Friday 29 June 2012

At Last

Good Evening All,
Good News. After 8 and a half months, my leg has healed. The wound has finally closed together and, providing I take care of the scab which covers the last little bit and make sure I dont rip open any of the new skin, I've done it - the Guinness has done its stuff and I'm healed ( well, at least my leg is ).No more District Nurse visits, no more dressings, creams and bandages, no more going to bed with a tuba grip from ankle to knee, my leg will have to adjust to nakedness.
The next op.for my gum reconstruction was due in mid-July, but I've had to defer it and am awaiting another slot.
Socially, my official retirement party (2012) took place on Tuesday night. I was over whelmed to see so many work colleagues from all over the Country come to say farewell.I've been very fortunate to work in such an amicable industry and make so many good friends over the years. Now, I have to adjust to early retirement. With the general improvement in my strength and fitness, I should be able to do everything I had planned to do before this setback, just a couple of years earlier than I had originally planned. I'm not certain what path I intend to take for intellectual stimulation, but you can bet I wont be wasting my time.
I will blog again soon, when I know my new date.
Best Wishes to you all.
Chris

Wednesday 20 June 2012

Look away now if you're squeamish

Good Afternoon All,
Its been over a fortnight since my last blog but I've been waiting for the right opportunity to contact Simon, my personal IT teacher ( and youngest son) to help me load the photo.
Since I last wrote, we've been back to QE Hospital,Birmingham for another consultation and update.Whilst I was there,I took the opportunity to have a photo taken of the consultants computer ( well it is my mouth after all ) so that I can share it with you.



The photo is of the X-ray I had taken just before I was discharged after my last op. in April. It shows the titanium frame which is now the basis of my lower jaw, the pieces of bone taken from my fibia (leg bone ) can be clearly seen, together with the six screws which were inserted in April, which will form the base as my lower gum is reconstructed over the next few months.Only two of the screws remain visible at present, as the skin and fat removed from my right leg has grown over the other 4 inserts. A small op. to expose them is the next stage.The small white marks under my new chin are the staples ,which were used to close off the flow as all of the glands were removed from my neck.
Reconstruction of the lower gum will now take place over the next few months. I understand that there will now be 1 or 2 small operations to prepare the framework before a series of Dental procedures to create a new working lower gum ( complete with teeth). I'm currently eating by using my tongue as my lower gum for chewing, as best I can, but , whilst I now have a very strong tongue, it is not able to help me bite, or chew anything which is not well cooked.Teeth will be a great bonus if it can be done.
I still dont have good news about my leg, which has not yet been discharged by the District Nurses, but its almost there and doesn't cause me any problems.
The social life is going very well. As I get stronger, my capacity to take late nights in my stride increases and I can get out and about wherever and whenever I want. We had a very good night out with a couple of friends and then went on holiday to Bury for a week. We are away to Essex at the weekend to help Dan and Han ( eldest son and wife ) move house as I'm no longer a liability and can lift and carry almost as well as I did before the original op.I've had a couple of offers to assist organisations using my skills ( such as they are ) and have agreed to help one, so far. Life is good.
As soon as I get an update of the schedule for the next stage, I'll let you know.
Enjoy the summer, it will start soon.
Best Wishes
Chris

Friday 1 June 2012

Its June, but not yet Summer

Good Evening to my friends,
Its a few weeks since my last blog and ,whilst things have been a bit steady, there has been some progress. Starting from the top, the consultant at Worksop Hospital has pronounced my skull as being perfectly repaired, in fact, she was quite excited that it had healed so well in a relatively short period of time.It is said that God made very few perfect heads, the rest he covered with hair !!
Moving down a little, my physio at the Hospice has declared that my shoulder movement is as good as it will ever be. I know that it is actually better that its been for decades, due to the exercises, which I have been told to keep up for the rest of my life. I can cope with 5 minutes a day .
The mouth is healing and the swelling continues to reduce to the extent that I can now feel my jaw line.The stitches in my mouth have finally dissolved ( I think ).We will see what Birmingham makes of it when we go next week.The hot weather earlier in the week had an effect on the jaw, it felt as if it had expanded. I dont know if that is possible, I know that metal expands in the heat but I doubt whether my mouth would reach the temperatures required to make it expand.
The only slow part is the leg which stubbornly refuses to completely heal. I'm going to try Guinness again on Saturday night, see if that helps, it did last time.
My social life continues to improve in leaps and bounds. We had a few days away, 4 in Welwyn and 5 in the Cotswolds. It was not the warmest week on record, but the temperatures soared as soon as we returned home. Had a good night watching the drama group last week, nice to see the ladies performing again. Had a run of 11 successive correct answers on the quiz ( aided and abetted by Lynn and Jo and others ), then spectacularly had a run of 6 wrong ones.Lost by one point in the end.
Golf is going very well ( see shoulders above).Played for IDB's at Boston last week and scored my first ever eagle on a 239 yard hole - 236 drive followed by 9 foot putt. Then on Tuesday, Simon and I played the ADA national competition at Abbotsbury, nr.St.Neots. We finished second on countback, but both days were pretty exhausting, pure adrenalin kept me going.
Jubilee weekend will be spent at Dan and Hannahs preparing their new house ready for the move at the end of the month. I didn't expect to be able to do any of these things so soon after the op so every day is a plus.
Happy Days
Will blog after 8th June
Best wishes to all
Chris