Forum Member cooperlola

[woolybanana]

[quote user="ErnieY"][quote user="cooperlola"]I like the top one, Ernie, but it could do with slicks...[/quote]I though you might like that one Coops. Apart from the obvious advantages of the jet engine you can even light your fags from the exhaust !

It goes without saying that it comes with a pair of full wets and intermediates of course [:D]

[/quote]

Of course, there is an interdiction against eating beans, baked beans, Brussels sprouts. Jerusalem artichokes are thought of as a suicide pill.

 

Well done Debs. Glad to hear you are home for a while. A step (sic) in the right direction, one big step for man etc.

[cooperlola2]

Since the poor thing doesn't get as much 'net time as she might like, I thought a New Year Progress Report might be appropriate. As I type, Her Cooperlolaship is tucked up in bed with her semi-namesake - Cooper the large, soppy, ginger cat. I mean, he is lying half under the duvet, on his back, purring his head off, while mum watches Hill Street Blues. I periodically get summoned to make tea etc. We are now getting into a routine with the weekend furloughs - less stuff needs to be carried back and forth - and tonight near-neighbour Sheena will be attending for one of my iffy Bologneses. Deb managed to sustain Xmas lunch at the other end of the village - although allowing us to be in the same team for Trivial Pursuit Babyboomers afterwards was a mistake, as we did mop up a bit - and New Year's Day aperitifs and a bit of very French lunch at the house opposite us also proved possible. The early-morning visits from the nurse are a bit of a bore, but the ladies concerned do their injecting job immensely quickly. The right knee is a bit painful, as are all sorts of other bits after a vigorous session with the physio yesterday - he had just spent several days in London, clearly benefitting from Deb's patient coaching on "A pint of bitter, please!" in a Young's pub. He'd also risked maxing-out the carte bleu in Oxford Street with the family! Deb continues to improve in confidence and manoeuvrability - but the road is yet exceedingly long. She is to be seen by a doctor from our insurer on Thursday, who will confer with l'Arche on her prognosis. 2009 will be an interesting year in terms of how much Deb and the hospital team can attain - and how the compensation claim progresses. With the £ where it is, this money could be quite useful, I'm afraid!

[Cat]

That all sounds very encouraging Ian, and considerably better than we might have imagined when we first heard the extent of Deb's injuries back in August.

Wishing you both every success in 2009.

[mint]

Thanks for the report, Coops2.

I have had her on my mind and wondering how she's coping at home.  Might have guessed she'd be "getting on with it".

Just keep looking after her and she'll come right again soon; of that I have no doubt.

All the very best to you both for 2009.

[cooperlola2]

Time for a bit of an update. Her cooperlolaship doesn't actually get as much time for this as she'd like - she really is a very busy girl in hospital, and weekends at home just fly by! Also, if truth be told, she feels more comfortable contributing to the life of this forum than talking about her own situation! Progress is slow but kinda steady. Cooperlola tends not to notice that she's moved on here and there, so isn't always as full of good news as she might be. Biggest event of recent weeks was the visit by the insurance company's doctor. You might have expected him to breeze in, look at whatever the hospital were prepared to show him, ask her how she's doing and be gone, to collect his no-doubt fat fee. Wrong! He spent two hours with Deb, getting her to stand, sit, turn, stretch, talk and basically use every part of her body to see how well absolutely everything is working. The hospital doctor had urged her to prepare a list of discomforts etc in advance, so that helped. We expect a draft (!) of the report this week, for Deb to comment. What he did point out, when Deb was being mealy-mouthed about her progress, was the increased articulation on the wretched right knee, which the hospital notes show to have improved markedly over the  - then - 6 weeks since she was allowed to be weight-bearing. Because this is France, the ambulance-chasing culture does not exist, so the compensation will be less than might have been the case in the UK - but then we don't know whether the marvellous facilities Deb is "enjoying" would have been available in UK, either.

One other item - Deb's voice. She has lost a great deal of power in this area. When she raised the point with the hospital doc, an ENT specialist was summoned within days, and undertook a full exam, finding no evidence of damage on the voicebox. Deb will now receive voice-training. Full-width healthcare? Not half!

[mint]

Strange about the voice, Ian.  I don't think I've heard that before, I mean people losing their voice after an accident.

Anyway, she never shouts, at least not on the forum so you'll have to tell us how she's getting on with the voice coach.

[cooperlola]

[quote user="sweet 17"]

Strange about the voice, Ian.  I don't think I've heard that before, I mean people losing their voice after an accident.

Anyway, she never shouts, at least not on the forum so you'll have to tell us how she's getting on with the voice coach.

[/quote]Due to having a breathing tube stuck down my throat for two weeks whilst I was asleep.  I have had this explained to me in (rather too) graphic detail today by the speech therapist.

[mint]

Yes, Coops, that would explain it.

Anyway, after the coaching, would you sing us a virtual song here?[:D]

[cooperlola]

I'll let you know, Sweets.  Actually, it's the thing that's really annoying me - ie the fact that I cannot sing any more.  Although I guess the other inmates  here are relieved.[:D]

[Keni]

So glad you are getting on Cooperlola - have been following story like so many others. Glad you got home to give the felines love and cuddles, they do miss us  i should know, next doors is asleep on our bed  - when they kick him out he just knocks on our door!

If you can get to do any basic yoga it really will help stretch your joints the type you need is the gentle hatha yoga, I really have found that it helps me with my back and legs - if I stop  (as I have for the Christmas hols) I know abut it!! You can find gentle stretching exercises on the net that you should be able to do - even for the hands to stop arthritis!

Good luck and have a good new year (or better than last)!

 

[cooperlola]

Yoga, huh?  I've just done 8ks on the bike (not a real one, you understand) in half an hour.  My physio (a really delightful man) was warming his hands in the heat I was generating...[:D]  I'll suggest to him that we do yoga instead tomorrow.  I also discovered that I've lost 5kgs since I've been here, in spite of having stopped smoking.  It's an ill wind and all that.

Thanks for your good wishes.

[cooperlola2]

It is now 6 weeks since Deb’s first weekend at home, and, frankly, it is hard for me to say that her mobility has improved a lot. While her left leg and the right hand have come on well, the right knee is still being singularly unco-operative, and remains very painful to stand on. Deb and her physio, the estimable Gerard, have been alert to this fact for some time, and conclude that some of the metalwork installed by the undoubtedly gifted surgeons at Rouen is now working against, rather than for, her knee’s articulation. Yesterday they managed to get this view across to the resident doctor on his weekly rounds. He looked at the x-rays, and thinks that a particular screw might now need to be removed. 5 months of bone growth should have rendered it redundant, anyway. He will need to discuss this with a surgeon colleague at Le Mans main hospital, but if the point is accepted, Deb can look forward to an operation. And that’s the point – Deb told me the news as if it were a step in the right direction (pardon the pun).

The other development is the arrival of the draft (!) report from the car insurer’s doctor. You will recall he spent 2 hours with Deb, covering a lot of issues, including who’s doing the housekeeping, the horses, the garden – hardly doctor stuff. The report is equally comprehensive in scope, and runs to 11 pages! We do feel that the best is being done on the claim front.

More anon.

[odile]

I am so sorry about the knee, and so hope removing that screw (fancy coops having a screw loose, hey) will help. How are YOU coping at home. Give a good neck scratch to the horses, and best regards to Coops. In my thoughts every day. Bonne chance.

[splishsplash]

If its any comfort at all, someone in my family had big problems with pins & screws in her leg. They were hindering her progress even after eleven months, and the cold seemed to be transferred through them making movement even more difficult.

She decided to have them removed & hasn't looked back since. Her mobility is greatly improved & with the help of the physio is now very active again.

So good luck & all best wishes.

[cooperlola2]

Once again, while cooperlola is seen offering her views and info on here, she never mentions her progress with mobility, and it's time for a little update, perhaps.

The metalwork in the right knee has not beeen touched - the doctor and his surgeon colleague will continue to review the need periodically, but, at present, they are not convinced surgery would be worth the always-attendant risk. However, after the removal of the screw was first mooted, the doctor prescribed a revised, more gentle exercise regime in the the daily physio sessions. Cooperlola began to find, within a short time, a little less pain in the knee, which now bends beyond 90 degrees with minimal effort. This week, her painkiller regime has been altered, and she is now on a regular dose, rather than "taking a couple of tablets" just before the physio session. Result? Yesterday she volunteered to try a few halting, timid steps - unaided by any support! A new box ticked!

To (almost) quote Churchill "This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end - but it may be the end of the beginning!"

[just john]

Please forgive my confusion Coops and 2 but are you at home now?  Have they given you a timescale for progress? (you can see I know nothing about these things) I wish all speed and congrats with great progress so far, plantinium plated quote too.[8-|]

[cooperlola2]

Yes, her cooperlolaship is released from hospital at 5 p.m. Friday, and I collect her in the remaining family car, our 2001 Skoda. She spends the weekend at home, but must be returned to the hospital by 9 p.m. Sunday to avoid turning into a pumpkin. Actually, she's lost at least 5 kilos in the 4 months she's been at this hospital, so true pumpkin status is still some way off. Sadly, we don't get much of a weekend lie-in, because a nurse appears sometime after 8 a.m. Sat and Sun to administer the daily injection - avoidance of phlebitis, DVT etc. It is now 6 months since the accident, and while progress is apparently glacial, a quick look at some of the other inmates at the hospital - especially the young male bikers, some of whom are unlikely even to be able to cut up their own lunch ever again - makes cooperlola feel positively lucky.

[cooperlola]

I haven't posted on this thread for a while as you all know that I'm

alive and well so it seemed a bit pointless.  However, this week a few

significant things have happened so I thought it was time for an update.

No.

1 thing is that yesterday I drove for the first time since the

accident.  One of the many services provided by this place is access to

driving school cars and specialist instructors.  I was "passed" as

capable of driving a non-automatic car, after an hour's jaunt around  the LM suburbs and got out of the car with nothing worse

than a sore and swollen right knee - something to be expected given

that it hasn't been in contact with a brake or a loud pedal since last

August (is it really that long ago?)

No. 2 item was a contact

from the insurance company to say that the gendarmes have now confirmed

that they have completed their investigation and that it was the lorry

driver's fault.  Happily he was fully insured so now the negotiations

begin and I should get some interim compensation before too long.  Then

I'll have some idea as to what kind of car I'll be able to afford.

Long-term much will depend on how fit I can get.  That is still in the

air.

No. 3 item was a confirmation that I will shortly be able

to leave this place and return 3 days a week as an out-patient.  My

physio and I are aiming for the week before "the race" for my departure (when he's on

holiday as well for some bizarre reason...), but it may indeed be

before then, depending on my short-term progress.  But at least now

this is being discussed.  I'm using the crutches much more instead of

the wheelchair, but the former are still tiring to use for too long.

[Sunday Driver]

Great news on all fronts, Deb.

Hope you're able to make 'the grid' in time......[:D]

 

 

[5-element]

Those are brilliant news, thank you for letting us know how you are - I had been wondering for a while, but did not want to pester you or yours. Driving a car again, wow!!! That is really impressive - I am so glad that you are spending more time at home, and not becoming completely institutionalised - and soon you will be spending more time at home than at the hospital. Best wishes for continued progress. Slowly but surely.

[odile]

WOW Coops - fantastic news. So happy things are improving on all fronts - hope you enjoy the race- as well as driving yourself. don't forget to tell us how you are getting on. Meilleures salutations       Odile

PS our house sold very quickly 2 months ago - made our permanent move to Jura almost 3 weeks ago. Loving it.

[WJT]

Cooperlola, I am so happy to hear your news. You are one very lucky lady when I recall seeing the photo of the car. Please keep us posted on your progress and I assume you are referring to being a spectator at the race or is that a driver? If not, photos please![:D]

Odile, well done to you as well. I know what a relief it must be for you to have sold your house in this climate. Hope you are very happy in the wonderful Jura at last.[:)]

[Judith]

Good to know you've been back at the helm of a car, after your experience it can be very difficult to do just that.  But then, we all worked out long ago that you are a very strong and capable woman (ladies - aren't we all), so not really surprising.  Good that the news has at long last become postive both on your health and the insurance position - festina lenta - good things come to those who wait! 

[mint]

You might not believe this, Coops, but it was only yesterday when I wondered whether to revive the Cooperlola 2 thread to get an update on your progress.

WELL DONE!  I am so happy for you[kiss]  Though I always did understand that nothing but nothing would prevent you from driving again.............

Haven't been on the forum much the last few days so it was just as well that I came on this evening or I would have missed the excitement!

[I]For She's a Jolly Good Fellow.......

[Pierre ZFP]

Yea, Go Cooperlola !!!!!

Great news on your progress, stick in there girl.  I really hope you get to 'The Race' and have a great time.

Not wishing to hijack the thread or anything but can I politely enquire how Mr and Mrs Sunday Driver are now as they were also involved in a bad car crash not long before Coops?  I hope they have both made a full recovery.