grafty

Bit boring really. They went in down the side of the muscle graft with two small incisions. All looking good, believe it or not. Hip donor site has 7 staples and looks very clean. Let me out!

monday

So things should start happening. Hurrah. Have a fancy looking brace waiting to be fitted. Hopefully the consultant will come by soon, look at my gashes, which don't feel infected, and say i can go home. Then i just have to hope pharmacy(4 hours to process an order) and transport don't delay me.. Of course they will, so may forgoe pain killers, haven't been given many anyway. And blag a lift home.. They really don't help the bed issue. A guy on the ward came in after hurting his back in a bad fall and needed a scan. Apparently he was here for 12 days whilst they waited for the scanner to be fixed.. Madness.

fuck

I know i'm lucky but strewth! Just saw the 30 mph little girl odds ad and noticed it mentions pedestrians, not children. So 15% chance of survival at 40? What about survival without serious permanent damage at 60? 5 percent? Mental. Of course it's the usual procedure for me, bad luck, followed immediatley by contradictory very good luck, resulting in a good story and some scars. Bargain. Won't count on it though.:-)

pain

Pains getting worse. Locking up from just under my ribs to my foot. I've said pain relief isn't good enough and there's no point treating break through pain as it hasn't gone away yet. I've asked 3 staff members if i can speak to the night doctor who is around. I've heard him discuss me but haven't seen him. Clearly i don't need to know what he's decided. I give up and have asked for whatever they're prepared to give me. Oooh 10ml oromorph. If, as i suspect i still can't sleep i'll ask them to pass my fleece and take 120mg di hydro codeine. I can't believe i've experienced more discomfort now than i did after the major trauma, and they're ignoring my request to speak to a doctor i can see from my bed . Complaint form tomorrow i guess.

done

So. A great lady has borrowed me a charger so i'm back online for a bit at least. Went down to theatre at 11am. Came round spacey at 3. All went well with bone frags in place and gaps bridged by artificial substrate and bone from my hip. I feel fine but very sore and having some pain relief issues, i'm on the same as i've been for the last 6 weeks apart from some oramorph. Meh. Ear plugs a very good move. hopefully be home by tuesday.. Had an email from dad in spain. He's run a diagnostic on some hair i sent him and has run the first healing program. I'm sceptical but hope it works. Will explain and post links when i'm out. Time to watch tv til i sleep.

a bed

So. After arriving at 4ish i now have a bed, for tonight. Apparently i'm 2nd on a list tomorrow. Have the standard noisy mad old bloke on the ward, thank god. They have tiny screened patientline here, but no head phones. And apparently no patient line at all where i'm due to be going. Apparently there are 3 nurses for 28 patients. One of the nurses thinks it's going to be one of those nights. I imagine so.. Oh, and my phone charger doesn't seem to work..

in southhampton.

The driver said the bed situation is black, critical. She asked which hospitals i'd been in. Apparently i.'ll notice a difference between dorch and southampton. Not a good difference either. We shall see.

the sunshine bus?

I'm amazed. I must post rants to the blog when i want things to happen. The minute i posted the previous. I went to the door and there was the ambulance! It's a sunny day, the driver's sound and i've got the bus to my self. The otherwise empty ambulance is from southampton. She had other jobs to do first and then drove to get me. Now we're on our way back. I wonder if that's most efficient? My driver agrees. I have a driver. How posh. Anyway. On our way now and the roads seem clear..

too many last cigarettes,

Some would say all are. I was supposed to be admitted to southhampton general at 2 today. I called to check they had a bed as instructed. They said the whole trust was in a bed crisis but to come in. Called the abbotsbury road surgery to check on the transport, it hadn't turned up last time. It was booked, expect it any time up to the appointment time. It's now past 2. I've warned the bed manager at south hampton i'm going to be late. Checked on the transport. It's on it's way but they can't say when. Had i been listening out? It's a good thing i'm quite chilled, can use a phone and am not completley addled. And have had so many last cigarettes.:-) i'm not looking forward to the op. It'll be good to be able to stop standing around in limbo, and get away from these terrible, ever present puns. And the idiot zombie clutches of nhs beauraucracy. it'll be good when it's over. And that's just the journey. I'm not even there yet. Cocks. Watch this space for the next installment. Nhs cocking transport, a slow road to a quiet hell. Should be a laugh.

enjoying the view

Until they take me away

Rebuilding

Mmmm. Rebuilding. Tommorow. Southampton. If the transport turns up... It better had. Not really looking forward to it, unsurprisingly. It'll be good to be properly on the road to full recovery, rather than this limbo, excuse the pun. I plan to continue not smoking after my stint in hospital. It's not good for me in any way..

Hopefully I'll be out by Tues, hopefully.

Should be able to start working from home in about a week or two, once I'm off the morphine. Of course I still have withdrawal to look forward to. Meh

Meh

Work are still refusing to discuss anything but have acknowledged the consutants letter.

Llloydstsb. I have a loan with Lloydstsb which was due to start repayments in Jan. I called them from hospital before the first payment explaining I'd been hit by a couple of cars and broken my left. They said they couldn't do anything til I was in arrears, so I cancelled the direct debit.

A month goes by. I should be in arrears now so I called lloydstsb. Turns out their debt collectors can take any money from any account you have with them, just like that. Oh, and they charged me £25 for the priviledge. I called again and after trying to work out a budget with the aggressive woman on the phone for a few minutes, gave up, saying I would sort a spreadsheet and get back to them.

So they take the money again. I call with an accurate budget. They can't reduce my payments because I'm loosing money each month. i.e. I have less money then I need. The guy on the phone said basically that unitl my account was bled dry this would continue...

Great! On the case now thanks to citizens advice but they confirmed that banks etc are almost inhuman in their behaviour. Once everythings sorted I'll tell you the plan...

Steps of doom!

An individual step is 180mm high (rising) and 240mm (going) deep. In total, there are 35 of these to the production office, split over five flights (including the two steps right at the bottom). There are five landings between the first step and the production office door, averaging approximately one meter. Therefore the total horizontal distance travelled in mm is 240x35+(5x1000)=13400, or 13.4 metres, and the total vertical distance is 180x35=6300, or 6.3 metres. Making these dimensions into the short sides of a triangle, it would seem that the total rough distance travelled by someone going up Veloce stairs is the square root of(13.4x13.4) + (6.3x6.3). Which is about 14.8 metres, at an average gradient of 25 degrees. They have black hard rubber noses, covering theleading 75mm of the top surface of each step, with five horizontaltreads running the length of each one at a depth of 1mm. Each nose formsa smooth rounded overhang that juts out 30mm and has a depth of 30mm. None of the steps are loose

Don't ask me how I know this, I have a good memory... Sounds like a lot of climbing, or arse shuffling...

Things

Saw the surgeon yesterday. My arm is not broken anymore! Got crutches this morning, one of which is a gutter crutch, dirty... So should be much more versatile in my mobility, hurrah!

I've really cut down my pain killers to minimum now. Tried stopping the morphine altogether though and it went a bit trainspotting... hot and cold flushes, squirting both ends, cold sweats, back on minimal morphine again. I'll leave it til after the op on the 27th I think but it's not going to be good.

After the 200mg/day I.V. for a week in hospital I now realise I was going through withdrawal despite still being on 120mg/day as slow release caps. Involuntary limb kicking anyone?

Also got the letter for work today, 60-80% odds my leg will be saved, good odds but scary in black and white... Will post letter here soon...

Celebrating the 3 month anniversary of surviving being run over with some lovely, calciyummy, red wine.

Going to post about the excellent advice of citizens advice soon. They were awesome today. I need to lead with a title highlighting how considerate debtors, in particular lloydstsb, are in this sort of situation...

Bad Cripple

Bad Cripple

another, much better qualified cripple has his say....

raving

was needing a bit of a blog, not online except by phone much til tues.... typed cripplerant in google and am no. 1 now, amazed it took so long really. Thought I'd try cripple and found this band!

other great results include

Cripples Are Cool
(There are actually only a couple of links because Cripples really don't have friends. Just people waiting for them to die so they can ride in their ...www.cripple.com/ - 11k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

see the rest here
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&rls=DKUK%2CDKUK%3A2006-35%2CDKUK%3Aen&q=cripple&meta=

being chucked off computer now, will be bigging up CAB and talking about morphine withdrawal later...

what they should be doing,

All work appear to have done is the first point. See HSE guidelines. They have refused to talk to me about my return to work. Watch this space for further developments.:-)

Crash Victim Hit By Car Then Run Over (from Dorset Echo)

Crash Victim Hit By Car Then Run Over (from Dorset Echo): "Crash victim hit by car - then run over
By Martin Lea

A MAN who tried to help an elderly couple whose car had hit a deer was himself knocked down - and then run over."

Man Run Over Twice on Dorset Road - 2CR FM - Today's Best Mix

Man Run Over Twice on Dorset Road - 2CR FM - Today's Best Mix

great mix!

BBC NEWS | UK | England | Dorset | Man run over twice on rural road

BBC NEWS | UK | England | Dorset | Man run over twice on rural road

BBC too. No-one gets it entirely right...

fuck. Cambodian slave factories

Fuck.

As a result, child slave labor runs rampant due to the fact that many companies see children as cheap labor force who are paid less for equal work and are easier to control.

http://ihscslnews.org/view_article.php?id=140

surreal tv

Twinning basra with warrington!? Cannabis improves memory? Fake trade and then hawkings. Channel 4. Again. Marvelous

Working Tax Credit FAQs | Frequently asked questions | HMRC

Working Tax Credit FAQs | Frequently asked questions | HMRC

The Baghdaddies - Home

The Baghdaddies - Home

Saw these guys in Bridport Arts Centre last night and they were awesome, as ever. Highly recommended. Everyone was sound, access was good, the convene worked so I didn't piss myself. All good.

The Blue Badge parking scheme : Directgov - Disabled people

The Blue Badge parking scheme : Directgov - Disabled people

What the buzzards saw

The key point is I started at the yellow dot, and landed at the blue dot... oooeer

Weymouth Arts Network › Posts — WordPress

Weymouth Arts Network › Posts — WordPress

Great socialising and ideas. Tonight 8:30, upstairs in Lizard, Weymouth

Weymouth Arts Network » Blog Archive » Weymouth Arts Network (Community)meeting tonight. 8:30 , upstairs in Lizard

Weymouth Arts Network » Blog Archive » Weymouth Arts Network (Community)meeting tonight. 8:30 , upstairs in Lizard

best watch the diet too

Energy Wave - Nutritional Dietary Supplements, Alternative Therapy Treatment, Holistic Healing Products, Information on Herbal Vitamin & Mineral Supplements

Edible Science - Daily Vitamin Packs, Customized Vitamin Packs, Wellness Information, Supplement Medical Studies, and all of your Vitamin needs.

Edible Science - Daily Vitamin Packs, Customized Vitamin Packs, Wellness Information, Supplement Medical Studies, and all of your Vitamin needs.: "In clinical trials Cissus has led to a fracture healing time on the order of 55 to 33 percent of that of controls."

or cancel it out with supplements?

not sure it's that simple

Toxins in cigarette smoke prevent stem cells from becoming cartilage

Toxins in cigarette smoke prevent stem cells from becoming cartilage: "Smoking has been shown to delay skeletal healing by as much as 60 percent following fractures. Slower healing means a greater chance of re-injury and can lead to chronic pain and disability. The obvious solution is for smokers to quit when they get hurt, but studies show that just 15 percent can."

oooeerrr. best re-stop smoking...

Bodybuilding.com - Chondroitin Information and Product Listing! Chondroitin FAQ!

Bodybuilding.com - Chondroitin Information and Product Listing! Chondroitin FAQ!
how about chondroitin sulphate?

the works of beaumont and fletcher - Google Book Search

the works of beaumont and fletcher - Google Book Search
Go, get you to your night-cup and the diet, To cure your beaten bone«. ... and A little oil of roses, and a feather [cumfry ; To 'noint thy back withal. ...

Cumfry looks promising...

Broken Scaphoid, Advice? [Archive] - Ridemonkey.com: "If they can hardly see the fracture on an X-ray I really would avoid surgery,the healing time would probably be longer.
Definately do what the doctors say. I have my left one fused solid to my fore arm bone(radius?),but I did my right one a couple of years ago and did the cumfry thing and it was invisible to X-ray three weeks later,not sure if it was the cumfry or a poor X-ray.Cumfry is also called bone knit and was smothered by pharmisutical companies due to killing their sales,it is good ****."

self adminsitration of the nhs "journey"

as you will have seen I have my new cast
http://cripplerant.blogspot.com/2008/03/ive-turned-invisible.html

This is a bit more light weight, a much better fit (muscle wastage) and better for writing on... This may not be an advantage...

So the cast was done on Friday, transport got me there and back fine, splendid, much better than Wednesday...

I'd missed the first pre-op in Southampton cos I didn't check my post til the day before, but there was no transport booked anyway so I couldn't have gone. Re-booked it for yesterday. Discovered that as it was cross border the referring hospital couldn't provide transport and neither could the destination, handy.

I found out I could book transport via my doctors surgery and that it's 15 quid if it's over 20 miles, bargain when you're on #70/week

I booked transport on something like Wednesday of the preceding week, sorted. Due to a slight negative bias which causes me to distrust massive beuraucracies, I phoned to check the transport on the Monday morning... To hear that they could find no record of transport being booked... Spooky. So I couldn't go.

I called Southampton to book another pre- op they gave me the LAST available slot, with a different consultant, on the 17th. If I missed this my op would be delayed.

I called up the surgery to properly? book the transport. I explained it was the LAST available slot, they said they couldn't do it and suggested (inferred!) I ask the hospital if they could create a special, one off clinic at 10:30 on 17/3/08. They couldn't, uncanny...

What now? What could I do to make sure this important operation I'm not really looking forward to go ahead on time?

Hang on, I have some questions...

What is a pre op?

Why does it have to be in Southamton?

Why can't I get transport?

Why am I having to do all this admin? I thought the NHS had too many adminstrators? What are they doing?

What if I was too ill or confused to do this?

Answers.

A pre-op clinic is where your fitness for surgery is assessed, any tests and x-rays are done, the procedure is explained and MRSA swabs are taken. It is normally done at the recieving hospital to their specifications for disease control etc.. I can't get transport because the system is chaotic, archaic, overburdened etc. Who knows? Not sure...

Anyway, I continued to adminstrate my quest and called my consultants PA. I ask if as I'm seeing him on the 17th (another reason I couldn't make Southampton) why can't he explain the op and do any x-rays and tests. We know I definitley want to have my leg rebuilt so I can eventually walk again.

After apparently lots of hassle this has been arranged, she managed to swing it due to my condition. Excellent, I don't have to spend up to 8 hours going to S'Hampton and back for some standard procedures...

I wonder if this can be streamlined. I reckon I spent about an hour on something that should of happened automatically

New header

My lengthy header, ooooh, suits me! gets posted whenever I share the blog, so I've shortened it. This was the original, for posterity

I got run over quite a lot on 18th December. A week or so in, out of my tree on morphine and just starting to properly realise what was going on,I decided to write a daily blog of my experiences. With the fantastic bedside internet access provided by patientline I knew this wouldn't be a problem. Yeah RIGHT! This is a rant about what I can remember about the last 2 months in hospital followed by a daily rant as I experience a slow recovery from cripplehood.

hmmm

Think the dressing might have been a bit tight.. This is actually looking good.. I think.

master of the universe,

Awesome! Channel 4. Again. The universe is brilliant! Who's the cripple? Felt a bit bad about the name of the blog, for a minute, but apparently the content makes up for it. No disrespect intended. He's a genicrip. I feel a bit of a hippocrip. I have nothing but admiration for anyone who functions so effectively against so many obstacles and in the face of science and assumptions. He rightly thinks he's done bloody well in life and science, despite the 'difficulties'. respec.

fake eggs cause dementia!

Fake trade. Channel 4. now. Scary. Pharmaceuticals soon no doubt..

Egg piracy no less!

http://paultan.org/archives/2006/01/01/china/

couldn't find clip of that bit but this is pretty funny

http://www.channel4.com/video/the-fake-trade/series-1/episode-1/painting-by-numbers_p_1.html

shell

Reducing sooty emissions.. I couldn't help picture the puppet...

http://realenergy.shell.com/?page=GTLPressAd&lang=en#GTLPressAd

i've turned invisible

Speaks for itself, really. This is the new cast I got on Friday

a star!

Double page spread of facts after significant artistic license.:-) in real people magazine now