Out N About

Doing laps around Eastpoint with my K-Nurse. Stronger and stronger every day

The best part about breaking your leg is…

 Learning how to take a one-legged shite. And then noticing that all the balancing and flexing is giving you some serious ninja turtle washboard! 

Bionic leg

Nurse Amelia wanted to change my dressing today and I was able to get a first look at my leg. 15 staples in the mother! It doesn’t hurt too bad anymore and, according to Nurse Amelia, it’s healing amazingly well. I’m feeling very positive and ready to continue my healing journey towards a (touch wood) full recovery!

 

Discharged in a chair to the rehab sanctuary

Visited by a Choo. My guardian Angel.

 

After convincing the physiotherapist and OT that I was in the safest hands of a loving family, they reluctantly discharged me in a chair.

I am very lucky in that one of my brothers is a trained nurse and my other brother (the one who rescued me) is strong as a bull and has been through his own rehab for serious injuries in the past. He is eventually going to help me rehabilitate in a pool, which is an excellent way to learn how to walk again. Submerged up to my neck, 90% of my body weight will be supported by water. I can rebuild strength this way and this is a future goal of mine.

The real test begins now. I am non-weight bearing for 8 weeks. Time to start wriggling my toes and try to resurrect my leg. I’ll channel Uma Thurman in Kill Bill - “wriggle your toes!”

First step is keeping circulation healthy, lots of blood thinners and keeping my leg elevated. I must avoid clotting at all costs in this delicate stage. 

My next steps will be to get lots of sleep, eating a perfect diet and beginning a regime of small exercises to get this new, metal leg of mine moving. 

The dream is that I’ll be able to start using this chart to build my leg, once I get feeling back in it.

They have me in a leg brace that I am able to unlock and bend to 90 degrees once my leg heals. The plates and screws holding my knee together are going to help new bone to grow and eventually, with time, I’ll have a new knee. I’ll be going for regular follow up X-rays to chart my progress. Eugene Chung is a master surgeon and he completed a very complicated procedure for me. I am lucky that I was able to secure his services. 

The mind is a powerful thing and I can heal my body with it. I believe in mind over matter. I will walk again! 

Update on my recovery and another turn of fate

A remarkable turn of fate happened for me today. 

A kind wardsman came to move me into a new rehab unit today where I’m expected to do very well. We started chatting and he asked about what happened to me. I told him I fell off a cliff and he asked me where it was. I told him it was the cliffs behind the Fairmont hotel in Wentworth Falls. He paused and his face dropped. He then told me that he was ex-Police Rescue and knows the exact cliff I fell from. In his own words he’s pulled multiple deceased from that exact cliff. He describe bodies he's found in that valley as "jellified". He said flatly that I shouldn’t be alive today and asked me if I was a man of Faith. At that point I decided that I had to record an interview as a permanent reminder to treasure my good fortune. My head is spinning. Life has sent me the clearest message I’ve ever had - I am lucky to be here.

Life is fragile - The valley where I nearly died

I was exploring a trail-less, uncharted valley with my bro. About 2 mins after I took this video, the soggy soil ground gave way above a cliff a little further down. I fell 10 metres onto a rocky creek bed in about 3 inches of water. If I was knocked unconscious I would’ve drowned, but by some miracle I managed to fall on my backpack. My leg was badly mangled and I’m facing a 90 minute operation (Update: turned out to be a 3.5 hour operation). I am posting this from my hospital bed where I’m facing a long stay. The doctors expect me to be here a few days at least, depending on how the surgery goes, and then extensive rehab. No guarantee I’ll be walking normally again. I’ll have a metal leg forever now, held together by plates and bolts. I’m lucky to be alive and I owe it to my brother who refused to leave me in the valley. With ropes and extreme perseverance I crawled out of there with his help. Adrenaline is an amazing thing (as is having an awesome brother). There was no phone signal. Life is fragile. I have been on thousands of technical bushwalks in my life. I have never injured myself. I will now never take life for granted ever again. Life has taken on a beautiful hue and I feel nothing but appreciation that I am still here. 

I’ll never forget the look of terror on my brother’s face when he found me. He thought I was dead and at that moment I saw his love for me. 

He saved me and I owe him my life. I crawled out of that valley with his help. It took hours. By the end he carried me to the top where we finally had phone reception. An ambulance soon arrived. They couldn’t understand how i managed to get out of the valley, given the extent of my injuries. They put me on lots of nice drugs and took me away to Dream land. My brother never left my side.

be wise as serpents

 

Honeycomb Lungs - Paneye (music video)

Honeycomb Lungs

              ~

The tide sweeps me away

Horizon hides behind

Screens of turquoise rain

I'm going insane

So I'll hold my tongue

Silent red eyes

And honeycomb lungs

My brother nearby 

In a ghost gum cave

Resting our minds

On this quiet blue mountain top plain