24th November 2011

Hiya, a busy week this week for all of us. Tidying the house of all the gear collected over the last 12 months at different houses was a mission. Steven started his physiotherapy at a local hospital. These sessions are one to one, and are of great benefit to Steven. Because the hip operation has been arranged, the physio' was centred on Steven's left leg. The break in his leg was extensive, both bones in the lower leg were shattered creating a very large scar at the back of his leg. It has healed well, but the skin has grown into the muscle, and needs to be removed, and this can only be done by painful massage and manipulation. Similarly, they're working on his left elbow by forcing the elbow beyond it's limits, straight and bent, again causing pain, will it ever end? Wednesday was a busy day, and of course that day there was a torrential rainstorm, creating floods everywhere. We had an early morning start at the private hospital, where Steven had blood tests, then an ECG, then x-rays, all different parts of the hospital of course!!. From there we had to go to the NHS hospital for a session with the speech therapist. From there we returned to the private hospital to see the anaesthatist. Then from there, to another NHS hospital for his physiotherapy. This all meant an awful lot of walking, and getting wet, what a day. Discussion with Steven revealed an interesting fact which I've touched on before. In the past he's said that he knows he's Steven in his head, but his body doesn't feel his. The latest from him, is that he doesn't know how to relax, because he feels wooden. He's having to re-learn every facet of living, including just leaning against a wall which he finds very unnatural and awkward. He doesn't know how to stand "at ease", he's forgotten how to laugh, and has to pretend to laugh in an exaggerated manner. We have no real idea what's going on in his mind. Having said all that, he does seem more positive that we are coming to the end of another chapter in his life. All the information he and we have discovered, is that after the hip operation, he will be almost back to normal. His physiotherapist has a girlfriend at the intensive care unit where Steven was first taken, and when he told her who he was dealing with, she couldn't believe it because all the signs then were that Steven would not survive. We are making plans to visit this unit to show how wrong they were, but also to show that their prompt action did save his life. There could be tears.
best regards
Terry