Crutches no more

The physio swapped his crutches for walking sticks! Here he is practicing his "Get Orf Moy Land!" look.

Recovering well

Home

Mum collected Dad from the hospital this afternoon and they somehow got him into the house using his two crutches across the snowy garden. Molly dog was a little bemused by the crutches; she sensed something was not quite right with The Boss.

I've just spoken to Dad and he was in front of his computer dealing with emails, but was shortly to head to his own bed.

Expect the blog updates to become less frequent - I'll get Dad to do them himself now that he is mobile(ish). Mind you I might have to explain to him what the internet is first.

No Energy

Mum took Robert to visit Dad this afternoon and he had written his own account for today's entry:

I had a more comfortable night but was disturbed by the occasional gastric problem. I tried to eat a Weetabix for breakfast with partial success. I had considered having a shower and getting dressed but just did not have the energy.

More physiotherapists appeared and I shuffled along the ward and then up and down the stairs at the end of the corridor. My concern now is that although my wound is healing very well, I have not yet got full feeling in the thigh muscle and foot. I think I have got a classic 'dead leg'. I shall press for medical advice from further up the line.

Lunch was an ice-cream and some milk but the smell of cooked lunches set me off in another bout of wretching but nothing came up. (Delightful)

Then Liz and Robert came up about 4pm and that cheered me up. Lucozade and mail was delivered.

Bed Blocker

Just returned through the snow from Dunfermline. Dad was reading his paper as usual. He seemed improved from my visit to him yesterday and I didn't have to squeeze past the zimmer frame. He had a pair of crutches next to his bed this time.

Apparently the physiotherapists had him negotiating the stairs on one crutch earlier today but due to the nerve damage to his right leg he was not able to get it to do what he wanted it to do. The staff are not worried, it is an expected effect of the fracture and subsequent operation. In time they expect him to be fully able to control the muscles to move his knee/foot as required.

Unfortunately he is still suffering from bouts of sickness and has given up the Codeine completely. All he could manage for his dinner was a glass of milk.

There is talk of him being discharged tomorrow (Wednesday) but Dad didn't seem too keen. The stair experience had been quite taxing so he will 'play it by ear' tomorrow when they come to assess him again.

Zimmer No More

Mum has just phoned me after returning from her afternoon visit to Dad. Apparently his sickness continues so he is still struggling to eat. However, his mobility has improved with the zimmer being discarded for crutches. He managed to scale a set of stairs! The word on the ward is that he may be chucked out tomorrow!!

Zimmering around

Dad's account cont...

Spent a much better night although it was still difficult to find a comfortable sleeping position. Usual morning routine of bedbath and painkillers but I managed to shave myself which was refreshing. My two carers Emma and Maggie said they hoped that the physiotherapist would be coming round to assess my mobility (or otherwise). Presently two charming Irish colleagues appeared, armed with a zimmer frame and I managed to shuffle round my room which seemed to please them very much.

This took a bit much out of me and I was plonked down in a chair with a blanket over my knees to recover. I spent the rest of the afternoon alternately reading and dozing.

I visited Dad this evening (he had given this scrawled account to Mum earlier in the day and I have just typed it up). Since then he has struggled with his Codeine painkillers which he feels have made him vomit several times today. However, it may or may not be a coincidence that Mum and David are also suffering some sort of gastro bug. Nevertheless, I did manage to snap a shot of the patient in his majesty before I left:



Dad won't be allowed home until he is capable of travelling the stairs. We'll try to keep this site updated with daily entries on his progress.

He is in Ward 14 at Queen Margaret Hospital in Dunfermline:
Whitefield Road
Dunfermline
Fife
KY12 0SU

The operation

Dad's account cont...

After a fitful and painful night, I was awakened for a bedbath and an examination by the orthopaedic surgeon, who delighted me by saying that "I had the thigh muscle tone of a 35 year old!" (I don't know whether he says that to everyone?!) I was on the operation list but because both the hospital anaesthetists were held up by the snow they could not guarantee when I would be taken.

However, at 12midday a porter appeared and whisked me off to the operating theatre. I exchanged pleasantries with the anaesthetist, who noticed that I lived in Cammo and said that his mother lived just round the corner from us. Then he smiled benignly and said, "Mr Murray, I'm just going to give you a small injection." The next thing I knew I was waking up back in my own bed feeling deliciously relaxed and with both my feet pointing vertically up - what a relief!

Then Liz came in at visiting time and we exchanged further details of our night of mishaps. I had said to the theatre porter that I had been in Elie for a short break and he joked that I had got "a bigger one than I'd expected!" Ha Ha.

Saturday 2nd January 2010

Dad asked me to set up a 'blog' in the same way we had done when Mum had been incapacitated. We felt this was the best way to help people keep updated with Mum's progress without Dad having to repeat the same story on the phone. So, as requested, here is Dad's attempt!!


He chose the address by the way, and what follows is an account of his (in)activities...


I and 9 chums were booked for dinner at the Ship Inn in Elie. The night was snowy and stormy and we decided to park our transport in Elie High Street to walk down the hill to the harbour and restaurant due to the road conditions.
As we proceeded down the slope my feet slipped on ice under the snow and I went up in the air and landed with all my weight on my right hip bone. David and Enid helped me struggle up onto one leg and I found I could not coordinate my other leg and it seemed to be handing at a funny angle. (Shortened and externally rotated).

After a stressful period, my resourceful friends managed to summon an ambulance, which set out from Kirkcaldy through the snowdrifts. Liz and I were then scooped up and transported to A&E at Queen Margaret Hospital in Dunfermline which is the main A&E for Fife. Fortunately because of the snow they were not very busy and I was immediately examined by a charming Nigerian duty doctor. He lifted the blanket and as soon as he saw my feet lying at right angles said "Sorry Mr Murray - its a fracture". I had hoped it was just a dislocation. X-rays and medical details were then taken and I was conveyed to Ward 14, being pumped painkillers all the way.

We then had the problem of what was Liz to do because our car was still lying at our friends' in Fife and the snow was even thicker. The Nigerian doctor then showed a real Good Samaritan act and said that he was going off duty at midnight, and as he lived in Ravelston would transport Liz to Cammo. What a kind man.