Day 56 (8)

Slightly more mobile again today - I can even get across the kitchen without a crutch and without any pain. I often watch 24 Hours in A&E and it always starts with the comment that no one wakes up expecting to be in A&E that day - how right they are and no one expects to spend 48 days away from home and all that includes!  It's been quite an eye opener.

It is lovely looking out of my front window to see a number of historic boats arriving in Stoke Bruerne for New Year - I can see Star, Aquilla, Sculptor, Laurel, Moon and I am sure there are more out of sight; there are also the more modern replica boats including Oberon. Stoke Bruerne as it should be - I do hope it gives my friend David Blagrove, looking out of his kitchen window, as much pleasure as it gives me.

I wonder what 2016 will bring - not visits to A&E for me I hope.

Day 55 (7)

My mobility seemed to get a lot better yesterday for some reason.  I can now scoot around with one crutch but prefer two when going outside although I did venture 50m along the towpath on one yesterday. Still slow in the mornings - get a bit stiff overnight - and am a bit slow in the evenings probably because I get quite tired and don't have a lot of stamina at the moment.

I have enjoyed a lovely time with Jo this morning.  Jo looks after the two holiday lets next door to me and has kindly agreed to help me keep the house in good order.  She will fit me in around her current work which is just fine with me so that's another issue resolved.

Well it has been a day of, I think, great progress.  I have managed to vacuum my bedroom, the three flights of stairs and the spare bedroom.  Albeit what usually takes me 25 mins took about four hours with breaks to regain my composure but it is another milestone.  I'll leave the next vacuuming to Jo; she's kindly agreed to change the sheets on my bed (something that made me feel weak at the knees) and do the bathroom.  Bless her.

Tomorrow will be the last of the daily updates I think,  I'll move to weekly updates as I think things are progressing so well - pride comes before a fall so I'll have to be careful on the stairs.  My neighbours Mel and James remonstrated with me this afternoon to be careful!

Day 54 (6)

It doesn't seem possible but it will be one week tomorrow since I came home. Where does the time go to?  I feel I am not making progress as quickly as I would expect but people who are kind enough to visit do say that they see lots of improvement in my mobility - I do hope that's true.

I enjoyed a lovely day yesterday with my friend Emma (who works for Canal & River Trust) and her daughter Megan; one of the things I think is important in my (holistic) recovery is getting out and about and not looking at the same four walls all day. A lady called Jo is coming to see me tomorrow to talk about helping me keep the house in some semblance of order whilst I regain full mobility; the most trying thing for me at the moment are the stairs - I am sure I am going to have a crash sooner or later - I have had a couple of minor ones so far and I know that it is lack of concentration and trying to do things to quickly that is the underlying cause - so I'll need to concentrate more and go slowly I think.

Managed to go for a little walk this afternoon, another milestone however small the walk was.  I'll update this blog (still no better name for it) daily until 31-December and then perhaps just roll up the events of the week into one.

Day 53 (5)

I had a wee think in the midnight watches about something I had noticed when coming back from the Boat Inn yesterday and confirmed when I went to bed and again this morning.  I am at the moment  the only person in all of the four cottages.  That's not unusual in itself being that No3 and No4 are holiday lets and probably less unusual over Christmas / New Year.  I then thought what would I do if, perish the thought, I managed to fall over or if something did go wrong with the hip repair.  It's amazing how the mind wanders around during the night!

I have come up with a list of things I think I should have been provided information about; I would be interested if anyone reading this would care to comment - I was allowed to go home under what I believe is a 'Discharge to Assessment':

• I was advised I should not contact my GP - no reason was given - I wonder why this is? Am I, I wonder, still in the care of NGH?
• I have no contact details for anyone should anything not go according to plan to the extent that I need help, other than an emergency doctor (who of course will have no knowledge of my broken hip) or perhaps 999 - I am painfully aware of the work load that the NHS is subject to at the moment and especially over Christmas / New Year. 
• I have no medication of any kind - I don't expect to need painkillers but the Vitamin D supplement, is I believe, important. I have actually bought my own now.
• I have not been advised that anyone will call (phone or visit) to see if I am coping with being at home. I would have thought that would have been organised before I was allowed home. I would also have thought it critical to my continued recovery that my progress was monitored in a formal way. Too much to expect?
• I have no paperwork of any kind which explains Discharge to Assessment - I feel I ought to have had Discharge to Assessment explained to me.

In reality what happened was that I waited in my room and just after 13:00 I was told the car was waiting and to 'get my skates on'; no one came to see me during the morning.  I was desperately keen to get home so grabbed the opportunity.  Things are going very well and I am becoming more mobile but I would hate to find that I may have been doing things that are not conducive to my long term fully recovery.

A lovely lunch and afternoon with my friend Emma in Brackley today - thank you so much Em.

Day 52 (4)

A lovely evening last night with Sam and Lynda in the Spice of Bruerne before they go off to Spain for their annual 3 months living in the warmth!

Again a much better night last night with a bit more sleeping on my right hand side but some very strange dreams!  A miserable day looking outside - constant rain and grey overcast.

My mobility is getting better but not as fast as I would like but I suppose I have to accept what is given - I can get around quite well with one crutch in my left had - I can't quite seem to cope with no crutches at all yet.

Off to Sunday lunch in Woodwards restaurant with friends today - I think I may be eating too much!

A lovely lunch in Woodwards - they a really do produce very good food - and I had a ride on a stair lift.  Now quietly home and chilling out.  The friends with whom I went to Woodwards did say that my mobility had vastly improved so maybe it is just that I see it every day that gives me the impression I am not progressing as fast as I think I ought to be.

Day 51 (3)

Not quite such a good night but still much better than any whilst I was in hospital. Too much wine with Rob and Helen and Mother Nature knocking on the door a couple of times during the night!

Whilst I was with my friends Rob and Helen yesterday my friend Steve called me on FaceTime (an iPhone application) - it was so good to see him, his wife Edite and daughter Jolanta but what really floored me was to see Terance and Elise Kennedy.  Terence wrote a book (A Nonsense of Direction - Overland to Everywhere in a Toytown Plastic car) about their adventures in a 2CV Méhari driving in all sorts of places around the world - I haven't seen Terence and Elise for such a long time and what a treat it was to make contact again - I now have their contact details so I shall be in touch. I have a copy of Terence's book which I treasure.

I last had contact with Terence and Elise when they were living in what Terence called a 'Dorpie' (Africaans for a small town but I think it has more of a connotation than that!) called Rustenberg just outside Johannesburg.

A quiet day followed by a most entertaining evening with Lynda and Sam in the Spice of Bruerne and then to bed quite exhausted.  My stamina is not what it was!

Day 50 (2)

A very happy Chritstmas to anyone reading this blog - there must be a better sounding word than blog!

A lovely day yesterday with so many visitors which lead to me sleeping like a log last night; I even had to refuse Lynda's kind invitation to sing carols at the Boat Inn at 22:00 because I was sure I couldn't keep awake long enough! It is just great to be home and to be able to do all the things I want to when I want - a bit selfish but when one has enjoyed (endured perhaps) the needs of an institution it is such a relief to be back in charge!

Another fractional bit of progress last night was that I could, for a short period of time, sleep on my side, even on my right side, which I find much more comfortable (foetal position I suppose) without too much discomfort. I can't do it for too long but any little bit of progress is good.

I am off to see my friends Helen and Rob in Yardley Gobion today (Yardley is a place I always remember because the Grand Union canal passes through to the east of Yardley village and there is a sign on the wharf which says 'Please don't let your dog pump out here' - that always brought a smile to my face).

I received a lovely e-mail from my friend Fred last night - haven't seen Fred for some time but he lives only a short distance down the road in Amersham so I hope he will accept my invitation to come and see my 'gaff' as he calls it, soon after Christmas, when we can go to the Boat Inn or the Navigation and have a good old chat and a meal.  Fred - if you are reading this please do come.

A loverly day with my good friends Helen an Rob today - thank you both so much for thinking of me.and making the day so special.