Whoops

[Buelligan]

I'm sorry too for Johnny and all the dear posters here, including you, Barry, who're going through it a bit at the moment, not just sorry, I send you all gentle but genuine sororal embraces.  You all make my life a far better and richer life by knowing you and I'm eternally grateful for all the shit you give me to ruminate upon.

Glad to hear things are slightly picking up for you, Barry, and you're being well-cared for by Jelly and the lovely girls.  Onwards and upwards dear ones, onwards and upwards. 

[Elderly Sumo Prophecy]

I think at this point you should really think about getting yourself together and pulling your finger out of my arse.

[Barry Admin]

Thanks Buelligan! ESP, I have...! :-) after ending up on twice the dose of slow-release morphine that I was on when I got out of hospital, I managed to make it back out of the flat on Friday. It was a big psychological thing for me and my Mum, we were both really worried about getting down and up the steps required, and then had no idea if I could fit into her car and bend my knee in etc. I was getting pretty miserable just lying about, too.

It rained a bit on Friday but I decided to go for it anyway, and it went really well. When the ambulance guys left me home, I'd made a mess of all these steps - I tend to overthink everything and hadn't fully internalised the process. So I watched YouTube videos to prepare, and remembered things like "good foot goes to heaven, bad foot goes to hell" - a memory aid that reminds you which foot goes first depending on whether you're ascending or descending. So I did that, had a wee drive about playing Ingress, and then also managed to get a proper bath when I got home. Just a big day, turned a corner.

We went out again on Saturday, and this time I got in the back seat and scooted up it sideways so I had more room for my leg. Much better. Even got a wee Chinese when I was out, lovely stuff. The stairs have got a lot better with practice too, it just requires my Mum to be there to help me to continually swap between Zimmer and crutch. Then you get to a curb, and you're like, what do here? I lent on the bonnet and managed to sort of hop down.

But now the morphine is getting reduced, and as soon as that went down by 5mg, I felt it. Hence up all night again in discomfort, but I'm doing a lot better now. A chemist yesterday (who rang back instead of the duty doctor) was concerned about the level of pain, and pain relief that had been required, but I suspect it's basically fine and normal, and I just have lower tolerance to pain after taking tramadol the last few years, and because I'm 6 foot 6 I think it takes a bigger dose.

My Ingress teammates had planned to take me out in the van on Sunday night, but it was pissing down. One of the guys is in a wheelchair these days, and from his own experience he said I'd be okay if someone put their foot in front of my crutch to stop it slipping. But the front of the flat gets very water-logged due to a broken drain, and it all seemed too risky. Eventually I just wanted to go for it, but my Mum absolutely refused to help me get my shoes on or get ready, so I was essentially grounded :-) probably for the best.

Hoping to get out for another wee drive today, dependant on what the pain levels are like now in the car without such a big long-release buffer. I'm doing good, sore again but definitely feel like things are slowly getting better.

[Cerys]

Good to hear.  See.  Whatever.  Have a HUGE WELSH HUG^(tm).

[St_Eddie]

I'm glad to hear that you're doing better, Neil.  Take care of yourself, mate.  After all, us reprobates would be lost without your good and fine self.

[Barry Admin]

I finally got some pics of my X-rays yesterday when I was at the hospital, you can see the main break in the first one, pretty mad isn't it?

Then there's pics of the big "nail" that goes down from my knee to my ankle, and the locking screws at the top and bottom of it. My leg's still swollen and also fairly numb from the knee, apparently the blockers they gave me in surgery are still in effect, which I found kind of surprising.

I traded in my Zimmer frame for crutches, so that's odd - you get used to it, and the feeling of having it there to grab onto if you need it, while you balance to brush your teeth or whatever. Good riddance though, ultimately.

I was still bed-ridden for like 23 hours a day on Wednesday, and now I can actually get out and walk a bit! I've got loads of physio exercises to do every day too. I'm still exhausted all the time though, albeit not quite as hatefully drowsy with being off the morphine and back on tramadol.

Still really hate the feel of the nail too, I imagine I'll be getting that taken out in 12 months time, as I did with the plate and stuff in my other foot. The pain in the knee area at times can take your breath away, and my upper thigh goes on fire, and yet as you can see, the main damage I actually did myself is right down near my ankle, although I did also break my fibula right up near the knee.

So now I basically learn to walk again, again. As I mentioned before, I wasn't able to lift more than a litre or two of milk the last few years due to the hernia, so suddenly having to lift myself around on crutches and Zimmer has been a challenge. I'm not hopping though, I've to use the bad foot, so that makes it easier I guess, but it is very slow and tiring to get around. I'm sure it'll get easier with practice though :-)








And this cute guy was in the physio room. "Donald Trump has lost a lot of weight, hasn't he?"

[The Boston Crab]

Mate, great to hear you're off the heavy meds and you're managing to be up and about a little. Can I suggest rather than going through all this learning to walk again stuff, just fuck it all off and get one of them mobility scooters. You've put a shift in, nobody would begrudge you taking it easy for the next fifty years, cruising round in a pimped out mobey. Wraparound shades. Big beard, load of rear view mirrors splayed like a peacock's fan. A leather jacket with studs on the back spelling out Ingress Daddy. Sidecar for Jelly with mini wraparound shades. Stealth cloaking device for sneaking up on people. Little beer fridge. You can press some buttons to release an oil slick, tacks or mustard gas if you're being trailed. You deserve it. X

[Barry Admin]

Fuck yeah! I can blast out the Peter Gunn theme and pretend I'm in Spy Hunter!

There is a guy in Belfast who does have a fairly pimped out mobility scooter, with big speakers from which he constantly plays extremely loud rave music. Reckon I could take him tbh.

[poo]

oof, that's a break alright. Neat bit of ironwork though. All the best Baz, looks very fucking uncomfortable.

[king_tubby]

Jesus fucking Christ, look at that fucking leg!

Glad you're on the mend, I'm blaming Team Rocket.

[Small Man Big Horse]

Jesus that made me wince for about five minutes, that's a really fucking nasty break. Glad to hear you're coping okay with it though, and slowly getting better.

[Puce Moment]

Shitting hell, that's an oblique fracture you have there and I'm amazed that it didn't force through to become a horrible compound fracture which would be awful. Looking at that sharp bone, it looks like you really did narrowly avoid a compound fracture and amongst all the pain and hassle, you can at least be relieved that it wasn't far worse.

Rest up man. Binge-watch some shit.

[Elderly Sumo Prophecy]

Get all the doors removed from your house, including the front one. It's quite an extreme preventative measure, but they're obviously a danger area for you, and we don't want this happening again. Get some nice hanging beads put up everywhere instead.

[Twed]

[boki]

Get some nice hanging beads put up everywhere

I bet he fucking has.

[Cerys]

Jesus that made me wince for about five minutes, that's a really fucking nasty break. Glad to hear you're coping okay with it though, and slowly getting better.

This is the correct response.  Unlike my reaction of 'fucking hell, that's beautiful', which indicates that I am destined to become a serial killer.

[Small Man Big Horse]

This is the correct response.  Unlike my reaction of 'fucking hell, that's beautiful', which indicates that I am destined to become a serial killer.

If you are for a certain fee I'll be happy to be your first victim.

[Goldentony]

Neil mate I don't know how i've only just seen this thread but fuck me! what a saga. So, so glad you're on the mend now. Glad to hear Jelly is still about too. You're a good guy mate.

[Cerys]

If you are for a certain fee I'll be happy to be your first victim.

Who says you'd be my first?

[EbbyVale]

I'm with Cerys--that spiral is a beautiful thing, and Jelly deserves congratulations.  Though hats off to you as well for an account in which "although I did also break my fibula" is a barely noted throwaway.

[Barry Admin]

I don't think they even checked the fibula the other day, my throwaway tone echoes how little of a shit they've given about it, and it was an auxiliary who happened to mention it at one point.

GT thanks mate, I appreciate that.

Look, I've been light-headed again for hours. I was out the back getting some sun, petted a chihuahua and felt dizzy, so stood up and went back in. Been sat on the sofa for the last few hours, scared to get up, as I still feel light-headed. Just got Jelly in, sat back down now. Basically, any ideas what's going on here?

I had blood sugars checked in hospital and a heart trace done, both fine. Both at my request too, they're only really concerned with fixing breaks, so I obviously need to go and see the doctor now. Any suggestion as to what the fuck it could be? Feels like it might be a symptomless migraine, I get those from time to time.

[imitationleather]

Now I'm no doctor, but it looks to me like your leg may be broken.

[king_tubby]

It's pretty warm and muggy, could you be a bit dehydrated, Barry? Also ring the NHS 111 thingy (which I am sure you are doing).

[Cerys]

When you break a bone, globules of marrow can escape into your bloodstream.  Maybe it's related to that.  I reckon king_tubby's probably right, though.

[Barry Admin]

111 doesn't seem to cover Norn Iron. Wondered if there might be something that was causing the dizzy spells the past few weeks, other than the original surgery. My piss looks like Irn Bru though so maybe you're right, I'll drink more water.

[Cerys]

Drink more Irn Bru while you're at it.  I'm told it's made from girders, which can only help.

[weekender]

I don't think they even checked the fibula the other day, my throwaway tone echoes how little of a shit they've given about it, and it was an auxiliary who happened to mention it at one point.

GT thanks mate, I appreciate that.

Look, I've been light-headed again for hours. I was out the back getting some sun, petted a chihuahua and felt dizzy, so stood up and went back in. Been sat on the sofa for the last few hours, scared to get up, as I still feel light-headed. Just got Jelly in, sat back down now. Basically, any ideas what's going on here?

Well, if you're fucked up on drugs and cats, I think you should consider me as a moderator.

I'm morally sound.

Have a good night :)

[Barry Admin]

DEAD SOON but still not that far gone, tbh.

[weekender]

DEAD SOON but still not that far gone, tbh.

There's the spirit :)

[Johnny Yesno]

Holy shit, Barry! That fracture in the top X-ray is really something. I can't imagine how painful that must be. Puts my own injury into perspective, for which I do appreciate your supportive words. I've managed to get back to my office job, albeit by taxi, and had a couple of evenings out on the piss, so I just have to be patient.

Regarding the dizzy spells, could these be caused by the Tramadol? I'm not keen on it myself. The first time I took it was for really bad toothache and it completely spaced me out, but not in a good way.

I had just made some dinner before it kicked in and it took me about three hours to eat it while I drifted from comedy clip to comedy clip on YouTube. The next day, I woke up with a splitting headache and was barely able to open my eyes. It did get rid of the toothache, though, I'll give it that.

I took the leftovers later that year for back pain but, oddly, it didn't seem to do anything whatsoever.