The replacement

I had my follow-up appointment with the surgical team in Vincent's hospital this morning. I was feeling pretty good myself about my progress. I'm walking around at home all the time now without crutches and took a further step forward yesterday when I went up and down the stairs in the normal manner rather than one step at a time.

I was with a local physiotherapist on Tuesday who also said my progress was good, though I'd inevitably suffered some muscular degradation. She did some massaging and gave me a few exercises to do. I go back to her next week. She'd asked me to get something in writing from the medical team today if they were happy that I was capable of putting my full weight on the bad leg, and advised me also to get clearance in writing for being fit to drive again.

Word was good. The doctor stressed that what I'd had done very often turned into a life-changer for many people, and warned me that it would take a full six months for me to get back fully to normal. He was happy with how I was after six weeks and gave me the written confirmations the physiotherapist asked for. He also told me to 'throw away' one of the crutches as part of the gradual process of returning to normal.

The blip shows today's x-ray. The replacement bit is clearly visible. He showed me what it looked like when I came out of the ambulance -- it was not a pretty sight.