My Bikes...

What a nice day today is, 17'C - it was so nice I thought I'd treat the bikes to a bit of the good weather...

Focus Variado Expert, 2008 Ultegra SL - My first road bike, now used as winter bike and as photo'd as a turbo bike with blue turbo tyre on Shimano RS20 wheels. Mudguard needs attention...

Specialized Langster Steel, single speed with flip-flop hub

Ribble TT build. Just need to add brake callipers and cut steerer tube. Pro-lite wheels bought recently for winter/wet but look far too nice to used as such... 

Scott Addict 2010 Ultegra with Dura-ace wheels. My bestest bike.

Graham Weigh steel framed Campagnolo equipped commuter bike

Rehabilitation and bike stuff...

'Put aside your crutches and walk'

Yes it's been all rehab for these last few weeks, exercise after exercise from my physio which if I'm being honest I haven't completely followed to the letter, some exercises I've followed some I haven't so much because they are so bloody boring. Three weeks ago I had my consultant follow up who looked and squinted at my CT scan from the week before, walked over to the other side of the room all of 3 yards away, held his hands out and said 'walk'. I put down my crutch and slowly, tentatively hobbled over to his outstretched hands. It was a weird feeling, I had forgotten how to walk and had to think what I needed to do and worried that I was about to collapse in a big heap on the floor, it didn't happen, my limp was huge but I managed the task and I was elated. I jokingly asked about riding my bike and was really surprised when he said that I can ride around the block but I could see he wasn't 100% about it...

So with the permission to walk, over the next couple of weeks I reacquainted myself with the dogs lead and with the assistance of my daughter (assistance needed as we have a big strong Dobermann), we walked the dog; initially around a small field then ever increasing distances over the following weeks as my leg woke up and the pain held off and this is where I'm getting most of my exercise atm.

Limp Analysis

My limp is only slight but it's enough for me to want it sorted. Analysing my limp by comparing my gammy leg to the gait of my good leg I could see that I wasn't straitening my gammy leg out fully like my good leg and where pains occur during the walking motion I rush those parts resulting in a visible limp. So to remedy this despite the pain I try to walk as normally as possible not rushing through the hurting bits and straitening my leg fully. It's strange where my pains are; the top of my foot, my lower quads, my glute (arse) and not so surprisingly around the break area in my hip.

Bike stuff

He did give me permission to get on the bike for a 'block' and during this initial euphoria of being crutch free I resisted the urge to get my leg over the bike so I waited for a couple of weeks before I felt I was confident enough and strong enough to have a go at riding a bike. I'm not worried about being out on the road, what I am worried about is not getting my foot out in time from the clips in the event of a sideways fall but on impulse on one nice day a couple of weeks ago me and the Mrs loaded our bikes into the car and headed out into the Cheshire countryside where we managed 10 very slow miles, slow because the Mrs refuses to go faster than 10 mph. I still wasn't confident about the spd's so wore a pair of trainers just in case, not that it was needed, it was 10 miles of uneventfulness but at least it broke me back in and no pains or strains - no issues.

My first 'proper' road ride

A few days later I went out on my tod to ride a local route of 20 miles the main reason being I was due to ride 30 miles with a fellow club mate the following week so I wanted to be sure I was up to it beforehand. My first challenge was to get on my bike, I now find it difficult to get on the bike by swivelling on my gammy leg which by habit is the way I previously got on, I have to get on the other way around which feels wrong. Anyway I set out and clipped in which was scary but constant clipping in and out for a minute put my mind at ease that if it came to it I could unclip that left foot without any problems. So far so good, 5 miles in no muscle pain and an average speed similar to one of my slow rides on this route, 10 miles in and I have to stop and catch my breath, I'm knackered unsurprisingly after so long off the roads and disappointingly I have a strange hard to describe pain around my hip, I can't decide if it's muscle or bone pain but it's a pain I get post break when I'm getting to my limits and now I feel this pain again. I've slowed right down and headed for home knowing that next weeks ride is well and truly off, I'm really unfit and have little strength in my legs, its back to square 1 again...

End bits

It's been an eventful few weeks, one week with crutches the next crutch free, then came the walks to build up some strength and the concentration walks where I 'walk' through the pain resulting in a much improved gait. My cycling after the initial couple of rides has taken a back seat to getting fit through other slower means. I think I need to take to the turbo and build up strength and stamina slowly over the next couple of months with the odd bimble on the road when the sun shines giving time for my hip and arm to heal before rejoining the club on the road.

Oh yes, my arm, I forgot about that. If you've been reading this blog you will know that I broke both of my lower arm bones, the ulna and radius with the ulna being by far the worst, it was a complete break. My consultant told me that two thirds of my bone in the break area was missing and the only thing holding the two parts of the bone together was a thin metal strip which if subject to too much pressure will snap, so no press ups, no heavy lifting and when I'm riding my bike I can only hold on to the bars with my left arm for a few minutes before it gets painful and stiff, it's quite uncomfortable. The missing bone will in time fill in with new bone but who knows how long will that take, and then there's the clicking thing going on in my elbow...

A Sad Day...

Today I had 2 hospital appointments, one at the Royal Hospital in Liverpool for a bone density scan and another at Warrington Hospital a couple of hours later. Whilst waiting for my scan I picked up the local hospital magazine and had a browse.

Midway through the mag I started to read of a fund raising walk in memory of well known surgeon Mr Ali Bakran, what!! Mr Bakran, this can't be the same Mr Bakran who operated on me and my Mother when I had my kidney transplant!?! Reading further the article mentioned ward 9a - the transplant ward, the same ward I spent months on back in 2005, it must be the same Mr Bakran, I was shocked! I sat there in disbelief and read the article over and over looking for a clue, a hint that this was a different Mr Bakran.

I'm called for my scan and ask the nurse if this Mr Bakran from the mag is the same Mr Bakran from the transplant team, it is and I'm gutted... Later when I'm home I did a google search and sadly yes it is the same Mr Bakran who although died in August last year, it was news to me...

Let me tell you about Mr Bakran, he was a warm man who would do his utmost for you, when I used to see him in the run up to my transplant he would take me into his office and insist that no-one come in and no phone calls and woe betide the nurse who forgot. Once in his office he would take his time and explain everything, there was never a rush and you never got the feeling that there were more patients waiting to see him (unlike some doctors). On June 14th 2005, Mr Bakran and his team performed a live kidney transplant from my Mother to myself. I didn't see him that day although he got to see lots of the inside of me, it was a 12 hour day of surgery for him but every week day thereafter and even some weekends I would see him as he visited his patients.

After I had my transplant and in my bed on 9a, he was the god of the ward rounds, every doctor, registrar, house doctor, co-ordinator, nurse and even some senior to him regarding him with utmost respect as they walked in his wake. At times he was forceful with his team and direct but with his patients including me he was all smiles and would often break away from the team and sit down and talk to you like he was your best friend. I was in that ward on 6 separate occasions with 2 transplant rejections and other complications over the 4 months post operation and when I needed his skills the most he would come in, even after hours to make sure I was OK and that I had received the correct dosage of whatever drug they were pumping into my veins during those months. After I was finally free from the hospital I saw him regularly on my frequent every other day/every week/bi-monthly/3 month follow ups and although in time I didn't need his expert care any more, when I bumped into him on occasion in the corridors he would always stop, ask me how I was and then listen to what I had to say.

There was one occasion when I wasn't happy to hear from him, it was whilst I was home having escaped the hospital for a time, my Mother had an appointment and in the corridors she bumped into Mr Bakran, he asked about our welfare, my Mother told him I had a cold, half an hour later I got a phone call from Karen, a senior nurse on 9a and she told me that Mr Bakran had cleared a bed for me and that I needed to get in asap. I wasn't a happy camper I can tell you and I sulked and moaned until he let me out two weeks later. I did forgive my Mother...

So you can see why I'm so upset at reading of the loss of this kind warm man who would do as much as he could for his patients. A kidney patient has this problem for life and you get to know all the doctors and nurses because you see them year after year and they know you, it's like being in a family with Mr Bakran as the head of this extended family...

Mr Bakran, the man who gave me a second chance at life...

I also had some good news today but this can wait for another day....

Rehab Weeks 7 & 8

Well what's happened over the last couple of weeks? erm only a couple of things the first being that I'm now allowed to put 3 stone through my bad leg which is a good thing but how do you judge what 3 stone feels like? It's easy enough using a pair of bathroom scales to get a feel for what 3 stone feels like but out in the real world walking with crutches on variable surfaces it's hard to 'feel' 3 stones worth of weight soo what I do is take most of my weight through my crutches and gradually put more and more weight through my gammy leg till I hit uncomfortable than back off a little.

The other things to happen is that I've had a CT scan so my consultant can have a better picture of how my break is healing and I will find out more next week. Speaking of next week I am also having a bone density scan to see if I'm suffering from osteopenia or osteoporosis or the result I'm gunning for is that I'm completely normal and my injuries was just the result of black ice and bad luck.

My main concern atm is my elbow, I cannot put much weight through this elbow, I think this is a bad thing for riding on a bike and I can imagine if was to try riding my bike I'd just be riding around in circles but the upside is I'd be alright for the Velodrome. ;-) I must consult with my Consultant next week for what I can do with this elbow (aside from this riding my bike in circles thing)...