Life has had it's up's an downs and we've always managed to get through it, but our worst nightmare was 5 years ago. My husband had always wanted to buy a run-down house, gut it out and turn it into a palace. I had every faith in him because he is a first class master carpenter (he served his apprenticeship in Glasgow, where the best tradesmen come from!). The kids had all moved out and bought places of their own and the family house was too big for the two of us. We found the ideal place in the Surrey countryside. It had a happy feel about it, the old couple who owned it had lived there since 1936, his dad was a builder and had built it for them as a wedding present. They had lived there all their life and brought up their family in it but unfortunately, due to ill health, they had to go into a nursing home. They house hadn't been updated in 40 years...'PERFECT', said my husband so we bought it and started drawing up plans for the refurbishment. Disaster struck 5 weeks before we were due to move in. I was waiting for my husband to come home from work early because we were going over to our new place to measure it up for a new kitchen, when I got a phone call from his mate to say that my husband had fallen from scaffolding and was on his way to hospital in an ambulance. I got to the hospital within 15 minutes, in time to see the ambulance arrive with sirens blaring! It was a terrible time for us both, his right leg was so badly damaged that the hospital registrar told us as they were preparing him for theatre that they would probably have to amputate it. My stomach turned somersaults although my husband couldn't have cared less because he was 'high' on morphine. When he came out of the operating theatre, I couldn't help but look to see if his leg was still there and miraculously it was! By sheer luck, this wonderful, wonderful, orthopeadic surgeon who was on duty at the time had decided that there was a slight chance, against all odds, that this leg could be saved and he was going to attempt this and teach his junior doctors how it could be done. Anyway to cut a long story short, after many, many operations including bone grafts taken from his hip, his leg was saved......thanks to this dedicated surgeon and his sheer determination! Ok...it's not quite the same as it was and he has a slight limp, but he still has his leg! I dread to think what might've happened had this surgeon not been on duty! It wasn't all plain sailing because 4 months after the accident my husband contracted MRSA in the hospital so then it wasn't just his leg that we were worried about but his life!...But he's a hardy Scotsman, he doesn't like anything to beat him and he amazed everyone with his recovery. The surgeon told him that he wouldn't walk for 2 years, but with lots of guts and determination, he amazed them all by graduating from a wheelchair, to crutches, to a walking stick, and was not only walking BUT back at work (part-time for light duties) within 15 months. Meanwhile while all this was going on I was moving house in between spending lots of time at the hospital caring for him. Sometimes they let him out between operations and they trained me how to clean and dress his wounds at home. I look back and wonder where on earth the strength came from to cope...but it did! The refurbishment of our house is complete, it is everything we dreamt about and it only took him a couple of years! This nightmare is all behind us now, it took him almost 3 years to build up his strength again, as I said his leg wil never be the same, but he never complains and just gets on with life....he is my hero!

Georgia what an amazing and inspiring story.
Sometimes it's with disbelief when you look back what you managed to get through.

Hindsights a wonderful thing and it's jist as well it's after the fact because I believe we widnae move from the chair if we knew what was in front of us sometimes.

Thanks for sharing that pet, what a reminder to never lose hope even when yer in deep despair.

All the best.

My husband has a theory, he never looks back because that is past and there's nothing you can do to change it but you can work on your future! I think if more people had that attitude the world would be a happier place!

It reminds me of the old lady in her 90's who was asked, 'Looking back on your life, is there anything that you would change?' She answered, 'Yes, I would change all these sleepless nights of worry that we all get now and then for various reasons, because look at me, I'm still here, going strong and I really didn't need to worry at all!'

Georgia, thanks for your story. I pulled up stakes and moved down to Georgia from Connecticut. It was leaving everything I had known but the family were all on their own and it was a sensible decision. It wasn't easy and there have been hurdles but I face them as best I can. Good luck in your new home.

Triumph over adversity as they say. There are millions of similar stories like this 'out there', including that of my family. Thanks for sharing it with us Georgia.
Rab.

Aye Georgia a know well the kinda things yer talking off hen.8yrs ago a contracted massive doses of a type of malaria,damm thing near killed me.they said i would be in a wheel chair for the rest of my life,due to the fact i was so weak i couldnt even hold a teaspoon too as much as feed myself,lay in bed 6mths solid 6mths physiotherapy,and overall was deeply guttered as the malaria ignited 3 major arthriteses in 98% of my body,osteo,psoriatic&a general type of arthritis.I see a specialist who treats me with a major cocktail of druggs including a low dose of chemotherapy drugg,i dont lose any hair,basically since i was 35 my body has been ravaged too the state of a very advanced condition such as an older person may get,still get fevers&not got an immune system left. my amazing husband & 2 kids now 19&21 have been through hell &back,there the reason i fought the fight,iam not in a wheelchair nor do i intend too,i can walk a few hundred meters 3times a week with sitting down wee bits in between,i cant ever work,you know what among the worst of my nightmares on this path to some sort of enablement the worst one was knowing my kids were young & i needed them more than they needed me,the depressions were awfull,still that nightmare wasnt going to claim me as a victim,i still have to keep this fighting up as have been in & out of remissions 3 times thus far.Iam with your mans way of thinking musnt dwell on whats past & must focus on what one can do & develop.Iam not looking for pity or anyone to think iam a sad state,Truth is iam glad to be alive & most would have died from the massive strains of it,I tell the nightmare story to let people see its a believeable achievable thing to expect a miracle however small it seems to turn out if it hasnt killed you then get on with it!!!! laughter is indeed the best accompliment too a loving family&freinds around you when in traumatic times.my wee mammy came to assist,my Kids grew up too fast thats who the victims are,my wonderfull loving husband&kids!!! thanks for listening to my nightmares GGGems!!! Now you all know why iam so happy to be part of ggbb &enjoy the fullness of this site&the many wunderfull people here in my virtual housebound life & hooray&cheers tae Martin tae seeing as am on a roll haha

Thanks Catherine, Bunty & Rab for your kind words. Linda you are a very brave lady to have come through your illness, my heart goes out to you and your family. You sound like you had the same sort will power and determination that my husband had!

Don't you agree that something like this gives you a different aspect to life? You appreciate everything more and feel very grateful!

Like your family, our kids and their spouses were wonderful, they all rallied round and were on hand at all times, to help us through our ordeal!

The thing that really touched me through all of this was that my husband was more concerned about me being on my own than he was about himself. I have osteo arthirtis in both legs, I walk with a stick because my balance is terrible and I fall over easily , My husband kept telling his surgeon that he had to get home to look after me! It brings a lump to my throat!

Thats so sweet Georgia,ye sound like ye can hardly believe why he widd want tae get hame & no leave ye yersell.Georgia hen ye wurr his daylight in his dork tunnel,what a loving wife you are likewise what a loving Husband,yeez wurr each others reasons tae fight yon fight,telt ye yer an inspiration Georgia,just like ma man is tae me & what pleasure & treasure tae hae rerr weans eh pal. sure life is goat mair rerr bits than bad wans eh? Its always a privalage tae meet such those like yersell & awe GGBB witt an inspiring place tae hing oot & blether.Cheers All GGGEms!!!

Dear Girls, the GG is special to many of us. Sometimes when I have trouble sleeping I click on my computer and head for the GG. Just recently I had one of those nights and in the wee hoors I'm laughing at Catherine's night out wae her pal to see Barbra Streisand. Back to bed and I fall asleep.

Yes I do the same Bunty...it's good to talk (or read)..isn't it? Ye'll never be lonely as long as ye have a' yer pals on the GG!

A wis thinkin & apart fae it hurtin ma heid haha a realised that sure would be a worse nightmare furr many,especialy them that are on their own or bad sleepers,likes o us bad sleepers bunty&Georgia & surely theres many more who find it settling &comforting tae come tae GGBB when they want. sure it could be the nightmare o many any if we came & GGBB wasnt here!shock is witt a widd be in,ave only been here a month&2days & realise how quickly we are drawn together as a wee hame away fae hame.My life is housebound to a huge extent & a dont drive & now ave got many freends a dont want tae go withoot.This board may well be mair o a lifeline than we think,for some i mean,sorry am straying a tate aff topic but theres probably a lot of us that need this.The concept&available info etc is awesome.A dont feel lonelyness any mair ,noo thats a certain wee bad dream type nightmare if ye know witt a mean. a hive pals but there busy & work etc & 8hrs a day at least 3-4 days a week am oot o range wi many & even wen ye phone folks yer no sure if yer chatting too long at least on the board we awe want simular things,jist a wee passing thoat wen a read buntys wee post,its summit a want tae say a agree with bunty yer dead richt on the button.

Aye yer right Linda, wance ye've found GGBB, ye don't want tae let it go. Yer GGBB friends are always there tae listen when ye need them, be it for a laugh, sortin' the world oot' politically or just a comfortin' word.

It wid be the nightmare o' nightmares if it suddenly stopped!

LINDAMAC and GEORGIA, you both have had a rough passage, and it's wonderful that you have your lovely dispositions in spite of, I believe a positive attitude is essential for a happy life..
When you have been to hell and back makes all the trivialities irrelevant.
This board is a friendly hand reaching out to all who want to clasp
it.
Guess we all have had our fair share and when in need all on G.G.
are hear for us.
Yes girls, we owe a lot to Martin for making this possible.
I have had the good fortune of meeting some of you this year,
hopefully more in the future.
SHOULDER TO SHOULDER, that's us on G.G. .

cheers tae that stratson,& i second ye on the owing it awe tae martin,thanks martin GG means so much more & even helps us avoid a nightmare or two,Goo GG!!!sure its encouraging to know we are not alone & we can awe realise theres a GG & GGGems tae talk tae.Take care awe you folks out ther having nightmares,come oan in furr a chat & feel better eh!

Lindamac just read your story of catching Malaria (POST #6) and you have all my sympathy.
For years I would tell people that being sea sick was the worst feeling you could ever have until I caught Malaria.
I hope you are recovered now as you truly seem to have been to hell and back.


Read a story in the paper recently about Cheryl Cole nearly dying of Malaria and how her doctor ordered her to start eating otherwise she would die.
She then goes on to say that she ate everything that was put in front of her and stopped worrying about silly things like her figure.
Lot of hogwash!

After reading her story I decided that if she did have Malaria it was a very mild case because anybody that has caught this disease knows that you can’t just start eating, it doesn’t matter if the doctor is standing over you with a whip nothing is going down your throat until that parasite is cleared out of your system.
When I caught it the doctor told me it was a mild case and not to worry.
NOT TO WORRY!!

Six weeks later when I finally got my appetite back I had lost over two and a half stone.
And believe me in that six weeks many a time I would fill my plate and tell myself this time you ARE going to eat only to push the plate away after a couple of mouthfuls.

In the four days the Malaria lasted I can remember pushing myself up in bed and telling myself that NO you are not going to die.
But the pain in your head as it seems your brain is going to explode makes death seem the easier option

No I think in Cheryl Cole’s case it was a very handy exotic story for her press agent to push out, with very little truth in it.

Good of you to bring this topic back to life, Dave.
I've often recounted on here about my 6 month spell at RAF Chessington Joint Services Rehabilitation Centre where I arrived thinkin' that although I could walk I was a seriously injured young man.
That idea went straight out of my head the following day.
In truth, a hair's breadth the other way and I could have been paraplegic but that's not how it went; I was simply walkin' wounded as they say.
The guys I came to know in that unit were all fighters to the last man and determined to walk out of there on their own two feet (those that had two) at sometime or other.
I was 24 back then and I still always regard that as the greatest lesson in my life that I ever have learned (honestly worth a broken neck ): It doesn't matter how bad things are there's always someone who's got it worse ... and they still have to get on with it; as the stories of all you brave people have shown.
Never give up.
Never ever give up.

A German aquaintance of mine caught Cerebral malaria in mozambique and by the time he was convinced it was not flu it was to late. They put him in the hospital and he did`nt make it.

That’s all I thought it was a dose of flu, I had been taking my anti-malaria tablets every day and never gave it a thought, if it wasn’t for a good friend of mine George who insisted that the doctor take a look at me I don’t know what would have happened.
The doc took me to his clinic in the local village and took some blood and while testing it himself gave me a drink of ice cold water from the fridge, my temp had been fairly stable up till then but WOW all of a sudden I was shivering so badly that the water was thrown out of the glass all over the floor, I remember going outside to stand in the sun because I was so cold and even standing in more than 40c I was still shivering.
That’s when he told me I had a mild case of Malaria.
That was the understatement of the year.

For the next four days I went from extreme bouts of shivering to murderously high body temperatures, dehydration was a constant threat as my bowels and bladder emptied with what looked like black water fever. Apart from the pain in my brain the one thing that sticks with me was the nightmares or hallucinations not sure which.
The one I always remember was I am floating in colour, fantastic beautiful colour with shades of colour never seen before.
Then I start dropping down and the colours get darker and I realise I am falling within my own stomach with sharp teeth like fangs coming out of my stomach wall trying to bite me, the deeper I fall the the darker the colours and bigger the fangs and more vicious they get until all of a sudden I was back to reality lying on the floor with the aircon on full blast and I am shivering like crazy.

No if I was Cheryl Cole the last thing I would remember was that the doctor ordered me to start eating

George is good man frae Maryhill and I probably owe him my life.
Only problem I have with him is that he’s a Rangers supporter but if he asked me to I think I would support them also that’s how much I owe the man.
Thanks George

Everybody should be fortunate to have a friend like George, he gave me food and water as if i was a babe in arms during those four days

Dave,

Like you say i agree Cheryl Cole most probably had a mild case and the tabloids went to town on it. I watched her being interviewed by Pierce Morgan on his life stories tv programme and for someone who was allegedly at deaths door she wept more for her broken marriage in that interview, strange woman for sure. When asked about her malaria by Pierce she was very matter of fact in my opinion and went on to say her skin was so painful to touch, only other thing she said on it was when she was in hospital at the beginning she was thinking to herself if she was going to die she wanted it over and done with quickly.

One of the strange things I found in Mozambique ( Mozal Aluminium Smelter) was that there are two trains of thought re the malaria tablets. The first was take them but strangely the second one was that if you took them and still caught it, which is more common than you think then the tablets mask the symtoms until to late. This is cerebrial malaria which affects the brain so as our guys say most of them are safe (no brain). Most of the guys were using the sprays and shampoo and covering up at night.

Hi Zascot
I suspect I had ceribrial Malaria but the camp doctor that was treating me was a Russian that could speak fluent French but very little English, he also liked a drink or two or three.
After that experience I stopped going out at night in shorts and would only wear long trousers long sleeved shirts and thick socks with proper shoes.

Dave. Then you are a very lucky man. There were quite a few died from it on the Mozal site. The problem is as you know on construction the guys are there for months and the first few weeks all precautions are taken then the lax attitude begins. We are fortunate as our guys are in and out in a day or two, but saying that it only takes one bite from a carrying mossie. We had guys out from England doing the furnace brickwork and they converted a container into a pub and named it "The Keg and Mosquito". Unfortunately one of them got bitten but it was just normal malaria so he was shipped back but still is affected occasionally. Glad they caught you on time, thank god for good friends eh.

Like most of the people brought up in the tenements, we might be "Rrrufff' around the edges but would rather do you a good turn than a bad.