To be honest, when I awoke this morning I felt probably more depressed than I ever have. 

Then they moved me to a different ( quieter) room, but in the process told me that a bed was free at Stoke. As my mood was still pretty bleak I received the news very guardedly, feeling more trepidation than optimism. 

Since then I’ve had 3 lovely visitors in the beautiful Irum and Farah ( both used to work for me ) and the handsome Kevin…

Dani, Sarah and Larry then arrived, we drank a bottle of red ( which tasted good- think I’ve conquered that one!) then went out to dinner. 

Just back and in bed for my last night here. 

Tomorrow heralds the start of the rehab home straight. 3 months in Stoke Mandeville and hopefully I’ll be set free.. not quite the man I was but an altered version glad to be alive. 

SM is set in the country with I think far better and more spacious facilities. It’s NHS and I’ll probably  be sharing a room with a few other guys like me? The focus will be on getting me better to get rid of me ASAP, and fair enough too. 

There’ll be much more of a set regime that I’ll need to slot into. Writing this blog at midnight will probably have to go, but obviously I’ll keep it up and report my improvements back to you. 

I seem to have plateau’ed at a skinny 74kg ( at the crash site I was 91kg ) , but as of tomorrow the objective is to gain weight and muscle fast. 

I feel I’m well enough and ready for the tasks ahead, and optimistic about the near future. 

As I’ve always been competitive ( with myself ) I’m sure i’ll push hard to improve in every way I can. 

I’d like to thank the staff here at the Wellington ( some of whom read this ) for their dedication to me. As pretty much the only non Arabic patient here they all seem to know me and be behind me. 

It’s a bit out in the sticks geographically at SM but it would seem so far that I’ve got a few visitors lined up to come and cheer me on. Believe me, it does really help me. 

Keep sending pics of yourselves in your swimwear/ underwear, it’s an odd tangent that this diary’s spun off to, but it makes at least a few of us laugh…

Love you all, 

Russ

Due to a complete cock up with the there and back travel arrangements the day had its fair share of frustration. In transit I definitely  felt more like cargo than a person.  Drivers tend to club you and the wheelchair together as one entity, and reinforce the sensation of being disabled. 

I did however spend 8 hours at home, seeing a few close friends and their children, and of course Dani and my girls. 

I even drank champagne without it tasting like Domestos. 

My guests were Dan, Saskia, Lisa, Andrew and Pia and their lil ones. I’m pretty sure they all had a laugh. I want to thank them all for their enormous contribution to getting me this far, and for  spending loads of their free time with me. 

Reading between the lines you can probably tell that I still feel like a nuisance to the world around me, despite everybody telling me I couldn’t be more wrong. 

I’ve just literally been told that a bed has become available at Stoke Mandeville hospital, tomorrow at 2pm! That’s very little notice, but I’ve obviously got to take it to continue my progress 

I naturally feel apprehensive. It’ll be very very different to here. 

Thankfully my shoulder already seems a little better, good news as I think the hard physical work will begin there. 

It’s near Aylesbury and not far from the lovely Milton Keynes!

Just remembered there’s a ski slope in MK…. Brain ticking over ref disabled ski bike… 

Ok, gotta go. Therapist here. 

Russ

Due to a complete cock up with the there and back travel arrangements the day had its fair share of frustration. In transit I definitely  felt more like cargo than a person.  Drivers tend to club you and the wheelchair together as one entity, and reinforce the sensation of being disabled. 

I did however spend 8 hours at home, seeing a few close friends and their children, and of course Dani and my girls. 

I even drank champagne without it tasting like Domestos. 

My guests were Dan, Saskia, Lisa, Andrew and Pia and their lil ones. I’m pretty sure they all had a laugh. I want to thank them all for their enormous contribution to getting me this far, and for  spending loads of their free time with me. 

Reading between the lines you can probably tell that I still feel like a nuisance to the world around me, despite everybody telling me I couldn’t be more wrong. 

I’ve just literally been told that a bed has become available at Stoke Mandeville hospital, tomorrow at 2pm! That’s very little notice, but I’ve obviously got to take it to continue my progress 

I naturally feel apprehensive. It’ll be very very different to here. 

Thankfully my shoulder already seems a little better, good news as I think the hard physical work will begin there. 

It’s near Aylesbury and not far from the lovely Milton Keynes!

Just remembered there’s a ski slope in MK…. Brain ticking over ref disabled ski bike… 

Ok, gotta go. Therapist here. 

Russ

Oh, it’s me. 

Not much notice period, but I’ve gone down the corridor by 6 rooms. Better view – as in SKY ( grey ) and some rooftops. Still, glad I can see at all after the battering I took. 

After seeing my skeleton , I wonder whether I actually fell from a plane rather than a road bike. 

Had a quiet day, but actually used it wisely, shock horror. 

We optometrists need to do a certain amount of continuing education every year in order to keep abreast of new findings etc. and this is done now via Internet tracking. We need to attend workshops, do on line tests, and peer discussions too. So…. Today and last night I managed to pass tests giving me 5 of the required 12 for 2013. I had 4 before so I’m up to 9 now, almost there.

 Sorry, a bit dull I know, but an insight into the crazy optometry world.. 😉

Also it proves to me that mentally I’m still fairly agile and able to concentrate for a few hours, a feature that the crash COULD have impacted on pretty drastically!

So that’s good!