Getting the hang of it
It’s my first weekend here and it’s nice to have a quiet morning after a very busy week.
My first afternoon had been filled with mostly admin and handover activities from the Alfred. I signed some forms agreeing that I was part of a rehabilitation program and that I would be attending sessions with the aim of improving my condition, that I’m allowed the odd sick day and that I’m fortunately covered by the TAC for all costs incurred.
I was also introduced to some of they key staff members, including my physio Tim. Since the accident, every move beyond my standard flat lying position had scared me quite a bit. I was worried - what if I made it worse, what if I found a whole new pain I hadn’t felt before, what if I cried again? Tim introduced himself, gave a background into what we’d be doing throughout my time here and asked if I’d been in a wheelchair yet. I don’t think I was shy in telling him a firm no - there was no way I was moving until I was completely confident that I was ready to. Did I want to give it a go this afternoon? “No. Thanks. Tomorrow?” He let me off, but with a warning I’d need to be ready to start moving the next day so that I could move to the physio room. There was no way around it, the wheelchair was inevitable.
I think I’d used the wheelchair previously as a positive thing - like “I’ll be so happy once I get into a wheelchair!” or “Just get me out of this bed!”. But when the time came to move, I was completely stuck. I’d finally become comfortable, the pain meds were in control and I couldn’t help but ask myself “why would you want to hurt yourself again?”.
9:30am sharp on Wednesday morning, Tim and an entourage arrive for my imminent departure. Clearly nervous, I had forgotten to ask the nurse to change out of my gown and into real clothes. Sweet, I’d scored a 15 minute delay to get changed. Back again, Tim gave me a run down of the process. It was going to be a 4 person job - Tim had my back, Sean (physio assistant) had my hips, Nurse 1 had my legs and Nurse 2 had my emotions. Poor Nurse 2, she was up against it. I cried. I cried so much. Looking back now, it seems ridiculous but I think I was just so overwhelmed that I was finally doing something I’d talked about all week as being such a big milestone. In their terms, it’s a “transfer”. In my view, it’s a bit terrifying.
There was lots of counting - 1,2,3 - move your hip to put the slide board and slide sheet underneath. 1,2,3 - move your hand onto the monkey bar. 1,2,3 - move halfway. 1,2,3 - you’re going, going and you’re there….“Jen, you can let go now”. I’d finally moved from bed to wheelchair. It took about 20 minutes to move about a metre but the feeling was pretty incredible. The staff are just so cognisant of every thought that I must have had, as they gave me some time to get it together before we set off for physio session 1.
Tim took the time in my first session to discuss what happened, my injuries and start me on a program. The conversation was pretty honest and raw - it hit a nerve talking about how I thought the accident played out and the resulting injuries. He brought over a little skeleton model and talked me through where each of my injuries are. I was devastated to learn I hadn’t understood my hip injuries and that there was more than one fracture there (my acetabulum plus my sacrum), which resulted in a few more tears before pulling it together. Having someone sit down and translate all the long medical words into “this bone here is broken” had such a big impact and really helped me to correlate what I was feeling with what I had hurt. That feeling in your back when you move, that’s the separation you have in your hips that feels like it’s tearing. It’s confronting but it’s the reality and I think the more I can understand what is behind it then the easier it will be to work through it.
I was set up on a program of exercises that I have been doing every session, twice a day for the past few days. They include:
- sliding my legs back and forward
- sliding my legs side to side (getting some help with TRX straps for now)
- putting my legs on a foam roller and pulling my lower leg up
- 2kg arm weights to build my strength for future Jen on crutches
- sitting on the side of the bed (this is challenging but a great feeling)
Here’s some progress for this week!
During the first session I met a few interesting people.
- A guy who had been on a road trip with 3 other mates up the VIC/NSW coast. His friend fell asleep at the wheel for 1.3 seconds, long enough for their car to leave the road and roll down a slope before hitting a tree. This guy was in an induced coma for a few days, before waking up to a shattered pelvis requiring serious pins and plates, amongst other injuries. Sadly only 2 out of the 4 people in the car survived.
- A guy who had been building a car with a friend, they took it for a test drive but the suspension wasn’t right and the car left the road. He was ejected from the car and hit a tree, breaking 12 of his 24 vertebrae. His friend was fine.
- A lady who had been celebrating new years eve but was taken out by a motorbike, breaking her leg/knee and ruptured ligaments.
It really puts things into perspective meeting these people and many of the others, as we’re all here trying to get back to ‘normal’. We talk about what we miss, what we will change in the future and share a laugh. There are varying levels of emotion, we all have good and bad days, but the support for each other seems to always be there.
Speaking of support, I’ve had some great visits this week.
Liz having a great time with my handy tool to pick things up off the floor :)
Nik joining me for a crazy Friday night in :)
The really fun mid-week visit from Mick, Suz and Bridge after racing Hawthorn crits. They helped me pick my meals for the week…apparently ‘carrot parcels’ are a thing. Mick - lucky we changed ‘pea’ to ‘peas’, I ended up receiving more than one pea ;)
On Thursday I received a visit from Bronwyn (lovely lady) and Gemma (dog). They’re a duo doing the rounds of two Melbourne hospitals with the aim of providing ‘Pet Therapy’ to inpatients. Bronwyn had previously been suffering an ongoing illness and now that she’s feeling better and retired, she volunteers her time to make others feel better too. Gemma is a rescue dog and at the age of 9 absolutely loves getting up on the chair next to all types of patients for some cuddles (and treats). Gemma totally made my day on Thursday and I’m really looking forward for her weekly visits :)
It’s Saturday morning and I’m now able to get into my wheelchair with the help of just one other person. I need them to help out with my left leg and also to make sure I don’t wipe myself out when swinging on the monkey bar across to the wheelchair. Hanging in there for now, a few people have said I’ll get a pretty strong upper body from all this so here’s hoping! My sternum holds up surprisingly well with supporting my weight so I’m really glad I’ve been able to nail this transfer process :)