Friday 11 September 2015

I don't think it's broken but it hurts like hell

Monday 7th September to Friday 11th September 2015

I stayed put for one more day before deciding to head on - the mooring was not great - mostly shaded during the day so that meant the solar panels weren't in the sun for as long as I would like; and there was nothing holding me here anyway.

So a fine day on Tuesday and I was off - not very far mind you, it would only be to Cassiobury Park which only took me a couple of hours - slower going on your own and really no need to hurry.

It is easy to tell that schools have all gone back - much fewer boats around and I didn't come across one boat moving during this short trip.

Found a very quiet spot above the lock in the park, with as fully open as you can get around here, so the sun has been working its magic - and mostly it has been lovely weather - generally quite fine and full sun in the morning and then partial cloud in the afternoon.

For my part it has been a bit full on with work - seems that everyone has been saving it all up and sending it through en masse as a reward/punishment of some description. Anyway it has meant that the mornings are spent deep in work and only a chance to get out in the afternoons just briefly.

I did wander outside early on Thursday morning to adjust the panels in readiness for another fine day when wallop I went over unceremoniously, slipping badly on the wet/dewey grass alongside the towpath. A bit lucky not to fall in as well, but unlucky that the big toe on my right foot was bent backwards in a position that was not at all in the owners manual.
Managing to right myself, I could tell that not all was right with it at all - it hurt like all hell and the slightest pressure on it - you know, like trying to walk, which was sheer agony.

I have broken this toe and the corresponding one on the other foot a few times over the years and none felt as painful as this, so my first thoughts were that it definitely was broken.
Coupled with this was a fair degree of back pain - obviously I have twisted that in the process.

So I limped/hopped/crawled back inside and elevated it to relieve some of the blood rushing to it - this helped and after some time you could see the bruising starting.

If I cannot walk on it for a while, then I may as well get some work done and leave the foot raised.
About lunchtime I thought about giving it a spin and seeing how I would go actually walking; surprisingly, I was able to walk on it - just up and down the boat.

The next step would be to fit the foot with a sock and shoe - just putting the shoe on was an exercise in self-torture, but upright I remained and managed to get up and out of the boat and took the foot for a bit of a walk around the park.
It wasn't a good look on the face with each step but I was moving - fortunately the back was a lot better - not great but a good improvement.

Now, with another day under my belt and more walking, the toe is still very sore, but there is some movement in it. I still won't be chancing my luck with a marathon or anything else athletic, but I am pretty well confident now that it isn't broken.

A lot more bruising has come out - but it will be at least a couple of weeks before it starts getting back to normal.
 
Not something that you want to look at whilst eating your breakfast - my horrible
foot which is whole lot more horrible
If there is one thing that is a problem when you are single-handing, it's anything that restricts your mobility.

The usual thing that happens when you walk around with some part of your leg in such a state it that there is a compensatory thing that happens to allow for the loss of normal movement - I have found that my right calf is terribly sore and very tight - well at least that is only muscular and better than getting a hip problem - especially for someone of my age.

I may have to get the walking stick out to use - just in the short term, mind you; but sometime over the weekend or early next week I will be wanting to move the boat, so where I said earlier on that being on your own makes it a bit slower, I suspect that being invalided will make it even more so.

Anyway, we will just get on with it and see how it all goes - it's doubtful that the absent crew will be returning over a sore toe.

One last thing is that I have been a bit slack this last week with the blog and have only just seen comments that people have sent in - I have added these just now and also added a photo of Rachel and Kelvin (nb Serafina) to the blog from last week - apologies.


2 Miles,  5 Locks
YTD: 790 Miles (1271 km) , 484 Locks, 14 Tunnels, 11 Lift Bridges, 16 Swing Bridges

Total: 3684 Miles (5929 km) , 2605 Locks, 112 Tunnels, 45 Lift Bridges, 167 Swing Bridges

6 comments:

  1. You poor thing but it would have to be a " broken leg" at least to bring me home from sunny Queensland love Diane xxxx

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  2. That looks nasty! Best to rest it as much as possible. At least you only have yourself to look after although having another person around would have made life easier. Sending you hugs for a speedy recovery. Xxxx

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  3. Where is the nurse when you need her....

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    1. The nurse has buggered off and left, that's where she is.
      I could have died from a sore big toe - but I'm a fighter and I will survive

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  4. Arnica Cream & Arnica tablets, failing that slap some butter on your toe.

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    1. It's actually a lot better than it was just a few days ago. I really think that doing a couple of long walks and walking through the pain has helped. The blood was circulating from the exercise and helped get more oxygen to the extremities and on the third day it was almost painless and after that it is no more than a bit of a minor issue - no more than stubbing your toe lightly on the door

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