the nurses come later to do the redressing, which will give the wounds time to heal/granulate/dry out a bit. At this stage, I should only be getting dressing changes every 10-12 days, but the hospital have upped it to every three days. The scar on my hip is sorted and all but completely healed and even better, 90% of the pain from my hip is gone as well.
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