Early progress review

This week has been full of reviews, check ups and general progress discussions. It’s made me think quite a bit about how I would usually measure my progress with work and I’ve realised it’s not that different from what I’ll be doing it here.

As part of my job in consulting, I would usually set objectives before the start of every project and would revisit them at the end of the project based on self-input and feedback from my supervisors. When writing my objectives, I would consider the role I’ve been assigned and what I expect to gain out of it. I’d take into account the duration (how much can I expect to learn over the time allocated), the client environment (who do I need to engage with) and consider whether it’s a ‘stretch’ role (something new that pushes me to the next level). Despite feeling like overhead and a bit of a pain at the start of the project, they’re hugely rewarding at the end because it really makes me sit back and think how far I’ve come since initially putting pen to paper.

At the Epworth our goals are set more frequently (weekly) but are still based on the same principle of having ‘objectives’ for how I will hit that goal, which are more like steps I need to take to perform a task, with input from relevant support staff. On Tuesday, Tim and I had our first review of my progress following the weekly meeting between key people in my care team. The feedback was brief but positive - they are happy with how things are going. Because it’s still early days and I’m yet to be reviewed by the orthopaedic team at the Alfred, the focus has been on waking up the muscles and joints that hadn’t been moved much for over a week. I’ve hit one of my goals that was set upon arrival - to have a shower by myself and I’ve also managed to learn how to transfer with the help of one nurse.

My goals for this week are:

• Transfer into my wheelchair on my own
• Start weight bearing on my left leg (the one I broke) after my review session at the Alfred on Friday
• Be able to dress myself from top to toe with no help

After reviewing these with Tim, I signed off on them and we chatted about how we can achieve them. Since Tuesday, I’ve had visits from the OT to help with dressing myself and I’ve been able to transfer solo with a nurse supervising. All of these were stretch goals for me only a few days ago so I know it’ll be a great feeling to hit them. I’m a bit apprehensive about putting my left foot on the ground, there’s something unnerving about knowing it was quite broken and now has a metal rod holding it in place. I think the first time will be the hardest but it should get easier with more physio.

I’m also thinking that I need to set some personal goals for while I’m here as I have the luxury of time to myself that I wouldn’t usually have. So far I’ve found that I need to get better at setting boundaries and sticking to them. As much as I wish I could just spend time with all my friends like any normal day, I find that having one scheduled visit a day is about my limit. When I get that last minute text saying “hey I’m going to drop in” and I’ve already spent a few hours with another friend, being able to say “would another day be ok?” is tough but sometimes necessary. I’m sorry if I’ve had to reschedule a visit, it’s not that I don’t want to see you, it’s more that I might fall asleep mid-visit if I don’t postpone :)

In other news, I finished season 1 of Banshee (thanks Conan!), highly recommend it for anyone looking to binge watch TV anytime soon. Thankfully I still have seasons 2 & 3 to watch so I’ll be kept busy for a while. I also have Ghita to keep me entertained - she managed to go on a Tinder date despite being hospitalised…that’s probably more of a medium/long term goal for me! We’ve had some good laughs and have also managed to put on a load of laundry so we’re really getting good at ‘everyday life’ here.

I’ve also had some great visits during the week from fellow consultant and cyclist Paul, as well as a visit and Lead Out goss session with Shari. I think I need to get some zzz’s now before Bridge, Nikki, Rob and Maria come tonight for some laughs and hopefully help with working through the chocolate that seems to have stockpiled in my room :)