Thursday, January 18, 2007
FOTOGRAFIAR SU PROPIA MUERTE
I picked a book from the local op. shop yesterday about an amazing combat cinecameraman yesterday.
One Crowded Hour is a biography of Neil Davis, who eventually lost his life filming a coup attempt in Bangkok.
I find it quite ironic to have been joking about hypothetically recording the image of my last last moment in the previous post, as Neil Davis had literally filmed his own death.
A veteran of many a combat reportage, he'd found himself and his colleagues trapped in a position between the radio station and the army, who were demolishing it with wild abandon.
As the shrapnel ripped through his body, the camera kept rolling, capturing his face in the final moment of his incredible life.
Promise I won't make anymore jokes about recording my own death.
10 months today.
I've finally a reached 1 operation per month average.
I dare say I should maintain that for the next month or two.
I suppose I should document the status quo and bring everyone up to speed on my progress.
Currently I am sitting in my wheelchair, frantically tapping away at the laptop keyboard like our murderous chickens on a sparrow's head, listening to the varied and wonderful collection of vinyl and sipping on a cold beer in the heat of this unseasonally dry, hot and bushfire-ridden Melbournian summer.
(What? It's after midday! Anyway, beer is so much more than a breakfast drink. )
Currently I am putting 100% bodyweight through my left leg and 50% through my right.
This means I can stand without crutches, but still need them for 'walking'.
I don't really dare push my right leg as the fractured acetabulum was not completely joined with the bone graft and metal plate and is a major weight bearing point in the body.
It was fastened together, but it's up to my body to actually unite it properly.
Therefore, I don't want to risk damaging it in this healing phase and have to put up with the consequences ( hip replacements ) later in life.
This means that I have to draw heavily on my patience reserves and just ride it out.
Whilst riding it out I'm still attending physio and hydro and with the new found mobility I have encountered new pains and areas of bother.
The distal screws in my right femur are catching on something and digging into the the muscle as well.
I've another screw in the tibial plate that's poking it's little self drilling pointy bit out of the bone and into whatever lies in its path.
On top of all that I've developed a strange new stabbing pain in the right side of my groin area.
It only comes on when I stand up straight and when I walk.
Needless to say, this has slowed me down a little in the ambulatory stakes.
So there are plans in the near future to remove the offending fasteners, the blood clot filter and discuss the extraction of some other remaining metalware.
The plate on my right ulna tends to instigate much swelling when tapped on something with only a little force.
The plate on my left clavicle is just downright bloody annoying.
It rubs on the skin when I'm wearing a back pack, seatbelt or when I sleep.
If ever I happen to be in a situation where I fracture a femur then the femoral rods could pose a problem, as removing a metal rod from the inside of a fractured bone could well be a touchy business.
As for the tibial plate, well that's not too much bother at the moment, but if that could be removed and the calf muscle graft replaced to it's former position at the back of the leg instead of the side of it then it would certainly be a great improvement.
As much as the relocated and still neurally connected meat is a good conversation starter and a bit of a party trick, it's one I could live without.
Whilst they're at it, the plastics folk could probably cut out some of the scar tissue / skin graft on the calf and pull the skin tighter.
This is all the sort of crap that's requires the organisation of medical appointments and much discussion with medical experts, which will undoubtedly keep me occupied in the next few weeks if not months.
I had managed to convince my main orthopaedic surgeon to take me on as a private patient and should be seeing him in early February and not March as the hospital proposed.
So, a bit of a win there, but far from being a conclusive victory.
Hence, I should be able to maintain my 1 operation per month average.
The little finger is probably the one big thing that's annoying the hell out of me, but cannot be remedied.
It's such a little thing, yet so bloody annoying that I can't bend it like I used to.
It kind of just sticks out and gets in the way.
4th tibial screw from the bottom is just a touch too long.
Those top two distal screw have got to go!
Really, does anyone need this much metal in their leg?
The ulna and the clavicle plates' days are numbered!
One Crowded Hour is a biography of Neil Davis, who eventually lost his life filming a coup attempt in Bangkok.
I find it quite ironic to have been joking about hypothetically recording the image of my last last moment in the previous post, as Neil Davis had literally filmed his own death.
A veteran of many a combat reportage, he'd found himself and his colleagues trapped in a position between the radio station and the army, who were demolishing it with wild abandon.
As the shrapnel ripped through his body, the camera kept rolling, capturing his face in the final moment of his incredible life.
Promise I won't make anymore jokes about recording my own death.
10 months today.
I've finally a reached 1 operation per month average.
I dare say I should maintain that for the next month or two.
I suppose I should document the status quo and bring everyone up to speed on my progress.
Currently I am sitting in my wheelchair, frantically tapping away at the laptop keyboard like our murderous chickens on a sparrow's head, listening to the varied and wonderful collection of vinyl and sipping on a cold beer in the heat of this unseasonally dry, hot and bushfire-ridden Melbournian summer.
(What? It's after midday! Anyway, beer is so much more than a breakfast drink. )
Currently I am putting 100% bodyweight through my left leg and 50% through my right.
This means I can stand without crutches, but still need them for 'walking'.
I don't really dare push my right leg as the fractured acetabulum was not completely joined with the bone graft and metal plate and is a major weight bearing point in the body.
It was fastened together, but it's up to my body to actually unite it properly.
Therefore, I don't want to risk damaging it in this healing phase and have to put up with the consequences ( hip replacements ) later in life.
This means that I have to draw heavily on my patience reserves and just ride it out.
Whilst riding it out I'm still attending physio and hydro and with the new found mobility I have encountered new pains and areas of bother.
The distal screws in my right femur are catching on something and digging into the the muscle as well.
I've another screw in the tibial plate that's poking it's little self drilling pointy bit out of the bone and into whatever lies in its path.
On top of all that I've developed a strange new stabbing pain in the right side of my groin area.
It only comes on when I stand up straight and when I walk.
Needless to say, this has slowed me down a little in the ambulatory stakes.
So there are plans in the near future to remove the offending fasteners, the blood clot filter and discuss the extraction of some other remaining metalware.
The plate on my right ulna tends to instigate much swelling when tapped on something with only a little force.
The plate on my left clavicle is just downright bloody annoying.
It rubs on the skin when I'm wearing a back pack, seatbelt or when I sleep.
If ever I happen to be in a situation where I fracture a femur then the femoral rods could pose a problem, as removing a metal rod from the inside of a fractured bone could well be a touchy business.
As for the tibial plate, well that's not too much bother at the moment, but if that could be removed and the calf muscle graft replaced to it's former position at the back of the leg instead of the side of it then it would certainly be a great improvement.
As much as the relocated and still neurally connected meat is a good conversation starter and a bit of a party trick, it's one I could live without.
Whilst they're at it, the plastics folk could probably cut out some of the scar tissue / skin graft on the calf and pull the skin tighter.
This is all the sort of crap that's requires the organisation of medical appointments and much discussion with medical experts, which will undoubtedly keep me occupied in the next few weeks if not months.
I had managed to convince my main orthopaedic surgeon to take me on as a private patient and should be seeing him in early February and not March as the hospital proposed.
So, a bit of a win there, but far from being a conclusive victory.
Hence, I should be able to maintain my 1 operation per month average.
The little finger is probably the one big thing that's annoying the hell out of me, but cannot be remedied.
It's such a little thing, yet so bloody annoying that I can't bend it like I used to.
It kind of just sticks out and gets in the way.
4th tibial screw from the bottom is just a touch too long.
Those top two distal screw have got to go!
Really, does anyone need this much metal in their leg?
The ulna and the clavicle plates' days are numbered!
.
