Friday 21 September 2012

Parental Guidance Warning

Hello there!

Think this one should come with a parental guidance warning again!!

....for those who've read on, as promised here's a snapshot of the old injury before and after the operation!



The one is an MRI, you can see the vertebrae down the left and then six down from the top things go a little squewiff  and you can see where the bone has hit and pressing on the old spinal cord, which is
the black thing running down the middle! Which is thankfully still, just about, intact!!



The second and third xrays, in case you haven't guessed, are after the op!
On the second one, the bit in the middle is where they went through the front and stuck two of the veterbrae together, then behind are the two longer rods screwed in above and below the injury (you can see the screws on the bottom one!)








It looks like some pretty heavy engineering to me! ....and in this one as you can see is the line of little  staples they used to close it all up, nice!

Well I hope I haven't put you off your lunch!!

Thanks

Mark x

(oh and I didn't have to pay for the pictures of my own neck, which i gave them, in the end!! Common sense prevailed!)

Sunday 16 September 2012

Look Away Now... If You Don't Want To Know!

Well it's been a pretty quiet one this week after a somewhat frustrating weekend, which had started out so well..... a quick couple of beers (didnt do very well with staying off the beer reallly!) outside the Bold Hotel with our Paul and Mr Chew got Friday evening underway, then it was 'date night' with the lovely Miss Hughes, we visited the Vincent on Lord Street which is quite a posh restaurant and had a great meal, lobster and crayfish risotto for me! I have noticed a trend in my dining choices towards things that need less cutting hence the risotto, steak is out of the question for now! I can just about cut it, but I think it's more the looking like a proper special person in public that puts me off!

It was as the evening drew to a close that the weekend began to descend! ....possible information overload and decency issues about to be breached so look away now if you don't want to know!

....in the realms of peeing now my bladder has started to do stuff again but on something of its own schedule! therefore I wear something called a convene that pops over the old chap and kind of sticks to it, so everything gets drained nicely.... Well this is the theory at least, sadly the stickiness decided to give way at the end of the evening so just as we arrived back at the hospital I was in a bit of a state that I haven't visited since early childhood and sadly Jenna's car may now smell a little like a care home!


 ...being serious for a second, I must admit times like that are very hard and really bring things home to me, I know it's all part of the process etc.... but sitting there as a 30 year old bloke at the end of a lovely evening with my girlfriend in my own pee is upsetting/annoying/bizarre/frustrating and the list could go on forever! And saying it's hard for me I can only begin to imagine the thoughts and emotions going through Jenna's mind at a moment like that. I don't think I've really said it on here but she has been truly amazing through everything over the past few months and I really am a very very lucky person to have such a wonderful (and beautiful!) girlfriend. Thank you Jen xxxx

Right anyway I digress, enough soppy gayness for one blog! ....Saturday morning followed on nicely from Friday night! I had my 'obs' taken, blood pressure, heart rate and temperature, sadly the latter was somewhat on the low side (34.5 degrees) the word hypothermic was banded around! So they covered me in blankets first off, this didn't bring it up, then came the 'bear hugger', sounds grander than it is and sadly it wasn't a hug from an attractive nurse! ....just an inflatable blanket filled with warm air but it did the job and I had a lovely little nap! Once the temperature was sorted they noticed a red mark on the old derrière, so that was me bed bound for the rest of the day, dull! ....on the Sunday they gave it 'til after lunch to give me the all clear but when I got up the old blood pressure decided to rear its ugly head again so that was me going nowhere for the day, as every time they lowered my feet the blood pressure followed and I went in to a bit of a floaty state! ....so as I say pretty frustrating!!

That lot aside, I've just been cracking on with the old physio and O.T. this week and the slow but steady progress continues. Thankfully the swimming is getting better and the lovely neck float was removed as I managed something that resembled conventional backstroke as opposed to the two armed special variety! 

...oh and I had my first shopping trip yesterday, Paul and I visited Debenhams on lord street, they were very wheelchair friendly indeed, it was a little strange being at eye level with all the clothes! But I managed to pick up a few bits and bobs that are a little smarter than my current uniform of slouchy pants and general sportswear so hopefully i will begin to look a little less Chav like when I go out!

And finally, There's also progress with the scans and X-rays,  I just need to have a look through now and chose some of the less gruesome ones that will be suitable for public consumption so they should be up soon!

Thanks, mark xx