Trouble on the moving stairs and other exploits

Right, now once again for the news in brief.

First of all, my sister left on Sunday after enjoying much of her week’s break from working in a hospital in Singapore…in a completely different hospital, which I’m sure was thrilling for her.  Luckily a few of my visitors from CS brought her around to see the city a bit, and she finally decided to join the CouchSurfing community, and on Friday joined a group trip to some nearby waterfalls, so it wasn't a total waste.

I have still been getting visited fairly regularly by couchsurfers since then, and I’m still getting new faces in. Last time I posted I was heading out to dinner for the first time since the op, and I’m glad to say it went very well, although by the end of it my leg was getting pretty tired as the protective boot I wear can get a bit uncomfortable after a while.  I’ve been out of the hospital a few times since, but can only really hit shopping malls because the streets are ridiculous – the good ones are crowded, and the bad ones require careful vigilance for gaps opening into the sewers, uneven ground, lack of footpaths and other various obstacles that can catch out the unwary crutch-handler.  I lost control of the crutches the first day, when they slipped from under my arms and I ended up putting my weight on the bad leg, which gave me more of a fright than causing any pain, but since then I've taken to taxi-ing around.  My first attempt at mounting the up-escalator was also a bit frightening, but I've gotten the hang of that now aswell.  It's all about timing and getting the good foot on one step, instead of half way between two of them, so when the panels start coming up you don't start falling backwards (which is especially likely to happen when your under-arm crutches are on the upper step as well).  A concerned friend has enquired whether the physio had actually taught me how to use the crutches, and I assured her that he had, but a normal staircase is a completely different kettle of fish from an escalator (of which the hospital has none) and thus training has to be done in the field, in my case while my sister watched in horror as I teetered backwards before grabbing the railing and stepping back once again on my bad leg.  I also tend to skip some of the steps that I was shown for standing up (out of bed, off chairs, etc.), instead of taking both the crutches on my injured side and using them to support myself as with the other hand I push myself up off the bed, before transferring one crutch to my other side putting both under my arms and being on my way, I choose to hop from my bed onto my good leg, pull my crutches from where they rest against the wall shove them under my arms and take off.  It is a much faster and convenient method of doing things, but it does upset the nurses and physios considerably when they see me doing it, but I'm sure they'll get used to it.

In other news, I've gotten through nearly all seven seasons of The Office US, seen a few films that I'd been meaning to get through (namely Terminator Two - Judgement Day and Blade Runner the latter of which was referenced at least once in every lecture of my Science Fiction module in fourth year - verdict: it was alright, but not sure I understand the hype)  Also saw Boy, a kiwi movie that I'd been told about while in Niseko.  I enjoyed it a lot, although it was possibly down to the ridiculous way they pronounce things. By the way if any of you haven't seen the Beached As clip, now's the time.

Further newsworthy events include the fact that I’m getting alternate stitches out tomorrow, and the remainder out on Thursday, and after that I should be ready to fly as it will be exactly two weeks after my op and thus I'll be at less risk of falling victim to the dangers of DVT on the long flight home.  The insurance company is paying for me to go business class (score), but they seem loathe to book the flights until I've actually got the all clear.  Which is fair enough I suppose.  I'm not going to whinge about it, anyway.  But anyway, this means that I should be on terra Hirenses (I think that might be right) within the week. 

Now all I have to do is try to meet up with the people that have visited me once more before I leave, if at all possible.  It’s going to be a busy few days, but it keeps things interesting.