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Week 1 (Day 0) - Trying to get home

Once released from A&E, we managed to get a black cab, and headed to Liverpool St station. Great Anglia now decided to complete the public transport fun I'd had that day by randomly terminating the train 5 stops from home, and cancelling subsequent trains. Luckily my sister immediately requested an uber, and we were on our way again in 20 minutes. By now pain had set in quite badly, and the road from Cheshunt station, with speedbumps every 25 metres, made me cry. Every bump sent my arm into spasm and the pain was really horrific. Later the consultant explained to me that every muscle spasm made the shard edges of the bones essentially slice through my internal soft tissues. The explanation made sense, but didn't change the extreme pain that cause!

Eventually home at about 7pm and took codeine. We setup my bed with what we later called the fort - basically a sofa cushion and 5 pillows laid down the middle of the bed with a sheet wrapped round them all to keep them in place. At the top, nearest my pillows, it was 4 pillows high. I was really terrified of rolling over onto my left side in the night, so left very little space between the fort and the edge of the bed so when I lay on my right side my back was pressed up hard against it and I really couldn't move.

My sister had to unhook my bra - that would have been impossible for me. I managed to slide it off, and then she headed back to her house, and I went to bed. To get into bed was tricky. I had to sit (which reliably induced another hideous spasm), then wiggle back until I was up against the fort, then supporting myself with my right hand, slide down sideways until my head was on the pillows. I also needed more pillows under my head than usual, to keep myself more upright.

I actually did manage to get some sleep, although woke every hour or so with yet another spasm.

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