Not that I’m counting.

The Navigator here, reporting in. It’s Wednesday 1st April, 19 weeks since the wee incident in France that caused such a stramash. I was thinking it’s probably time for an update; if for no other reason than to debrief myself. It’s very easy to forget.

The initial, overwhelming relief of being home. Then the long hours at the Minor Injuries Unit, where after x-rays and a CT Scan, the extent of the damage started to become clear. Plating and pinning was not an option. When the duty registrar came to chat to me about my thoughts on a possible shoulder replacement… yikes.

During those first few weeks, what I remember is the pain – not from the shoulder, but from the damaged nerves. The Chronicler being an utterly wonderful carer as he helped me with dressing and basic tasks, and took on all of the shopping, cooking and cleaning. In addition to making sure I got out every day to walk in the grey and damp of winter.

Initially, I couldn’t ride my bike, and I couldn’t sew; two things that are who I am. After going a bit stir-crazy for 6 weeks, I was finally able to use my sewing machine. A project! I still couldn’t use scissors or a rotary cutter, so I rummaged the stash and dug out all the leftover bits of fabric cut for previous projects. My Recovery (and Therapy) quilt was begun. I sorted the bits and pieces roughly into colours, and off we went, me ‘n’ Flora (my Singer), stitching so happily.

Three weeks later, we’d assembled 36 ‘blocks’; by that time I could use the rotary cutter to trim them. Many happy hours were spent arranging the blocks into a pleasing pattern. Stitched together, they became a small, 1.2m square quilt top. At 10 weeks I could just about manipulate the safety pins to assemble the top, the wadding, and the backing. Another couple of weeks, and I could grip a needle, and I could begin short spells of hand-quilting. The project was fully assembled by week 13, and I spent the next couple of weeks adding more hand quilting and embroidering a label.

At 10 weeks I also managed to get back on my bike – baby rides initially, progress frequently halted by winter in its many forms. Now up to 40-50km. Confidence will take a bit longer. The map of coffee shops in a 10-20km radius of home is ever-developing.

So much joy, in so many ways.

And the shoulder? Not responding to Force of Will just as fast as I would like. The bones have healed, and the nerves are almost there. I’m working on rebuilding strength. What isn’t improving, though, is the range of movement – so, a bionic joint is in the offing.

It’s been toilsome at times, for sure. But spring is here, and sunshine helps immeasurably. My support team is steadfastly wonderful, and my troubles are small when compared to many. I’m doing just fine.