It took the whole weekend but finally I have my strength back. It's amazing what 3 days without a good meal and any sleep can do to a person. I found myself out of breath limping to the toilet! However, with each passing day and each passing meal I found myself stronger. Now, I'm fully able to cope on my own in my flat.
My Dad bought me a seat to mount in the bath so I can wash easily and I have my armchair setup in the firing line of the TV with laptop and table full of fruit and various goodies to one side... I'm ready for the next 2 months!
I'm on over-the-counter pain medication (Nurofen plus) every 4 to 6 hours. When I'm seated with my leg horizontal there is little to no pain but when I stand up and all the blood rushes down my leg the pain can become quite severe. The pain meds help with this. I have found that this pain becomes less every day.
Monday, 5 April 2010
Thursday, 1 April 2010
Thursday 1st April - Journey Home
Hardly slept, headache, stomach ache, leg ache... Just want to be home.
The journey home was ok at first, my own personal Ambulance with two lovely French nurses was fantastic but my Easyjet flight was delayed by 2 hours. I had 3 seats on the plane eventually... nice.
Arrival in Luton was a whole different story. I was greeted with a Mercedes Estate taxi! Hardly equipped to deal with a fractured leg! The 2 and a half hour journey up the M1 in bank holiday traffic and pouring rain was awful. I spent the entire time holding onto my leg as the car stopped and started with the traffic. By the time I arrived in Derby at 9pm I barely had the strength to stand. It took 5 minutes to walk down the short corridor to my flat and once I arrived I could barely move!
The journey home was ok at first, my own personal Ambulance with two lovely French nurses was fantastic but my Easyjet flight was delayed by 2 hours. I had 3 seats on the plane eventually... nice.
Arrival in Luton was a whole different story. I was greeted with a Mercedes Estate taxi! Hardly equipped to deal with a fractured leg! The 2 and a half hour journey up the M1 in bank holiday traffic and pouring rain was awful. I spent the entire time holding onto my leg as the car stopped and started with the traffic. By the time I arrived in Derby at 9pm I barely had the strength to stand. It took 5 minutes to walk down the short corridor to my flat and once I arrived I could barely move!
Wednesday, 31 March 2010
Wednesday 31st March - one more night!
Slept very badly last night. My heart rate seems very high when I'm lying down trying to sleep. Could be something to do with the extensive surgery I guess. I think I had a total of 2 hours sleep, I feel terrible! Tonight, I'm going to try to pop a Nytol and get my head down early but I have no idea who my room mate will be as James is meant to leave today.
The pain in my leg was tolerable but I still have to lie on my back. Any movement onto either side results if pain. It feels like there are bruises all around my leg. To be expected I think.
I still haven't heard anything about journey times from my Insurance company. Hopefully this will come later today.
Here's a quick picture of my surgeon on his rounds this morning.
He's the one on the left pointing at his watch.
Had dressings changed again this morning, obviously I took pictures!
This is what came out of my tube holes...
The healed tube hole...
14:00 - Decided to have a power nap and just woke up. Think I managed about 3 hours so I'm feeling a little stronger than I did first thing. The fact that I'm not eating properly isn't helping, I can't wait to get home and eat a good meal!
18:00 - Refused to eat the dinner but James decided to give it a go. He managed to eat one of the errr... how can I describe it... mmmmm... brains?
It costs our insurance company 1103 Euros per night EACH for us to stay here and they can't afford better food than this shit. Unbelievable! Which is why, we're having Pizza tonight from the Pizzeria next door... Get in!
The pain in my leg was tolerable but I still have to lie on my back. Any movement onto either side results if pain. It feels like there are bruises all around my leg. To be expected I think.
I still haven't heard anything about journey times from my Insurance company. Hopefully this will come later today.
Here's a quick picture of my surgeon on his rounds this morning.
He's the one on the left pointing at his watch.
Had dressings changed again this morning, obviously I took pictures!
This is what came out of my tube holes...
The healed tube hole...
14:00 - Decided to have a power nap and just woke up. Think I managed about 3 hours so I'm feeling a little stronger than I did first thing. The fact that I'm not eating properly isn't helping, I can't wait to get home and eat a good meal!
18:00 - Refused to eat the dinner but James decided to give it a go. He managed to eat one of the errr... how can I describe it... mmmmm... brains?
It costs our insurance company 1103 Euros per night EACH for us to stay here and they can't afford better food than this shit. Unbelievable! Which is why, we're having Pizza tonight from the Pizzeria next door... Get in!
Tuesday, 30 March 2010
Tuesday 30th March - 2 days before home
7:30am - surgeon came round again with his minions. I asked a few questions, here's the deal:
* Staples come out 15 days after surgery, around the 8th/9th April but this will be at the discretion of my surgeon in England, whoever that may be
* I cannot put any weight on my leg for 2 months
* I must wear leg brace for 3 MONTHS!! How am I going to wear a suit with that thing?
* I can try bending my knee right now but only until it hurts. Which at the moment, is as soon as I try. It seems to crack the minute I start to bend, that causes quite a bit of pain when I straighten again. I will keep trying though. Eye of the tiger and all that bollocks!
But the worst part... and this is by far the worst part. I can't drive my beautiful car for 3 months!!!!!
11:00am - lunch time. Thought I'd share it with you today. Starter was this disgusting, smelly, inedible fish.
Main course was beef and veg but the beef was disgusting. I mean dry, too salty and tasteless (apart from the salt). I'm not usually a fussy eater but come on! (ate all the veg though)
I also caught a glimpse of the back of my leg in the mirror this morning. I had no idea the bruising was so bad.
My Dad has managed to find a consultant to take over my case on my return to the UK. He's very local, Nuffield hospital in Derby. Hopefully the surgeon, Dr. Zouaoui will file a complete report. Apparently there was no further damage to my knee other than the fracture.
James and I also met a Dutch girl called Ilaan who had a similar injury to me but her surgery was slightly more complex and was completed in the morning before mine.
I should get my CT scan results either today or tomorrow and will definitely post them on the Bleg.
* Staples come out 15 days after surgery, around the 8th/9th April but this will be at the discretion of my surgeon in England, whoever that may be
* I cannot put any weight on my leg for 2 months
* I must wear leg brace for 3 MONTHS!! How am I going to wear a suit with that thing?
* I can try bending my knee right now but only until it hurts. Which at the moment, is as soon as I try. It seems to crack the minute I start to bend, that causes quite a bit of pain when I straighten again. I will keep trying though. Eye of the tiger and all that bollocks!
But the worst part... and this is by far the worst part. I can't drive my beautiful car for 3 months!!!!!
11:00am - lunch time. Thought I'd share it with you today. Starter was this disgusting, smelly, inedible fish.
Main course was beef and veg but the beef was disgusting. I mean dry, too salty and tasteless (apart from the salt). I'm not usually a fussy eater but come on! (ate all the veg though)
I also caught a glimpse of the back of my leg in the mirror this morning. I had no idea the bruising was so bad.
My Dad has managed to find a consultant to take over my case on my return to the UK. He's very local, Nuffield hospital in Derby. Hopefully the surgeon, Dr. Zouaoui will file a complete report. Apparently there was no further damage to my knee other than the fracture.
James and I also met a Dutch girl called Ilaan who had a similar injury to me but her surgery was slightly more complex and was completed in the morning before mine.
I should get my CT scan results either today or tomorrow and will definitely post them on the Bleg.
Monday, 29 March 2010
Monday 29th March - Must be time to go home soon?
What a bloody awful nights sleep! I can't sleep on my side and my heart rate seems to be twice what it should be, even with some chemical help to sleep. On the plus side, I didn't feel much pain in my leg and even made it to the toilet at 5am with no help at all!
I turned down the stale bread breakfast and decided to eat some of the stuff Leah bought me... chocolate, breakfast of champions!
The surgeon and his gang of minions came round today. I've been told my gunk tubes will be removed today and I can go home on Thursday or Friday (nice and specific - helps me a lot!) He also said the surgery went well so I gave him a hearty hand shake and big thanks... Finally, I can't put any weight on it for 2 MONTHS!! That's 9 weeks! 62 days! Oh my God!!! I'm going to be pretty nifty on those crutches after 2 months!
10:00am and it's gunk tube removal time! Check these photos out...
Didn't really hurt when the tubes were pulled out but there was about 3 or 4 inches inside my leg. There are about 30 staples holding me together. Not really looking forward to those bad boys coming out!
15:15 - I got my new leg brace! Way better than that scabby old, hospital provided thing that's been worn by hundreds of other skiers with injuries far less serious than mine (of course). Check it out!
Here is James, my roommate doing his hourly exersize of blowing into a tube inserted into a tub of water several times. Looks and sounds funny but needs to be done to get his lung back to strength again.
19:00 - James and I watch Hangover... "I didn't know they gave out rings in the holocaust!!"
I turned down the stale bread breakfast and decided to eat some of the stuff Leah bought me... chocolate, breakfast of champions!
The surgeon and his gang of minions came round today. I've been told my gunk tubes will be removed today and I can go home on Thursday or Friday (nice and specific - helps me a lot!) He also said the surgery went well so I gave him a hearty hand shake and big thanks... Finally, I can't put any weight on it for 2 MONTHS!! That's 9 weeks! 62 days! Oh my God!!! I'm going to be pretty nifty on those crutches after 2 months!
10:00am and it's gunk tube removal time! Check these photos out...
Didn't really hurt when the tubes were pulled out but there was about 3 or 4 inches inside my leg. There are about 30 staples holding me together. Not really looking forward to those bad boys coming out!
15:15 - I got my new leg brace! Way better than that scabby old, hospital provided thing that's been worn by hundreds of other skiers with injuries far less serious than mine (of course). Check it out!
19:00 - James and I watch Hangover... "I didn't know they gave out rings in the holocaust!!"
Sunday, 28 March 2010
Sunday 28th March - Day 4
Once again... food... seriously... yuch! Thank God Leah bought me a huge bag of goodies to munch on. Doubt I could survive without them.
I've actually been trying to eat as little as possible as I haven't been for a "number 2" since Wednesday morning. Because I have no idea how I'm going to do it! Peeing in a bottle is one thing but having someone help me hover over a toilet to do a crap is a whole other story!
I had my IV meds removed today so the only pipes left are those draining the gunk from my leg. Makes me a little more mobile so I sat in the chair for 20 minutes again. Pain is virtually non existent today!! Very happy!
I've actually been trying to eat as little as possible as I haven't been for a "number 2" since Wednesday morning. Because I have no idea how I'm going to do it! Peeing in a bottle is one thing but having someone help me hover over a toilet to do a crap is a whole other story!
I had my IV meds removed today so the only pipes left are those draining the gunk from my leg. Makes me a little more mobile so I sat in the chair for 20 minutes again. Pain is virtually non existent today!! Very happy!
Saturday, 27 March 2010
Saturday 27th March - The long road to recovery
My God the food here is awful! Thankfully the good company from James, nurses and my friends makes up for it.
I had a very bad turn this morning. After trying to move from my bed to a chair and back I started feeling intense pain in my upper shin. This continued for over an hour despite administering oral morphine and more IV painkillers. Eventually the pain subsided but it felt like an eternity and usually I'm pretty good with pain.
In the afternoon the whole ski gang, Ben and Roisin Lester, Ben Fone, Dan Rhodes and my gorgeous girlfriend Leah came to visit before catching the Eurostar back to London. It was good seeing them all but I wished I was going back to the UK with them.
Throughout the day nurses continue to ask if I have any pain or discomfort and refill spent IV bottles. This does seem to be a well organised hospital. The only problem I find is the lack of information from doctors / the surgeon. I still don't know when I will be allowed home. I'm not even sure of the exact injury details or recovery procedures. Hopefully these will be given soon.
That night I had a good sleep (with sedative).
I had a very bad turn this morning. After trying to move from my bed to a chair and back I started feeling intense pain in my upper shin. This continued for over an hour despite administering oral morphine and more IV painkillers. Eventually the pain subsided but it felt like an eternity and usually I'm pretty good with pain.
In the afternoon the whole ski gang, Ben and Roisin Lester, Ben Fone, Dan Rhodes and my gorgeous girlfriend Leah came to visit before catching the Eurostar back to London. It was good seeing them all but I wished I was going back to the UK with them.
Throughout the day nurses continue to ask if I have any pain or discomfort and refill spent IV bottles. This does seem to be a well organised hospital. The only problem I find is the lack of information from doctors / the surgeon. I still don't know when I will be allowed home. I'm not even sure of the exact injury details or recovery procedures. Hopefully these will be given soon.
That night I had a good sleep (with sedative).
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