Hiya, what started as a good week ended with a sting in the tail. On Wednesday, 14th March, his 500th day, whilst at physiotherapy, Steven was advised to have a go at walking without any support, (except his foot strap). So he put away his walking stick. This was to give him more confidence, and to stop relying on his stick. Apart from that it's one less thing to worry about, moving the stick or where it's got to go. He was very successful with this, and even got a bit of attitude to his walking, i.e. a bit of a swagger and a little faster, though still not normal speed. For 4 days wherever we went he didn't use his stick and he had a really positive attitude. This though provides further problems, in that people now don't realise there's anything wrong with him, and fail to move out of his way, so we have to walk slightly in front of him as "guards". Further, the extra walking action produced extra pain. And that came to a head Sunday morning 18th March, when he woke in utter agony around his neck and shoulders. Unfortunately we were at a car-boot sale at the time, and couldn't get home to help as quick as we'd like. The pain then caused a mini-breakdown, and all his anger and depression came to a head. All we could do was offer the usual platitudes, and painkillers. There was a slight improvement over the next 4 hours or so, but he had to call off an evening out with friends, and a trip to see Paul on Monday. As I've said before we don't know if these are post-accident pains, or the result of increased exercise, or even lying "funny" whilst asleep.
A visit to the solicitor revealed mixed fortunes. We were told that the man who did this was indeed behind bars and would remain there until after the Court hearing, custodial sentence, and his deportation to Serbia, where he is also wanted by the Police. The man had no official documents whatsoever including passport, I.D., and had never held a driving licence anywhere. On top of that there has been a clerical error in one of the Court hearings, in that it was declared that Steven was NOT claiming compensation. However this error was swiftly picked up by our solicitor and also the insurance solicitor, and a complaint has been made by both which will be upheld because the error was actually illegal as Steven has not yet been examined by a “Court” Doctor.
The last few days he's been in a lot of pain, and it shows. He had an injection Tuesday 20th March for his shoulder and neck pain, but all it's given him is a sore arse;-) The doctor reckons the pain and discomfort is caused by new exercise affecting what was a broken neck, and now lack of muscle. Like everything else he's been told it will take time, and though he knows it’s true, he's fed up of hearing that phrase. He became a little more positive but he's disappointed and upset that he couldn't properly celebrate UK Mother's Day followed by Spanish Father's Day, and also we couldn't travel up to see Paul. But as we keep telling him, not to worry about things like that, all will be made up later, we'll have Xmas, Mother's Day, Father's Day, birthdays, all on the same day, no problem.
By Wednesday 21st March the walking stick was back, but at least he tried. Hopefully it's a temporary measure, and he'll offload again it when his neck and shoulder muscles behave themselves. His surgeon will see him again late April re' his hip and elbow op's, and we'll then discuss his foot, to see if he's got a different solution or opinion.
Best regards Terry
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