A Journey of a 1000 miles starts with a single step
Significant dates in my recovery
The Journey
HomeClimbing
Travel
Accident
Hospital
Recovery
Running
Headway
Fund Raising
3 Peaks, 2 Legs and a Bike
Recovery
Work AssistanceInitial Problems
Ongoing Problems
Recovery Diary
Fund Raising
Just GivingMedia and Press
Running
Event ResultsShort Events
Ultra Distance Events
Neolithic Marathon
High Peak Marathon
Pembroke Coast Path
Headway UK
Headway Swindon
Further Reading /
Inspirational books
Touching the Void
Joe Simpson
It's not about the Bike
Lance Armstrong
The Lore of Running
Tim Noakes
I was given a diary in Swindon hospital to note down events that I needed to remember.
The entries are quite sketchy to start with and quite hard to read. My right wrist was painful for 3-4 months so my writing was not the most legible, even worse than normal!I have extracted significant milestones in my 'Journey of recovery' and dates that are worthy of note.
| Date | Entry |
| 2003 | |
| 11 Jan | Accident. |
| 11 Jan | Admitted to Bangor Hospital. |
| 21 Jan | Transferred to Swindon by ambulance. |
| Little or no recollection until I leave hospital on 14th Feb. | |
| 11 Feb | Given a diary to act as my 'memory' for appointments, etc. |
| 14 Feb | Discharged from Great Western Hospital, Swindon. |
| 19 Feb | A walk around the village with my sister and Sean her 2 year old son. |
| 21 Feb | Visit from Mark of TruCare to discuss visits over the next few weeks. |
| 22 Feb | Local walk with some friends, one of whom slipped and broke his wrist! |
| 25 Feb | First time since accident, cooked dinner for myself and Janet. |
| 26 Feb | Visited a gym in Melksham with Mark of TruCare. |
| 27 Feb | Walked to the gym myself. The walk there took 45min, the return 1hr 15min |
| 27 Feb | First time since accident, made bread using a bread machine. |
| 1 Mar | I had to get a new ATM number as I couldn't remember mine. |
| 3 Mar | My first outpatient appointment at RNHRD, Janet drove me there. |
| 9 Mar | Walked the route from the bus station to RNHRD with Janet |
| 10 Mar | 1st independant outpatient appointment at RNHRD. |
| 19 Mar | Sawed some logs by hand to try to improve my right wrist. |
| 21 Mar | Orthopedic surgeon appointment about my wrist. |
| 25 Mar | I had a laptop dropped off from work to see how much I remembered. |
| 31 Mar | Regular eye test for work, it was not as good as it had been. |
| 15 Apr | First visit to work, afternoon only. |
| 8 May | Full day visiting work, these visit were so colleagues could see I was OK. |
| 10 May | First successful ride of a bike, on Janet's more upright hybrid bike. |
| 21 Jun | First long walk, did the Yorkshire 3 Peaks with a climbing friend, Graham |
| 28 Jul | Got my Driving Licence back, so I could start my phased return to work. |
| 31 Jul | Played squash, my wrist hurt, reaction speed and coordination problematic |
| 13 Sep | Passed a medical check for diving |
| 16 Sep | Visited Bangor Hospital to thank the staff there |
| 23 Sep | Bought dictaphone to use while driving to and from work |
| 29 Sep | first full day at work, I had been doing 2 or 3 half days a week |
| 8 Oct | Comment in diary 'back to alternate half days and full days', so I must have tried consecutive full days before this. |
| 1 Dec | Attempted to work a week of full days but had to rest on Friday. |
| 18 Dec | Started going back to Body Balance to assist in my coordination, etc |
| 2007 | After working 4 days a week for 2004-2006 resting on Wednesdays, get back to a full 5 day working week |
| 9 Apr | Started working 30 hour week over 5 days instead of 4 x 7.5 hour days |
| 6 Aug | Started working 5 x 7.5 hour days |
| 8 Oct | Completed 2 months of 5 x 7.5 hour weeks |
| 8 Oct | Now working a normal week |
| 2008 | A year of working 5 day weeks has been hard but there have been no real setbacks |
Gym
I started visting a gym in Melksham quite early in my recovery to do the physio recommended exercises and use the treadmill and exercise bike to try to regain some level of fitness. It also felt as though I was actually doing something rather that just waiting for recovery to happen.Wrist
My wrist did trouble me as the raduis had been fractured at the end and not treated while I was in hospital. Then because I was not using it it became very painful if I tried to weight it in any way. This was not due to the fracture, which had set while I was in hosptial although incorrectly, but due to the soft tissues seizing up. Exercise and using it i.e. physiotherapy was the solution to this.Eye Test
I had a scheduled eye test for work and the results indicated that my eyesight had deteriorated a lot and I now required glasses.When I explained the nature of the head injury I had suffered from, the optician suggested that my eyesight was still settling down and this would continue to improve over time and I should have a second eyetest after several months.
Yorkshire 3 Peaks
This was a challenge in more than just walking as I had to meet up with Graham in Derby as he was driving across from Cambridge and I would be taking the train from Bath.The actual walk by comparison was more straight foward. Graham had done the 3 Peaks several times before so all I had to do was follow him. We completed the 25 miles in a reasonable time (10 hours, I think) considering that it was only 6 months since my accident.