The Road of Recovery - Part 1

Continuing on from my previous posts

1. My Journey of Faith
2. My Life Changed

This post will be about what my recovery looked like. 

As I write this I am still 'growing' bone in the breaks to fully knit them together and it is now fourteen months since the accident. The surgeon was right, it is taking a long time. But the breaks in my arm and legs just get really sore when I have walked, stood or moved them a lot. I was told that this is one of those times when the saying "No pain - no gain" is true. If I just rested the bone would not grow, but because I am using them and causing pressure and a friction it is signally the need for bone growth. If I over do it I know, as it hurts and I need to rest and have a sleep. (Nana naps!)

Understandably I don't recall much of the two days after the accident and the 8 hour surgery. I do know that our daughter Jennifer, came a few times bringing me things I needed (lip balm) or treats, like rose Turkish Delight, Lady Grey t-bags, salted caramel chocolate and dates. And just seeing her and the joy in her face when she saw me so much better than she had anticipated, was like cheering me on.

As the pics show there were lots of tubes in and around me and I had a button to self manage pain relief every 15 minutes. Sometimes I had to be reminded to push it but I just wasn't awake enough and I think that I would just forget that it was my responsibility to push it and not wait to be told. Food would come and I would attempt to eat it but it just all seemed a bit much. I don't think I really understood the extent of my injuries either. But I know I was just so happy to be alive and knew that it was because of God. This just made me smile and people found it almost strange that I smiled so much. But then they hadn't seen what I had seen.

On Sunday 12th September I was moved from the High Dependency Unit to a single room in the Orthopedic ward. I was there for a week. During this time movement was very painful. I had an air mattress to sleep on, on top of the bed. It consisted of pockets that were sort of individually air-filled. I was turned every four hours which involved three people shifting pillows and gently rolling me on the count of three from one side to the other and then layering pillows all around to support me. In the first weeks this was extremely painful. Some times I was rolled onto my side so close to the edge of the bed I really had to relax and trust they were not going to let me fall.

I remembered when I first arrived in the ward I was definitely in a different space and it felt like being in a prison cell and I couldn't turn to see around it. Going from a large area where there were nurses and doctors around constantly either monitoring me and the machines or someone else near me, to be in a room on my own with no-one around was hard. I remember being desperate for company or someone to come and make sure I was ok. But by the time I left, I felt it had been "my room" as I couldn't and didn't go anywhere else except the shower about four times. I had a catheter in and had to use a bed pan when the urge arose. 

At first I was only allowed family to visit and then we went into lockdown again so there were a few days with no visitors. That was a bit hard but I slept a lot so it didn't really matter. Medical staff became friends and one charge nurse would come and see me first thing and when he was leaving just to chat as he said I was doing so well. I told him my story and when I had to go back later for more surgery he was there and remembered. He said then how well I had done.

In the sling being hoisted onto an air chair
at Waikato Hospital

I was encouraged to have showers on alternate days and these too were extremely painful. They involved having the hospital gown being removed and covered in towels. Large plastic bags would be taped to all my supports covering the dressings on my legs and arm. I would then be rolled in to the hoist sling then hoisted off the bed, lowered on to a commode where the sling was pulled out from around me. I was then moved to the shower and then someone would shower me. The showering was nice but the process was hard. 

One time a health care worker was doing this as my nurse had been called away. She was not the best, as I had come to know here, as she was always on her phone and constantly hanging out for her meal and snack breaks. This wasn't my concern in the big scheme of things, but on this particular morning she was watching the clock for her lunch break and saying how hungry she was and annoyed my nurse wasn't showering me. In her hurry she ripped the tape off from the top of the plastic bags that were taped to my bare legs and it was so painful I fainted. The next thing there were people all around me and I was being taken back to my room as fast as possible. I heard a doctor say "There are too many people in this room." and there was a dramatic exit of a lot of people. Tests were done to make sure I had not had a stroke, but all was well. I told them what I remembered happened and they were most apologetic. I didn't see the health care worker again.

And lunch was pumpkin soup - my favourite - I learnt through this time how much God even took care of the little things.

As shown in the previous post I had a lot of metal inserted in my right arm and leg and although I was reminded of them through pain in the first few weeks it was the incisions, stitches and bandages that reminded me most and the recovery from them helped show me my progress. 

Removal of surgery dressing and padding.
21st September
Ordinary dressing used from no on

My left knee had an interesting "T" incision for where the patella had pins in to hold it together as it had shattered. Interestingly enough the surgeon told me that the patella is not really essential and you can get by with out it, but they had repaired it for me. I had been waiting and was getting knee replacement done on the right knee in the October but this accident has put everything on hold

The stitches were removed from all incisions on September 27th. Though one of the wounds was not good as per below

Before stitch removal on 27 September
Bruising

After stitch remove. Still a lot of bruising

The wounds were coated in iodine and redressed for continued healing and prevention from infections after this for another month.

The health care workers wanted to draw eyes in the "T" shape when it had healed enough to have no dressings on it. They thought it looked like a nose and mouth

I am sorry if you don't like looking at these sorts of pictures but it is part of my story.

Femur breaks
Pins holding plate at knee

Bolt attaching ball of hip
to the top of the femur 

The right side of my body was impacted the most as the car landed in the ditch on its right side. I received injuries from the car body (arm rest and the door - sort of imploding as there were no airbags on the side of the car) my lower legs and knees from the thrusting forward of the dashboard and then my body being forced against and being held by the seatbelt. (sternum, ribs and vertebrae - top and bottom) 

The ball of the hip broke off so it was bolted into place and the bolt then pinned to the top of the long plate holding the femur straight so the two bone breaks heal connected. The first one near the base of the bolt (see in the pic on the left, sort of in the middle of the x-ray and near the top of the pic of the x-ray on the right) 

Stitch removal 27th September

The second break is right at the base of the femur and probably caused by the impact of the dashboard. 

21st September

The patella (kneecap) area was just flushed out as there were no breaks

The incision at the top of the right leg which was to allow entrance to insert the bolt in the hip became quite infected. 

I was not aware of this as the pain was just what I thought was all part of the overall injury - break, surgery, added metal and stitches.

Upper leg incision
Infected

Tap for reinforcing the incision
after stitch removal

Strong tape was attached when the stitches were removed to prevent any reopening of the wound. I was also prescribed a course of antibiotics. But people prayed and it healed very quickly to the nurses surprise!

There had been a concern if the wound reopened I would have to go back to Waikato for surgery and cleaning but I was asked to pray to "Whoever you pray to" and God prevented that from happening. 

The padded braces that were worn
 instead of having plaster

The black foam braces were strapped to my legs at all times and were not to be removed even for showering. 

There were dials at both sides of the knees that were adjusted, at my orthopedic appointments, to allow for movement in the knees to bend a little with each adjustment. These replaced the use of plaster casts as there was a need to attend to the dressings, stitches etc. every couple of days. They were allowed to be opened for airing when I was lying supported on my bed. 

Unfortunately the injury to the shattered break in my humorous has a different story.

The break was messy as you can see in the x-rays and there were two plates a long one and a shorter one to help hold the bones in place.

To complicate matters the nerves in my right hand,  wrist and lower arm were squashed and so I could not use my hand or finger's for holding anything, writing or picking things up. I wore a brace for a long time, even while sleeping and I was given a rolled up facecloth ( I called him "Redgie" as he was like a wedge) in my hand to keep the fingers or 'grasp' open. Strangely enough 'he' became a sort of comfort and after awhile I felt odd without him especially if I dropped him on the floor and couldn't get it.

It was almost like a child with their blanky!

Every time the carers came into my room while at Waikato they would pull back my fingers one at a time to stretch the tendons and make them 'wake up' and work. 

I would start to do this too and do exercises like; pushing my hands together as hard as I could with fingertips touching like the praying hands icon, trying to stretch my fingers apart as far as they would go, pressing down on a hard surface and concentrating to try and get each finger to lift off the surface. Later I would try to move the fingers individually bending them and the joints and then straightening them out at the base. In fact I did everything I could as often as I could as this was my right hand and I am right handed. I was able to use my left hand for a few things that I would not normally do but it was a bit clumsy. 

'Redgie'

I was told healing and restoration could take up to two years and then after that there would not be any more improvement. 

It took four months! God is good.

Below are three videos of the progress. 

29th September 

17th October

7th November

Now as I type it is something I forget about as there are no issues to remind me.

Right arm

The scars are fading but at times they can still be a little achy and I noticed on cold days in the winter, where the broken bones had metal attached, it was sore.

Right upper leg

Left knee

Just a little note, today I chatted with a young lady who had also had a car accident and she had the same 'T' scar on her knee from broken kneecaps. It would appear that dashboard damage is a common injury in car impacts.

Part 2 coming.....