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We’ve had a pretty good week. My left hand and wrist are working well within the range of motion that they have, and the range of motion is increasing a tiny bit each day. Just a few minutes ago I finally was able to touch my left thumb and little finger together for the first time in 10 weeks. It took everything I had, and they barely touched each other, but it is still a big milestone. My left ankle is pain free, and the range of motion is very slowly improving.

The wrist crutches I tried ten days ago weren’t useful to me, but another coworker delivered a set of armpit crutches a few days ago. I don’t think I could have used them two weeks ago, as the left collarbone was still giving me a bit of pain. But it has greatly improved in the last week, and I found that it didn’t complain about armpit crutches at all. The biggest issue is the poor circulation in my right ankle and foot. The foot starts to turn red within seconds of standing up, as the blood pools in there. I don’t think I should standup for too long, so I haven’t made any great use of the crutches yet. The poor circulation has me slightly concerned. I hope it improves quickly once I can start walking.

Yesterday evening Jim and Kim, two great friends who live close by, sprung us free from the house and took us to a local restaurant. We bought them dinner as a tiny recompense for all the assistance they have provided us since the accident. It was great to have a change of scenery, and the wonderful meal and bottle of wine sitting outside on the restaurant patio capped it all off. Thanks Jim and Kim.

I’ve got another doctor’s visit this coming Thursday, the 28th, and I hope he will let me start putting some weight on the right leg.

Terry is doing well. She has some occasional back pain, but not too much as long as she manages to restrain her urge to do things she shouldn’t

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All in all, we’re doing OK. My biggest problem is that I am starting to go a bit stir crazy. Terry has finally learned to slow down, so her back is doing fairly well - not much pain. She’ll be in the back brace for another few weeks, then we’ll see how it goes after it comes off. Her biggest complaint right now is she is fighting an inner ear infection that gives her periodic vertigo and nausea.

I’ve been making steady progress at building up range of motion in the wrist and ankle. The left wrist and hand finally got flexible enough so I could touch type again about three days ago - that was a nice change after eight weeks of one finger, then two finger, hunt and peck. I’ve still got a fair ways to go to regain full range of motion and strength, but at least the left hand is now functional for most tasks.

I’m still not allowed to put any weight on the right leg, but I have been able to exercise the ankle. There is no pain when I move it, and the range of motion is slowly increasing. It’s got a long way to go before it’ll be useful for walking or flying though. I think the range of motion will increase fairly quickly once I can put some weight on it.

A coworker loaned me some crutches he used when he broke his foot a few years ago - thanks John. Given that both my left collar bone and wrist are healing, I wasn’t sure whether I would be better off with ones that went under the armpits, or with the kind where the weight is taken by the wrists. These ones are the wrist kind - I tried them today, and clearly my left wrist is far from being ready to take that much weight on it. I’ll track down a pair that go under the arm pits and see how that works out. It would be nice to escape this blasted wheel chair.

I’ve been working from home several hours each week day, and occasionally working on several articles for Kitplanes magazine. The first one should be in the August issue, and I’ve got two more mostly written. There are another two or three in the queue after these.

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Big day today - I had my first shower since the accident, seven and a half weeks ago. It was nothing but sponge baths in the hospital, and the showers in our place are up a bunch of steps. There was no safe way to get up those steps and into the shower with one arm and one leg, so it has been nothing but sponge baths here either. But, after getting my casts off last week, the left arm is starting be useful again, so this morning I managed to get up the steps, down the hall and into the shower. Man, that felt great!

The left wrist and hand are still quite stiff. At the rate things are going it will be weeks to get the full range of motion back, but there is significant progress every day. This evening is the first time I’ve been able to touch type since the accident. It is slow, and I’m making a lot of mistakes, but it sure beats the one finger typing I was doing for so long.

Terry is doing a lot better this week. She had a bit of a set back several days ago - she was trying to do too much around, and started having significant back pain. But she got the message, and started taking it much easier. Life isn't going to end if standards slip for a few months ):. The back took a couple of days to respond, but the last few days her pain has gone way down. Hopefully she can continue to restrain her urge to do everything that she would have done before the accident.

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It seems that I am not the only one who has noted that complex spreadsheets often contain errors. Apparently errors in complex spreadsheets have resulted in several major accounting problems at large corporations (one of the errors was by over $1.2bn). Other relevant info here.

I'll stick with python and sage for my data analysis. All the equations are sitting out there staring you in the face, rather than hiding out of sight in all those cells. Spreadsheets are a lot easier to learn though, so I understand why they are so popular.

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Terry and I went back to the hospital this afternoon for another visit with my orthopaedic surgeon. They cut both casts off, then took a batch of X-rays. The X-rays and visual inspection showed no issues, so they left both casts off - I’ve got tensor bandage wrapped around the wrist and ankle, to help control the swelling. I still am not allowed to put any weight on the leg, for at least four more weeks, but they gave me a long list of exercises to do to start getting the ankle working again. I’ve got very little range of motion in the right ankle, which doesn’t surprise me, given that the breaks in the tibia and fibula went right through the ankle joint.

The left wrist is depressingly stiff too. I had expected it to be somewhat tight, but nothing like this. My good right wist has about 90° range of motion. After the cast came off the left wrist, it only had about 10° range of motion. I’ve managed to work that up to 30° now, five hours later. If I try really hard, I can just touch the tips of the thumb and index finger together. Wow. I’ve got lots of work to do to get the left wrist and hand back in action. Still, this is a big milestone. The next big milestone will be to have a shower, but I need to get the left arm working first, so I can get up the steps to the bathroom area.

Terry’s back injury is slowly healing. She will be in the back brace for at least another six weeks. She really needs to pace herself, and not do too much, or she pays the price with back pain.

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Today is six weeks since the accident. Terry and I are both doing well. My collar bone is feeling much better every week. No leg or wrist pain. I’ve got another visit with the orthopaedic surgeons on Thursday, and should come home without a cast on my wrist. I’ll probably have a removable splint to wear on it for awhile. The cast on my leg may be replaced by a removable air cast, which would let me have my first shower since the accident, once my left arm is working well enough so I can get up the steps to the bedroom area.

The weather has warmed up nicely, so I have been able to get out on the patio for some fresh air several times. Terry’s sister Mary has been helping out - she goes back on Wednesday. After that Terry and I will be on our own, except for Victoria, a personal care attendant who will come by morning and evening to help out.

Linda P. and her husband Leo, a cousin who lives in the area came by on Saturday to take Terry grocery shopping - thanks Linda and Leo. We really appreciated it.