24 July 2014

Injury update: It seems amazing that it was only a week ago that I was in the ICU, on a lot of oxygen and fighting for breath. Fortunately I made it through that crisis without needing further intervention, and once my lungs were doing okay, everything else was able to stabilise – and quickly enough that I was able to come home on Monday. I still have a long way to go – my primary concern is with the nerve in my left arm. The arm is mostly paralysed, although the little movement I have in my fingers (which has increased slightly this week) is reason for encouragement. It will likely be six to eight weeks before I regain some function.

Until now I hadn’t thought much about how much an arm weighs – it is heavy! That dead weight in a sling along with all the broken ribs and shoulder mean I can only do short bursts of activity (such as one handed typing), before having to return to the bed or couch to try and find a comfortable position, which I occasionally manage…. Physio starts next week, need to make sure I maintain full mobility in my arm whilst it is out of commission.

Misha has been really stretched through all of this, keeping the B&B running, taking care of the animals and spending as much time as she could at the hospital. Many thanks to her mother for dropping everything to fly out for several days to help – this meant Misha could spend the night at the hospital with me, which was a great comfort.