Life After Injury, Charity Triathlon

Four great things have happened to me so far this year . .

1. My Permanent Residency application went through on 2nd Feb - now all I have to do is wait.
2. I no longer have to go to physiotherapy at Caulfield (I miss Rod!)
3. I turned 32.
4. I completed the distances requires for a triathlon - 5km walk / 20 km cycle / 500 metre swim.

So it's game on... Now all I need is your help - the support and cash kind of help.

On Saturday 1st May 2010 - so far, 10 participants will be completing an indoor triathlon in aid of Spinal Cord Injuries Australia. A not for profit charity organisation who help people with spinal cord injuries, they work to prevent, care and cure.

The idea behind the Triathlon is "Life After Injury"
A "sprint" triathlon is broken into 3 parts:

• 5 km run / walk


• 20 km cycle and


• 500 metre swim.

This triathlon is gym and pool based and therefore, in a controlled environment.
The idea is to beat your personal best.

To sponsor this event please go to: http://www.lifeafterinjury.com.au/

I will be substituting the 5km run for a 5km walk - however, the fact that I feel I could even complete this triathlon, is testament enough to my recovery.

Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre (MSAC) are hosting the event and the usual $20 casual entrance fee will go to the charity. Rod has volunteered to help with the organisation on the day and it is open to everyone to participate. Thanks to Gerard (aka Kiwi) for the flyer design - I owe him a warm pint when I am back in London.

The website has a payment online option with a secure payment gateway. GoFundraise.com.au are the company that put the site together (for free - thankyou!) and use the most secure payment technology.

So please, don't be shy - put those Great British Pounds, Euro, Swiss Francs, Dirhams and not forgetting the great Aussie Dollar to good use. You will have the option to print out a tax receipt through the website. Geez you can even follow us on the day : www.twitter.com/lifeafterinjury

Thanks in advance - this should keep us all on the straight and narrow for a while!

Doing The Lambeth Walk - OI!!

I'm Coming Out, I Want The World To Know, Got To Let It Show...

So it’s really happening. I will be discharged tomorrow. I am required to check out of Hotel Caulfield by 11am.

How do I feel?

Well, good, I guess. Sort off…

7 weeks ago, when I woke up from the operation with little to no sensation and dull tingling in my toes, feet, legs, bum and saddle area – I must admit I panicked. I overwhelmed myself with thinking 6 months ahead and letting my imagination run wild. My head went into the clouds and I conjured up dark, depressing images of how my life will change, and quite frankly, I thought it was over. Ridiculous I know.

I remember feeling nervous about leaving The Alfred. I had no idea what rehab was (due to reading too many trashy magazines!) and I was still sore with the Medical Emergency Crew for passing up such a great storyline.

I managed to stay positive by breaking down my recovery into bite sized pieces. Initially one day at a time, then as more feeling came back, one week at a time.

While I have been in rehab, I have just focused on getting better and not worrying about anything. I spoke to my workplace and they reassured me my job was safe and they also told me to just focus on getting better. And I have done just that.

Don’t worry about a thing, just focus on getting better. Worry about everything later.

Ah!

Later.

Later is now,

Now is later.

SLAM!

That’s the noise I made when I came back down to earth.

So, it’s official. I am leaving on Friday. I’ve hired my wheelchair and crutches, my outpatients appointments have been made, I did a theory driving assessment yesterday and my practical driving assessment will be next week (this will determine if I can drive an automatic or only a hand control car). My flat has been fitted with all the modifications I require, The Pharmacist has the drugs ready and the nurses are talking about missing me. Ah bless.

So this next phase will be around integrating myself back into the real world again and eventually back to work.

I will have to change my world, although I still want a lot of my old world brought over, I can’t have it all.

Like I am 17 again, Mum is excited about me driving. She knows how much independence this can give someone. This is my next big project, broken down to bite sized pieces, next week the driving assessment, the week after the car. I hope it will be the automatic option.

My friend Petra hates the term ‘discharge” for reasons I won’t go into so I looked up the definition of discharge and here are my favourites:

To relieve of a burden
To release, as from confinement, care, or duty
To shoot
to relieve oneself

Let's hope I don't do a Frank Spencer down the Breezeway...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Bec7FDJSKs

My Last Week

Dinner at the local Turkish restaurant

Art Therapy

Last week was a big week and although it left me feeling very weak., it was great to have Mum arrive and smash all my personal bests.

It was great meeting Mum at the airport. I wanted to be just on my crutches when she first met me, so I wouldn’t upset her, but after parking in a disabled spot and heading towards the front of the terminal, it was clear the distance was too much and Damo had to get me an airport wheelchair. However, Mum could see I was able to move my legs, stand and use the crutches for some of the way back to the car. So I think that set her mind at rest.

I am currently concentrating on endurance. Getting further on the crutches and relying less on the wheelchair.

When I was first told I was going on the treadmill, it freaked me out a little. The idea of walking on a machine that dictated how fast and far I walk, was a little scary.

But off I went, covering 400 metres in 15 minutes.

On Friday, I managed 600 metres in 15 minutes.

**smiles smugly**

Insert: 19.05.09 - I managed 1km today in 19 minutes

**furious clappimg, only stops when I make a "cut" motion with my hands**

This afternoon I decided I would use the crutches to get to the Post Office outside of the hospital– thankfully Mum was the bright spark who said she would follow with the wheelchair – she wheeled me more than I walked!

The fatigue I am experiencing isn’t cardio vascular and it isn’t a deep muscle burn like you would expect when you are exercising. The muscles are just not there, or built up yet. It feels very strange.

Still it’s all going in the right direction.

This should mean, due to my successes last week, even though I feel weak, this will be my last week in hospital.

Currently, my discharge date is 22nd May (this Friday) and although I don’t feel overwhelmed at the idea of going home, like I did a couple of weeks ago, I do feel a little uncertain.

The health farm has become my safe haven. I have mastered the breezeway (the 120 metre corridor that runs through the rehab centre).
I have a sense of purpose when I wake up as I know I have 2 physio sessions,
I can easily measure and track my progression in the safe, controlled environment that is the physio gym…..And I still haven’t finished my cheeseboard!!

Hotel Caulfield

I am not sure I have really talked about the hospital I am staying at. It's the Caulfield General Medical Centre and was built during World War 1 to house the diggers as they came back from the front line. The hospital was traditionally a rehabilitation centre, mainly for amputees. This is still its main specialisation, although there is an outpatient pathology and radiography centre.

I have tried to think of this place as a rehabilitation and health farm.

A little like The Priory Clinic, where lots of famous people stay.

Benefits include;

• breakfast in bed
• bed made every day linen changed weekly
• fresh towels left at the end of the bed every day
• 3 stable meals a day (that I have planned with a dietian)
• 2+ hours in the gym per day
• Personal Trainer
• exercise regime tailored to specific needs
• 4 x colonic irrigation since admission (near enough!)
• a team of specialists on call 24 hours a day
• own hairdresser and beautician on hand (as seen in pics)

This has paid off. I have been off the cigarettes 37 days and now I am an occasional drinker

So far this morning, I have had an influx of medical specialists interested in my well being.
Even before I got out of bed one of the nurses was offering to stick suppositories up my bum (which I refused - "of course my bowels haven't moved yet today, I am still in bed")
My psychotherapist came in to "have a chat"
My social worker visited and is arranging for my disability parking sticker (drive and passenger)
My Doctor briefly met with me and said he wanted to arrange a time to talk about my "sexuality, after the operation" - I told him nothing had changed and I was still heterosexual (he didn't laugh but my physio did)

I like it so much here I will be staying on. My stay has been extended until 21st May.

As I write this my Mum is airborne and although she laughed it off when I mentioned it earlier, is probably a 10 minute member of the mile high club. I can’t wait to see here.

At the weekend I had another night at home and managed a couple of cheeky reds at the local wine bar with Nat and KC. (pics above)

Wiggle Your Big Toe - Day 10

Since my hospitalisation on 1st April, I have spoken to alot of friends who are not in the same State or Country as I am, a few who aren't on the same continent or in the same hemisphere and let's face it, a few who aren't on the same planet! Most of them have have expressed a sense of frustration at not being able to physically be here for me.

Just so you know, the flowers, phone calls, text messages and emails I have received have made you all feel alot closer, so thank you.

I thought I would start this blog for those of you who might not be able to be here and follow my progress as much as you would like.

Let's start at the beginning, you all know I have suffered with back pain for the last couple of years. Anyone who suffers from chronic pain of any kind are able to manage it well, and unfortunately some of us don't recognise when the pain changes and just carry on regardless.

I started to get pain towards the middle of March and thought I was developing sciatica. I got shooting pains down my legs that came and went (It was at it's most painful on 28th March. I now know this to be where the disc was hitting the nerves) I got stiffness the next day and had trouble getting into a friends car and lawn bowling with my usual skill (!). On Monday 30th March it was still painful and I thought a good session of Bikram or Hot Yoga would stretch me right out. Within minutes of the class (the start of the warm up!) I started to get a cramping feeling down my legs and practically laid down and suffered the pain for the 90 min class, getting up occasionally to try the odd yoga pose. I now know that I had slipped the disc by this stage and each position I tried, made it worse.

The next morning I felt pins and needles in my feet and calf muscles. It really hurt. No, no, in fact, it was excruciating. I laid on the bed and the sensation went away, I got up, it came back, I laid down, it went away, I got up it came back, I laid down...... this happened 7 times. (I know this now to be where the disc was starting to damage the nerve.)

I drove to work and my left foot gave out from under me when I got to the office. I worked for the day and my foot did the same thing 2 more times (this was the nerve shutting down that controlled that part of my foot). By the end of the day, I couldn't walk 3 metres. I had a hot bath and wore DVT socks to bed and barely slept. The next morning I could not walk and could hardly move. I called 000.

The hospital explained what had happened to me and they dosed me up on anti-inflammatories and I had a couple of days bed rest. The movement in my feet deteriorated over this time and spread to my right foot. I was scheduled in for a lumbar laminectomy for discectomy, that evening.

In layman's terms, the op consisted of an incision in my lower back, moving the nerves to one side and slicing the herniating disc part off. Then sewing me back up. Simple really.

Moving the nerves made them inflame and sent them into shock so on waking from the op, I had little to no feeling in my legs. Just a pins and needles feeling that intensified if they were touched. Horrible.

After 2 days laying completely flat (in case my spinal fluid leaked out of the surgical wound) I started to feel more like myself again.

I am now in a rehabilitation hospital where intensive physiotherapy (twice a day) bed rest, early nights and stable balanced meals should see me up and around in no time (hopefully 3 weeks)

I thought I would video my progress as I am sure you are all having the same thoughts as I had about maybe, well, let's just say, not being 100% on my feet again. These videos also help me monitor my progress to keep me on the same positive thinking track.

Rehab starts with small steps. This video shows how I can wiggle my toes 10 days after the op. It's a vast improvement and deserves to be celebrated.

In case you are wondering about the picture at the top, that is my friend Paul, who realised my feet were getting alot of attention and came in to paint my toenails!!

Love to you all,

Rach