Cold Turkey – Rehab Diaries

Off The Serious Drugs

Cold turkey for me. I’m in an odd place now, things are going well, but it’s also challenging.

Allow me to explain. I’ve spent six weeks on Fentanyl, ketamine, morphine, Gabapentin, ibuprofen, and paracetamol. While they have been ramping down, I decided two days ago to stop altogether. Racking headaches, can’t sleep, and other non-injured parts of my body hurt, for example, the non-broken ribs on the right; I assume I have been overcompensating and have thrown some things out of kilter. No turning back now.

Getting The Right Kit To Underpin Recovery

Stepping up the physio. I’m not feeling too bad with the hip joint and pelvic fractures. But one of the rib breaks is like a hot coal, and the collarbone falls into the ‘delicate if moved one degree the wrong way’ category.

I’ve got unbelievably generous help from Naomi Clarkson, a former colleague who now works for Wahoo Fitness. She had a Kickr indoor trainer delivered to my home, so I that can mobilise my hip and get some cardio going. I also invested in the TRX Weighted Vest to help add some weight to my physio and to up the ante on my Parliament Hill walk.

Goal Setting

In critical care, I set myself a goal to ride a bike before the end of July. Still on for it. It will be on my Brompton, and it will be a short ride, but it will be done.

The journey continues to be a blessing for me. New people met, friendships deepened, and layers of self-knowledge accumulated. Yesterday I had the delight of meeting members of the Lagos-based Pitstop Community who were in town, and it was an honour to meet Iboroma Akpana, Aminadab Allen, and Preye John Dede.

Hopefully, the cold turkey phase is rapidly being left behind me. I’ll push on. Let’s go. Allez. Andiamo. Vamos. Yallah.