Eastern Europe Trip

Last Thursday I kept my hospital appointment, and had a further 3 x-rays on my leg/knee. That’s more than I had the first time, but I guess they wanted a proper look at how it was healing. Then I went to see the consultant and we discussed how much movement I now had (almost back to normal), the residual pain (that seems to get worse if I don’t keep moving my knee), and the nature of the break. It turns out that because the break was in the joint area of my tibia, almost vertically into the bone, healing will take longer than if the break was more “normal”. As it’s in the joint, and I need to keep moving the joint, it will take up to six months to heal fully, although to all intents and purposes, it’s practically back to normal now. And with that, he signed me off sick-leave and asked me to return in a further 3 months for another x-ray to double-check it is healing properly – all the indications are that it will.

And so, I contacted work to discuss my rehabilitation into corporate life. As Tracy is now at home, and requiring 24x7 support, I’ll be mostly working from home, so that I can drop everything and see to her needs (which mostly consist of trying to fatten her up and putting her in the back-brace so she can go to the loo to avoid soiling the furniture…). Work is being very understanding and supportive, and I’m grateful for that, although after almost 3 months off, I’m not sure how productive I will be when so remote… I’m going to pop in tomorrow (Tuesday) evening for a meeting with my boss to ensure I’m up to speed, particularly with the re-organisation that inevitably happened whilst I was off (and resulted in him no longer being my boss, so I’ll be onto my 13th boss in less than 8 years now!).

In addition to all this, I’ve managed to get out on my bike a couple of times, and each time am able to cope with the discomfort in my leg for longer. It’s a great escape from being cooped up inside the house, but my thoughts whilst riding keep wandering back to Tracy being stuck immobile back at home – and having only the girls for company… As soon as she’s out of the brace, I’ll try and get her out and about (but in the car, obviously!)…

I’ve also received notification that the insurance claim has now been handed back to the original legal executive who has promised me that she will start progressing it again… but since then (over a week ago), I’ve heard nothing from them. I’ve written a list of all our losses and sent that off, so hopefully that’ll prompt some action. I did receive a cheque from Carole Nash, though, as my bike was formally written-off. They’ve given me a fair price for it (minus my excess which counts as one of the losses, so hopefully I’ll get that back too) so I can’t complain too much. At least I was able to rescue the accessories I’d fitted to it before it went to the great scrap-heap in the sky…

Meanwhile, Tracy continues to make good progress. She’s learning to write with her left hand, not because she’s worried she won’t ever get sufficient movement back in her right, but because she doesn’t like not being able to… and I have to say, she’s damned good at it too…






Her arm continues to improve, and every time the district nurses come to change the dressing, there are further signs of improvement as the skin is drying out. The plastics nurse (no, not one of those inflatable kinds…) came last Wednesday to see her arm and said it was looking really good – and she saw it before the old skin was removed and when the skin graft was first done, so she should know. We’re still pushing for an appointment for Tracy to see the consultant in a couple of weeks when she should be able to stop needing the back brace, and for her to see a physiotherapist about trying to get more movement in her arm and hand.

In the meantime, Tracy’s putting on a little bit of the weight she lost, although as I’m cooking and trying to feed her up, it means I’m also eating more, and so by the time she’s back to normal, I’ll be way too fat and in need of a serious diet! She’s also busy preparing for Christmas (something I can’t even get my mind around), and at right now she’s sat on the couch with a collection of catalogues in front of her, trying to sort out a present list… nice to see her engrossed in something, though!!