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We have a plan for the DVDs. Part of my contraband going to Rouen tomorrow will be Empire magazine, which Deb has on subscription. This is the promo place for new DVDs, so she will quickly get some ideas! Now I must get the DVD player out and ensure it's working - it appeared to survive the crash, but....
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Gah! Prunes! On booting up the DVD player, I find it is anything but ok! The LCD, the surface of which appears ok until powered, is actually completely crazed! In the short term, I can take Deb's laptop instead, knowing that that actually is ok - I tested it on arrival home.

Can anyone explain just how I go about claiming for this item as part of the wreck cost? In the UK, of course I'd have a phone conversation with the insurer, but that is simply not achievable when she is going to give me instructions I don't comprehend. MAAF do have a right to see the item is actually damaged, or indeed even exists! There will be a small number of much lower-cost items, mainly horse feed, for which I can produce an invoice for the replacement items, currently being held in UK pending a kind visitor who is only waiting for the green light. After a fortnight, the 40 kilos of spilt horsefeed, plus two kilos of horsey herbal-remedy, sitting in the wreck was getting a bit high in the sun and rain, I must say! Insects were loving it! 

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Deb is now ensconced in her own room in the orthopaedic unit at Rouen. There is an ensuite shower/loo etc – if only Deb could walk to it! After an uncomfortable night she had a chest x-ray this morning, but nothing sinister found – where have all those Gauloises been going? Physio will be taxing, and she had a half-hour discussion about it with the surgeon this morning. The physiotherapist herself is concerned that Deb is so far from home, and recommends Deb be moved to Le Mans – where she knows there are excellent orthopaedic facilities – soon. We’ll be happy for that to happen, but are not holding our breath!

The DVD player saga takes a further twist, which I might have foreseen, had I thought a little longer. As many of you will know, DVDs are produced with different encoding for different Regions of the world - this stops the new Hollywood blockbuster, which maybe goes on US DVD after a few months, bombing elsewhere in the world, where the film is released months later, because the US DVD won't play on overseas machines. Yer wanna see the film - go to the cinema! Deb, being Deb, mocks all this stuff, of course. She has a number of "hacked" DVD players, including the late, lamented portable, which will play any Region. Probably at least half of her huge collection of DVDs is Region 1 - USA. No French DVD player is gonna play them. In the short term, therefore, she now has a cheapo French item, which will play her Region 2 collection, and once she's home, she'll find another super-duper hacked version to do the rest of the biz. Let's face it - she isn't going away anywhere in the foreseeable future! She politely declined the laptop, on the grounds that even in a hospital, such things may grow little legs - e.g. when you are whipped off for an x-ray! She has 2 current copies of Empire magazine, and will examine them to see which DVDs look good!

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I've only just seen this thread and have experienced both shock and relief reading it from begining to end.

I'm so glad things seem to be improving. I'm certain that strength and  dogged determination Coops demonstrated  during the health care crisis will serve her well  during her physio!

Like everyone else on here, I'll be thinking of you both.

Helen

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There is a strong likelihood that Deb will be moved in the next few days. A lady appeared during my visit this afternoon, and declared that they had identified a rehabilitation facility at Parigne L’Eveque, which is SE of Le Mans. This would be about 40 mins leisurely drive, rather than the two-and-a-bit hours pedal-to-the-metal of Rouen (120 miles). Having just made my 14th visit – admittedly neighbour Sheena drove yesterday – I am really pleased! Timescales still not firm, but hopefully perhaps this week.

 

Deb is bored, not enjoying the babyfood diet – highlight of her day seems to be the orange juice mid-afternoon – and desperate to get on with a rigid regime of physio. I left her watching Episode 8 of The Jewel In India’s Passage, or whatever it’s called. Her only medication is antibiotics and iron tablets, apart from one of those oxygen thingies in the nose – no painkillers. The most painful thing seems to be the left collarbone, which is a nuisance, and which we hadn’t been aware until the last few days was even damaged.

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I'm so pleased that Deb is continuing to do well - though I'm not surprised... I'm sure she wouldn't allow herself to do otherwise!

And good news too about the imminent move - that will be so much less stressful and tiring for you than the trip to Rouen. I mean, it's all right for Deb... she's just sitting in bed watching tele... ;-)
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The special physio unit (re-education) my 80 yr old Da has just come from was amazing.  After a new knee op he was an 'inmate' there for 3 weeks and the attention to detail re exercise regime and diet was beyond belief.  Deb, once she is ensconced, will have to work bruddy hard as it is very intense, but they certainly know their stuff and she will be up and hopping in no time.  All the very best to you both, Sue

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No offence taken here, Sue!

Today’s visit was courtesy of a forum member & husband living south of Le Mans – extremely generous of them to give me a lift. In fact, their lively conversation kept Deb giggling a lot of the time, so a huge success. The surgeon came in to manipulate Deb’s legs, which was a bit uncomfortable for her, but clearly left him happy with progress. He was also happy to talk to Deb, and to me, in a most matter-of-fact way, about her future and so-on. I'm not sure this is always the case on the NHS! Deb had also had a wheelchair ride – few of us would relish that, but to her it was like growing wings! 

Sadly we have no further info on the move to Parigne L’Eveque – near where my generous chauffeur and his wife live.

 

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Thanks for the update, Ian.  As you already know, there are many on the forum keeping a close eye on this thread.

I'm so glad Coops is well on the mend.

Wonderful forum member and wife, well done, kind people.

Keeping fingers crossed the move will take place soon and that we shall soon have an update from Coops herself.

Now, what could be better than that?

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There have been times that I have felt like leaving this Forum, particularly when I have received a cruel post from one of the bullies that lurk in the ether.  But this thread, Ian, is heart warming and shows that the Forum is a force for good.  I am SOOOO pleased that Forum members could directly help and even MOOOORE pleased that Debs is making progress in the right direction.

Thank you for taking the trouble to let us know how things are going.  Virtual space is a bit of a weird thing and many of us are only just getting used to it.  There are so many of us rooting (is that how you spell it?) for you both.

 

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Cathy

I am also finding out how warm people can be. The offer that led to yesterday's trip is not the only one on here - in each case quietly offered by PM, rather than in the main forum. Definitely people with a genuine wish to help, not to score brownie points among forum members!

On the night of Deb's accident, one English neighbour, who occasionally looks in on the forum, insisted on accompanying me to Rouen - despite having just collected two old friends from Tours airport. These were people she hadn't seen in many years, and who only had a couple of days to stay. Her return home at 3 a.m. from Rouen was hardly going to enrich their renewed friendship!

Some mature English friends - he's 70 - are driving over from Sussex just to see Deb and bringing replacement horsefeed to cover that lost in the crash. They'd have been here by now, if the Parigne "false start" hadn't stopped them in their tracks.

Did I mention that in Deb's yoof (single figures) she stayed with French friends of her parents in Le Havre? Jean is now mid-70s, his wife Francoise 10 years older. They appeared at Deb's bedside last Sunday, and were warmth itself. The years rolled away, as they say. They were the origin of Deb's undoubted strength in speaking French - at least compared to many of us Brits living here! My French has necessarily upped its game in the last few weeks, believe me!

I'm sorry if you've been bullied here, but, yes, online communities are as varied in their memberships as any town or village. I certainly get bees in my bonnet - very fetching I look in it, too! - about things, although I try to make my contributions and responses, on any subject, anywhere, curteous and unambiguous. That way I hope I don't need to use smilies to make my point clear! Better at words than graphics, perhaps.

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I'm glad that so many people have given you support, be it practical or moral, both from this forum and elsewhere.  A very large number of people have almost certainly been looking in here on at least a daily basis who have made no comment on this thread, too.

Let's hope the hospital get her move under way soon so that you don't have such arduous trips each day.  I also hope you will stay with the forum once your wife is "up and running" properly, too.  It would be a pity to lose you!

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Graye

Very kindly said, thankyou. Yes, the move to Parigne (or wherever in Sarthe, rather than Seine Maritime!) can't come a day too soon either for Deb or for me. Fingers are well and truly crossed!

As for my future on this forum, I feel that this is Deb's show, and I'm just filling in, feeling that a significant number of people had a "virtual right" to be kept informed. She has earned the wealth of warm concern on here by her contributions, no doubt, and, for some, by the healthcare issue that she helped steer. When she is finally able to get back online, she should be allowed to be the accomplished soloist she was before all this happened. She doesn't need a husband under her feet online, too!

Every relationship is different. I am proud of Deb, what she is, what she does. When her health returns, I just want things to be as they were, I suppose!

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Ian/Coops2

All wish Debs well- Not everyone has commented, but all hope for a speedy recovery, and have enjoyed her posts in the past.   A vitual friendship can still be a friendship of sorts and it helps to know and understand people a bit better.

I expect that everyone is quite convinced that Debs is so very lucky that she has a wonderful OH like you at times like this.

Regards

Tegwini

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Tegwini!

Of course I'm not wonderful! I'm an almost 60-year-old bloke, for a start! Some women would have traded me in for a rich toy-boy years ago! Deb and I met in 1973, so the ground rules for our relationship have been established for a while. Turning to, when the other has a problem, has always seemed a sort of "minimum spec" for an enduring relationship. Ok, so this event requires me to spend about 8 hours a day driving to Rouen, visiting Deb and driving back. Would I feel good if I did it less often - no! Deb said this afternoon that she is torn between wanting me there every day, and recognising the effort that requires - thus saying take a day off more often. Friends can - and do - help. So tomorrow I expect I will opt out, and let our generous neighbour (she works, too!) visit Deb alone. Monday another forum member has quietly stepped up to the plate to help out - thanks, mate!

I suppose I expect everyone else's OH to perform at the same level as me - or better. Why wouldn't they, when their partner is lying battered & crumpled in hospital?

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I don't look at this part of the forum very often and I sat up late last night reading all of it! We, OH and I, were shocked to hear what had happened and are so very glad to hear that Coops is in a better condition now and improving.

Good luck to both of you and I hope the move closer happens very soon!!!

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A kindly France Forum chauffeur took me to Rouen today – thanks Peter! - and we pushed Deb around in a wheelchair, taking her down to the hospital café for a Coke. She had been feeling a bit down earlier – the weekend is such a quiet time from an activity perspective, so she was pleased to be given a trip out! It takes 3 physios – 2 are students - to lift Deb in and out of the wheelchair, and that is in no way a reflection on her weight. The surgeon had been back to see her this morning, and he remains delighted with progress, so more movement is now being allowed on the right knee. It just seems endless to Deb – and the accident was only 4 weeks ago.

 

As I said a few days ago – the move to Parigne can’t come a minute too soon.

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Progress indeed, even if it's only in tiny steps!

Gosh, is it really 4 weeks already?

But don't you despair.  We will be with you and Coops every step of the way on the route to recovery.  Never fear, there are people on the forum and elsewhere who will be willing Coops and you to make it to the next stage and the one after that and the one after that and so on.............

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They’d changed Deb’s antibiotics, and this proved a mistake, as she’d turned a bit lobster-colour in places. Now they’ve changed again.

Pushed the wheelchair back to the café today, which was fine, but when we got back to the ward they said people had come for Deb for an x-ray. So I pushed her back down to x-ray! 20 mins later we had some fine images of an awful lot of Meccano here and there! Again the physio trio are simply magic – much Deb’s favourites among the many who look after her - and are happy to help her in and out of the wheelchair so we can go off together

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Ian

 

So sorry to hear of Debs accident BUT so glad to hear she is on the mend.

 

Take heart that so many of us on the forum are thinking of you both.  Keep up the good work (and I know it can't be easy) but we do all look forward to being updated of Deb's recovery.

 

 

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