Is that the finish line I see?

Tomorrow marks 4 weeks since the removal of my ex-fix and I have my appointment (hopefully my final appointment!) for x-ray and review. I am now pottering about the house without my crutches and getting about much more freely. I hope with the news from tomorrows appointment I will be able to start going to the gym again. 

So is that the finish line I can see ahead!?

I bloody well hope so! It is about time isn't it? In total its been a grueling 23 weeks since my accident & boy has it felt long. I should be starting back at university late September so fingers crossed I will be walking like my normal self by then :')

Its been a long journey but all the hard work will be worth it in the end!

What are your thoughts?

A mountain climbed

So today I conquered another challenge...The stairs. I have finally walked to the top of the stairs, without falling down, without bashing into the banister rail and without hitting myself off the wall. It wasn't the most normal stair climb but I did do it and I did make it to the top in one piece! 

Okay so I haven't fully mastered the stairs as I still have to sit on my bum like a child to come down them, but I'm sure I will be walking up and down the stairs normally again soon. 

So being able to walk upstairs whenever I want, opens so many doors that were closed! 

One of the most simple and basic human rights, using the toilet in the bathroom! Well I can tell you all now that from now on this is what will be happening! No more commode thank you very much! I have never enjoyed sitting on the toilet in my bathroom ever so much in my life. A simple luxury. 

Another luxury is being able to have a proper bath with both legs in the water, as you will know from my previous posts. With the ability to walk upstairs I can have a bath whenever I want and with the strengthening of my leg getting in and out of the bath is near to normal now. 

Simply having the choice weather or not to go upstairs when I want is such a lovely feeling. 

What do you think?

Shoes

Hello everyone! 

Sorry its been a while since my last post, I am becoming more and more busy since having my ex-fix removed. Today's post is all about shoes, One of my favourite things! During my time with an ex-fix I found it very difficult to get comfortable shoes that would fit both feet. My foot of my broken leg would often swell making wearing shoes very awkward. 

 I bought myself some 'crocs' although I hated them, they were the only shoes I could get to fit comfortably on my poorly foot. They had plenty of room so if my foot became swollen it wouldn't be restricted like in other shoes. As they where slip on shoes they were also very practical for the type of ex-fix I had in place. As you may know my ex-fix came right down to my ankle which made it even more difficult to wear shoes or socks. The first month or so I could only wear my 'crocs' but as my swelling and pain began to reduce I could manage to wear my gym trainers and converse shoes. 

 I bought myself a new pair of 'Vans' my all time favourite shoesies! Unfortunately as my foot still swells as the blood flow has not yet returned to normal, I haven't been able to wear them :'(

Since breaking my leg after slipping over on a wet dance floor on a night out it has made me never want to wear heels ever again! Even though at the time I wasn't wearing heels, I had my comfy medium high wedges on. I had such a big collection of heels and they were one of my favourite things to spend my money on. These have all now gone in the bin or in charity bags. I have started a new collection of flats which I am sure will increase fast, after all I am a girl and it is a good excuse to buy a new shoes!

I got these 1960s style studded black pumps from Select for only £6.00. 

 I got these lovelies from Debenhams in the sale for only £15.00. I wore these to a ball while I had my ex-fix on, I thought they were going to be comfier than what they were though! 

These ones were from Miss Guided and were also in the sale, £13.99. I bought these quite early on when I had my ex-fix so they wouldn't fit on my poorly foot. 

Tah dah they now fit :')  

Almost three weeks since the removal of my ex-fix I can get them on both feet. 

As you can also see my pin site wounds have completely healed, now I just need to work on that tan!

& Finally I got these from Select again in the sale for only £4.00. 

Hope this was useful. 

What do you think?

Out & About

Hello everyone!

Sorry it's been a little while since my last post, I have been really busy! But busy in a good way. :') Which got me thinking back to how restricted to the house I was not too long ago. For those of you with experience of an ex-fix I am sure this will all be familiar to you too.

The first time leaving the house with an ex-fix on is one of the most scary but exciting things I have experienced. To be able to get out of that one room you have been stuck in for so long and to feel the fresh air on your face is one of the best feelings ever. My dad organised a wheelchair with a panel to elevate my leg from the Red Cross, who were extremely helpful & kind. Without this I wouldn't have been able to get out & about as much as I did! That wheelchair has been everywhere!

My favourite place to go while I had to use a wheelchair was the Metro Centre in Gateshead. Probably because I love the place anyway as it is full of shops & nice places to eat out! But it is a really good place for wheelchairs & access is really easy.

Another favourite place of mine is Northumberland's coastal villages & beaches, which isn't ideal when you have an ex-fix! Imagine the sand & those pin sites! Not ideal. However I did still manage to visit these beautiful places while I had my ex-fix, we just had to do things slightly differently.

Here I am at Beadnell Bay harbor, Northumberland. I love the beach here! I would usually be walking my doggy Reggie along the beach but I made the best of the day by enjoying the view from the harbor instead where I wouldn't usually spend as much time.

After a little while we traveled up to the next harbor, Sea Houses. We managed to get a good spot to sit & eat our fish & chips! This was the view in the picture below. 

After a while of having my ex-fix I was able to sit in the front of the car without my foot swelling like it would have done in the beginning when I needed to lie across the back seats so that my leg could be elevated. I started with short journeys then this increased with the progress of my leg.

It's great to get out of the house when you have an ex-fix but things are never as easy as you think. The simple things become the hardest, like needing to use a public toilet. That's sometimes more of a challenge than you may think!

Just over a week ago I had to get a train from Durham to Manchester with changes. I was using a wheelchair for this as I had just had my ex-fix removed and I am currently not allowed to put more than half my body weights worth of weight through my leg. I am therefore using two crutches at all times but I would have been unable to get on and off the trains! 

Here I am in Manchester waiting for the train back home. I found this very amusing! The disabled access service provided by the train companies was exceptional though. 

I traveled to Manchester with my dad as we were attending the Manchester International Tattoo Show, which was brilliant! 

Below is a picture of me in my fancy wheelchair :') with Sallie Axl at the tattoo show, who some of you may know from this years big brother. 

Although days out are great you cant always manage to get out and about so as I become more able whenever the sunshine was out I made sure I enjoyed it by sitting in my back garden. 

Hope this was an interesting read! 

Let me know what you think?

Have you got a favourite place to go to?

Another hurdle

Hello everyone! 

It's been over a week now since I had my ex-fix removed! Another hurdle taken care of. 
I am now able to put that little bit more weight through my leg & each day gets better. My wounds have also healed really well & are looking good, well as good as they can be! I thought I'd include a before & after pic for the fun of it :')

Here I am with my ex-fix at roughly 18 weeks

Here I am now with no ex-fix! Roughly one week after removal.

My sister says my leg reminds her of 'spotted dick' (raisin cake for those of you who wont know what spotted dick is & thinking it maybe something rude ah). I think the tan is probably my favourite look of my leg, 'white squares' I need to even this out! 


                                                              What do you think?
                                         What else would you like to see on this blog?

Simple pleasures

 The other day I posted about having my well deserved bath but unfortunately for me my wounds hadn't quite healed enough. So I re-dressed the ones  that hadn't healed  & waited... Luckily for me when I removed the dressings they had healed this time, I could finally have my bath!!! 

Pre bath 

almost there! 

The feeling of the water touching the back of my leg was the strangest feeling! 

My leg felt even lighter when submerged in the water. 

Sometimes the simplest things are the best! 

What do you think?

The un-itchable itch

I have lost count of the restless nights & irritable days that the ex-fix causes. One thing that is most annoying besides pain is the itchiness caused by the wires & pins. As healing makes progress the itchiness seems to get worse! Especially around the bottom wires of my ex-fix.

The above image is one of my top row of bottom wires that has become increasingly irritable. The skin that surrounds these wires is very tight & this causes redness & sore skin. The wire is not infected.

                                   

This image is of the bottom row of wires just above my foot. As you can see the skin that surrounds the wire is red, tight, sore & is pushed up around the wire this is known as 'tenting'. If you look at the top wire in the picture you can see there is a washer, this applies pressure to the skin once the foam dressing is applied & should prevent 'tenting'. 

                                   

These are the top three pins just below my knee. This picture was taken at 19 weeks as you can see the skin around the pin sites has healed well. There is some 'crust' present around the pin & it is important that this is removed when the sites are due to be cleaned. This is to prevent the skin from growing up the pin. 

                                       

Here you can see all three pin sites. These pins haven't been as bad as the wires for itchiness & irritation but as the weeks have gone by they have become more irritable. 

Since having my ex-fix removed the itchiness has increasingly become worse. I can only imagine this is due to the wounds & skin healing. 

I thought once having my ex-fixed removed I would have the best nights sleep! However I have yet to have a good nights sleep. I have gotten so used to making myself comfortable with my ex-fix now without it, it actually seems wired!  

As my leg is still recovering & is still painful at times I think I will have a good nights sleep once it is fully recovered! I will keep you posted! 

:') 

What do you think?

Whats your experience of having an ex-fix?

Can I have my well deserved bath?

The time has come to remove my dressings from Wednesday when they dressed my leg following the removal of my ex-fix. 

As long as all the wounds have scabbed over, I can have a proper bath! :')

So fingers crossed!

If the wounds haven't all healed over then I will have to have my usually awkward bath with my leg hanging over the side & will need to re-dress these wounds. 

So the moment of truth...

The top three wounds haven't healed over so these will have to be covered again but all the bottom wounds have :')

My ankle & foot are still swollen but this should go down as I am able to mobilise better.

19 week long hairs!

:o

The top three pin site wounds have been covered with sterile gauze & micropore tape. The bottom wounds have healed over so it is safe for these not to be re-dressed. 

Looks like I will have to wait a little longer for that well deserved soak! 

What do you think?

Interviews

As you may know I am a nursing student in my third year & I was due to graduate in September, however the accident has delayed my graduation. Luckily it's looking like I will only need to move back a module meaning I can graduate in January 2014. 

I have attended three job interviews since having my ex-fix & they have all gone well:') I attended one in Stoke-on-Trent while I had my ex-fix in place & was using my wheelchair & crutches at the time. My second interview was closer to home in Durham & I attended this interview when I was much more mobile & only using one crutch. I had my third interview on Monday after my ex-fix had been removed but still using both crutches as I can only partial weight bare. 

I thought it maybe useful to include this post as it is important to carry on with your normal life as much as possible while having an ex-fix. 

Interview tips 

I always think it is important to look clean, smart & professional. 

I always tie my hair back. For these interviews I used a hair doughnut, £1 from Primark to easily tie my hair up into a professional looking bun. I oped to use this as I am not brilliant at styling my hair but found this really easy & quick to use. 

Here's a link for how to apply a hair doughnut;

http://www.makeartnotwar.me/2012/03/every-girl-should-own-hair-doughnut.html#.UfzLp42koQk

I always wear a little amount of make-up, after all its not a night out. I like to apply a lot of moisturiser & primer before applying a small amount of 'natural' looking foundation. For these interviews I used Revlon's 'Nearly Naked' foundation as I find it very light to wear & it gives a natural appearance. 

For a bit of blush I used Revlon's blush 'baby stick' in light pink, again going for the most natural look.

I usually pencil in my eyebrows but only did them very lightly for the interviews as I didn't want them to appear over powering. For this I used Rimmel London's professional eyebrow pencil in light brown. 

I applied a small amount of mascara using Boots No7 'lash adapt' mascara.

& finally for my lips I simply applied tinted lip moisturiser by Nivea. 

For interviews I usually wear a suit or formal dress, as my ex-fix kind of gets in the way with everyday clothes I went out & especially purchased a new suit dress that didn't break the bank! I luckily found my dress quickly by searching a few internet sites & found the perfect one in Tesco's F&F clothing range at £16. 

Now shoes that maybe the most awkward one depending on what type of ex-fix you have. For me shoes were very awkward as my foot was swollen a lot of the time from the ex-fix & with having the lower wires in place just above my foot & ankle it made it very difficult to get shoes to fit. This is why most of the time you see me wearing crocs! (Not the real croc's I may add). 

For two of the interviews I managed to wear some black dolly shoes from Primark that were only £4. I did have to buy two sizes though to get them to fit! 

I always take a formal looking bag along to the interview to carry my portfolios, proof of ID & qualifications.  Again this bag is from Primark & was about £10's. 

 I couldn't always manage to carry this myself when using crutches, so my dad who took me to the interviews had to carry it for me! Bless him! 

Finally I always try to read up a bit about the job I am being interviewed for, take note of what is current in the news in relation to your area of work, have some questions you can ask at the end of the interview, be confident & go in with a smile! 

I hope this post helps & was an interesting read! 

Let me know what you think?

Have you got some interview tips?

Have you been to an interview while having an ex-fix in place?