OzSTOC
OzSTOC Ride Reports, Pictures & Videos => RIDE REPORTS => Topic started by: alans1100 on October 15, 2012, 12:06:00 AM
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I'm not exactly sure where to put this but in essence it's ride report and rather than write it out again I just copied and edited an e-mail that I sent to StinkyPete, Leethal and Phil-STer
We went up to Orroroo (80km round trip) this morning as Heather's (Wildfireangel) brother was up there and we took both bikes.
All was ok until we got to about one km from home and Heather had an accident which broke her lower leg (both bones). It did seem that she took the RH corner a little fast (no more than 40kph) and from where I was positioned looked like she made it But I did lose sight of her for a couple seconds and the next thing I saw was her and bike running up against a fence. The top rail and fence posts are made of old rail line and it looks like her LH leg hit two posts before coming to a stop. I found out later that a patch of gravel caused the bike to slide out a little (guessing) and she panicked.
To cut this short, she got flown to Royal Adelaide Hospital just after 10.00pm on 14/10/12 and I'll be going down when I find out from the hospital tomorrow the best time to see her.
So I guess at this time I'd say I will not be going to Middleton RTE and Naracoorte RTE is unknown at this time.
Heather has decided to give riding a miss from now on but is quite ok to get on as a pillion.
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Not good news there Alan, best wishes to Heather for a speedy recovery :thumbs
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Sorry to hear that Alan, best wishes to Heather. :thumbsup :blk13
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:wht11 py
Hey Mate give our regards to Heather and hope she get well soon,
Tipsy
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Hi Alan, tll heather Teela and I wish her a speedy recovery, our thoughts to you both.
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Wish Heather a speedy recovery and kind regards. Keep us informed of Heather's progress.
Cheers
Dave
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Oh no, We of the west wish her well.
At a later date, try to encourage her to try riding again. At least to try and restore some confidence even if she doesnt continue.
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Get well soon Heather. I am just nearing the end of caring for the wife with a broken upper arm, and you will make a full recovery in time.
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Sorry to hear about your accident Heather, :'( hope you get well soon
:grin :blk13 :grin
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Bugger!!!, not good!!! Wish Heather a speedy recovery from me!
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Bummer Alan! :||||
All the best for a speedy recovery to Heather.
Cheers, Diesel
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Sorry to hear of Heathers encounter with the fence, Alan. Marissa and I wish her a speedy and full recovery. :thumbs
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Hi Allen i hope all is well for Heather we dont like to see fello riders hurt.Best wishes.
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Also wishing Heather a speedy recovery.
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Best wishes to both of you.
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I suppose its the best of what could have been ..... I wish your wife a speedy and painfree recovery...and better miles ahead for you both....Cheers ORSM
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Sorry to hear about Heather's mishap.
Please pass on our regards and we hope she has a speedy recovery
Malcolm and Diane
:blu13
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Wishing you a speedy recovery Heather. No-one ever likes to hear about a fellow rider going down.
Cheers.
Skip.
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Not nice reading Alan ..... Please pass on a big get better from the turtle :phone
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Oh sorry to hear that Alan best wish's for a speedy mend.
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Best wishes Heather.................................... Alan,,,,,,,,,,, you know what you've got to do from now on..... EVERYTHING
Speedy recovery :thumbs :thumbs
Dave :wht13
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Alan,
So sorry to hear of Heathers accident. Even though I'm yet to meet you both, I wish Heather a speedy recovery and hope that you have good friends and family who can help you out when she returns home. We went through something similar with my wife last year with a broken right shoulder and smashed left knuckle from a fall at less than 40 km/h and so I really feel for you both and can relate to what you are both going through.
All the best,
Gadget
:blu13left
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Hi Alan, Having shattered my ankle from a spill off a bike in July 2011 and then surgery, it know how painful, uncomfortable and limiting it can be. All the best to Heather for a speedy recovery.
Sab
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Bloody gummint.
Ban fences I say, and gravel too...
All the best for a speedy recovery.
Its not what is broken but what is not that really counts.
Keep positive.
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Thanks for all coments guys. I'll pass them on next time I see her.
I rode down to Adelaide yesterday (15th) and arrived at a Hungry Jacks place about 8kms from the hospital around 2:30 pm. I hadn't eaten until then and while there I rang the hospital to find out the best time to visit Heather. Arrived at the hospital location and was lucky enough to get one the many free bike spaces across the road from the front entrance. Got into the ward at 4pm and was told she'd be back from recovery at about 4:30pm. Two and a quarter hours later she arrives (wondering if they lost her....lol). Seems like they had some issues with pain management which is why it took so long.
Heather's words last night went along the lines of "If I do something I make a good job of it" There were a couple of small open flesh wounds, Both the lower leg bones broken which need I guess a few screws and a rod from below her knee to just above her ankle. Her comment was that she is now part Robot....I guess she's trying to make light of a bad situation, but still a bit dopey from the pain killers. I left about 9pm and headed to our friends place for the night.
I made it back in the ward at midday today and Heather's a little better still dopey but they'd reduced the pain medication and never needed any while I was there for the three hours today. An attempt was made by the physio guys to get her to start walking again. A couple steps but to much for her but she's doing the excercises they gave her to keep the blood moving. More Physio tomorrow morning.
It looks like she'll be transferred back to our local hospital maybe Thursday/Friday depending on how soon she can put weight on her leg. And maybe a week up here before they'll let her out.
I'll post a picture of the bike damage tomorrow. It faired better than I thought. Only three, maybe four items that I could see need replacing, but that not a rush job.
I may or may not go down again tomorrow, I don't have to but the ride will pass the time and I can spend another night in the city.
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Good to hear the Recovery process has started already.
Again best of luck with it all.
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Good to hear she is in good hands.
From experience it is very important to keep the joints moving, particularly the knee joint.
Keep us updated.
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Glad to hear that things are on the improve.
We will be watching her progress, so keep the updates coming Alan.
:blu13
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Good to hear she is progressing so well, gee they move along quickly these days.
I had similar injuries about 30 years ago compound fractures to the left leg, 2 months before they got me out of bed.
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I rang the Hospital this morning.
Heather managed to walk with the assitance of a frame about halfway to the shower and back again. The Physio guy said that was about 30 metres, well from what I could see yesterday that would be more like half of that. The dressing was removed just before I rang up 10:45 am so the doc could check it out. I'm going down again tomorrow and back home again Friday which will also be her expected day of return back up here (subject to review on Friday).
As of yesterday Heather said she'll will need fulltime care for at least 6 weeks then another 6 weeks of assisted care so no getting on any bike for a while.
During my time around the suburbs of Adelaide I never saw another ST. Not even in any of the free bike spaces in the CBD that I saw to/from the hospital. Plenty of black Ninja's around the Adelaide Universty which is next door to the hospital.
My bike, well, including Sundays 80km trip and Mondays ride to the city I fueled up after 380kms taking 20.9 litres for that distance. I noticed the temp gauge actually move for the first time in months and with that a slight increase in idle revs which I adjusted this morning. The clutch will need looking at soon. The noise at idle is getting a little to loud.....dealer job that one I guess so I'll check it out when I go down again.
Heathers bike:-
On closer inspection there maybe a bent frame issue around the head set bearings. The front wheel looks ok, the disc caliper looks ok but at a slight angle to the disc....to soon to tell as the fork is bent. The right fork is undamaged and the first picture shows the bends on the left fork compared to the right.
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4363/36681467865_157fcf9aba_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/XTq7r8)
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4428/36681465695_188f80c36d_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/XTq6MH)
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4397/36543095121_abb6520227_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/XFbV3a)
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Glad to hear Heather is improving already, it sounds like she has some good people looking after her :thumbsup
Keep the updates coming and good luck with the cruiser.
Cheers
Shiney
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As far as Heather's leg is concerned it's all fixed except for the healing process. The rod will stay in and is attached below the knee and above the ankle. The Physio guys are pleased with her progress but she will need a frame for a few weeks yet. The hospital has arranged for a car (St Johns ???) to take her back down next friday for an appointment)
Depending on available ambulance's for transport Heather's arrival back in Peterborough hospital was expected from yesterday. It seems the city based ambulances won't go to the country so they have to wait for a country one (more like from around here) to come down with a patient then send her back.
Heather is not impressed with the hospital food. Nothing wrong with the quality just the menu......to foreign for an Aussie country girl who's used to typical 3 veg and meat as an example. So I took in a quarter chicken & salad from a takeaway store for lunch yesterday.
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Heather was flown back bt RFDS (Flying Doc) this morning which also meant that they returned back to Adelaide with another person.
Not sure when she'll be coming home but I don't think it will be this side of Friday. As expected the lower leg/foot is swollen.
So, sometime tomorrow her return home is happening. Just had a phone call from Heather. The doc gave the okay but will confirm tomorrow after seeing her.
Heather mentioned about still going on the Middleton RTE but I think It may be a little to soon especially getting on/off the bike.
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That's great news, I'm still amazed how quickly this is all happening
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That's great news, I'm still amazed how quickly this is all happening
Agreed, I too am amazed :eek
From the sound of it she has a very positive attitude and that should be an awesome help :thumb
Thanks for the update.
All the best
Shiney
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The first time i met both yourself and Heather was at Silverton where i found Heather to have such energy and was full of life. Although the accident might be a minor setback, i just have this feeling that she will be ready to mount the steed again in the not too distant future. I wish her well and hope that her full recovery will be speedy.
Malcolm (octane) :blu13
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:thumb :thumb :thumb
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Great to hear. I hope you realise you look no where near as good without Heather with you :crackup
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That's great news, I'm still amazed how quickly this is all happening
Agreed, I too am amazed :eek
From the sound of it she has a very positive attitude and that should be an awesome help :thumb
Thanks for the update.
All the best
Shiney
I'm more surprised than amazed but then Heather doesn't want to be in there any longer than she has to be.
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i just have this feeling that she will be ready to mount the steed again in the not too distant future.
Malcolm (octane) :blu13
No doubt that will happen but only as a pillion.......not as a rider........which is her choice
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That's good news Alan, :thumbs,it took me 5 weeks to get on the back of a bike. Once I could bend my leg enough it was great to be back on it. Took me 8 weeks to ride my own. Give Heather our best :blk13
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Heather has been home a couple nights and saw the Physio and her doc this morning. As a bonus we also had a 6th year female med school student do most of the consult. More amazing is that the same student was involved with Heathers care in the RAH (Adelaide Hospital).
The end result being the stitches removed this morning as well. This was a three person job as our medical centre practice nurse had two students as well. I'd hazard a guess and say that the students shared the stitch removal process.
We have a car trip to the RAH on Tuesday for an xray and the surgeon who did the op. Hopefully he's satisfied and everything is as it should be. Wonder if I need a licence to operate a wheel chair for the day.
While at the docs this morning we had the PATS form filled out so we can get some fuel assistance for that trip. I might also be able to get the carers allowance so the medical report for that claim was done by the doc as well.
I checked the mail box today and found a letter from the Forensic Science unit:- Nothing detected. I could have given them the same result for free......lol.
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Good to hear all is proceeding well Alan. :thumb
We used to have many health and medical personnel in Queensland too, however Cando sacked most of them... :||||
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Glad to see all is healing well.
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Heathers visit with the Xray and Specialist (bone doctor) at the RAH went ok. After two weeks all is as expected and a follow up visit in 4 weeks time for another review. One of the dressings had to re-dressed and while the nurse was doing that I noticed the doc left one of xray pictures on the monitor so I took advantage and used Heather's phone and took a picture. The nurse sort of turned a blind eye as it's apparently not allowed and it's property of the hospital. Well, without Heather's accident the xray wouldn't have been taken plus technically it was bulk billed by medicare and not paid for by the hospital so Heather paid for it.
I was asked earlier by Heather how they got the rod in........there are somethings the patient shouldn't know......lol...... Knowing her previous reaction I declined to let her know as one of the nurses in the RAH did tell us how they did it while Heather was during the first week and I could see that Heather felt not at ease with the description of the surgeon hitting the rod with a hammer until the rod was located in her leg.
Overall Heather is improving daily but as with anything like this has both good and bad days and that's both physiclly and mentally.
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Our thoughts are still with her. :thumbs
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When they start talking surgery always sounds more like butchery to me. >:()
You keep looking after her Alan. :thumbsup
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Glad to hear Heather's on the mend!!.........a fence & posts made from railway iron....what were they trying to keep in, or out ?
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Because there's no trees in South Australia. Electric poles are steel and concrete.
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Glad to hear Heather's on the mend!!.........a fence & posts made from railway iron....what were they trying to keep in, or out ?
Peterborough is an old Railway town, a place where three different rail guages met. Guess the fences were made years ago and probably made up by the early railways of the time way back when no one had cars etc and travelled by rail or horse and cart. The fence is made up of posts every 3 metres (guessing) and a rail on top and all made up of the old rail line. Even most of the housing fence posts here are made up of rail line and they reckon recycling is a new thing......lol
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Because there's no trees in South Australia. Electric poles are steel and concrete.
There were trees just they got used for the old wooden sleepers for the rail lines
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Heather's progressing quite well and basicly refused to use the walking frame from about two weeks ago. We went for her second local Physio session on Thursday just gone and returned the frame. Crutches not required as Heather doesn't need them. Another doctors visit on the same day and no need to see her either. Heather has amazed them all I think but then she does have a very stubborn Tauras nature.
Today, I was checking what gear I needed to add in the trailer for our planned ride to Naracoorte in December when Heather asked to sit on the 1100. Needless to say she got on and off ok and we have a 110km shopping trip/ride on the 22nd which shouldn't be a problem for her. Hopefully we can find her a new jacket at the same time.
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:thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup
Great News, Well done Heather.
Maybe slow down a little so you can use your personal bell hop for a little while longer. :rofl
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So happy to hear she is progressing well. :thumbsup
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Great news Alan. :thumbsup :thumbsup
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exellent news keep up the good work :hatwave
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Great news, just make sure Heather doesn't push herself too hard too fast.
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Great news Alan. Keep up the good work Heather.
Mal
:blu13
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We decided to go for a little ride and have lunch at Jamestown today. I kept the speed to around the 90/100kph and after arriving at Jamestown 40kms later Heather said that she was okay (loved it (her words)). After our bite to eat we returned home a slightly different route so all up we did around about 100kms for the ride.
Route we took http://goo.gl/maps/hpiRG (http://goo.gl/maps/hpiRG)
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:thumb :thumb :thumb
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Awesome recovery Heather, can't wait to meet you both at the National Rally. :beer
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Heather thanks everyone for the support etc.
We had a trip down to the Hospital in Adelaide yesterday for Heather's 2nd review and so far all seems ok. Doc says though the bones might heal after 3 months it wil still take about a year (from accident) for everything to be back to so called normal. At least there's no infection which is a major concern with screws and plates etc being implanted.
I made a comment about almost bring Heather down on the bike for this visit and the doc sort of looked at me rather strangely but said "maybe next time". So, another review in 6 weeks time by bike if Heather is up to it.
Just as a bonus....Heather spotted $5 laying in the gutter at a shopping centre we stopped off at yesterday and on the way home I put $35 in the Territory tank to get back home and it cost me $20.04. Another customer paid for my fuel by mistake and while in the shop I and the attended waited for her to come back in but they drove off, so I paid for her fuel. To be fair though the girl who paid for the fuel didn't fill the car but you'd think she'd look at the pump number or at least know what her car looked like.
For those that may not be aware of the medical stuff that they do these days I took a picture using a mobile phone of the xray of Heather's leg on her first review visit
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4391/36713975212_5707cb6ef5_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/XWhHJC)
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A nicely shaped leg it is too :grin :grin
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The time frame for 100% healing seems about right. While the wife's shoulder break is now (after 3 months) back to nearly normal, they advised that 12 months would be the full healing time. It seems after 3 months or so the repair is enough to do 'normal' things, but avoid too much pressure on the bone.
So looking forward to Middleton, where we might actually stop and take the helmets off.
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Good to hear that Heather is progressing really well, Alan. :thumb
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For those that may not be aware of the medical stuff that they do these days I took a picture using a mobile phone of the xray of Heather's leg on her first review visit
...Hummm, Nice pins!!! :-(((
Really hope Heather gets up at at em without too much physio fuss...stay safe and get well :thumb
Cheers and have lovely time in Naracoorte, the can :)
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Awesome news :thumb
Its great to hear she is doing so well :runyay
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That $5 was mine...............It's been very windy here in WA o:)
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Just an update........
Heather's ok.....generally. Still has her good and bad days with the pain. There hasn't been much more to add since I last updated. The next review with the orthopedics doc is 2nd week of Jan so hopefully all is going well. Another 500km return trip by car to Adelaide for that one.
With the rod, plates and screws in the leg there was no plaster and it's been full weight bearing from day one.
We did go for a 80km round trip to Jamestown a few days ago but Heather still finds it hard getting on/off the bike which is now off the road for a couple months. If all goes as planned both Heather and the bike will be ok for the Ozstoc rally in mid March.
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Great news :thumbsup looking forward to meeting for more than a few minutes in the middle of nowhere :p
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I took Heather down to Adelaide yesterday for another review of her leg.
All going ok and maybe one more review in April and that should be it. Her leg still swells up a little if she overdoes the walking, and the pain is there but not as bad. Since the break was just above her ankle any movement when walking etc does tend to be a little painful. Walking on it is more like a very badly sprained ankle and it's the only way I can see fit to describe it.
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great news on the recovery, glad to hear everything is ontrack.
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:beer :beer :thumbs :thumbsup
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Good to hear :hatwave I had a badly sprained ankle many years ago (me on bicycle going to work , can turns in front, over I go) and it took well over a year to get reliable strength back in the ankle. Any minor twist caused major pain, so I can really sympathise with Heather with all the extra damage to put up with.
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:thumbs Thanks for the update Alan way to go Heather. :thumbsup
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Pleased to hear that Heather continues to improve. She'll be running around the block soon.
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Great stuff, glad to hear all is going well :)
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Glad to hear things are progressing well and hope you feel better soon Heather .
An unfortunate misshap which will have both of you questioning just how it happened for a little while .
All the best for you both .
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Awesome news :thumbs :thumbsup
Before you know it she'll be able to :runyay :grin
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Heather's a lot better........we've had to defer the final hospital visit due to my hernia op. Hospital made another time for her for after my six week recovery period.
Yesterday and two weeks ago (b4 my op) we went for rides and Heather's can get on/off the bike ok now.
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:blu13
Heather's a lot better........we've had to defer the final hospital visit due to my hernia op. Hospital made another time for her for after my six week recovery period.
Yesterday and two weeks ago (b4 my op) we went for rides and Heather's can get on/off the bike ok now.
Good to hear she is recovering well!