Diary Chapter 6

The night before we were due to fly out, the Social Worker was finally able to confirm our departure. She said a Carer would help us, not a Nurse each as had previously been promised. She also asked about my pain when sitting as they had arranged for us to join a commercial flight. I was shocked and explained how I hadn’t been consulted and about my back pain. Mum and Stef tried to support me. The Social Worker seemed horrified to discover I had never been asked about the flights. She said we could cancel and arrange another flight, but she knew we couldn’t do it. It would have meant another few days in Adelaide for everyone, including me. I was just going to have to cope with the pain.

The Social Worker suggested lots of stances to help me through, but I think my nerves showed. Plus I was quite open about feeling a bit scared of the flight. She spoke to the Matron and they suggested a pain killer regime to see me through and I agreed. Actually the Matron arranged for me to take pain killers from midnight of the evening before the flight.

I was amazingly dopey when I woke on Thursday 13 January 2005. The hospital fed and bathed Sandy first. Stef was busy taking Mum and Nina to the airport and driving to Melbourne himself. It felt really weird getting into normal jeans and clothes again. Given the brace and arm thingo, I felt quite human again. One of the Nurses made a comment about how different we looked as people rather than as patients- which was nice, even if she didn’t mean it.

Our Carer, arrived before I could read the morning paper. He was very gentle and very nice. He brushed my hair very softly and helped me to tie it in a scarf so no-one could see the shaven parts of my head. I introduced him to Sandy and then we talked for a while.

He was a Reiki master and carer of about 60 years of age. He’d had a pretty colourful past including work as a bouncer. He’d also had several accidents on a variety of vehicles. He told me about himself while I/we got ready. He put my shoes on too!

Only when I was dressed did I realise how tiny I was. In hospital I weighed about 7 kilos less than before the accident. I was at least a size smaller- how annoying. Sandy was smaller too, but not a little thing like me.

Finally a male Nurse, the Social Worker, the Carer, Sandy and I were ready to leave Adelaide hospital. We went down to reception and the Social Worker rang a cab. The Nurse said goodbye while we waited. He was pretty sweet to come down with us.

Around 15 minutes later we got to Adelaide airport. Even though everyone stared like crazy, we didn’t care. Besides, we must have looked nuts in our neck braces, arm thingos and shuffling walk. The Carer didn’t seem to mind and really, neither did we. It felt lovely to be part pf humanity at Adelaide airport.

At the metal detector, I was beeped due to my bangles. They asked if I could take them off. I answered that the emergency room hadn’t been able to, so I doubted I could. They ran a scanner over me and let me through. The Carer, on the other hand, had needed to remove his belt, his shoe and show a metal leg. What a palaver. It took a few minutes to find our departure lounge and then we just waited. We were around an hour early.

I loved the people, the smells, the children, and the hubbub. Finally we were called at around midday. The air stewards used a kind of lift on a truck, called a people mover, to load us in. We were welcomed and seated around 8 rows from the front.

The flight was pretty uneventful. The Carer chatted throughout and he showed me some new exercises to do with my feet. My spine ached. The landing was very turbulent and I broke into a cold sweat. The Carer chatted to me throughout and I tried to think about things other than crashing. It was a bit longer than I expected, but OK. Finally we landed and were escorted to a waiting Ivanhoe Manor ambulance at Melbourne Airport.

After being loaded inside, both Sandy and I managed to tell each other how glad we were to see the Tullamarine Freeway while we dozed out way to Ivanhoe Manor. The ambulance drivers said it was nice there.

At Ivanhoe Manor, the three of us were dropped off by the Ambulance Drivers. The Nurses escorted Sandy and I to the room, while our Carer nicked out for his first cigarette of the day. He left at about 3 pm, after providing what relief he could through Reiki.

Once he had gone Sandy and I just looked at each other. Yes we were in Melbourne, but the Rehabilitation Centre was not what we expected. Most of the inmates seemed to smoke and the smell wafted inside through open windows. The place smelled of stale urine and tobacco. There were dark stains all over the grey carpet floor. The room was once nice, but now was dingy and really worn out. There were stains on the cupboards, the bedside and walls. Cupboards were broken and could not be used. No-one fed us any lunch at all, even though we had eaten nothing for several hours.