Get Well Clarkie!

Well things have been progressing pretty well here, lots of small goals reached but nothing groundbreaking. When i say nothing, that is nothing to most of you reading this but if you had been through what i have been through or any type of major injury or operation the small goals mean a lot.

It doesn’t matter if you just had back surgery or blew out your knee, we all set small goals for ourselves which leads up to the bigger accomplishments. It can be as simple as putting your shoes on and tying your laces, climbing in and out of a car normally, or just walking up a flight of stairs without clutching the handrail (all of which i struggled with for a while), each goal we achieve is huge to us at the time. There are so many things like the above (and more) which i used to take for granted as they would come easy and just part of your day, so next time you see someone reach the top of a set of stairs after they have been struggling for a while, silently congratulate them and be thankful you aren’t in the same situation. i learnt things can change so quickly so we really do have to make the best of the things now and not wait until later.

This past weekend was another long holiday in NZ and while Ned was down in Wellington watching the Rugby 7’s Megan, myself and our cousin Michele went out on the car ferry to Waiheke Island for the day. It was a great time and i was reminded of what a special country NZ is, we drove around for a while so i could check out the island (unfortunately my first time there) and then we decided to hit the beach. We sat for a while on the beach baking in the hot NZ sun, yeah i ended up getting a little burnt, and then went for a swim in the ocean. It was my first time in the ocean for a long time but the water was awesome, i honestly could have stayed in a lot longer but time was flying by so we climbed out and went and grabbed some lunch. We finished the day off by partaking in a little wine tasting on the island at one of the many wineries with the most amazing view which was very cool.

I get out of rehab in a few days and then will head up north to start outpatients which is the next step. I am in two minds about leaving rehab, on one hand i am ready to move on, but at the same time my team in rehab and i have accomplished so much so far and i really want to keep the progress going, so to Wendy, Lou, Victoria, Elli and everyone at Rehab Plus in Auckland thank you so much for everything you have done over the past two months.

When i get up to Whangarei i plan to kick into another gear with my recovery, i will be basically living at the Whangarei Aquatic Center going to the gym and using the pool for rehab, i really want to use this opportunity to become as fit as i can which will only help in my own rehab program.

I really want to take this time to thank everyone that has donated money to my cause, hopefully i can make you all very proud by making sure i recover as well as i can and get back home as soon as i can.

The next update will be from Whangarei, so hopefully i will have more good news as far as my voice goes then, it is getting better everyday but i have more tests coming up next week. So everyone please stay safe and make sure you tell your loved ones how much they mean to you.

Cheers

Aaron

Michele and Aaron on the ferry on the way to Waiheke Island

Michele and Aaron waiting for the wine tasting to begin

Megan and Aaron at the beach

One of the amazing views from the winery

Some guy walked into a great shot, damnit!