Hello all, nice to be online after plenty of time well and truly out of action. I posted a message through my lovely wife Moni a week or so ago stating I would post a message myself when I could do it myself and here it is via voice recognition software. Typing is to come – I tried it today and it does not look too far away.

I am now settled in to the rehabilitation centre and am underway with physiotherapy and occupational therapy. I can eat a little bit myself but I must admit it is a real circus act – please enjoy the video that we’ve attached of my first meal. (see embedded video at bottom of post) I’ve also been playing with Ashley and because she’s three years old our drawings are very similar. I’ve also attached my first drawing done completely with my left shoulder. It is of course of no one else other than Humpty Dumpty. Humpty is a standing joke between Ashley and I. It is the first thing she learned to draw herself. I also attempted to sign the drawing but self-admittedly my signature is very ordinary.

My very original interpretation of Humpty


I want to thank you for your support and your feedback and responses on the website has been overwhelming and certainly helped me get to this point. I’ve enjoyed reading from various people everyday including some lovely surprise guests as well as regular responses from wonderful friends and family.

A few people have been in to visit recently and have asked a few questions about the accident. I hadn’t wanted to put any details up until I had dealt with it mentally and could post the message myself. Whilst on a training ride on Beach Rd, I was hit by a vehicle. This forced me out of control. In front of me was a parked vehicle and I hit it rendering me unconscious and causing my broken neck.

I am thrilled to be back online and able to communicate with this wonderful world. I look forward to posting more messages as my skills and stamina improved by the day thank you all.

Regards,

Forbesy

Check out my fork skills

Not such a great couple of days – so thanks for the messages of support, they mean a lot and keep us sane.

Mike made a start on the promised message but some pretty vicious stomach cramps and body spasms meant it didn’t get finished off today…. oh, and my technical incompetence with getting video clips and photos from his camera might also have contributed! I promise it will be worth the wait!

Hopefully a good night’s sleep tonight and tomorrow will be a better day so we will get to complete the message and post it later in the day.

We have a fundraising meeting tomorrow so hopefully some more details will be available soon as I know lots of people are asking me for details.

On the positive front (btw, that particular front is a bit thin on the ground at the moment), Mike managed to do a bit of one-finger (well really one-splint) typing today which was pretty cool to see and we have some good physio goals to try to cover off in the next 6 weeks. We have also managed to convince the nursing staff that we are OK to be out in one of the units for a couple of nights for Mike’s birthday at the end of the month. Even though they are only a few metres from the ward and there will still be nursing staff in and out all day and night, it will be so nice to finally have some time where it is just the three of us and a shut door for a couple of hours! Apparently there are all sorts of checklists that we have to “pass” before we are allowed out of the centre but if there any important dates coming up please let me know so that we can add them to our escape (i mean, day leave) list. Apparently there is also a whole lot of education stuff that we need to get t!
hru – hopefully someone will start doing this soon so we can get another tick! I think Mike is pretty keen to just wheel himself out to the boathouse cafe and forget to come back!

OT are coming out to the house next week to see what mods we have to get done so will try to knock that off the discharge list asap too.

We had our ‘goal planning’ meeting yesterday which was a bit dis-spiriting. They ‘reckon that Mike needs to be at Talbot for 6 months. They have given a suggested discharge date of 11th Feb – we said no way and gave a suggested date pre-Christmas. At a minimum we are taking a leave day to get Ash to the Wiggles concert and I plan on at least spending Christmas day at home! No chance that summer will be wasted there – besides, it will cost me about a million dollars in petrol to drive there everyday between now and then, plus I need to get back to work! Obviously they have not taken the ‘Forbes-factor’ in to consideration when establishing that date. I guess it is good that they think they can teach Mike stuff for that long — although surely a compressed version would suffice (not that I am impatient or anything)??? Will see how Mike is progressing and what the program is looking like to see what other gains can be reached vs getting home before Ash turns 4. In the mean-tim!
e, we’ll keep feeding him good food and keep him as fit and healthy as we can.

Thanks to Michelle, Cam and the girls who keep coming in with food and for dinner and just hanging out. Also to Jack, Daina and the girls who are our Wednesday night dinner companions. Finally to all the visitors – many who bring yummy and nutrious food – thanks for keeping our spirits up and keeping us up to date with the outside world. Oh, and to my mum for cleaning the house today – thanks mum!