'Every day, every hour\I wish that I was..... bullet proof '

Ahoy, hoy!

So the recovery is in full swing, kind of...

I have spent the last week since coming home trying to ease myself back on track and its proven a pretty decent spin....apart from the night before last when, my ribs and my left leg defiantely reminded me that my neck was not the only thing that got battered like a cod in Glasgow...... Two serious strength painkillers and two Vailum put pay to that however :). Due back in the hospital for another xray/check up on Monday week, and staying relatively at home till then....

Thank you so much again for all the calls/Texts/mails etc that I've received....really nice to hear from everyone all round, even though the monkey jokes are getting a little thin... (I'm looking at you, Reidy!)....I'm trying to get mails back to everyone I can who have contacted me, so if i have'nt yet sorry!, will be in contact soon....

Also, a huge thanks to all those who contributed to the Rocky Road computer fund (you know who you all are!)..... the new machine is now in place and I am busy filling it with lots of lovely programs for the lovely people who live here :).... we have an extra three weeks here now before we venture on a little more travelling on our own.....



In one thing as a sign of luck changing (as if being alive is not enough!), the lovely people at Quantas quite nicely have changed our flights (both connection and main SA - OZ flight) for nothing !!!.... we are now due in Sydney for tea and crumpets with Mister Dunne on Nov 11th, bar any further Acts of Ape or medical emergencies......

Katya is very well, if relieved that all seems to be returning to normal.. she's had enough of hospitals and xrays for a lifetime, I think.

Will go now, if only see Ireland thrown home from the Rugby World Cup in shame as we deserve..... We both just bought lifetime Springbok supporters tickets yesterday!

If anyone who does'nt have it wants to mail me/contact etc....antifyre@gmail.com is the mail address, or look for Micheal JohnKennedy on facebook will find me too....
Bye,

J

The one where John flips a pick-up truck....

First off, thank you goes out to a very special person today...

....Katya. You really have no idea how much you helped me over the last two weeks, and how much you will probably continue to do so as I rush towards recovery with open arms. Constantly around, contacting my folks and bro and other worried friends keeping them in the loop, tireless in enthusiasm and support, and still willing to laugh at my jokes?? Is there no end to your genius??? (Thats about as gushy as she would allow me to get I think, without resorting to violence ;) )

So, to explain what all the fuss has been about for anyone who missed the bits and pieces, here follows a quick synopsis.....



On the 11th of September, after a very successful trip to town to pick up some supplies for the kids in the play , organize Katya's Anniversary present and put the new computer for Rocky Road into production, I swerved the center's pick up to avoid a monkey in the road...managed to get the damn thing back onto the road, but the steering locked and I veered left, popped over a barrier and 'Dukes and Hazzard'ed it into a field, rolling the truck three or four times, whilst manging to be thrown from it before it reached its destination.



My initial prognosis was nothing broken, a very bruised back, and a laceration across my head that needed twelve staples to stitch up...and an award for the luckiest fucker on the face of the planet....





A trip to the hospital and three days later I was home again....but not for long.

The doctors were not convinced by my still relatively high level of discomfort, and promptly send me for a day of x-rays and MRI's up and down the Garden route here, arriving back at the hospital where I was initially led, to a consultancy with a Dr Verrier (probably the best doctor I will ever meet!)

He quickly showed me through the 3d rendering that the Catscan/MRI had done that I had broken one of the joints that held my vertebrae together in my neck separating my c6 and c7 discs, which then turned in towards my spinal column (pretty much anyway).He immediately hit sent me to bed, and set me up for an operation, to take a piece of bone from my hip to replace this joint and fuse it to my vertebrae with a titanium plate, going through my throat...




All in all, when they got in there to do the operation, the cord had swollen and it was very messy, but all good in the end! Got released after a few days rest and back here to Rocky Road for 6 weeks, until I can get another x-ray to check progress...



So that has slightly put us out of our plan, as OZ will have to wait out another month or so, but onward go we do.

THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone who sent me messages and texted and called over the last two weeks; you really all kept spirits up and made the days lying motionless go quicker and quicker. I owe you all a drink (or 5!)

Cheers especially to my bro Rob, too, who stood in and saved the day. you little Gem.


Gotta go and get some rest, peeps... will be on to you all again soon with recovery news from the lazy-boys in front of the TV ;)

Soon,

J

'I'm not that easy, no I'm not your Horse to Water......'

Well here's the thing....

Things have been a little bit hectic as everyone is fond of saying here.... With the Cultural show coming through (Finally) last Saturday night, and not being a complete mess (although a funny story about that to follow), and the play within 9 days time; I am experiencing a little Battle Fatigue, especially from regular visits to the local back packers (more regular and more drunken as we go), and the constant supply of good food, good cheap beer and hot tubs is a constant temptation....

Out new arrivals, two teachers from Carlow, Una and Donal, have come and gone, but assisted Katya no end with the safe house... Sarah returned to the UK also, so for the moment K and myself are the only volunteers here, making things a welcome bit quieter....

How can a rugby team be so hyped and suck so much..... just glad the jerseys green and I can claim to be a local!

The play has progressed to a written status and I'm at my wits end keeping order and interest levels alive (leading me to walking out on the cast last week....!) but it will all be great in the end (hmmmmm, who am I trying to convince here??)

Anyway, with people not turning up when they should have (performers and attendees), there was a huge Chicken Poike (SA Chuck Stew) with about 15 kg(!) left over on Sat night.... The decision was made to leave some for the cleaners the next day and relax into chicken sambos for the rest of the week... Mean while, a group of local criminal types from a nearby township, who have been running rampant with the breaking/entering recently, got wind of the activity at the centre where we were running the show, and decided to break in to help themselves to whatever they could find. Jarque's Poike being as good as it is, the lads couldn't help helping themselves......and helping, and helping, and helping...so much so that when the police arrived, they couldn't move quick enough and got hauled off to jail! Classic and quite typical of many stories I have been regaled with while here....

So off to bed with me.... one quiet night in thirty thankfully... upcoming events include a three day camp with the local adventure center acting as guides, skydiving, paragliding, a huge party on Sat night, and lots...more...rugby (hopefully sufferable in public this time!)

Be Well!

J