This mug was given to me by my oldest friend just after I had the accident – it has kept my spirits up and I always feel stronger if I drink my tea out of this mug!

What a long way I have come since the accident. I am now driving well and have been for just over a week. It is great to be able to drive again and I am making the most of picking up the kids from school, something I am not normally able to do. At first I couldn’t lower the windows but I can now, I can’t shut the door with my right hand though and at the weekend got in a right muddle at the multi storey car park trying to get my ticket out of the machine, my arm simply couldn’t reach that far.

The range of movement I have got is still very restricted, I can touch the top of my ear but not the top of my head, I thought I was doing well opening cupboards until someone pointed out to me that all I was doing was bending my back to reach up. This also explained the back pain I was getting at the end of the day. I now engage my core muscles before reaching up – I am getting a lot less back pain but my reach is pathetic.

Typing is fine now but writing is still very, very hard – so when I write cards and cheques it looks awful. I can’t write more than a few words without the pain getting intense. The pain. I am in constant pain, it is now mostly in my muscles which are so wasted since the accident. By the end of the day it must be like my arm has run a marathon!  That’s what it feels like anyway.

My arm was completely immobilised for 8 weeks and the consequence is very stiff shoulder and no muscles. I can’t believe how quickly they have gone. George keeps telling me I am like an astronaut and that they all lose muscle in space. Last time I saw the physio she told me that the muscle would come back just by using the arm. I am certainly using the arm ( although I am not allowed to push, pull or carry) and all I am getting is very sore muscles.

I am also sleeping better. I was only up for about 1 hour last night and this makes so much difference. The nights that I was getting less than four hours and not more than two hours at a time are fading into a distant memory. It has been a very long 10 weeks since the accident but at last I am feeling some progress 🙂