Yesterday was a good day for Joe, he had a couple of appointments at the hospital... The first was a physio appointment, something he hasn't done for ages, so I was interested to see what they'd say. Unfortunately because of the appointment time and work, I didn't go along to this session, Michelle has generally gone with Joe to the Physio , but up till today I've always gone to the Fracture clinic with her and Joe. There was some sense that the meeting would be short, no Xrays required, just a quick check on the wound that was ripped open in the snow incident. Over the week Joe had been to the treatment clinic at Laindon and it was obvious that each time they looked at it and dressed it, it was getting gradually better and this past week he'd been twice with improvements each time.
At the Physio, one of the physio's that had dealt with him back in April - getting him walking after a week in bed; saw him and said he was fine and progressing well. She did some strength tests with his leg, one where she supported the leg and he had to raise his toes against her resistance, using his ankle as the axis point. She checked side-ways strength and up and down. She did the same thing with his 'Good' leg as well. Then she did similar checks using the knee joint as the axis point, checking his thigh and upper leg muscles and how they're being used in conjunction with the knee joint. The lower leg foot resistance drills were checking for lower leg muscle development and strength. The outcome was that the 'Bad' leg felt stronger than the good leg!
Michelle and Joe, then had to wait for their appointment with Mr Wakeman, who was running 1 hour behind schedule, and with 1/2 hour in between the appointments (if they'd been on time), this meant they had to wait an hour and half! All that time to then go in have a quick look at the wound and for Mr Wakeman to say... "Yep, that's fine". So, going back to the original assessment that related to the bone use, this now means that Joe's got another 2 weeks and he can start to do sport again, taking it easy and at his pace and committment level slowly building back his strength. The Physio did say that full recovery with 100% muscle replacement/recovery can take two years more! We're okay with that and I'm sure that with the activity levels that Joe's normally involved in, his recovery will be quicker. For instance I've just come in now from having a kick about with him and he's now moved on to that American netball game that kids seem to want to play these days... Basketball? (I'm not a fan).
So the long schedule that I was counting down has been revised and we're now looking at just 2 weeks before Joe can start doing some light PE and gradually building his strength up. But, I must admit, I'm not sure what the guidance would be if say for instance he was going to start his PE in the midst of the Rugby section of his year, would the advice be 'Go on get in there'! I think he goes back to Gymnastics, so slightly less demanding at his level.
School cricket opportunity
We went up to the school for an open day/meet the teachers type thing for Ben and while we were there we bumped into some of Joe's teachers including his 'Form' teacher. Many of them spoke about his Jack Petchey award, but his form teacher said...
"We had a thing come round all the classes from the Essex County Cricket Club and the ECB offering a week of coaching and free entry to watch a professional game, when I read the notice out, 99.99% of the kids automatically switched off, but Joe bless him was like a little shining beacon in a sea of football ubiquity and then it dawned on him as I was talking about the dates, that he might not be able to do it because of his leg". She asked about his leg and we said that he's being seen on Friday and that the outcome was increasingly positive. Needless to say with the latest development Michelle's contacted the teacher since and said count Joe and Ben in. But, there was a feeling that perhaps they wouldn't get the necessary numbers for it to happen. We'll have to keep our fingers crossed.
Jack Petchey Award
Joe has won the Jack Petchey Award at school!
Joe as you can see from the picture has won the Jack Petchey award at school. This is awarded to only a handful of kids at school each year. Due to the fact that Joe was run down and has got straight back to school and despite the fact that he's had that as a potential set back he's not let it get in the way and he's gone on to do really well at school this year. All of his school reports show that he's working over and above his projected targets and he's one of the best in his class with regards getting home work done and to a high standard. I'd chuck in as a factor is that Joe's a July birthday, meaning that he's also one of the (If not the) youngest in his class. So, despite all these things that could hinder his enthusiasm, he's still managed to be an outstanding achiever! So well done Joe!
Scars Update...
This is the 'Hole'. From this angle, looking straight down onto it in this light it looks fine. From the side it is still a massive dent in his leg and the next time I shoot the pic's I'll do it in light that shows the 'Dent' aspect to all the scars and I'll shoot this one from the side.
skin.
Here's the hole leg.
This is (Finally) the last of any cuts, holes, bruises, bashes and metal pins. This is one of the holes where the pins were removed and all that's left of it now is a scab. Once this scab has gone, all Joe will have is the 'Still to improve' scars and a bit of a limp. But, I'm optimistic about the limp because, even though just a few days have passed since the last hospital visit, it's obvious that with each day and the increases in activity the limp is less obvious.
Joe outside having a bit of a kick about with me, here he is kicking with his ex-broken leg. If he ever complains of any pain, in line with what the physio said, it's always his left leg which they noted was the weakest.
.
