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Tuesday, 27 July 2010

An update and some photos

Today is 27th July, exactly a month since the accident... so I thought it was time for an update.  Firstly here are a few photos of the broken femur and the IM (inter-medullary) nail that was put in:





The first question people ask is "what about that bit of bone floating about in the middle?".  Now I'm not a surgeon but I imagine that it will happily bond itself back with new bone.   I was due for a 2 week checkup and x-ray yesterday, but the appointment has been made for next Monday so I have to wait an extra week to find out what is going on in there.

In the meantime, I have now had all the stitches and staples removed, and dressings, so am left with some pretty neatly healing wounds.   Some people have a problem with scars but to me they are part of life's story (I know I would feel differently if they were on my face though..).  Mine will only be seen in the summer and I can live with that.

Mentally, I feel ok but have the odd 'wobbly day'; for instance if we start talking with friends about the accident and what might have happened. Or, yesterday I developed a severe pain in my shoulder through to my ribs which hurt every time I thought about breathing (according to my GP, this probably results from pulling myself about in bed etc.); this pain really depressed me because things were going so well with my leg.  So, occasionally I have a tearful hour / morning / day... but I know as well as anyone else that this is completely normal.

Physically, I can get around the house fine on the crutches for things that I don't need to stand on two legs; I am becoming proficient at balancing on one leg!  I draw the line at cooking because the potential for dropping something heavy / hot or burning myself etc. is too great at the moment.   I have a trolley in the house (the sort designed for old people to go shopping) with a tray on the top, on which I can transport a cup of tea from the kitchen to Base Camp; this will also be useful when Mr H moves to Scotland at the end of August (and that is another subject when it comes to my mental state...).  I can bend my leg a little more each week and can now sit in the shower with the door shut - which saves having to mop the water off the floor afterwards!

Today I have just started doing some work from home, although I am officially signed off until the 22nd August.  My friends at work have taken over my work with no complaints, for which I am very grateful; now I can do some of it which will also stop my brain petrifying!

All in all, I am now on the wait for the bones to heal; there are still quite a few bridges I will need to cross in the future:  Mr H moving north, finding and buying another car/van, and driving again....  I will worry about that when I have to.


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