Last night I headed down the works for the second time. The place was busy as per usual, and so there were plenty of people to watch. I don't think it will be an overly long time before I start really missing being able to climb. It was good to see people again. Ned was looking strong as per usual, hope that translates to a set of good performances in the upcoming comps.
Its become apparent over the last few feeks just how much time I do spend climbing or training for climbing, I'm still not sure what to do with the time, people keep hinting I could work really hard on my course but it's all group work from now on and the effort seems to be diluted within a group situation and in the end feels worthless.
I managed to crank out a couple of sets of pull ups and a few one armers although I felt significantly weaker. Hopefully this week I can join the gym or do something rather than just eat!
Wednesday, 28 February 2007
Sunday, 25 February 2007
Liquid Pain Relief...
Wednesday was Nat's birthday, and I wasn't sure a week ago whether or not I would make her party (thursday night), however my mobility had improved a lot since the previous weekend and (apart from my physio day) I've pretty much cut out my pain medication.
The night went well and I opted to take my pain relief in liquid form. It was a good turn out and a good night, some of the cocktails at that place are great. Now I just need to get back to sheaf for a pint of farmers blonde...
Wednesday, 21 February 2007
Pimp My Crutch...
Some nice new squash racket grips to aid in my hobblings:
I didn't think i'd have much to write (More than one page of blogs), I guess I was wrong, sorry if this has bored anyone to tears, take it easy, Paul.
I didn't think i'd have much to write (More than one page of blogs), I guess I was wrong, sorry if this has bored anyone to tears, take it easy, Paul.Ps- Anyone know how to change the time settings?
Outpatient Physiotherapy
Right I'm about all caught up now...
Today was my first physiotherapy appointment since I left the hospital. I was told my leg was doing fantastically well and the range of motion in my foot, knee and ankle were all greater than was to be expected at this stage. I was also reassured that the lack of feeling across my lower shin and the top of my foot is completely normal with this amount of metal passing through your leg.
After the physiotherapist massaged the huge amounts of blood out of my hulk like foot she proceeded to perform some stretches on me, I made the mistake of telling her I could barely feel the calf stretches, she soon rectified that. After this she showed me how to walk with only one crutch which I happily managed across the gym and back, it puts a lot more weight on the broken leg but from what I gather these frames give back what you put in and ultimately the breaks will heal better and faster under loading. I'm keen to get off the crutches for that reason. I was told that it completely depends on the patient, some will be on crutches for the entire period, some people are off them in as little as four weeks. I intend to be the latter if at all possible and after tomorrow nights party I’ll only be using one crutch as much as possible.
After this I was put on a wobble board which stretched the ankle in every conceivable direction, and then I was put onto a trampoline (Yup!) and Nat was told to throw a basketball at me so they could asses my balance...
The final test was to see how much load I was actually putting through the frame, we did this just as some climbers have done, with a set of scales. The maximum load I exerted was equal to around 40kg, which I didn’t think was bad for a first try out of 55kg. That’s above 70% anyway. Just another 15kg to go and I can kiss the crutches good bye!
Next week i've got to go back in to have one of the wires removed, it doesn't sound like much fun to me...
Today was my first physiotherapy appointment since I left the hospital. I was told my leg was doing fantastically well and the range of motion in my foot, knee and ankle were all greater than was to be expected at this stage. I was also reassured that the lack of feeling across my lower shin and the top of my foot is completely normal with this amount of metal passing through your leg.
After the physiotherapist massaged the huge amounts of blood out of my hulk like foot she proceeded to perform some stretches on me, I made the mistake of telling her I could barely feel the calf stretches, she soon rectified that. After this she showed me how to walk with only one crutch which I happily managed across the gym and back, it puts a lot more weight on the broken leg but from what I gather these frames give back what you put in and ultimately the breaks will heal better and faster under loading. I'm keen to get off the crutches for that reason. I was told that it completely depends on the patient, some will be on crutches for the entire period, some people are off them in as little as four weeks. I intend to be the latter if at all possible and after tomorrow nights party I’ll only be using one crutch as much as possible.
After this I was put on a wobble board which stretched the ankle in every conceivable direction, and then I was put onto a trampoline (Yup!) and Nat was told to throw a basketball at me so they could asses my balance...
The final test was to see how much load I was actually putting through the frame, we did this just as some climbers have done, with a set of scales. The maximum load I exerted was equal to around 40kg, which I didn’t think was bad for a first try out of 55kg. That’s above 70% anyway. Just another 15kg to go and I can kiss the crutches good bye!
Next week i've got to go back in to have one of the wires removed, it doesn't sound like much fun to me...
Bath Day Cometh
Two weeks with only bed baths and anyone will start to get a little stinky. A man from occupational health came and fitted a bath/shower board which allows me to swing my leg into the bath without much trouble at all and finally I managed to get clean.
Now, due to the dressing around the pin sites, your only allowed to get your leg wet once a week, at this point the dressings have to be cleaned, this is done with 70% alcohol solution and once again isn't the best job for poor long suffering Natalie and its not my favourite activity either however it went off without a hitch and a great deal less pain then when the pin site nurse did it!
Now, due to the dressing around the pin sites, your only allowed to get your leg wet once a week, at this point the dressings have to be cleaned, this is done with 70% alcohol solution and once again isn't the best job for poor long suffering Natalie and its not my favourite activity either however it went off without a hitch and a great deal less pain then when the pin site nurse did it!
The Next Week
The next week passed by fairly uneventfully. It was good to see people that visited Jon, James and Ricky, and was amazing to see the support offered by people via email (an alarming amount of people seem to have been in a similar situation), the climbing community is so diverse that the wealth of information within it, is truly astounding.
After a week sat around watching bad TV and worse films (stay away from the new Rocky film) I got restless and convinced Natalie into driving me to the climbing works. My mobility had increased drastically since the previous week and it was good to get out of the flat and see some different faces.
I bumped into Dobbin and Harris (who seemed very concerned that I was weighting my broken leg so soon). After a good chat about the frame and people with metal left in their face I headed over to the pull up bar and managed a few sets. Its very odd doing pull ups with something hanging off your leg, it really does feel as if something is limpeting to your leg.
Afterwards I sat on the mat and watched the strongest looking bloke fail on some juggy problems repeatedly before taking the plunge from the exact position where I smashed my leg, It was pretty unnerving and I'm surprised more people haven't taken to spotting on the comp wall. Its pretty high.
After a week sat around watching bad TV and worse films (stay away from the new Rocky film) I got restless and convinced Natalie into driving me to the climbing works. My mobility had increased drastically since the previous week and it was good to get out of the flat and see some different faces.
I bumped into Dobbin and Harris (who seemed very concerned that I was weighting my broken leg so soon). After a good chat about the frame and people with metal left in their face I headed over to the pull up bar and managed a few sets. Its very odd doing pull ups with something hanging off your leg, it really does feel as if something is limpeting to your leg.
Afterwards I sat on the mat and watched the strongest looking bloke fail on some juggy problems repeatedly before taking the plunge from the exact position where I smashed my leg, It was pretty unnerving and I'm surprised more people haven't taken to spotting on the comp wall. Its pretty high.
Accident + 5
6 days was enough for me. It was Friday and the specialists had done their rounds and given me the all clear to go home, all that was remaining was for occupational health and the physio's to sign off on me, however both of the aforementioned departments don't work at the weekend.
I managed to coax the physio into showing me how to tackle stairs despite being shaky just walking in the morning, I was hell bent on getting out of there. She in turn managed to coax one of her friends in occupational health into showing me the necessary skills for getting in and out of a bath/shower and a car. They both signed off on me just before the end of the shift and I was free!
I currently have a 28" waist, the circumference of an Ilizarov ring is 24", none of my clothes fit and in typical Sheffield style it snowed. Wearing a mixture of Natalie's jumpers (she was surprised to see me being released so soon) and borrowed odds and sod's I managed to get to the car, and squeeze in (despite my leg not bending at all), and home we went.
I managed to coax the physio into showing me how to tackle stairs despite being shaky just walking in the morning, I was hell bent on getting out of there. She in turn managed to coax one of her friends in occupational health into showing me the necessary skills for getting in and out of a bath/shower and a car. They both signed off on me just before the end of the shift and I was free!
I currently have a 28" waist, the circumference of an Ilizarov ring is 24", none of my clothes fit and in typical Sheffield style it snowed. Wearing a mixture of Natalie's jumpers (she was surprised to see me being released so soon) and borrowed odds and sod's I managed to get to the car, and squeeze in (despite my leg not bending at all), and home we went.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)