Penrith

We arrived in Penrith at 1.00pm to be met with an icy world of minus 3 degs...

Cold to the bone

We were met by the super friendly staff there and shown to our room to settle in and unpack

A coffee in the dining area soon followed and I knocked off a few shots outside the facility of the frozen environs

A beautiful setting next to a river

We were given a nursing room and soon we had several friendly staff fawning over Nina and plotting the next day's activities 

Our room, one of several paid for and ran in the rehabilitation centre under the umbrella of The Firefighters Charity

A really nice room for a sharing couple

There's no way Nina would have come here on her own for her first visit so being able to be there with her and also benefit from the centre myself was brilliant

By far and away the highlight and most emotional part of our stay I would say

After almost a year she could walk without crutches for the first time with the help of the anti gravity treadmill

Her most enjoyable pursuit during the stay was the daily Wii Balance Board games

A great piece of kit essentially for family fun but also ideal to restablish lost balance capabilities in patients with leg injuries

The daily hydrotherapy was of supreme benefit to her as her therapy was one to one with a highly trained physiotherapist

Morning glory right outside our window

After two days of sub zero temperatures I went out for one of several walks that week taking me in to the nearby town

Whats left of Penrith Castle

On the Thursday Nina had a 'free period' and we were directed to nearby Pooley Bridge where we were advised to visit the local shop that sells hundreds of different gins....

You won't be surprised to know that we left with an expensive Rum....

Perhaps next time Nina...

We both had a very relaxing and rewarding stay up here in Penrith at Jubilee House

The whole staff were very friendly and attended to our every needs. It took a while for me to back off and just let them fuss after Nina and it felt like we were amongst family

Genuinely supportive carers making our stay very comfortable

On leaving we were given some more dates to attend next year post surgery which will be great once Nina is weight bearing again

We left after lunch on the Friday feeling revived, rested and looking forward to returning to this first class facility

Jubilee House is one of three rehab centres run in the UK by The Firefighters Charity which is a non profit making charity and relies solely on donations and the proceeds of fund raising events

Pre Op Consultation

This week Nina had her Pre op consultation with Professor Moran at QMC Nottingham

All went well after a very early start for us and arriving far too early. We were actually seen an hour early, a good omen for sure

Nina had further X rays and the Prof told us the intended course of action come surgery day

Basically the metal plate and most of the screws are to be removed and a new plate of similar length fitted without the need for a bone graft. The intention being to treat the ends of her non healed femur and bring them together before plating

It appears that her leg is twisted out of line and he will correct this

He also reassured us that he has several surgical back up plans should issues be raised during surgery and that his chosen method at present has a 95 per cent success rate in patients having a 'non union' femur fracture

The good news is her shattered knee has healed and when questioned he said he counted 10 pieces of bone that had smashed apart at the time of the accident

He also hopes to improve her leg flexion currently stuck painfully at 60 degs so that she can sit comfortably at 90 degs at a table. There's also a follow up operation involving muscle release from the bone to further improve leg flexion but thats for the future and he needs to concentrate on getting the bone fixed first

Downside is the metalwork will again need to be removed in the future and she'll have one leg shorter than the other

(Looks like only circular walks then in future...😉)

Its been a year now since the accident and barely a day goes by without Nina breaking down and crying bless her. Its all far too much to bear for her I'm afraid and I'm doing my utmost to prop her up (literally) and keep her spirits up

We are as ever eternally grateful to those of you that have helped in so many ways to lighten the load for us so wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year...

2020....surely a better year..!