Terry finally had surgery to remove a bulging disc in her neck, and fuse the two vertebrae that were above and below that disc. It took about eight weeks from when she was put on the waiting list until she had the surgery. She had two previous scheduled surgery dates, the two weeks before, but both times the surgery was delayed a week or so, as there would be no room available for her on a ward after the surgery. The swine flu “pandemic” has put many people in hospital, and this has created bed shortages.

Her surgery on Wednesday went well, but it turned out that several patients who had been expected to be discharged from the hospital had to stay another day. Terry was one of nine patients who had surgery, but then had no bed available on a ward. They spent the night in the recovery room. She finally got a bed in a room on the Neurosciences ward on Thursday at lunch time. She spent two nights in the hospital, and I picked her up to bring her home late Friday morning.

She is wearing a cervical collar to keep her neck immobilized while those two vertebrae fuse together. This makes it hard for her to do many normal activities, so we spent much of the last two days figuring out practical workarounds. It still isn’t clear whether the surgery has solved the pain she was having in her shoulders and arms. The pain is much less frequent, but it is still there once in a while. We’re hoping that the pain she is still having is due to swelling around the area of surgery, and that it will go away as she heals. Hopefully she will be able to go back to work sometime next year.

I didn’t get flying this weekend, as I really need to spend time helping Terry do all the things she used to be able to do by herself. Yesterday was sunny, but there was a howling crosswind, so I couldn’t have flown anyway. I eventually hope to expand the crosswind envelope to 25 kt, or more. But I don’t want to go all the way there in one step. So far, I’ve flown in crosswinds of about 10 to 12 kt. I’m looking for something around 15 kt or so for the next step in the crosswind expansion.

We had a reasonable good week, all in all. I had three flights scheduled at work, but my two attempts to get requalifed in the King Air C90A both foundered due to a shortage of training pilots. I did manage to get current again in the mighty Cessna 182 at least. That flight, on Thursday, went very well. I finally seem to be getting used to my new progressive bifocal glasses, as unlike my only other flight since the accident, on this one I had a pretty good idea how far off the runway I was during the landings.

Yesterday we had the annual Flight Test gathering at a cottage on Calabogie Lake. The weather cooperated, and it was nice to spend time with everyone.

On Friday Terry finally had the MRI of her neck she has been waiting for. We made a copy of the CD with the images on it, and dropped the original off at her neurosurgeon’s office. We learned that he is on vacation until early September, so there is no prospect of a quick move to the next step in this process - drat. Today we played amateur radiologist, comparing the MRI images to the images found on the web. It sure looks to us like she has two or three herniated or bulging disks in her neck, which could explain the pain she has been having in her neck, shoulders and arms. She hopes to get in to see her neurosurgeon shortly after he returns from vacation.

I had an appointment with my family doctor on Friday, and got a prescription for the next grade up of compression stocking. I hope to pick them up sometime this week, and with luck this will allow me to get a bit closer to my normal schedule of activities. I’ve got a followup appointment scheduled with my orthopaedic surgeon on Thursday.

At one point, I had hoped to fly the RV-8 today, but my ankle needed a rest after the busy day yesterday, and the weather wasn’t suitable either. I may head out to the hangar tomorrow evening to hopefully reinstall the turn and bank and do some other maintenance to get the aircraft ready to fly perhaps some evening this week, if the weather cooperates.

I’m going to make yet another attempt to get requalified in the King Air tomorrow afternoon.

We’re having a good week, all in all. Tuesday afternoon I did a Cessna C550 simulator session to check out the various injured body parts. I wanted to be sure that everything had recovered so that it was ready to make worst case control inputs. I tried rejected take-offs with max braking, engine fail at rotation and continue the take-off, max crosswind landings, pitch trim runaways, etc. The ankle, wrist and shoulder did very well. I was surprised to find that the right foot, which had not been injured in the accident, had quite a bit of pain during the max braking events. But, it didn’t stop me from getting the required pressure on the brakes, so I decided I was good to go. The range of motion in the right ankle is just enough to apply rudder without getting brake too. I’ll want to get it working a bit better before I fly the RV-8 again.

Tuesday evening I did a long work session at the hangar, and managed to get the forward baggage door lock removed. It turned out that I had the wrong key. One key had been broken off in the lock in late winter. Another key was lost in the car accident. There should be another key somewhere, but I can’t find it. The key on my key ring was for the new lock sets that I had intended to install to replace the damaged one - these locks were in the car when it burnt. Removing the door was quite a difficult job, but I got it off without damage. I’ve ordered new locks, which I will pick up at the ACS booth at Oshkosh.

Wednesday morning I went flying with one of our training pilots in a C550. I was a bit rusty, but not too bad. It was wonderful to climb up above the clouds and see the sun. It had been over four months since I last flew, which is by far the biggest break from flying I’ve had since 1982. I did all the events needed to get requalified, so I’m cleared to fly as captain again. I’ll get requalifed in the Beech C90A and the mighty C182 in early August.

Wednesday afternoon I went with Terry for a followup visit with her neuro-surgeon. She told him about the pain she was having in her neck, shoulders and arms, and he did some tests that confirmed there was some sort of nerve problem. He asked his staff to get her an MRI ASAP, and he gave her a prescription for some much better pain medications. He was hopeful to get an MRI slot on Friday before we went to Wisconsin, but it turned out there were no slots available. She has an appointment for the week after we return from Green Bay. The new pain meds are doing the job, and Terry had the first good night’s sleep she has had in a long time. We are very encouraged now that there is a path that should lead to diagnosis and treatment of whatever is causing her pain.

My ankle was not happy with the very busy Tuesday and Wednesday. It swelled up a bit, and was somewhat painful. I spent much more time today with my leg up, and I’ll take it easy tomorrow as well. It is clear that I will need to pace myself at Oshkosh.

I’ve had a fairly good week, all in all. The ankle is working a bit better every day. Once I get it warmed up, I can walk faster than I could a week ago, but I still don’t have much endurance.

I headed out to the hangar today, intending to change the desiccant plugs, reinstall the EFIS and turn and bank indicator, and then update the EFIS to the latest software standard. I had removed both of those before the accident to get them repaired. I replaced the desiccant plugs in five minutes, then couldn’t get the forward baggage door unlocked so I could get at the area ahead of the instrument panel. I wasn’t sure if I had the correct key for the baggage door lock. I broke off one of the original keys a while back, and damaged the lock getting the remains of the key out. At that time, I was able to open the lock once I got the second copy of the key, but I ordered a new lock anyway. The new lock was in the car when it burnt, and I’m no longer sure whether the key I tried today was for the old lock or the one that burnt. I left the hangar in disgust, and drove home - 1:15 of driving round trip for five minutes of productive work. Blast.

I’ll try the baggage door lock again late Tuesday afternoon. I’ll buy some lock lubricant, but if I can’t get it unlocked I’ll drill it out. I’ve ordered a new lock set which I will pick up at the Aircraft Spruce booth at Oshkosh.

Terry didn’t have as good a week as I did. She foolishly tried gardening for a few minutes mid-week, and her back was sore for a couple of days afterwards. She is also having quite a bit of pain from her pinched nerves, which makes it hard to sleep some nights. She has another appointment with her neurosurgeon on Wednesday - hopefully it will be productive. It is high time she got a full diagnosis so they can start to treat the root issue, whatever it is. At the very least she needs some better drugs to deal with the pain.

I got my aviation medical back yesterday. I expected the doc to check out the range of motion and strength in my injured limbs, but he just did all the standard stuff and then signed my medical certificate. Woo Hoo!!

I’ve got a C550 simulator session booked on Tuesday - I’ll use it to confirm that all the body parts have what it takes to handle worst case required control inputs. I’ll do rejected take-offs with max braking, engine failures at V1, crosswind landings, full rudder steady heading sideslips, nose up trim runaways, etc. Assuming that goes well, I’ve got a C550 flight booked on Wednesday so I can get recurrent. I’ll get requalified in the C90A and C182 the first week of August after I get back from OSH. I’ll defer RV-8 flights until I’ve worked the rust off on someone else’s aircraft.

I’ve been off flying for over four months now, which is by far the longest break since 1982. I’m really looking forward to getting airborne again.

This has been a frustrating week. I guess we were probably due for one, as things had been going quite well.

I had planned to start back at work on Tuesday. But, late on Sunday I noted a red area on the inside of my right ankle. This area was larger on Monday morning, and there was a small bright red, quite tender area in the middle of it. I didn’t like the look of it at all, so I called the office of my orthopaedic surgeon. They told me to see my family doctor ASAP, which I did Monday afternoon. The doc was quite concerned, and diagnosed it as the skin starting to break down from poor circulation. The area in question is right on the bump of the ankle, where the bone is just under the surface, which doesn’t leave much room for blood vessels to supply the skin. I’ve got a whole bunch of stainless steel hardware in that area, which further screws up things. The return circulation is quite poor below the injury, due to all the soft tissue damage. And, to cap things off, I’ve been having pretty much constant swelling whenever I’m not flat in bed, which stretches the skin.

The return to work plans got cancelled. I spent the rest of Monday, most of Tuesday, and Wednesday morning with the leg elevated, with the ankle and foot tightly wrapped in an elastic bandage to reduce the swelling. I could see continual improvement, so I was relieved that we had caught the problem in time. If the skin had opened up, there is a very good chance I would have gotten an infection, plus we would have had the hassle of trying to get it to heal.

I got measured for a compression stocking on Tuesday morning, and it arrived on Wednesday. These things are a bear to get on, and not that comfortable to wear. But they control the swelling fairly well, so I’ve been gradually moving from a horizontal to a more vertical existence. Monday afternoon I’ll probably try a half day at work. If the ankle handles that OK, I’ll probably do half days for the rest of the week. If that goes well, I’ll try a few full days the following week. I now realize that I need to slow down the return to normal life just a bit, to not get ahead of the healing process.

The ankle definitely works better now that the swelling is not so bad. It is very stiff first thing in the morning, and somewhat stiff if I’ve been sitting for awhile. But once I get it limbered up I move along fairly well, albeit slowly. The ankle will get a lot more exercise once I’m back to work.

I’ve hit a bit of a plateau in at least one axis of movement in each of my ankle, wrist and shoulder. This tells me I need to spend even more time doing the various exercises the physiotherapist gave me. The wrist and shoulder are both quite functional, but they hit the stops a bit before they should. The ankle has a long way to go yet.

I’ve got an appointment with my aviation doctor on Wednesday morning. Hopefully he’ll sign off my aviation medical. I’m negotiating with our simulator staff to get a short session in our C550 simulator ASAP too, so I can confirm the various recovering body parts are ready to control an aircraft again. I’ll do a few hours in various TC aircraft before I have a go at the RV-8. I’d rather work the kinks out in someone else’s aircraft.

I got the third Kitplanes article finished and submitted this week. The first one I wrote is in the August issue, which is on the news stands now. “Finding TAS from GPS data” covers the right and wrong ways to determine true airspeed using data from your GPS. The next two articles are a two part series on determining static system position error starting with TAS determined from GPS data, using flight test data from my RV-8 as an example. The articles are a completely reworked and fleshed out version of a web article I wrote several years ago. Mind you, Kitplanes hasn’t actually confirmed they will print those articles yet, but they haven’t rejected them either. I’ve got several other articles in the queue, but I want to use flight test data to illustrate them, and I’ve realized that I need to collect more data to highlight various aspects in each of the planned articles. So, they are on hold for a few months.

Terry didn’t have a great week either. While she did have several excellent days, she also had a couple of quite rough nights, when she hardly slept due to pain from pinched nerves in her neck. We had thought that this problem was slowly improving, but now we aren’t so sure. She needs to talk to her doctor about this.

It’s been another fairly good week. My ankle is making good progress. I made my first baby steps without crutches 10 days ago, but needed a cane to help with stairs. Within four days I no longer needed the cane. The ankle and foot swell if I spend too long upright, so I can’t do nearly as much as I would like before I need to sit down and get my leg up. It also gets sore if I walk too much. But, the swelling is better than it was two weeks ago, and I’m sure it will develop more endurance as time goes on.

I’m more mobile each day. It was grey and rainy most of the week, but today it was finally sunny. At lunch time, I felt mobile enough to brave the long flight of stairs that go down to the patio at Kelly’s Landing, a river-side restaurant that we like south of Manotick. It isn’t fancy, but is a great place to be on a sunny summer day, sitting outside on the deck, watching the boats on the river, and laughing at the missteps as they try to dock in front of the restaurant.

I’m planning to go back to work on Tuesday for the first time since the accident. Hopefully the ankle and foot will be happy with this. If it can’t handle full days, I’ll try half days.

Terry has had several good days this week, but she also had days with quite a bit of pain. We’re trying to find patterns, to correlate what she did earlier to the pain level she has later, so we can learn what she can and cannot do. We’ve identified some of the variables, but others are proving elusive.

I’m putting the finishing touches on the third Kitplanes article. The first one is apparently in the issue that is on the news stands now, but I haven’t yet managed to track down a copy. The second article is in the pipeline at Kitplanes, and I need to submit the third article to them this week. Then I’ll pause, as I need to generate some more flight test data to use as examples for data analysis in the other articles I have planned.

We’ve had a very good week. I started physiotherapy on Thursday, and now have a new set of exercises for my shoulder, wrist, leg and ankle. I’ll be going back for physio twice a week, and will be doing my exercises three times a day.

My right leg and ankle made huge strides this week. I had been walking around with crutches, placing partial weight on the leg. 10 days ago, I could support my full weight, but didn’t have enough ankle strength to keep myself from toppling over in a random direction if I didn’t steady myself with crutches. I exercised the leg and ankle every day, and it got stronger quickly. On Friday afternoon I took my first baby steps without crutches. I didn’t go far, and the ankle got tired very quickly, but it was a huge milestone.

Last night, I made it up the stairs to the master bedroom, and slept in our bed for the first time since the accident. Up to now I’ve been sleeping in a hospital bed in the dining room, on the ground level of the house. Today, we went to a big empty parking lot and I tried out the leg and ankle when driving our car - it went very well, including max effort braking. We’ve got a few scheduling issues to resolve, but I may get back to work for a few hours late this week. I’m pretty pumped to be getting closer to normalcy, one small step at a time.

Terry had a fairly good week. She is getting stronger every day, and is starting to learn what she needs to do to avoid pinching the nerves in her neck which gives her on again, off again pain.

A coworker and his wife came by today to weed Terry’s flower gardens. They have been by the last three weeks, and have almost got ahead of the weeds. Thanks.

I've had a pretty good week, but Terry's was quite mixed.

My ankle is getting a bit more capable each day. It has the strength to support most of my weight now, with some discomfort. But I still need crutches to provide balance, as the ankle doesn't yet have the strength and control it needs to keep me from toppling over in some random direction. The wrist is getting much stronger - now I can hold a five pound laptop computer horizontal, which was only a dream a week ago.

Wednesday it was quite nice, and Terry was feeling good, so we went out for lunch, and then did a quick visit to Chapters. We used to hit Chapters once or twice a month, but we probably hadn't been there since February. It was good to be back, if only for a few minutes (my foot swells if I spend too long in a standing position).

I had a visit with an orthopaedic surgeon on Thursday. It wasn't a completely satisfactory visit, as they were two hours behind schedule. They were effectively seeing two day's worth of patients in one day because all the appointments the week before had been cancelled. I didn't see my regular doctor, as another doc was helping out. He did give me clearance to start physiotherapy, so I made an appointment for a physio evaluation later this week.

Terry's week wasn't nearly as good as mine. Her back injury is healing well, but she is fighting a new issue. Some days are good, but on other days she has numbness in her hands, and significant pain in her arms and hands. She has had some tests done to figure out what the problem is, but they haven't found the smoking gun yet. The current theory is pinched nerves, but we don't know yet what the root cause would be.

We've booked airline tickets to fly to Green Bay, WI in late July. Terry will spend time with her sisters, and I will spend a few days at the EAA Fly-In at Oshkosh. I had hoped to fly the RV-8 there this year, but it will still be good to get there by car, so I can meet up with other builders. We've received a tremendous amount of support from the RV community after the accident, with lots of e-mails, telephone calls, and web forum postings, and it will do me a lot of good to see some of these great folks in person again. I doubt I'll be walking that well, so I'll probably end up renting an electric mobility cart.

We’ve had a pretty good week. My ankle is getting stronger and more flexible every day. I was supposed to have another visit with the orthopaedic surgeon on Thursday, but he had to cancel all his appointments that day, and it got rescheduled for this coming Thursday. I expect to start physiotherapy after that visit. I think I am getting close to the point where I could drive again, at which point I should be able to go back to work. We live out in the country, and the only practical way to get back and forth to work is to drive.

Terry’s torso is getting much stronger - she spends more time out of her back brace than in it. She was supposed to start physiotherapy this week, but her physiotherapist threw her back out, and had to cancel several days of appointments. Hopefully her appointment tomorrow will actually happen.

Friday at lunch time it was already quite warm, so we climbed in the car and did our first expedition all by ourselves. We had lunch, sitting outside at a local restaurant we like. It was wonderful to get out of the house, and to be able to do it without having to impose on someone else. Finally we are starting to get our freedom back.

I submitted my second Kitplanes article last week. The first article will be in the August issue, I think. The second article, if they like it, will probably be in the September or October issue.