I got let out of hospital at last and so now I'm back! :D ;D

You are about to get a look into my life. What happened and how it led to my visit to hospital. As far as is known at present, I do not have a life threatening disease. My father died of Motor Neurone Disease (also called ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease) in 1991, which has given my specialists' a reason to look deeper! They do not believe it is what is wrong with me. Only my left leg is affected.

In February 1982, I had a serious, almost fatal, motor bike accident.

It was 0630 and I was riding from my home to the army base where I was stationed. As I came to an intersection controlled by traffic lights, a car coming in the opposite direction failed to see me and turned right blocking my path (we drive on the left side of the road like they do in the UK). I was traveling at  between 65kph and 70kph (approximately 40mph and 45mph). The car had a metal roof rack on and as I came of the motor bike, my helmet impacted the roof rack. The helmet protected my head very well and prevented any injuries to my head and face, the helmet itself was gouged from the top down to the chin guard (it was a "full face helmet") and the visor was ripped away. Next. My left shoulder impacted the roof rack, this caused my left clavicle (collar bone) to be snapped in two. I cartwheel over the car and landed on the road about 15 to 20 feet beyond the car. This caused the clavicle to rip through my left shoulder, it severed the Left Auxiliary Artery and caused a Left Brachial Plexus Lesion (pulling the nerves for the left arm out of the spine). When the ambulance arrived at the scene, the doctors say they arrived with less than a minute to spare, I had almost bled to death by the time they got there. The real saving grace for me was the place of the accident. It was right on the corner where a hospital was. The same injuries on the next set of traffic lights, about 500 meters further down the road, would have meant certain death for me.

The end result was that I survived (obviously), but my left arm was paralyzed. I had lost the use of it. To do surgery to reconnect the nerves to the spine back then was far too risky and they could have done far more harm than good if they had tried. I continued on with my life as best as I could with an arm that was useless and had no sensation at all. It was like the arm belonged to someone else. Over the next 11 years, I did all manner of weird and dangerous things to my arm that were troubling. Things like burning it, getting it caught in or on things without knowing it, cutting it without knowing I had, etc. So with this going on a lot, in mid 1992 I decided it must go. I approached the DVA (Department of Veterans Affairs) and told them I wanted it gone. I was told to think it over and come back with my decision. So I did that and decided that it must go, and so in March 1993 it was amputated above the elbow. My left arm was gone. Best decision I ever made. No more troublesome issues with it in almost 18 years! I have suffered severe phantom pain in the arm since the accident and have been on medication to help me through it since.

The next phase of this saga, was something that reared it's ugly head in mid 2004. I started limping. In mid 2006 after many extensive tests the problem was found. I had a growth (a cyst) growing on the spine where the nerves had been torn out of the spine and the scar tissues is weak on the spinal cord. It was growing through a vertebra and putting pressure on the nerves for my left leg, causing me to not be able to use it properly. Once again, there is nothing that can really be done to stop it without the possibility of causing me more harm than good, so I just have to live with it. It means I will end up in a wheelchair unless it stops progressing, which is highly unlikely. In August/September last year there was a dramatic downturn in the use of my leg. It got worse overnight. I went to sleep one night and when I woke up the next morning, the leg much weaker. I went from being able to walk for up to 500 meters, with the help of a walking stick and not much need for rest, to walking about 100 meters and being unable to continue without sitting down to recover strength to continue on. These last events led to my Neurologist and Neurosurgeon wanting to make sure nothing else was/is causing the problem. The neurosurgeon decided to insert a neurostimulator to help alleviate the phantom pain. I have a small rod of electrodes that have been inserted between the vertebra and the spinal column, with a power/controller under the skin in my stomach (and wires that run from the neck to the stomach to connect them). It helps a lot and without it my life would be unbearable.

I was discharged from the army in March 1983 as Medically Unfit to be a soldier. I was pensioned off. After the discovery that my accident had caused the problem with my leg, the DVA (Department of Veterans Affairs) decided that I was TPI (Totally and Permanent Incapacitated) and will never be able to work again.

After my discharge from the army, I did work between 1985 and 1992, but I have not worked for a living since then. I do computer work for people (mostly friends, family and friends of my family plus a few I have picked up on the way) for a small fee that I refer to as "pocket money" which involves building, repairing, upgrading computers as well as Windows trouble shooting. I get plenty of time for my love of Flight Simming on FSX and also plenty of time for other computer games I like to play.

So now you know quite a lot about me. More than I ever thought I would be willing to divulge in here. I hope it provides an understanding of my life and situation.

I appreciate all the support from everyone here and I feel proud to call you all my friends.

@Bernardo.  If any emails are not getting through, it's because my storage quota of 50MB is used up. Once I reach 50MB my emails are blocked and an email response from MAILER-DAEMON@ncable.net.au (Mail Delivery System) is sent telling you the email was not able to be delivered. I have removed lots of email so all should be right to go again.

Mark