A year later

Today a year ago I had an an accident. Due to it initially being diagnosed as a sprain I didn't see a physio for a few months. The first consultant told me I'd be walking within 3 months which proved to be too optimistic. Finally after 4 months I had a full diagnosis:

• Bone bruising (fractures under the soft surface of the bone) within my knee

• 2 torn medial hamstrings on the inside of my thigh

• Medial ligament torn off the bone

• Severe damage to the muscle on the outside of my thigh

A year later I can walk but have a pronounced limp. I'm no longer on Tramadol but have to use a walking stick if I go out and still have difficulty with lots of simple things including put a sock on my right foot.

I'm hoping to make a full recovery and am aiming to be able to run with Oscar again.

A year ago I considered two women to be very close friends.

One has been absolutely amazing. Without her help we would have probably have to re-home Oscar as I couldn't cope with him at all. She came in to help me nearly every lunch time for 7 months to walk both dogs, bring me something to eat & drink and help me to the loo etc. On rare days when she couldn't help DH would take half a day off work as I really couldn't cope all day on my own. When physiotheraphy finally started DH would drop me off on his way to work & she would pick me up as I wasn't allowed to drive until the end of May.

I haven't heard from the other friend since February or March.

It's really proven to me that when things get tough you find out who your friends are!

I've put some weight on due to the pain killing properties of chocolate and a total inability to exercise but have decided to forget about dieting this Christmas. Last year the celebrations were a fog of pain to be honest and I just want to relax and enjoy the time with my family this year. When I can move without pain I'm hoping to be able to exercise again.

I gave this amazing friend a present last week of pure cashmere yarn from ColourMart as a 'Thank You for Everything' present and it brought tears to her eyes

Now if I could only shake off this stinkin' cold.......

It goes on......

The snow is getting deeper and it's getting colder....

Poor old girl

Annie didn't enjoy her walk this morning as she had to plod through 16" of snow. She'll be 10 years old next April and is slowing down.
Oscar at 3 years of age had a fantastic time....

However this information is second hand as my knee isn't yet up to walking in snow so my husband is exercising them and has been for nearly a year.... Thanks!

Winter wonderland

It snowed heavily over night & is still coming down. I've been trying to keep the bird feeders full and clear of snow but am fighting a losing battle.

This morning Oscar bounced through a foot of snow whereas poor Annie plodded. Neither were impressed with the bucket of warm water I dipped their legs into!

The street light in the street behind our garden lends a Narnia like touch to the scene.

It's cold!

We've got snow and the dogs are enjoying it....

However Oscar didn't want to play with anything else apart from his ball this morning and barked his head off when it wasn't thrown quick enough.

We're enjoying our wood burning stove and our wood shed is full of seasoned logs so if the cold weather continues as predicted we can stay warm. The cats and dogs are enjoying it as well......

Drops Shawl

Drops Shawl in Noro Silk Garden Sock

Pattern: Drops Design 120-4 shawl in ”Delight” with lace pattern .
Yarn: 533g of Noro Silk Garden Sock in S269.
Needles: 3.75mm circular
Made for: Me
Size: I increased to 490 stitches before introducing the second lace section.
Time taken to knit: August 4th - November 14th 2010.


Drops Shawl in Noro Silk Garden Sock

This is my first Finished Object of the year which is shameful but I'm no longer on Tramadol so my mind is now free to concentrate on my knitting.


close up of lace pattern with center

I've loved this colourway for a long time and took a few weeks to find a pattern that did it justice. I wanted some lace but not enough that the pattern would be lost in busyness of the stripes. I think the garter stitch works perfectly with the rustic colours and texture of the yarn.


Close up of lace pattern with garter stitch


Another close up of lace


Miles of garter stitch


close up of the lace section again

I knitted the largest size as I wanted a warm shawl to wrap myself up in & that's what I've got!


It's so big I can wrap myself up in it!

Still chugging away......

The end is in sight but it seems a long way off. I've reached 430 stitches and need to keep going to 490 before I introduce the second lace section.
I love the colours and know I'll enjoy the end result but I'm bored of garter stitch at the moment.

Miles of garter stitch

I'm currently knitting a shawl in Noro Silk Garden Sock shade 269. I'd converted this colour for over a year and gave in last month during a trip to York when I visited Ramshambles. I chose the pattern very carefully as I didn't want something that was too busy for the neutral colour stripes and still wanted some patterning. I've got about another 50 rows before the first lace section......

Out of my comfort zone

I've been playing with my new sewing machine recently and made this for one of my friends as she's returning to the US after living here for the past 4 years. She'll be missed



Cat Tote

Pattern: Simplicity 2575 Cat Tote

The actual sewing didn't take long but the preparation took far longer than I'd anticipated. I was lucky that another friend came round and talked me through the pattern step by step and also encouraged me to trace the pattern pieces which I'm glad I did as they are so flimsy.


close up

DH thinks that the cat looks Mexican because of his whiskers.

Frankie says, meh!:


Frankie

Still here

In 3 days time it'll be 6 months since my accident. I have been discharged by the physio & am allowed to drive again which is great as I hated being dependant upon other people to ferry me around. However the physio thinks it'll take another 5 months or so until I'm back to normal. I have to use a walking stick which I HATE as without it I have a very pronounced limp. I feel very self-conscious either way so not good.

I'm desperate to get moving again and have set myself the task of investigating 'Sports Rehabilitation' next week but don't know if it's available on the NHS. My long suffering husband is still walking the dogs every morning and could really do with a day off/a lie in. I'm desperate to walk them but Oscar is lively and my balance isn't great.

Knitting wise I decided to make something very simple using colours that would cheer me up:


Courtyard Steps blanket

This photo was taken a few weeks ago and I'm much further on now. I stupidly bought only 4 balls of each colour. This wouldn't have even made it big enough for a toddler to use as a buggy blanket but 2 Raverlors were kind enough to help me out and I now have another 3 of the green. I'm still after a ball or two of the pink (Anchor Style Magicline 1462, dyelot 22726) if anyone has any spare.......

Knitting again

After a too many mistakes caused by pain and a painkiller induced drug fog I had stopped but now the needles are clicking again....


ETA I take that back, the socks are being frogged as I haven't got enough yarn, yet another bad decision. Anybody want to give me a good price for my stash?

Celebrations

For the first time in a long time I've got something to celebrate.

Today in addition to it being St George's Day it's also my birthday. I haven't been in the mood to celebrate but my husband and daughter decided to ignore that and have spoilt me rotten. DH bought me an amazing Sewing Machine, DD baked me some cookies and got me some lovely presents including a cake:


Carrot Cake

I've also been spoilt by friends and my employers sent me a HUGE bouquet of flowers which was totally unexpected.

The reason I've been down is that I'm still in a lot pain from my accident and am totally fed up with being unable to walk and being housebound. I was told 3 weeks ago by the consultant that it'll be another 6 months before I'm fully mobile again which wasn't what I wanted to hear.

In addition to the original diagnosis of bruised bones and grade 2 medial ligament damage my physiotherapist has found more damage:

- Two 'Medial hamstrings' on the inside of my leg have been torn and

- my Iliotibial Band (long muscle connecting the hip to the knee) is trashed as well

I have two physiotheraphy sessions every week and am improving but it's slow and painful. Prior to my accident I used to walk the dogs every morning and run with Oscar so I'm finding my inactivity very hard to cope with.

Hence the sewing machine. I need to learn a new skill so that something good comes out of all this inactivity. I haven't been knitting recently either as every project I've started or worked on has gone wrong but that's for another post......

12 weeks plus

I'm finally starting to get better. The horrendous pain has eased and now instead I've just got pain and discomfort. I am 'walking' wearing the leg brace and using crutches and am actually bearing weight on my right leg!

Now my problem relates to the range of movement, or lack of, in my knee. The hamstring had shortened after such a long time of not being used and my knee being propped up on pillows. This is nearly resolved and now I've got to work on the knee. It's stiffened up & I need to be able to free up in order to walk normally again. I need 90 degree of movement in order to ever be able to walk and I have 45 at the moment.

So lots of very uncomfortable exercises to come and ice packs are my reward to numb the resulting pain. My muscles have gone & my leg has wasted away a bit so lots of work to do once I've got the knee working again. I aiming to be running again by the end of the year.

Btw: above is now my morning activity instead of walking with my 'dales, Frankie has the most amazing tummy........

Diagnosis

I’ve got bruised bones (tiny little fractures under the surface of the bone that don’t show up on x-rays) with grade 2 medial ligament damage.

In the long term this is good news as I don’t need an operation and shouldn’t have any long term effects.

However in the short term it isn’t good as there is nothing the Doctors can do apart from pain management. I was told that patients normally start to recover within 4-6 weeks but as mine is still so painful I must have severe bruising. I have to continue to rest my knee and eventually the pain will ease.

It's been 10 weeks so far, any bets as to how much longer before I can walk again?

10 weeks

after my accident and I'm still here:

Sat in exactly the same chair

wearing the same brace

with the red cushion under my knee.

The only improvement in this time has been the pain relief that I rely on.

Any early morning visitors will hear my alarm clock as it goes off at 4 a.m. so that I can take tablet

before the next one at 8 a.m.

Then 12 noon,

4 p.m,

8 p.m.

12 midnight, I think you get the drift.....

I have an appointment tomorrow morning with a consultant who should hopefully have the results of my MRI scan and will be able to sort out a plan to fix the damage.

I have also been seeing a physiotherapist who, working without the benefit of the scan, thinks that I need an operation and then lots of work to get walking again after that.

Hopefully I'll know more after tomorrow. I have a fear that I'll be put on a long waiting list but who knows.

Meanwhile life goes on:


Frankie

These were taken just over a month ago but I haven't felt up to posting anything. Frankie is now 7 1/2 months old and is a grown up kitty when he wants to be. He learnt to go out of the cat flap very quickly but it took him a bit longer to learn how to get into the house again.


Frankie

Now that he can burn up all his kitten energy he's often be found snoozing on the back of the sofa, snoring lightly as only a kitten can.....

Long overdue

Belated thanks are owed to Random Knits. We did a swap at the end of last year and with everything that has happened since I hadn't managed to say Thank You.

The lovely Donna had a skein of Wollmeise that she wasn't particularly attached to and I've always wanted to try it and adored the colour:


Wollmeise, Knitabulous sock yarns & a project bag!

I'll let the pictures do the talking:


Wollmeise Sockenwolle 80/20 Twin in Ruby Thursday


Knitabulous Ultimate Sock in New Jeans

The composition is 60% Wool, 20% Silk and 20% Bamboo which sounds as if it'll be lovely to use as well as wear.

I also love the project bag as it's got a firm base so stands up with a drawstring but didn't realise Donna had made it herself until I spotted the little 'Random Knits' tag.

Also included were a packet of Tam Tams, an Australian music magazine for DD and a black skull shaped rubber which went straight into her pencil case. DD came back from Australia last summer with a packet of Tam Tams and we all love them so they didn't last very long.

I sent enough Drops Kid-Silk for a decent sized shawl, an English magazine for her daughter which featured loads of Twilight information and a poster and some very nice chocolate. The chocolate nearly didn't make it as it had been 'found' by somebody but I managed to save it.

Thank you so much, I really enjoyed the swap & loved shopping for you!

And just because I couldn't resist here's another pic:


Wollmeise & Knitabulous sock yarns

Knitting Update

Various projects have been started and finished and not shown here for a number of reasons: Some were Christmas presents, others because DH has been too busy to take photos and also because my mojo left the building. I've found my lifestyle change very hard to take in and just because I have a lot more time to knit because I can't walk, doesn't mean that I want to, does that make sense?


Lady Eleanor the Second

Pattern: Lady Eleanor.
Yarn: 400g of Noro Silk Garden in shade 264
Needles: 5mm circulars
Time taken to knit: August 10th 2008 - September 25th 2009

When she saw my Lady Eleanor a few years ago my Step-Mum LOVED it & wanted to 'borrow' it indefinitely.


Lady Eleanor shawl in Noro Silk Garden 264

So I made another for her.


DD having fun modelling the Lady Eleanor shawl

It took me such a long time to make as I associated it with pain having started it when I came out of hospital after surgery and wanted a familiar easy knit.


Lady Eleanor shawl

After the seeming disaster of my Noro Fake Isle Hat Arianwen saved the day with the use/loan of her wooden hat blocker.


Fake Isle Hat before blocking


Fake Isle Hat after blocking

I love it but unfortunately rarely get outside at the moment so haven't worn it yet. DD also loves it so I made another for her:


Fake Isle Hat

Pattern: Fake Isle Hat.
Yarn: 21g of Noro Kureyon in shade 159 and 36g of Cascade 220 in Jet
Needles: 2x 4mm circulars knitted in the round
Time taken to knit: December 26th 2009 - December 27th 2009


Fake Isle Hat

Lastly (for now) what seemed to take forever as it bored me to tears:


Baktus Scarf

Pattern: Baktus Scarf.
Yarn: 90g of Opal Silk Sock Yarn in shade 1121
Needles: 3.5mm
Time taken to knit: May 9th 2009 - December 28th 2009

This scarf took forever as I'd started it for a work colleague & then lost my job so it sat unfinished for a long time and I also found the pattern tedious to be honest. I finally made myself finish it just to get it out of the way and doesn't have a home yet.

So an update of my finished knits. Lots of other things have been started, abandoned & then then reluctantly picked up again but that's for another day.

A month later

and I'm still here sat on my butt in same the chair. The brace is still on and I really hate it. The crutches/brace give me blisters and I'm hobbling around.

Being in constant pain definitely gives life a different edge and my priorities have changed. It's now an ordeal to do anything and I REALLY miss walking the dogs in the morning. I've been told it'll be 3 months before I'm walking but one month on and I've had no progress to speak of so I'm not holding my breath.

But life goes on: Frankie kitten is now 6 months old & was neutered this week. He went out for the first time this afternoon & the woodshed was VERY interesting. He's developed a love of dog food so we're trying to persuade Oscar to eat his food so that Frankie doesn't steal it.


Frankie aged 4 months as we haven't taken any photos recently

I started a new job a week before the accident but luckily I'm based at home so haven't had to take time off sick. It's been interesting trying to arrange an invalid working area as I can't sit at my desk but it's doable, the work is interesting and I'm enjoying it.

Out with the old

Perhaps to be expected we didn't have the best Christmas or New Year celebrations.
2009 was a difficult year for our family on many levels most of which isn't to be shared here. 2008 was also hard on us so we could really do with a change this year....

Knitting is taking place but I've discovered that when it's one of the few things I can do it loses much of it's appeal. My husband is snowed with all the burdens that my injury has heaped on him, so for now you'll have to make do with a photo of a new WIP (taken with my phone) Thummbed mittens.

ETA 2/1/10 to add links