Kelly

Afternoon all,

Not much to report today. Still hobbling around, but feel a little more confident. Don't think I'll attempt the stairs without Richard here for a while. My left knee is rather wobbly and I expect I'll have a somewhat pronounced limp for a while to come.

How everyone else is keeping well on this warm day (a bit too hot for me!).

Evening all. Hope all are well, if not best wishes as appropriate as usual.

Saw the physiotherapist this morning. He was happy with my progress. I don't need to wear the boot and tomorrow we'll see if any of my footwear will actually fit my foot as the ankle is still a bit swollen.

I'm now walking around the house with one crutch and no boot. With a definite pronounced limp atm, and it is a bit painful to walk, but to be expected and hopefully it will settle down the more I try. The boot will be kept for outside (I'm thinking especially shows where getting the ankle banged by people not looking is a real possibility!), unless my boots/trainers fit. I'll keep the pair of crutches as when tired/in pain, I will probably need the extra support and they're more stable than a walking stick.

Now to enjoy some crumpets with cheese spread and watch Poppy watch me intently as I eat them...

Morning all,

Hope all are well? if not, best wishes as appropriate.

Later this morning I have another physiotherapy apointment. I've been making reasonable progress the last few weeks, though my left knee has decided it is wanting to complain of late, making walking or doing excercises harder than they otherwise should be, oh well, just another broken bit!

Otherwise not much else to report. My father seems to be doing well it seems from his lung surgery and last I heard is continuing to make a good recovery.

Evening All,

I hope everyone is keeping well? if not best wishes as usual.

Not much has changed since my last update, though yesterday the ankle was being a right with pain and swelling, probably as I'd been sat in the office too long. Some morphine and laying down did the trick though. Yesterday also saw Natalie visit for a short time (she'd driven Richard to the hospital for his eye appointment) and we caught up on a few things, including possible layout plans now the moving is more of a known quantity and nearing completion finally. Hopefully in the coming days I can dust off Templot and come up with a new plan that is A) simpler b) smaller c) easier to build. We have a vague idea of what we want at least now though.

Otherwise a case of looking forward to the weekend when hopefully Richard can rearrange the bedroom now that I don't need the extra room the frame takes up, so more stuff can come across from my flat (he rearranged the living room Tuesday for similar reasons, which makes my getting around there a lot easier!).

57 minutes ago, brianusa said:

I know how it is, having been there recently!  I got rid of the 'frame, zimmer, walker',  and now hobble along with a walking stick.  I think I may be stuck like this from now on sadly, but its always good to see others improving.

    Brian.

Yes, I was glad to see the back of the damn frame! It transpired that I was discharged with one that was too lightweight for me, no wonder I was having a lot of wobbly moments with it.

The crutches are proving much better however. I will probably reduce to one crutch soon enough. I used a stick and mobility scooter before breaking my ankle, so I don't expect to get back perfect mobility, and I expect I'll have a fair degree of stiffness and achiness for a while to come. Not sure when I might be able to operate a clutch pedal again, so driving is out of the question for now!

1 hour ago, Barry O said:

Ey up!

Great to hear about your progress @Kelly  hopefully you will be back to normal stair use shortly. Hope your dad makes good progress.

Thanks Barry. Getting there slowly!

Made it to my first show since before the pandemic the other week too (DEMU Showcase), it was certainly an effort pushing myself around in a wheelchair (I'm nowhere near being able to walk with crutches for very long before my back starts complaining). But a good show all the same and I (with Natalie's help) managed ok. Next show ExpoEM later this month in August, then Scaleforum in September then the last show for the year Warley probably.

I thought I'd post a quick update as I've not been on here for a while.

A couple of weeks back I got rid of the frame at long last and I'm now walking with the aid of a pair of crutches. I can get around most of the house now, though stairs are still a challenge.

However, today I managed to get down the stairs without going on my bum, though I needed Richard's assistance to steady me as the boot is a bit wobbly on the steps, I no longer have to slide myself along the landing on my bum to get to the stairs at least as I can at least lower myself down now I've regained some strength. I still need to go up the stairs on my bum, pulling myself up backwards though as there is no rail on the left side to grab onto to stabalise myself. I won't be attempting the stairs without Richard being home however as I'm rather anxious about the whole stairs thing!

In general I'm doing well and getting there.

In other news I spoke with my father and it seems his lung surgery to remove cancerous nodules went well and he's not in too much discomfort dispite having 15-20% of his lung removed, wonders of key-hole surgery. He was supposed to have his surgery at Guy's Hospital, but an IT glitch meant he ended up being sent to a private hospital instead, with slightly less advanced machines apparantly than what was originally planned (some kind of VR robotic surgery thing!). He will know more when he speaks to his consultant about whether chemo will be required.

You want poppy? Here is poppy looking confused by me doing my physio exercises. 

Recovery continues. Hopefully next appointment with physio will start the process of getting used to crutches which will allow me to get around a lot easier Hopefully. 

6 hours ago, Barry O said:

Ey up!

 

With  @andyram back I wonder if other missing ERs may return? @Robert, @Kelly (hope the recovery is going well), @Natalie, @Dave Hunt and @Simon G as a few examples.

 

Baz

 

Barry,

Thanks for the consideration. I am doing OK considering. 

I saw the consultant a couple of weeks ago and he was happy with progress. I am slowly building up using the foot with aid of the boot and the frame. So still mostly confined to bed upstairs as downstairs is not really suited to using the frame due to space constraints and how low the sofa bed downstairs is.

Getting down on my bum on the stairs wasn't so bad,  but getting from standing to the floor was a challenge. Getting back up though was a real tiring struggle! And getting back onto the bed was exhausting. Not something I want to do often or without supervision! 

Seeing the consultant let me see the latest xray for the first time. There's much more than the originally planned plate in the ankle to stabilise it. The plate and screws go more than half way up my fibula. My assumption is that what they first thought of as a simple dislocation of the ankle, combined with a break in the fibula where it meets the ankle and the tibula turned out to be a more serious break of the fibula,  perhaps not visible clearly on xrays until they got in there in surgery. 

Still,  pain levels are not much worse now than the usual fibromyalgia pain. Unless I manage to bang the leg or poppy jumps on it trying to get on the bed or sits on it when Richard gets home from work. 

Speaking of poppy...

she is my almost constant companion most days and nights. Most probably because of the bed. 

anyway I've rumbled on enough waffle for now! 

Kelly 

PS Natalie is doing fine last I spoke with her. She was a huge help I getting update 99 finished off and sent out. 

Still recovering from the ankle injury and surgery. Was 6 weeks since the surgery yesterday and 8 since doing it. 

Am a lot better than I was by far. Pain levels are manageable and not much beyond the usual for me now really. 

However Monday I need to try and contact my surgeons secretary to find out what is going on regarding xrays and consultant appointments as I've heard nothing since discharge from the hospital. The blood thinning injections run out tonight, so not sure if I am meant to have any more of them as forgot all about them, so will have to try to get in touch with my gp and see what they say. If they prescribe more it is not too difficult for Richard to go collect them from my usual chemist at least. 

However, the wound has been healing well and the dressing is really only protecting it from the boot now. I haven't felt much need for a gp or nurse thankfully. I'm still stuck in bed as not had any real guidance yet on whether I should be attempting to weight bear by now. Hopefully can get some answers from my consultant's secretary! 

Otherwise, with a lot of help from Natalie we got the delayed next issue of demu update ready for printing, so that will go Monday morning. 

1 hour ago, Tony_S said:

Then he needs to request a meeting with the manager. My mother had similar problems when her practice moved site to a big health centre and they then said she was outside their normal service area for visits. Fortunately she moved to Droitwich where she was well looked after.

Him having time is proving difficult as he's working notice and isn't off until the weekends atm until he starts new job (which takes fuel bill from £3k+/Yr yo £0 for commuting).

I will try and get him to go when he can. I am somewhat stuck unless he wants to do something (the work shifts are leaving him exhausted on days off due to 4am wake up and 12 hour shift). 

38 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

Pity Kelly doesn’t live in Kettering. First response from GP relative there said they have been doing all new patient registrations online/remotely since Covid started. He said speak to the practice manager. However I suspect this is who @Kelly must have been talking to.

 

Richard has so far only spoken with receptionists. I have not been able to get in touch with the practice manager due mostly to being too tired or zonked from the zomorph and oramorph for the pain. 

It is something that needs to be resolved,  but by the time they get it done I'll probably be close to the end of the non weight bearing period and won't need as much support I expect by then.

The registration problems and funding repercussions of it really delayed my getting out of hospital by over a week due to a dithering occupational therapist talking at me and not listening to me when I was telling him to talk with Richard on my behalf. But I got out eventually at least. 4 weeks for a broken ankle and leg is not normal,  though a part of that can be accounted for by covid. 

40 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

@Kelly I feel your pain.  Even moving around in our bungalow was an event, as the frame wouldn't fit between the basin and bath for me to get to the loo.  Bathroom since rebuilt.  I had 12 weeks absolutely no weight bearing, (not even toe touch) and it is so hard.  My heart goes out to you.

 

I can't remember exactly how long they said,  but it was between 6 and 8 weeks non weight bearing,  followed by 2-4 weeks partial weight bearing followed by upto 6-8 months of physiotherapy as I'll probably have some difficulty moving the foot and walking for a while. Currently it feels like there's very little range of movement in the ankle,  but most of that is probably a combination of stiffness and swelling. 

To cheer the topic a bit here's poppy happily snoring away next to me. It is weirdly rotated however. 

Afternoon everyone. 

I finally got out of hospital a week ago Saturday.

I was glad to finally be discharged but it was not without its issues. 

First the patient transport could not get me up the stairs at Richard's as it was too curved for their electric stair climber and too narrow for them to use their chair with 4 of them. In the end I had to push myself up backwards one step at a time. Getting up from the top involved using the commode to perch on and whilst supported by the 4 technicians and then onto my frame and then hopping to the bed.

As you can imagine poppy was very excited to see me and I got lots of excited cuddles and face washes were administered. 

The problem with being discharged to Richard's however is two fold. 

First,  as I'm registered in Coventry,  I cannot have things like district nurse visits at Richard's to check the wound. I also couldn't have a hospital bed to make getting to appointments much easier,  instead I'm stuck in bed upstairs unable to go anywhere other than hop to the toilet with the frame. 

Secondly, to get things like district nurse visits etc I need to register with Richard's gp. Fairly straightforward you would think. No,  it will take 14 working days and the form has to be handed in by me in person,  which they're refusing to budget on. That obviously presents me with a problem as I can't get down the stairs without patient transport probably. As whilst I may be able to get to the stairs with Richard's help and may be able to get down the stairs with a lot of effort,  getting to my feet at the bottom will be very difficult. I could probably transfer to my manual wheelchair,  but that would then not fit through the front door as it is too wide, so I'd have to hop with the frame which is also too wide. 

The physiotherapists elected not to send me home with crutches,  so I am immobile without the frame. I can use the wheelchair at least when I get out of here,  but this all makes patient transport essential really. 

So, aside from that I am not doing so bad. Natalie has been checking the wound and thinks that it has closed up nicely with no sign of infection. I have had a few half falls landing with partial weight on the ankle,  but doesn't seem to have done any lasting damage that I can tell. Though the ankle is still quite painful at times. 

I have a x Ray appointment in 3 weeks and then reviewing by consultant and then probably months of physiotherapy...

Morning. 

I have been released from covid incarceration on Victoria ward. 

I'm now back on AMU. Not really sure what the plan is. I'm guessing it is a case of waiting for the physiotherapists to come see to me. 

Pain is manageable for the most part. Though there's some confusion over zomorph or morphine sulphate prescription, as one is supposed to be slow release, the other is fast acting (as described usually by my gp). The slow release version has been more useful whilst in hospital. 

Now I'm out of covid isolation Richard might be able to come visit me. Would be nice to see him after nearly 2.5 weeks. The last time he saw me was me being taken away in an ambulance. 

Depending on how things go with physiotherapists I may be out by the weekend if they can get me out of bed and moving enough, assuming my right leg doesn't buckle on me (left leg was my fahoured good leg).

I am alive and aching. Hoping that the oramorph will make some difference. 

They did it via a spinal rather than ga in the end and I ended up with sedation when I could still feel the surgeon's drill through the nerve blockers! 

Back on the ward as Natalie says. A little numb from the waist down which is causing a few issues,  but nothing unmanageable. 

Feels good to have had a sandwich and a hot chocolate. Very little choice later in the evening on the ward.

I think there's a plate in the ankle,  possibly both sides and one on the fibula. But I will know for sure when I hopefully see the consultant at some point tomorrow.