TitaniumCaro

The road to recovery after being caught in a horse stampede Aug 15 2016 and escaping with only a broken hip and leg. Scroll to the bottom for the gory details.

[titaniumcaro]

Sorry for the radio silence, I'm enjoying being able to move around and not be confined to bed or the couch for hours each day. I started the next phase of my physical therapy four weeks ago and made tremendous progress by doing new exercises. I have a wider range of movement in my leg, it's still no where near normal, but I can walk with a cane and take a lot more weight on my leg. If I'm feeling really good I can ditch the cane around the house! The goal at the moment is to be pain free and build up my hip muscles that have completely disintegrated over the past three months and a great way to do that is to be in the pool. It's all pretty basic stuff, walking forwards, backwards, sideways, squats, pulling my leg in various directions and the weirdest one of all, standing with all my weight on my left leg. I can do it if i'm in deep enough water but my brain starts shouting not to, it's going to hurt, it's a bad idea! I've been conditioned over time now to protect it at all costs and part of my PT is reprogram the brain to say it's ok. The best bit about being back in the pool is that I can swim. I'm up to 1.2km or about 3/4 mile. I use a float between my legs for about half of that, I get tired quickly from kicking and it starts to hurt. It's nice to feel like I'm doing some proper exercise. I'm thinking of joining the aqua aerobics class and significantly lowering the average age of the class. Might be fun. My knee is doing much better and I'm doing lots of exercises to keep the patella tendon moving and like everywhere else, build it back up to normal. I had more X-rays done this morning and both breaks are healing well. The fuzzy stuff around the fracture is the bone growing back which comes back all wispy around the break. It's healing fast and it needs to, I have a Maratona to train for! http://www.maratona.it/it/ Cx

[titaniumcaro]

What are friends for? They are to remind us that despite being a hop-a-long we can still manage to slide ourselves into Hot Sulphur Springs. Oh yeah! I have spent the last two Friday's soaking away with Ingrid then Gina. The Dutch is convinced I deliberately left a bag at the springs when I went with Ingrid to get another visit in with Gina the following week. He's probably right 😎 Good news people, NO KNEE SURGERY!!! I had an MRI last week on my knee that has been sore, but stable, since the accident nine weeks ago. Great news to hear that I tried to reef my ACL off the bone but was not successful. I've never been so happy in my life to be unsuccessful at something! I also have a badly bruised the bone around the front inside of my knee hence the reason it was presenting as a torn meniscus. Such a huge relief. The other great piece of news is that I'm ditching the crutches and get a walking cane. I can't wait to waive that sucker around and point and poke at people. This is all excellent training for my old age. So here's a quick update on my 'aid stations': * I can shower unsupervised and standing up * I'm onto the next phase of my physical therapy. I had a strength test this week. I have none. If ever there was a long road, this is it. The under 3's soccer team have more 'kick' than I do. * swimming and biking and leg exercises oh my! I'm busy! It's a full time job getting through all this PT! * handbags are back in my life now I'm on one crutch and soon to be walking cane. As I like to carry my life around in my bag I'm looking at carrying a bag as exercise. * I can cook and spend time in my beloved kitchen. I can more easily distribute weight between both legs so I can stand for much longer. * I can lurch around without a crutch but I look ridiculous and it makes my back and neck seize up with the effort to 'walk'. (It might be considered a walk after a bottle of the lovely and smooth Breckenridge Bourbon) * I'm pain killer free. Last time I took a Tylenol was the 24th September. *My blood test last week showed no more anaemia but it's not stopping me from eating steak. Talking of steak here is a great steak marinade recipe. It was in the 1983 Parkes Country Women's Association Centenary recipe book that belonged to my grandmother and was given to me as a wedding gift. Garlic clove, crushed Dash of hot sauce (eg Tabasco) 1/2 cup soy sauce Red wine (the recipe calls for 2 tablespoons. In my opinion, quadruple that) Dash of ginger powder 1 teaspoon sugar 1 tablespoon lemon juice Teaspoon Worcestershire sauce Mix it all together in a ziplock bag with the steak for at least an hour. BBQ and enjoy! Cx

[titaniumcaro]

Under promise and over deliver. Words I used to live by when I was in the corporate world, it was always better for my bonus that way. Unless I really do have supa-dupa healing bones, my surgeon is doing the same thing. I had a check up last week and have been cleared to start swimming and cycling on a stationary recumbent bike as well as weight bearing, well as much as I can. I can walk with one crutch which means I can stop drinking coffee standing next to the coffee machine! I can carry things, hello handbags, I missed you! I can't put full weight down but I think I must be at between 60-80% on some steps. It feels great to be almost walking again. I asked about driving and my Dr said to take a loved one to a deserted car park to practice and if they don't look too terrified I can start driving short distances. Lucky Dutch! I usually do all the driving and hate being a passenger whilst the Dutch is driving so I'm keen to get this one going. Anyone know how to repair fingernail marks in a dash? Quite a few have built up over the last seven weeks... That's the up. The down is it looks like my knee has been damaged in the accident and surgery is on the cards to fix it. That's hard to take as it feels like starting over again. I knew it wasn't doing too well but in my 'keep moving forward at all costs' approach, I was hoping it would right itself. When my Dr had to peel me off the ceiling yesterday after examining it, I think we both realised it wasn't going away on its own. I'll know more over the next few days in terms of just how bad it is and what happens next. We spent the weekend in Albuquerque to visit friends Richard and Amy and see the spectacular Balloon Fiesta. What a sight. Truly beautiful watching the mass ascension as the sun comes up. The balloons being filled and slowly taking shape to then spring from the ground ready for the green light to start their majestic rise into the sky. It is very cool to watch and we had the 'Albuquerque Box Effect' in full swing where the balloons rise, head one direction, rise and then come back. Perfect for spectating! It's hard for me to sit for too long so we took the opportunity to visit the Colorado sand dunes about halfway home where you get these cool moon buggy wheelchairs. It looks nice and sunny but it was about 4C (40F)! Dutch stayed warm pushing me around :) Looks like I'm going to get to use those crutches crampons sooner rather than later. We woke up to snow today. Stay safe! Cx

[titaniumcaro]

What I have learned (so far) At the NY Cycling Club party on Monday night Jen asked me what I have learned from this whole experience so far. It got me thinking past the obvious ones of being more patient, although that is a work in progress or that I'm thankful it was only a broken leg and not my head etc. here are some others that have become apparent as time goes by; * You can't hover above the seat in a public loo. To be honest I'm sometimes grateful for the opportunity to sit down. Depending on floor surface and available space I have to admit that quite often I can't even get back there to do a wipe of the seat, having to rely on visual inspection only. I then spend the rest of the day wondering what germs can seep through the back of my legs. * I'm convinced I'm going to get several weird NY diseases because I'm obliged for safety to use hand railings to go up and down stairs. There is not enough hand sanitizer in the world to deal with this one. * more often than not water/soap to wash hands is about a football field in distance from hand dryer/towels. I'm starting a campaign that anyone who designs restrooms must do so on crutches. * New Yorkers are at risk of losing their tough, spiky reputation in my book. Everywhere I go people are stopping to help open doors, being very patient as I hop my way up or down the stairs. Taxi drivers are risking life and limb to leap out to help me into the cab. (Or they are just super happy we went yellow and not Uber!) * it doesn't matter if it's cheap wine or lovely vintage champagne like I had with lunch today to toast our anniversary, the result is the same. Swelling in the knee and ankle about an hour later. I don't need cankles (ankles as big as calves) to add to my woes. I'm still in the experimental phase with this one, well that's my excuse anyway! I'm off all the prescribed drugs so I was taking the opportunity to have a few drinks but it appears by body has other ideas. I got the message and as we are heading back to Colorado tomorrow I'll get off the booze again. * Ice is amazing and not just for cocktails. Who knew? After spending a week in hospital with my leg wrapped in ice packs and every night since, I can't live with out it. It is so comforting and makes me sleep better. As I've mentioned before, nights are the worst and everything I can do to sleep, I'll do it! * there may be some mileage in a gym class geared towards being on crutches. I've done a lot of sport in my life but nothing tones the arms like crutches. Perhaps this is my opportunity to start training for American Ninja Warrior #AussieNinja. BTW when I go to the surgeon next week I will ask if he thinks I'll be ready for the Denver tryouts March/April. If he burst out laughing when I asked about skiing, let's see what sort of reaction I get for that. For the uninitiated: http://tv.esquire.com/shows/american-ninja-warrior Keep hopping. Cx

[titaniumcaro]

I'm sorry it's taking me a bit longer to get back to everyone and I'm very sorry if I missed your email in my drug fuelled haze. Please do resend if you haven't heard from me. So it's been a month into what is estimated as a 12 month recovery. As my friend Ellis used to say when we were running Thursday night laps on the track at Parliament Hill, only 10 more after the next one. I'm feeling good, definitely more good days than bad days now. Still lots of leg twitching, I'm not sure my muscles have caught on yet they are not required to run up mountains a few times a week so are twitching and ready to go. Unfortunately it's a pretty awful feeling! Yesterday was a fantastic 'aid station', a whole day without pain killers, not even Tylenol. I have a deep ache in my hip but it's a 2/10 on the pain scale and doesn't warrant drugs. I'm also eating, which I missed! A diet of pain killers puts a serious dampener on the appetite. There has only been two times I my life where I have lost weight without thinking about it or trying. The first was three years ago when Pieter and I started out on our six month honeymoon by cycling across Tibet to Kathmandu for three weeks. Tough days were cycling up onto the Tibetan plateau and passes taking us up to 18,000 feet or 5,500m. Don't forget we had come from sea level having lived in London at the time. Or the day we descended over 30 miles or 50km in the snow, then sleet and finally freezing rain all with me dry retching from altitude sickness (my stomach had been emptied long ago on the way up the climb). We had a day of rest in Kathmandu, stored the bikes and immediately started our hike towards Gokyo not wanting to lose our altitude advantage. We went up from Lukla in three days, most people take 8-10 and went up so fast we gave our guide altitude sickness. I was pumping him full of aspirin and altitude medicine but the worst from him was the ribbing he got from the other guides. We crossed over Chola (17,782 ft or 5420m) in waist deep snow, following the tracks of a group from the previous day. At the top all you hear is the creaking and groaning of the glacier underfoot. Magic! We continued on up to Everest Base Camp and back down again to Lukla to take our flight to Kathmandu. No flights due to bad weather and a week of back logged angry hikers we decided to hike out doing 2 x 12 hour days to make it on our flight to Bangkok and drive the final "few hours". It was 12 hours in a jeep made for 5 passengers but had 10 smelly people squished in. After six weeks of relatively low calorie meals, and that was with having four meals a day when possible we both lost a tremendous amount of weight. I used to get a real kick out of the fact most tea houses in Nepal offered four meals; stir fry noodles, spaghetti, chow mein and I forget what the 4th was called. It didn't matter what you ordered, it was all from the same big pot in the kitchen. That was certainly a more fun way of losing weight without effort than breaking my hip. Some of it is loss of muscle off both legs. Suddenly stopping all physical activity, and for me that was hiking, running, swimming, biking and gym sessions meant my muscles just melted away. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't looking like the ladies in the video but I was in decent enough shape. The other reason is that I think all energy goes to the broken part of your body to heal you so any calories are zoomed to that area. The human body never ceases to amaze me how it can repair itself, with a little help from some titanium rods and screws! Who knows what I'll look like by the time the months tick by and I finally get off crutches. It's a lot harder getting around on crutches than I anticipated. It's a lot of upper body strength and even after 10 days or so of really moving around my upper body is toning up. Perhaps I'll look like the Hulk by the time this is over! The real test starts tomorrow. A flight to New York and then a week away for a friends wedding (17th), Pieter's birthday (20th) and then our wedding anniversary (21st). The good thing is I have dark sunglasses and can nap anywhere! My life is getting better everyday and your job is to not take those pins of yours for granted. Go for a run, a hike, bike ride, whatever you enjoy or even just go up a flight of stairs without hanging onto the railing with a death grip. Enjoy it! Cx

[titaniumcaro]

I'm basically cured. Thanks to Fiona for sending the crappiest of crappy magazines to me. Any mag that has a section where you can write in and have someone talk to your dead pet for you is awesome. Wanda the cat is having a great time on 'the other side'.

[titaniumcaro]

First of 30 snarky, biting and hilarious you suck post card pack from Kirstin. Love it.

[titaniumcaro]

The Rollercoaster

After my massive high yesterday, today I'm stiff and sore because I pushed it in PT. that's ok, I can deal with that. What was a huge shock is that had my first fall. I jumped out of bed this morning forgetting I can't do that. Of course I fell, luckily on my right side and not left. I just hope I haven't done any more damage, I'm certainty hurting. I just can't believe I tried to do that! I managed to get myself up off the floor and back into bed. The Dutch isn't here, he's out on a run so at least I know I can get up if I need to. Maybe I need a 'seatbelt' for bed! Cx

[titaniumcaro]

Aid Stations

I'm so goal driven and independent I hate all the ambiguity around exactly how long this "getting better" is all going to take. I also want a black and white picture of what "getting better" is too but that's a whole other blog post. I want exact dates of when I'm one one crutch etc and of course that is ridiculous. In equal measure to being goal driven, but at the other end of the scale, is patience. I have very little and what I do have I save up for my beginner ski lessons, they need it the most. Those two things combined do not make a good patient. I received a very encouraging email last week from my old boss from Telefonica in London. Chris, like me, had his life turned upside down in a heartbeat when he crashed his plane coming into land on a solo flight on 15th April this year in the UK. Knee, hip and various other serious injuries as well as several operations kept him off his feet (and stairs) for the first part of his recovery. He is now down to a cane which he uses to commute (and tap when people don't give up their seat on the tube!). In five months he has made tremendous progress and his advice to me was focus on what you can do, not what you can't. So here it is at week three since the accident. * I'm conscious and can remember things. I had to read back over my own blog posts, I have very little recollection of being in hospital or what went on. It's really only been the last week since cutting down the meds I'm more 'with it'. * I can now shower and dress myself with a little help from the Dutch getting in and out of the shower for safety. * I can get up and down stairs without having to wear a safety belt around my waist and have that being held by someone. My balance a week ago was so bad I couldn't do it alone. Now I can use the railing or if I'm feeling particularly good rely on my balance * I've gone from bending my knee from between 30 and 70 degrees to 0 and 85. More work required here but definite progress. * I slept for 10 hours last night. I don't ever have an unbroken night of sleep but normally I'm awake at 4am with my leg twitching and feeling very uncomfortable. I feel amazing today after so much great rest and I was not in agony when I woke up. * I'm down to *only* taking Morphine. I'm taking half the dose of morphine every six hours rather than double every four plus all the other pain meds. * I'm off oxygen. For the first 10 days home I was connected to an oxygen machine 24x7. Then it went to just nights. Today I rang the company to come collect the machine. My wise friend Lynne said I need to get to the next 'aid station' which sits very well with me being a competitive racer. That's how I got through four Ironman triathlons, just get to the next aid station and celebrate the small achievements. Today is a good day. Cx

[titaniumcaro]

Of course. The year I'm on crutches and stuck on green/blue runs (if I'm lucky!).

[titaniumcaro]

This picture popped up on FB today saying it was two years ago. On that day I got the 'Queen of the Mountain' on Zoncolan on Strava. It's one of the toughest climbs in the Alps at just over 6 miles and an average of 11.9%, certainly not my strong point being that steep. I turned myself inside out to get the QOM, the fact it only lasted two weeks before the local girl I had taken it from claimed it back didn't matter to me! I'm not sure I can fathom the difference between that day exactly two years ago to where I am today. I would have problems climbing those 3-4 stairs at the moment. I had a tough night last night with my leg twitching. It's a horrible feeling where all I want to do is stretch out and I can't. I take Valium each night to stop this happening but it had certainly worn off by the early hours of this morning when I don't want to take another one. It's days like this that I need to remind myself it's a long road to recovery but it's not forever.

[ironcaro]

And I’m armed with crutches!

[titaniumcaro]

Ouch. Going cold turkey

Wow. Did I get bitten in the bum and a huge reminder that I'm apparently human. I decided two days ago I was going to stop taking all the crappy medication I was on. I hate feeling fuzzy, I was sleepy, it totally blocks your whole system up. Generally just felt yuk. I have three pages of medications, and it's the hard stuff. Morphine, oxycodin, Valium just to name a few. Cold turkey after three weeks of being fed this stuff, and especially after my surgeon told me he had never had a patient on so many different pain meds at once, it really wasn't a good idea. For eight days in hospital I was on huge quantities intravenously as well as tablets, obviously moving to tablets when released. I was so sick yesterday. I could barely move, I was nauseous, headaches, crying, pain and way more yuk than taking the meds. The biggest consequence was that I barely moved. A big part of my rehabilitation is moving, I do 4-5 hours of physical therapy a day. I have an awesome physical therapist called Lloyd who is a very wise man and gives it to me straight, just how I like it. He pointed out that I have three things to do; A. Move. Get the range of motion back into my knee. That's where the 4-5 hours of PT comes in. B. Not be in pain. Pain is not good at this stage. It stops me eating, it stops me sleeping or getting any quality rest that I need so badly. I have a huge gap in my hip that bone needs to grow to fill. C. Get off the pain meds. Do it gradually. Do it in stages, take half the dose, lengthen the time between doses but do not go cold turkey. I need to do things in that order A,B,C. It's as simple as that. Of course The Dutch told me C was not the correct one to do first. I hate it when he gets to say "I told you so". Cx

[titaniumcaro]

I'm up for any team triathlons, anyone looking to put a team together? I could do the bike leg. I'm very aero with my helmet and race wheelchair. As long as the course is straight, I'm good. Turning is still a bit challenging so basically I just have The Dutch push me around the neighbourhood. Don't be afraid to get in touch, I'm also open to any sponsorship deals. That leg is for sale!

[titaniumcaro]

Seeing as I won't be off crutches/wheelchair until at least the end of the year, was thinking of getting one of these bad boys. I could even attach a snow plough to the front and clear the driveway!

[titaniumcaro]

Good news and bad news. Good news after seeing the surgeon today he is very happy with my progress. He even took all my staples out. The break in my femur is healing well but there is quite a lot of bone growth that needs to happen in my hip. That leads to the bad news. Maybe by February I might be able to start skiing. Big fat maybe and it's not going to be T-Bar/Imperial, more likely Chair 5/Rips Ride kind of terrain. I just put the picture of the moose in for fun. He was across the St a few days ago. Neil got a great shot of him.

[titaniumcaro]

Some pics of my leg for you today. X-ray showing the two breaks, one up in the hip and the other a little bit further down the femur. Then there is the titanium hardware. A rod that goes the length of my femur through the middle of the bone and anchored into the hip and knee with some big screws. I wonder if they got the screws at Lowes or Home Depot?