(13/10/2015) wow… sitting
at the computer at week 5. This got me thinking, a lot of people have been affected
(I really wanted to use the word ‘infected’ here, it feels like this is some
sort of virus) since I had this tower fitted to my head. Here is what’s been going on with people close
to me.
Sophie (9) this weekend just gone was Sophie’s birthday party. It’s a party that should have taken place 4 weeks ago but due to my accident had to be delayed. For Sophie the timing of my injury was a huge inconvenience. She was all ready for her following weekend’s 9th birthday party and found herself torn between being upset about my accident, sad/disappointed mummy had to postpone the party -my wife creates great parties for our kids and they look forward to them all year, and a year takes a long time when you’re only little- and then there were complicated feelings relating to how she felt about seeing me in pain. She recognised that being cross with me about it wasn’t necessarily a nice reaction and she was then cross with herself for feeling this way. Both my wife and I talked to her about how she was feeling, we could see her attitude change. We have always made sure the kids know they can talk to us about anything. The real struggle of how she was really feeling was shown when I appeared the school for a father’s day breakfast. Poor Sophie just couldn’t understand people staring, the kids pointing just put her over the edge. Some might say I shouldn’t have gone but Luke on the other hand was very different. It was also hard on me to see her embarrassed of her Dad.
Luke (6) Luke’s approach to this was very different. However, just like Sophie we have also seen an attitude change. On the outside Luke hasn’t shown his feelings like Sophie in public, apart from the initial days when he was very upset he has appeared to be taking it all in his stride. If anything Luke’s likely to show off his super power Dad with bolts in his head. At the Father’s day breakfast having Robo Dad at school was cool. However… later that week we learned from another Mum that Luke had asked his school mate for some additional money to by Dad a present. You see all the kids are given 5 dollars to buy a present for dad which Luke had. Luke approached his mate and said. My Dad is very sick, I need to buy him more – can I have some of your money. You see what I mean – it’s priceless but he’s 6. Luke has also had more nightmares and one night came into our bedroom – Daddy had died in his dream. Oh how I just wanted to cuddle him and tell him everything was ok.
Samantha (the pillow master) oh my, words fail me, I don’t even know where to start. The first 10 days for my wife whilst I lay flat on my back must have been awful for her. She was relentless, making sure she was there during the days at hospital. On some days she waited over an hour just to get into the carpark! Then juggling the kids to and from school and making sure they got to see Daddy each day. Then out of hospital juggling her life around my appointments, once I was home, making sure someone was home with me at all times in the first couple of weeks. Not to mention hooking us up with super nourishing yummy dinners to maximise healing. Wow… what a woman. We have always been a tight unit, but her strength has been amazing. Sam, I truly love you and as the tears roll down my face, I say again, I hope we get to grow old together! And someday I can repay you.
Family and friends; the ripple effect flows on to friends and family, and boy are we lucky to have such good friends. There are things you don’t even think about, like… the dog still needs to have a walk, and especially in the early days, Sam didn’t like to leave me alone at home, so a friend of hers, Anne, would come and collect our super woofer… LOKI. He would go to her place and play with his bestie Charlie Brown. Or Brooke would come by and play with him, and give him a bone, Loki isn’t even a year old yet, and he’s used to my wife being home through the day, this must’ve been very strange for him. Then there are the people who dropped off meals and provided a reprieve for Samantha from cooking duties for that night. This was huge in the first 10 days. My wife loves to cook but the time and desire to do so were very limited, the food deliveries were a godsend. Sam says one of the best things she received was a hamper of fresh fruit, it sound so simple, but in this house we go through fruit at a rate of knots, and the kids need fresh fruit to take to school each day, apparently when this was delivered the kids tucked in immediately! We have great neighbours who have entertained the kids for us. My mum and dad In-law regularly drive 40 minutes and help juggle kids pick up, and so on. The people who take time out to come and see me (while I was in hospital and now I’m at home) and the ones who took me out for lunch. My Dad regularly comes over from New Zealand and was already scheduled to do so the week after my accident, the timing was great, and while it’s not the trip we had envisaged he’s been amazing, thanks Dad for all your help and assistance this last month - I look forward to giving you all a hug once my scaffolding is removed. These people, family and friends, are all truly awesome!
Work Everyone’s going to have a different requirement with work. For some they will need to get back as soon as possible, others might not work or want to get back to the grind. Some may even find it impractical with their type of job. It may even be a work place hazard. Again I’m fortunate to have an amazing team at Motorsport Connections (MSCN) Not only have they pulled together in this time of adversity – they have gone out of their way to get jobs completed and kept the cogs turning. To my team – THANKS!
“ONE DAY AT A TIME”
5 weeks into my 12 week torture and time seems to be flying by. My kids designed a HALO pi cart which sits on the fridge. It’s there to remind us of how little time we have left (that’s the best way to think of it) as we near the ½ way mark I think…wow… we are doing this. My shoulder is still killing me, my scalp is still numb and my eyes are showing no improvement but we are getting through it one day at a time. I have fallen back to 3hr sleep cycles through the night and find switching between the bed and couch is the only way to go through the night. My shoulder pain is relentless and it looks like I may need to try the Voltaren again for night time.
“DECISIONS TO BE MADE”
14/09/2015 If you’re reading this blog as a result of an injury there will have to be some long term decisions that will need to be made. Perhaps your work or work type, lifestyle or hobbies will need to be considered. Today I had to make the heartbreaking decision to call the crew chief of the car I drive for. The crew chief (we call him our Fearless leader), is the guy who calls all the shots on the race car. He’s the man who tunes the car and oversees all aspects on and off the track. He also makes the rules and tells the driver exactly what to do… ‘Rev it to 7500rpm on the step, shift at 8500 (no less) make sure you’re full throttle... etc...etc.’ I know the team wants the best for me, but at the end of the day they are a race team and also need to know what’s going on with me and the car. There’s a great saying with race cars (and other things) ‘if it doesn’t feel right, it isn’t right’ meaning if your replacing a bolt and the thread doesn’t feel good, it’s probably striped so ‘bin it’ – I’m sure you get the idea. The same can be applied to the driver. If he’s not 100% he shouldn’t go back in the car. So I put the call in today, at this point I have stepped down from my driving role of the Sainty Top Alcohol team. The team will find another driver and I hope he/she can prove what this team is capable off.
So, Will I drive again???….. I hope to, I still have the fire in my belly. Mark my words, as soon as I’m given the all clear by doctors I will be back in a race car. Probably a sprint car this time. Please don’t think I’m reckless… I’m not, the simple true is motorsport is safe and being in control of something with so much horse power is simply awesome.
“PAIN PAIN GO AWAY!
14/09/2015 Today is a bad day for pain, I’ve had hardly any sleep through the night (or so it feels) my shoulder pain has not subsided (9 out of 10 on the pain scale) and I’m constantly having to juggle Panadol and Nurofen as pain relief which really doesn’t do much. It’s also starting to heat up in Sydney and we are seeing mid to hi 20° days. As a result I’m now sweating in the HALO Brace when outside, Nice… I know. Now I’m off to see the physio….
Above Photo - Me hanging out with the owner of Sol, Café in Baulkham Hills. Getting out and eating well is good for the 'sol' (pun intended)
Second Photo - HALO fridge chart.
Below Photo - From Sophie's party (photo booth for some smiles) Who said you cant have fun in a HALO Brace?
Sophie (9) this weekend just gone was Sophie’s birthday party. It’s a party that should have taken place 4 weeks ago but due to my accident had to be delayed. For Sophie the timing of my injury was a huge inconvenience. She was all ready for her following weekend’s 9th birthday party and found herself torn between being upset about my accident, sad/disappointed mummy had to postpone the party -my wife creates great parties for our kids and they look forward to them all year, and a year takes a long time when you’re only little- and then there were complicated feelings relating to how she felt about seeing me in pain. She recognised that being cross with me about it wasn’t necessarily a nice reaction and she was then cross with herself for feeling this way. Both my wife and I talked to her about how she was feeling, we could see her attitude change. We have always made sure the kids know they can talk to us about anything. The real struggle of how she was really feeling was shown when I appeared the school for a father’s day breakfast. Poor Sophie just couldn’t understand people staring, the kids pointing just put her over the edge. Some might say I shouldn’t have gone but Luke on the other hand was very different. It was also hard on me to see her embarrassed of her Dad.
Luke (6) Luke’s approach to this was very different. However, just like Sophie we have also seen an attitude change. On the outside Luke hasn’t shown his feelings like Sophie in public, apart from the initial days when he was very upset he has appeared to be taking it all in his stride. If anything Luke’s likely to show off his super power Dad with bolts in his head. At the Father’s day breakfast having Robo Dad at school was cool. However… later that week we learned from another Mum that Luke had asked his school mate for some additional money to by Dad a present. You see all the kids are given 5 dollars to buy a present for dad which Luke had. Luke approached his mate and said. My Dad is very sick, I need to buy him more – can I have some of your money. You see what I mean – it’s priceless but he’s 6. Luke has also had more nightmares and one night came into our bedroom – Daddy had died in his dream. Oh how I just wanted to cuddle him and tell him everything was ok.
Samantha (the pillow master) oh my, words fail me, I don’t even know where to start. The first 10 days for my wife whilst I lay flat on my back must have been awful for her. She was relentless, making sure she was there during the days at hospital. On some days she waited over an hour just to get into the carpark! Then juggling the kids to and from school and making sure they got to see Daddy each day. Then out of hospital juggling her life around my appointments, once I was home, making sure someone was home with me at all times in the first couple of weeks. Not to mention hooking us up with super nourishing yummy dinners to maximise healing. Wow… what a woman. We have always been a tight unit, but her strength has been amazing. Sam, I truly love you and as the tears roll down my face, I say again, I hope we get to grow old together! And someday I can repay you.
Family and friends; the ripple effect flows on to friends and family, and boy are we lucky to have such good friends. There are things you don’t even think about, like… the dog still needs to have a walk, and especially in the early days, Sam didn’t like to leave me alone at home, so a friend of hers, Anne, would come and collect our super woofer… LOKI. He would go to her place and play with his bestie Charlie Brown. Or Brooke would come by and play with him, and give him a bone, Loki isn’t even a year old yet, and he’s used to my wife being home through the day, this must’ve been very strange for him. Then there are the people who dropped off meals and provided a reprieve for Samantha from cooking duties for that night. This was huge in the first 10 days. My wife loves to cook but the time and desire to do so were very limited, the food deliveries were a godsend. Sam says one of the best things she received was a hamper of fresh fruit, it sound so simple, but in this house we go through fruit at a rate of knots, and the kids need fresh fruit to take to school each day, apparently when this was delivered the kids tucked in immediately! We have great neighbours who have entertained the kids for us. My mum and dad In-law regularly drive 40 minutes and help juggle kids pick up, and so on. The people who take time out to come and see me (while I was in hospital and now I’m at home) and the ones who took me out for lunch. My Dad regularly comes over from New Zealand and was already scheduled to do so the week after my accident, the timing was great, and while it’s not the trip we had envisaged he’s been amazing, thanks Dad for all your help and assistance this last month - I look forward to giving you all a hug once my scaffolding is removed. These people, family and friends, are all truly awesome!
Work Everyone’s going to have a different requirement with work. For some they will need to get back as soon as possible, others might not work or want to get back to the grind. Some may even find it impractical with their type of job. It may even be a work place hazard. Again I’m fortunate to have an amazing team at Motorsport Connections (MSCN) Not only have they pulled together in this time of adversity – they have gone out of their way to get jobs completed and kept the cogs turning. To my team – THANKS!
“ONE DAY AT A TIME”
5 weeks into my 12 week torture and time seems to be flying by. My kids designed a HALO pi cart which sits on the fridge. It’s there to remind us of how little time we have left (that’s the best way to think of it) as we near the ½ way mark I think…wow… we are doing this. My shoulder is still killing me, my scalp is still numb and my eyes are showing no improvement but we are getting through it one day at a time. I have fallen back to 3hr sleep cycles through the night and find switching between the bed and couch is the only way to go through the night. My shoulder pain is relentless and it looks like I may need to try the Voltaren again for night time.
“DECISIONS TO BE MADE”
14/09/2015 If you’re reading this blog as a result of an injury there will have to be some long term decisions that will need to be made. Perhaps your work or work type, lifestyle or hobbies will need to be considered. Today I had to make the heartbreaking decision to call the crew chief of the car I drive for. The crew chief (we call him our Fearless leader), is the guy who calls all the shots on the race car. He’s the man who tunes the car and oversees all aspects on and off the track. He also makes the rules and tells the driver exactly what to do… ‘Rev it to 7500rpm on the step, shift at 8500 (no less) make sure you’re full throttle... etc...etc.’ I know the team wants the best for me, but at the end of the day they are a race team and also need to know what’s going on with me and the car. There’s a great saying with race cars (and other things) ‘if it doesn’t feel right, it isn’t right’ meaning if your replacing a bolt and the thread doesn’t feel good, it’s probably striped so ‘bin it’ – I’m sure you get the idea. The same can be applied to the driver. If he’s not 100% he shouldn’t go back in the car. So I put the call in today, at this point I have stepped down from my driving role of the Sainty Top Alcohol team. The team will find another driver and I hope he/she can prove what this team is capable off.
So, Will I drive again???….. I hope to, I still have the fire in my belly. Mark my words, as soon as I’m given the all clear by doctors I will be back in a race car. Probably a sprint car this time. Please don’t think I’m reckless… I’m not, the simple true is motorsport is safe and being in control of something with so much horse power is simply awesome.
“PAIN PAIN GO AWAY!
14/09/2015 Today is a bad day for pain, I’ve had hardly any sleep through the night (or so it feels) my shoulder pain has not subsided (9 out of 10 on the pain scale) and I’m constantly having to juggle Panadol and Nurofen as pain relief which really doesn’t do much. It’s also starting to heat up in Sydney and we are seeing mid to hi 20° days. As a result I’m now sweating in the HALO Brace when outside, Nice… I know. Now I’m off to see the physio….
Above Photo - Me hanging out with the owner of Sol, Café in Baulkham Hills. Getting out and eating well is good for the 'sol' (pun intended)
Second Photo - HALO fridge chart.
Below Photo - From Sophie's party (photo booth for some smiles) Who said you cant have fun in a HALO Brace?