Pawel is not well

[Pawel Achtel]

I'm sorry to report that I have major spinal injury. I am bed-ridden, lost most feeling in my left leg and I am on pain killers, so forgive me if my recent posts are even more crazy than usual :clown2:

Recently all things have fallen like a house of cards, with my son's spinal fusion surgery (luckily all good here, except for 5-figure medical "gap" bills) and my wife is unwell too.

Anyway, I have been bed-ridden for 2 weeks now and I may require (relatively serious) spinal surgery if things do not improve soon (it has been down hill thus far). So, my income has suddenly stopped.

My Northern trip that I have been preparing for almost a year has been cancelled too (see: www.achtel.com/Trips ).

Given the degree of my filming obsession, there is more than $500k worth of filming gear (including Red One :love: ), some of which I decided I could hire out to put some food on the table.

Sydney User's Group and other members have been tremendously supportive. It is a great community. Thank you!

Anyway, if you are looking for some gear, send me a direct email for a list of equipment. My email: pawel.achtel (at) 24x7.com.au You can always give me a call. Sydney number: 02-9983 0963 (overseas +61-2-9983 0963)

I have phone and laptop at my bed so, unless I'm out of my mind from pain, I can usually respond immediately.

[David Wilson]

Best possible luck with it all Pawel. Sounds like a pretty tough moment there.

[Shawn Booth]

Thoughts are with you -

Hope you and your family gets well soon!

Aloha -

[Adrian T.]

I wish you a speedy recovery and good luck! The RED community is with you.

[albert rudnicki]

Hey Pawel, wish you all to get back on your fit quickly; from that moment on things are just going to get better.


Albert

[Bruce Allen]

Hope you and your family get getter soon, Pawel. Very sad to hear this.

Bruce Allen
www.boacinema.com

[Graeme Nattress]

I have a small idea of what that's like. My best to you and get well soon.

Graeme

[Wayne D]

pawel - door is open.
anything we can do, please let me know.

get well soon and back in the water

wayno

[Paul Hazlett]

keep the faith and get well soon.

[Pawel Achtel]

Thanks Guys! It means a lot.

RED has created not only the best camera, but also gathered many friends and community willing to help each other.

[P Andersson]

i am very sorry to hear about your injury, hope you and your family all recover quickly,

i was bedridden last year for a couple of weeks, not as serious as yours, just a small operation and some pain afterwards. I ordered the shake 4 (http://www.amazon.com/Apple-Pro-Training-Shake/dp/0321256093/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1221363606&sr=8-1) book and went through the tutorials, that made the time somehow ok

[Tom Lowe]

Hope things turn around for you sooner rather than later. But they always turn around, so hang in there.

[David Didato]

Here's sending you all the best positive energy for yours and your family's healing.

[Evin Grant]

Having some back problems myself my friend. I empathize greatly.

[Joel Kaye]

I'm sorry to report that I have major spinal injury.

Sorry to hear about this Pawel. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

[Tai Wah Lim]

Have a speedy recovery Pawel - Lim

[Mark Thorpe]

Don't give us these excuses just 'coz your wetsuit is getting tight, that mid drift spreads irrespective of job, age or fitness regime. Seriously though, hope all goes well, good luck with all and any surgery and get well soon eh!

Cheers,
Mark.

[Nick Wolf]

Pawel.

Just read this now...So sorry to hear this my friend! If its ANYTHING you need let us know.

Nick & Lisa.

[Pawel Achtel]

Pawel.

Just read this now...So sorry to hear this my friend! If its ANYTHING you need let us know.

Nick & Lisa.

Thanks Nick and Lisa. Hope your shoot is going well!

You are the kindest person I met. We will see how my condition progresses next week and, if it is still no good, maybe surgery will let me walk again. If that doesn't work, I may take your offer in some way.

Cheers, mate

[Jeff Coatney]

Pawel,

I wish you the best. Get well soon and get shooting.

[Nick Wolf]

No worries = The door is always open!

[Jason Wingrove]

Mate i'm only down the road if i can help or if you need me to do anything..

I'd walk there with the cash and buy your cam if i had it :-)

cheers
jas

_

[Jason Ing]

Best wishes, Pawel.

[peter roehsler]

Wishing you and your family to get well soon!
I am not exactly down the road, rather up the globe, but anything you may need from this side (Vienna/Austria) - let me know.
peter

[Giancarlo Bianchi]

I really hope you and your familly are able to surpass this sittuation really soon. And I really wish that you`ll be diving anytime soon and giving the world tremendous 4K underwater footage!! as you have been so far!

Best toughts!

[David Birdy]

Pawel,

I'm sorry to hear about your challenges...Please keep the faith, things will turn around soon .. you have to much good work to do ahead of you!
Let me know if I can help!

Get well soon!

We will keep you in our thoughts & prayers!

Dave

[David Nardini]

Pawel,
Very sorry to hear the news ... listen to the medics and do as your told !
Take care and get well soon.
Regards,

[Jeff Kilgroe]

Godspeed, Pawel.

I hope you and your family recover soon!

[Pawel Achtel]

Thanks guys, really appreciated.

The decision has been made. I will be going on a chopping table soon, the damage is quite extensive and well beyond self-repair and my condition has been deteriorating in the last 4 weeks.

I won't be able to film for at least 6 months after the surgery (if everything goes smoothly).

[David Wilson]

As Jeff said above - Godspeed. Hope the surgery goes as well as could be imagined.

[Raphael Varandas]

Best toughts mate.
God be with you...
Anything i can do beside the all best toughts im down here in Brazil.
Dont worry in the end everything would be fine....if isnt fine right now isnt the end yet.


Cheers Bro

Best Regards

[Graeme Nattress]

Best of luck, and if you can keep us all informed via this forum, that'd be appreciated!

Graeme

[Perry Ho]

Hi Pawel!
Really disappointed to hear abut that's,
hope you and your family all get well soon.
Best wishes!

[Gunleik Groven]

Pawel.
Saw this just now.
Hang in there and keep on posting. Really.

All the best

G

[Andrew M.]

Pawel get well soon.
Reading your post make me start feeling some back pain on my own.

I keep fingers crossed for you...........

Andrew

[Ramesh Jai]

Wish you all the best. God bless.

[HyderBilgrami]

Get well soon .. my best wishes to you and your family ...

[Johann Schulz]

Pawel, I've just started getting into the underwater bubble-blowers! What's going on?! Seriously, I hope you and your family can go for a nice swim together sooner than you think.

I also hope you can muster all the strength and mind power available to beat this issue. Don't forget to STAY POSITIVE! You sound pretty down (obviously)....

I wish you and your family all the best of health and happiness to come.

[Pawel Achtel]

I am sorry to say that strength has finally left me, it is difficult to type. I will be having operation next Thursday. I hope to be with you back soon.

[Tico Llaurador]

Good luck, Pawel.

[Wayne D]

positive thoughts all coming your way.

[Joe D'Arcy]

I send my support to you.

[Sanjin Jukic]

Pawel wish you the best for your recovering and reanimation.

[BASSAM MSSALATIE]

Pray to god that you will become better. it is only months and you will be
Diving in the water again
http://www.reduser.net/forum/uploaded/3151_1218117872.gif

[Petr Dvorak]

ouch ... get well soon Pawel!
I am sending you as much magic help I can :sorcerer: :sorcerer: :sorcerer: :sorcerer:

[Emanuel A.]

I join my humble voice to the choir.

All the best,
E. :-)

[zak forrest]

i had a dream about you last night

[Barry Gregg]

Pawel;
Very sorry to read of your back problems. Good luck with your surgery.

I was in a car accident 5 years ago. 8 ruptured discs, three of which are protruding. No surgery, but chronic back pain. It has changed my life. I used to be a ski instructor and had summitted Mt. Rainier 6 times. Now I'm happy when I can walk well for the day. It has forced me to focus on managing the team, not being the team.

Focus on the positive and seek to be the best you can be with what you have. I only started shooting features a year ago and just finished my third. The injuries have be a blessing in disguise.

Let us know how your surgery goes. Barry

[Frank Weeks]

Stay positive Pawel. My prayers are with you.

[Pawel Achtel]

Thanks guys, thanks Barry,

I have one disc ruptured, but pretty badly and protruding onto the nerve. Still not sure about surgery - it is planned for this Thursday. The odds of things going worse (much worse) are big: ~10% -pretty much 1000 times more risky than hand feeding white sharks alone at night with no cage -Scares me. 90% success rate, on surface, sounds good, but it is like playing a Russian roulette with 9 empty and 1 loaded, that's the best way to look at the real risk. So, big decision still ahead until the 11th hour.

The nature of my filming requires that I have to be 100% fit and mobile. When operating camera, no matter how complex, demanding and difficult the situation, there is no team: just my skills, equipment and fitness have to compensate.
So, for me, there is no alternative, I have to be able to get back to 100% or it is the end of my filming :bye2:

Thanks guys again!

[jimhare]

Wow. I wonder if there are other factors working in your favour that can increase the 90%? Previous fitness level, willingness to succeed in rehab etc.?

We're all behind you here in Sydney.

[Pawel Achtel]

Wow. I wonder if there are other factors working in your favour that can increase the 90%?

The protrusion is around the nerve and around the spinal cord. It is all in surgeon's hands.

The only chance is that my condition starts improving soon - very soon and very significantly. It has been downhill for more than 4 weeks, last 2 days - a very minor improvement. Yes, I am working on it as hard as I can, but the time is also running out. If the progress is too slow, the risk of not operating is even higher.

[Pawel Achtel]

Off to hospital. Surgery tommorow. Will be back on board when I recover.:bye2:

[BASSAM MSSALATIE]

hope you the best , please please do not let us wait so long
good luck

[David Wilson]

Very best of luck with the surgery Pawel - we'll be thinking of you.

[Frank Weeks]

Hang tough Pawel. We're with you.

[Graeme Nattress]

Thanks Pawel. Stay positive. We're all thinking about your well-being.

Graeme

[Emanuel A.]

Our thoughts are there... Be strong, you are not alone!

[Emanuel A.]

Thanks guys, thanks Barry,

I have one disc ruptured, but pretty badly and protruding onto the nerve. Still not sure about surgery - it is planned for this Thursday. The odds of things going worse (much worse) are big: ~10% -pretty much 1000 times more risky than hand feeding white sharks alone at night with no cage -Scares me. 90% success rate, on surface, sounds good, but it is like playing a Russian roulette with 9 empty and 1 loaded, that's the best way to look at the real risk. So, big decision still ahead until the 11th hour.

The nature of my filming requires that I have to be 100% fit and mobile. When operating camera, no matter how complex, demanding and difficult the situation, there is no team: just my skills, equipment and fitness have to compensate.
So, for me, there is no alternative, I have to be able to get back to 100% or it is the end of my filming :bye2:

Thanks guys again!God is with you!

[Omar Saad]

I just caught up with this thread.

Pawel, I don't think that we've ever had any discussions on the board but I always appreciate both the knowledge and wit that come across in your posts. So from one member of the community to another, best of luck with the surgery and thoughts and prayers are with you.


Omar

[Peter Majtan]

Hi Pawel!

I know everything will be fine! Best of luck mate & Godspeed!!!

Peter

[Jochen Schmidt-Hambrock]

All the very best to you from Germany.

Jochen

[Roberto B]

hey Pawel.. no much enthusiasm w/ the nurses..

http://www.waterbirthtech.com/userimages/Freestanding%20-%20Dunlap%20Memorial%20with%20Nurses.jpg

[Roberto B]

no worries.. take a look.. next turn..

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u230/walterk15/Nurse.jpg

[dmartos]

Back injuries are one of the worse things that can happen to either a family man, a diver or a Red operator. In the hard times just remember humans are design to adapt to any situation and that everything in life passes. Have a good and fast recovery, cells regeneration can be quite impressive sometimes..! Don't forget to try Cymatics as a complementary treatment to your injury. Best wishes, Daniel.

[Pawel Achtel]

Guys,

Again my biggest thank you to all. Your support and good wishes are greatly appreciated. What a great community!

I just returned back home from hospital after the surgery. I am very weak and probably won't be able to film or dive for quite some time, but all went well and I will be slowly recovering from now on.

[David Wilson]

Pawel - very happy to hear you're out of hospital. Mend quickly. This will all be a dim (or perhaps not so dim) memory someday.

[Graeme Nattress]

Pawel, superb to read you post! You just made my evening. I hope you progress well on the road to recovery, and from personal experience, I know that road doesn't always progress forwards, and you get bad days. So just remember this forum and we'll try and help you through!

Graeme

[Frank Weeks]

Good to hear Pawel,

Relax and get well. Keep positive.

[Emanuel A.]

Pawel, superb to read you post! You just made my evening. I hope you progress well on the road to recovery, and from personal experience, I know that road doesn't always progress forwards, and you get bad days. So just remember this forum and we'll try and help you through!

GraemePawel,

I make Graeme's words, my own. In my case, you made the beginning of my monday.

All the best on your recovery -- we'll be here watching you!

Emanuel :-)

[Adrian T.]

Happy that all went well! I wish you a good recovery.

[Jeff Kilgroe]

Here's to your speedy recovery... Cheers!

[John Godden]

Guys,

Again my biggest thank you to all. Your support and good wishes are greatly appreciated. What a great community!

I just returned back home from hospital after the surgery. I am very weak and probably won't be able to film or dive for quite some time, but all went well and I will be slowly recovering from now on.

My VERY best wishes for a speedy recovery.

JohnG

[P Andersson]

great to hear, best wishes

[Esteban Sosnitsky]

Just read this.
Glad you are recovering, best of luck and lots of positiveness.
Best thoughts and wishes.
Get well soon.

[Gisle K. Sverdrup]

Hope you have a speedy recovery Pawel!

Best wishes,
Gisle

[Gianny Trutmann]

Good Luck, and I wish you a quick recovery

[Barry Gregg]

Pawel;
I'm very glad to hear that your surgery went well. Take it way easy for a good long while and work at coming back slowly. After five years I feel like I'm just starting to get back some of my strength. Focus on the good days and hang tough on the bad ones.
Blessings, Barry

[peter roehsler]

great!
I think everybody here at RedUser is happy and wishes you the very best!

[BASSAM MSSALATIE]

Thanks GOD making our wishes come true . hope you soon change this thread to Pawel is very well

[Wayne D]

great news!

remember to be patient with your physio, agressive in your mind and acknowledge your frustrations.

[Roberto B]

how was that party?..

edit
any red shot w/ the nurses?..

[Pawel Achtel]

In the last few days my health improved a lot.

I am able to walk normally for up to 1 hour at a time.

It will still take some time to get back where I was before the injury (like being able to swim 200m butterfly), but the speed of recovery is now very encouraging.

Again, thanks guys for all of your support! It means a lot.

[David Wilson]

Pawel, you are likely recovering quickly because you do swim a 200m butterfly. Very happy to hear you're mending well.

[ckarcher]

Hi Pawel,

Reading you story reminds me a bit of surgery i had about 3 years ago: I had some over-reactive nerves in my left knee and I thought for a long time that it was from an old ACL knee injury.

Boy was I wrong! At the urging of my wife ( a nurse) they scanned me from head to toe (MRI). Eventually they found a growth inside my spinal cord in my mid back. (technically it was a tumor, but ended up being completely benign.) However, it had almost completely crushed my spinal cord and I was told that there was a 10-25% chance of becoming a paraplegic just from surgery and that the best thing to do was to wait until symptoms got worse.

Three months later I started my own business, and shortly after, the symptoms got worse: I started getting roving numbness everywhere in my lower body. I had to either have the surgery and face the odds, or face certain paralisis from the waist down if I did not have the surgery.

Luckily I found a great neurosurgeon. And after a 5 hour surgery session, I awoke with my whole left side from the waist down completely numb. My entire left leg felt like a stump and I could not move it.

Over the next few weeks I slowly started to get feeling back- first in my toes... then it rose up my leg. I was relegated to a walker and, for two months, my wife had to shower me and I crawled up and down our stairs at home to get to bed.

I had to keep working... and ended up directing shoots from my walker and even shooting with crews from behind my walker like a fragile old man.

Eventually, after about 10 weeks of intense physical therapy, I was walking without the walker. The first time my neurosurgeon saw me without the walker he looked like he was a ghost! I don't think he expected such a good recovery. Things steadily improved over the next two years.

Anyway, it's three years later and I'm walking, running and able to do about 90% of the things i was able to do before the surgery.

I guess I wanted to share this story with you because I too had some pretty dark times... and they happened at the worst possible moment. Despite that, I saw little miracles every day: even showering myself was a big jump.

Despite the troubles, I'll never forget what a friend told me when i first found out about the tumor. He said that others may look at this as a terrible situation, but he proposed that it would eventually be a blessing: that the experience would be a constant reminder to me of how precious every friend, family member and moment truly is.

He was right: now I find even more beauty in every thing around me... Every smile from my 3 year old son, every kiss from my wife: and every frame of beautiful things I capture on film, in words and on my RED :)

[Esteban Sosnitsky]

:waaa:

[Corrado Silveri]

I just caught up with this thread.
Followed the story from the very beginning.

Felt the pain. And the joy.

Just to say "Hi". I'm with you, Pawel.

[Johann Schulz]

Pawel, nice to hear and see you posting well again. Up and walking... up and shooting? I hope your economic situation has stabilized, too. Take care!

(Corrado, moving post - perfect English - in fragments!)

Through this thread, I see a glimse of a better world. (With you healthy, Pawel!)

[Petr Dvorak]

Pawel its really great to hear about your progress.

[Joe D'Arcy]

Pawel, great to hear your recovery has had such a positive start. Best wishes, love and support to you and your family.

Ckarcher, thanks for your inspirational post.

[Pawel Achtel]

Ckarcher, thanks for sharing your story - very inspiring.

I have been in the water today. I can swim and I can swim almost as well as before the injury, although I didn't push my luck with butterfly just as yet. The pain and discomfort are completely gone in the water. Doc said I can and should swim now. He didn't say how much, so I did just over 1000m for the first day because it felt good. This was very encouraging experience. Sitting is still iffy, though. And, of course, I can't bend or lift anything heavy. But, that's expected just 2 weeks after the surgery.

Doc says another month and I may be able to get back to office work slowly (and earn some money for a change) and in 3-4 months I should be able to lift weights, scuba dive and film again. I can't wait. There is so much I'd like to film...:gun:

[Nick Wolf]

The call to adventure is impossible to resist.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RnMuRQy1U4&feature=related


DogDay.

[Graeme Nattress]

The swimming sounds great. I know being supported in the water is good.

Graeme

[Sanjin Jukic]

A good news Pawel and again all the best for your reanimation.

[Peter Majtan]

Ckarcher, thanks for sharing your story - very inspiring.

I have been in the water today. I can swim and I can swim almost as well as before the injury, although I didn't push my luck with butterfly just as yet. The pain and discomfort are completely gone in the water. Doc said I can and should swim now. He didn't say how much, so I did just over 1000m for the first day because it felt good. This was very encouraging experience. Sitting is still iffy, though. And, of course, I can't bend or lift anything heavy. But, that's expected just 2 weeks after the surgery.

Doc says another month and I may be able to get back to office work slowly (and earn some money for a change) and in 3-4 months I should be able to lift weights, scuba dive and film again. I can't wait. There is so much I'd like to film...:gun:

Pawel - swimming is the best rehabilitation exercise there is. After I broke to pieces 4 of my ribs in a pro-skiing accident (hug the wrong tree at almost 80kmph after hitting ice patch that was hidden by fresh snow), doctors told me if I work hard I will be "normal" again, but that I need to forget any professional sport. Swimming was my main rehabilitation and I ended up swimming religiously 3km every day. Within a year I had a second best time in my country for 400m breast-stroke... :)

It's great to hear You are doing better...

Peter

[Adrian T.]

all the best for your reanimation.

Pawel was not dead, Sanjin! :wink:

Swimming is great because there's not much gravitational force in the water. Way to go Pawel!

[Barry Gregg]

I'm glad to hear that you are recovering so quickly, Pawel. I may have to try that swimming thing myself. It really is depressing living on pain meds instead of muscle.

Onward and Upward!

[Pawel Achtel]

Thanks guys!

Well, today the swim was 2k. Funny, I still can't sit for longer than 30 minutes. But, I am not too worried about that anymore. As long as I can swim, that's the main thing :pirate:

[FMG battery]

Pawel was not dead, Sanjin! :wink:
lebowski.. sj is not a native english speaker.. as many others here.

[Graeme Nattress]

I know what you mean about not being able to sit still. With me it's very chair dependent. Some better than others, and sometimes, it's not the chair, but me. Good luck finding really good chairs for your computer work.

I also raised up my monitors on their desk a few inches to ensure that the top of the monitor was eye height. That helped a lot.

Graeme

[Tom Lowe]

Pawel, just a random tip. Not sure if it is relevant to your current situation.

When I was about 20 I hurt my back pretty badly by trying to lift some heavy crates. It did not heal well. After weeks of stalled progress, I bought a $20 USD neoprene back brace from a sporting goods store. Similar to a weight-lifting belt. It had some vertical slats in the lower back area, and when the belt was tightened, it helped to immobilize my back. After wearing that brace for only a couple of days, my back quickly got better.

[Thomas Dobbie]

I know what you mean about not being able to sit still. With me it's very chair dependent. Some better than others, and sometimes, it's not the chair, but me. Good luck finding really good chairs for your computer work.

I sometimes suffer from lower back problems and my Chiro suggested sitting for a short period on a Swiss Ball,not sure if you have these where you are,but it's a large rubber ball used in the gym for exercising and strengthening the core muscles,but also to relieve tension in the spine. Seems to work for me,although you do look a real dick sitting on it. Best to get some advice before trying though.
The best chair I've found is the Aeron chair by Herman Miller, www.hermanmiller.com.
Hope things continue to improve for you.
Tom.