A Year Of Discontent

In October 2017 I began what I have come to call my year of discontent. It started somewhat mysteriously: I fell very ill with heavy flu-like symptoms but it wasn't until I ended up in hospital a full three weeks later that doctors discovered both a lung infection and encepahalitis. The encephalitis seriously affected my sense of balance to the point where I had difficulty walking. Worst of all, we never really determined what the root cause was.

Over the ensuing months (most of that summer) my balance improved to the point where I could swim a bit and ride my mountain bike - a bit. But my enthusiasm to get riding again led me to make some foolish decisions. As I write this nearly a year later, I am still recovering from them. This is the story.

In early October 2017 I took ill with what appeared to be brochial flu. For the next two weeks I visited doctors and consumed antibiotics, but to no avail. A full three weeks later, with my condition no better, I checked into hospital where I had x-rays, a heart ultrasound and blood tests. The x-rays showed a lung infection indicating bronchial pneumonia, so I was given more antibiotics and sent home. Although we had also suspected tick bite fever, the blood tests did not confirm this.

Three weeks later I was, if anything, worse. Very dizzy, lethargic, and barely able to walk because of my seriously impaired balance. I went back to hospital where I had a brain MRI and a lumber puncture, and inivitably more antibiotics. The results indicated encaphalitis which had clearly also affected my balance center. I went home with the prognosis that things would get better on their own (and in their own time).

Early in 2018 I went for my biannual ear checkup with John Steer. He was quite sure I was suffering from Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV) and gave me some simple exercises to do. He also cuationed me against riding my bike! I started taking daily walks around the Estate and soon I was walking around the local vineyards. Although we went to the beach quite often it was difficult to maintain my balance in the water, never mind swim. Any sideways movement of my head made the world spin round. The summer really was one of discontent!

This situation continued with only minor signs of improvement. Then towards the end of February I got on my mountain bike just for a laugh and to my amazement found that I could balance quite well. I immediately decided (against my doctor's exhortations) that I would have a go at The Cape Town Cycle Tour ("The Argus"), a mere 11 days away. I was particularly keen to do this because it would be my 28th consecutive tour and I was loath to break the run.

I rode on my MTB which made things very slow but otherwise relatively uneventful. I had to push up most of the hills and avoid other cyclists as far as possible. I also lay down to rest a few times, but I made it to the finish in 7:26 and collected my finisher's medal. Only to discover that I had been disqualified for taking over 7 hours! I wrote to the organisers to complain!

Having finished the Argus my self-confidence on the bike was restored and I began riding the Raithby trails, mostly on my own because I was still pretty slow. I even went for a sea swim at Gordon's Bay.

In early April, one month after the Argus, I went out one Saturday morning to ride the Raithby trails. About 300m from the gate to my estate, still on the main road, I turned my head to check the traffic behind, and the next I knew I was lying in the road in a great deal of pain. Fortunately, my MTB friends were right behind me and were able to summon an ambulance. It turns out I had shattered my upper femur, and I was quickly taken to hospital - again! The next day I was operated on and titanium rods and pins were inserted into my femur and hip. It was a very painful ordeal.

I spent a week in hospital. Back home I spent much of my time sleeping and on pain killers. I was able to get about on a walker and spent ten minutes every morning "walking" up and down our close. Whilst I was resigned to the leg taking a long time to heal, the real problem was my continuing dizziness and poor balance control. My physio reckoned it was vestibular neuritis, nerve damage in the inner ear, and suggested various excercises to help.

About three months after the accident I thought I was ready to try cycling (as a form of exercise) so we borrowed a stationary bicycle. I began daily sessions of peddaling, which helped my leg significantly.

Meanwhile, my neurologist was still concerned about the cause of my accident and ordered a further series of tests: MRI's of my brain and brain stem, and x-rays and a ultrasound of my neck. The MRI indicated that I had had at least three minor strokes, the last and most serious of which had caused the accident. The stroke was caused by the cut-off of blood coming through the artery at the back of my neck (through the spine), which in turn was caused by arthritis in my spine. The ultrasound indicated that my carotid arteries were fine. In one sense the results were positive: the stroke was not caused by blood clots.

Five months after the accident I graduated from the walker to a single crutch and could hobble about without too much effort, although still with some pain in my hip, knee and ankle. I started swimming in the Strand municipal pool twice a week, although my long-suffering partner Mel had to drive me there. I also started biokinetics twice a week. The more worrisome aspect was the "dizziness" or "impaired balance", but this did not stop me begining to walk and getting back in the sea.

After nine months I felt that, if anything, my hip was feeling even worse. Even simple actions like sitting down were painful. So I consulted a second orthopeadic surgeon and he immediately recommended getting rid of the pin in my hip. He reckoned it had done its work (the femur had reconnected with the hip bone) and could come out.

Ten months after the accident the pin was removed in a remarkably simple same-day operation and all the hip and knee pain disappeared!

At the time of writing, March 2019, eleven months after the accident, I am starting to walk properly without pain but am still plagued by quite severe "dizziness". Hopefully, this will eventually ease...

In February 2019 I went for an eye test and the optomotrist (Steve Trimby) told me I really should see to the cataract in my left eye. And so I had the cataract removed in mid-March. The operation itself was remarkably painless - they gave me a shot of the sedative Dormicum which put me right out - but the post-op was horrible. My eye was bandaged causing some irritation and discomfort. Not to mention obvious blindness, causing problems with depth perception. But the worst came that night in bed: my eye felt like it was full of sand and soap, and I wondered if my eye was falling out! Fortunately the bandage was removed first thing next morning and soothing eye drops applied.

Bear in mind that this was less than two weeks after I'd had the pin removed from my leg. Hence the crutches shown in the photo on the right.

A word of advice: cataract operations are not trivial. Although there is no pain involved, the discomfort and anxiety are, strangely enough, worse than during a normal op (like having the pin removed from my leg). Doctors are notoriously poor at advising patients, so make sure you know what you are in for and what your limitations are when you go home.