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)...

Rehab Weeks 5 & 6

Week 5 was a partial repeat of week 4 with physio exercises to perform at my own leisure on my arm and now starting this week, my leg. You see I went to visit Joe my physio and although there was to be no progress with my arm, I asked for and received a set of exercises for my leg. When we were practising the exercises there was one particular exercise, 'the side leg lift' I knew I would have a lot of difficulty with and that exercise is when laying down on my side, my good side, I was asked to lift my bad leg up into the air and I couldn't lift it, not an inch, not even a millimetre, I couldn't for the life of me perform the exercise below.It's crucial that I regain this movement as the muscles that control this movement, the hip abductors which include the gluteus medius along with the gluteus minimus, in other words your bum muscles if not developed will leave you with a limp says Joe. The problem with my hip abductor muscles was not caused by the accident but rather the surgery. When they operated on me and inserted the metal work, the Dynamic Hip Screw, they naturally had to cut me open somewhere and its these abductor muscles that was cut open, a cut approximately 10 inches long.

Over the next week I am getting stronger because of the exercises. Since I cannot perform the side leg lift, Joe gave me an easier exercise called 'the clam' that will eventually strengthen the hip abductor muscles. Over the week I start to reap the rewards from performing the clam as I can now move my leg in a proper side leg lift, not a great deal and not for long but it's a start.

The clam exercise

Today week 6, I had another visit to see my Consultant and unlike last time when I saw a stand-in, today I got to see my Consultant who said that my hip has started to heal well but it's not time yet to start walking on it, not yet anyway but I can put a little weight through it which is great news.

I did find out something interesting though about my arm, he had said previously that bits of bone from my ulna was missing and today he expanded on that and told me that a large chunk of bone had been nuked in the fall and was only good for the bin also the only thing holding my bones fixed in the right orientation was the metal plate and screws and it will take time for the 'gap' in my bone as he called it to heal. It's amazing how the bones heal, here's a wiki on the process with an excellent x-ray showing how the bones reach out to each other to 'callus'. My Consultant also said the clicking in my elbow is the break in my radius bone setting slightly out of shape, come back in a year and if it's still a problem I can have it shaved.

So that's it, that's where I'm up to right now...

Rehab Week 4

Tuesday 8th Feb, week 4 of my rehab and week 5 and 2 days post spill. I have a pivotal hospital appointment whereupon it will be decided whether or not I can start weight bearing on my gammy leg. Arriving at the hospital and sat in the waiting room I over-hear the nurses saying that the consultant I am to see is on holiday and also his registrar is off work ill and I know immediately from years of visiting hospitals that nothing will be decided today by whoever they draft in to cover.

I'm sent for an x-ray, so far so good and then I'm in to see Mr stand-in who looks at my new x-ray and tells me to carry on non weight bearing and come back in two weeks, grrr I was right about nothing being decided today he played it safe but in his defence I could see the new x-rays and yes I could see that my leg was still not healed, not that I expected it be fully healed, that will take months not weeks but it had healed somewhat. On the plus side I will just have to be content with sitting down with the TV remote being waited on for at least another two weeks...

Hohum....