Hi my name is Frank, and I need your help, the community's support to help me raise funds for my many illnesses, including vertigo, dementia, parkinsons, prostate, and heart disease and I really need your support with my ongoing medical specialists and medical expenses. I used to be extremely fit and active, I would bicycle ride for several hours a day and night and I would walk several km's a day and night too. I used to play tennis and volunteer soccer coach. Now I am unable to walk straight, and have had several falls in the last few years, where I have required severe hospital treatment and I still require continual, ongoing medical and financial support.

I have had a major stroke in 2021, then my first major slip and fall in late 2022 where I had an L1, fracture to my lower lumbar fracture and intramuscular haematoma, and had a L2/L3 fracture and L5 on S1 retrolisthesis, which is a lower joint dysfunction and vertebra slipped back underneath the intervertebral disc which is excruciatingly painful. And still to this time, I have ongoing aching pain, stiff and sore, lost my mobility, strength, agility, posture, and have numbness and weakness in my legs, and my spinal nerves have been damaged from this initial fall. It is debilitating and very uncomfortable for me, I am physically and mentally impaired, and my functional limitation injury and have not regained my strength since then. I have had numerous sessions with physiotherapy, pain specialists, taking pain killers and creams and have not had any success. With my age 85 i am frail and I now rely too much on my wife and it is impacting on her mobility too. My back, hips and shoulder are continually painful, posture and ability to be independent has significantly impaired since the first fall in 2022, I am frequently upset, agitated and in a lot of pain, particularly in relation to my back pain, spinal pain, ribs and hips pain, shoulders and in addition, and now I have personal care issues, including - toileting, showering, standing, stretching and walking. Sleep continues to be disrupted and uncomfortable, and painful for me, as I cannot put too much pressure on my back or side, therefore, increasingly leading to distorted posture and my wife, now has carer exhaustion and her knees, hips and shoulder pain are getting worse because of me. I am slowing down and have deteriorated now with my short stepping shuffling gait and well as now I am having a few regular falls mainly when I am taken on walks outside of the home. My physiotherapist and geriatrician, and my wife Ada is very concerned that since my first fall, this has impacted and contributed to my uneven posture, numbness, crooked body, imbalanced and disproportionate stance, and why I have ongoing pain and suffering. I am very depressed, with regular crying, screaming and distress and he is feeling saddened, depressed and feeling worthless and not myself anymore, I have lost my strength, agility, independence, mobility and flexibility and overall quality of life.

With these low-mid back fractures, this causes incontinence, fluids retention, constipation, bladder troubles and poor circulation in the legs, which I believe is contributed now by me being distressed and unable to stand straight and balance myself properly, with everyday life and the need to go to the toileting, showering, cleaning. I am very dependent on my wife for all aspects of personal care, and support, and there continues to be significant carer stress. My condition is slow and difficult, as we continue to try to manage my severe nerve pain damage in my lower back, between the lower lumbar spine, hips as I am permanently impaired.

This also interferes with my concentration, balance, my posture, and I now feel easily fatigued and have frequent headaches, and lot of trouble sleeping and sensitivity and itchiness in my back.

I have trauma to the nerves, leading to ongoing neuropathic pain, where the nerves can become damaged or dysfunctional after an injury or fall. The absence of sensory changes is unusual but can occur where the pain fibres are mainly affected, and this can go on for many years. My GP and Pain specialist has trialled the most effective analgesics, with little or no effect, and they do make me more drowsy.

I continue to display and report symptoms of high levels of anxiety, panic attacks (tightness in chest, pain in chest, increased heartbeat, trembling of hands, excessive sweating, dizziness) and lack of confidence, low self-esteem (feelings of inadequacy), extreme feelings of disappointment, feelings of hopelessness, mood swings (outbursts of weeping), disrupted and insufficient sleep (wake up often during the night), constant emotional fatigue and physical lethargy, social withdrawal (lack of interest in pleasurable activities), social isolation (prefers to stay home all the time), loss of appetite, low tolerance to stressors, increased irritability.

I am anxious and depressed and continue to have ongoing and chronic back and nerve pain damage, which will likely persist and I will never fully recover to the condition prior to the slip and fall accident, this has impacted me severely and interfered with my independence and quality of life.

Funds donated will help me to pay for ongoing pharmaceutical and medical expenses costs, new hearing aids (broken), new glasses (broken), broken dentures and teeth, numerous medications, ongoing specialists appointments, medical treatment, rehabilitation costs, orthopaedic costs, part time nurse/specialised home carer support and a regular physiotherapy and exercise physiologists, pilates reformer machine, treadmill, recumbent exercise bike, and assistance with a seniors gym programme with my medical conditions. I don't have any private health cover insurance.

Through consistent therapy, personalised exercise routines, and HAL (Hybrid Assistive Limb) helps your brain and body reconnect, reducing spasticity and stiffness and rebuilding functional movement. I would like to trial Robofit, or other similar programes for strength, coordination, and confidence, and how it gives you access to skilled care and advanced rehabilitation can have on my recovery and improvement.