On the 27th of December 2009 I suffered a cerebral vascular accident, in other words a stroke. I was then 49. Suddenly my left crook left ankle didn't seem so important any more.
Needless to say I made it, with only a very small level of residual effects. I reckon I'm 97% recovered. My Neuro Surgeon told me that if I had still been smoking cigarettes at the time of the stroke I would probably died in my sleep. Smokers Beware! At the time of the stroke I was on a high dose of tramadol for pain, both post surgery from the ankle repair and for ongoing sciatic pain from the disc injury in 2007. I was also suffering pain and discomfort in the groin which turned out to be bilateral inguinal hernias...they were surgically repaired with 'mesh' on both sides in 2010. I can still feel the mesh when I lift things, it's like someone pulling a string from inside my abdomen! A little creepy eh?
Back to the left ankle issue. After the ankle pain subsided in 2011 I was still having issues with the left knee, on the inside when I twisted on it, or stood still for any length of time. Something wasn't right, I was sure. I had it investigated an sure enough, the was a tear in the medial meniscus that would have been caused by the fall that stuffed my left ankle. I had surgery to remove the torn section, that was giving me grief.
After the stroke in 2009 I made the decision to temporarily give up my passion of motorcycle riding, I sold both my '74 Yamaha RD250 classic bike and my 2007 Yamaha TDM900. I was already compromised physically by the back injury in 2007, then the ankle and knee issue after the 2008 fall as well as the double hernia surgery in 2010. I thought my body needed a rest and i had also lost confidence in my left side's strength with the double whammy of the ankle & knee injuries plus the stroke that also affected the left side. I was having trouble co-ordinating my left hand and ankle movements on the 'bike changing gears and thought a break would be prudent.
In April 2011 I received a small lump sum payout for my insurance claim, that I ended up using to buy a vehicle to start my own business as a Courier here in Sydney. Reason being, with my medical history no-one would employ me!
At time of this post I'm still working as a Courier with the ute I bought but it's now in the workshop and is the subject of a dispute with the manufacturer over a warranty claim they rejected because I was operating it on LPG[cheaper than petrol]
My left ankle & knee still has stability issues, and I'm told it will never get any better than it is now-any sort of an uneven surface when I'm walking or standing has the left ankle wanting to 'roll' outwards, it's nearly caused me to fall on several occasions in the last 18 months or so. With my ute breaking down and being off the road for who knows how long I made the decision to put an old motorcycle I bought just three days prior on the road and still do some Courier work to at least keep some income coming in. There's no sick pay, or annual leave when one is self employed!
