Friday did not go 100% according to plan. Maralyn arrived at half past eight, she has been really busy at her new venue in Chard which she holds on a Monday, she is doing really well which is great. She was telling me about how the `patients` numbers have increased and that she is glad that she made the decision to start in Chard. We spoke about many things as usual, we had a good laugh and even managed a serious discussion which neither of us would lie about, not lie about what we had been discussing, but lie about the fact that we actually managed a serious discussion! After my treatment had finished Maralyn removed the pins, stowed them in the sharps container and then we spoke for a while longer until eventually it was time for her to move to her next appointment, she spoke to my Wife, who had managed to collect my fixed punctures from the bike shop in Ilminster, and put the next date in the diary and then left. I rolled about the bed like something on it’s last legs while I tried to get dressed which I successfully achieved after only fifteen minutes and then got in to my wheelchair ready for the day ahead.
Darren came round in the morning, we had spoken about my standing frame and my floor exercises where I am building strength and technique to get from the floor in to my wheelchair, at the moment though I have to use an exercise step up as a go between platform. Darren had come round to be present while I did some floor work in case I got in to difficulty that my Wife alone could not cope with. The likelihood of this is slim to none but even my Physio brings help when she visits, and as I don’t bite (hard anyway), I figure that an extra pair of hands is probably a good idea and so we go with it. I was absolutely chuffed to bits when I got on to the step up platform in one go, it may not sound like much but for me it is something that I have been working so hard to do and it has been taking three or four or even more attempts to do it and it has been really exhausting but to achieve it on the first go was brilliant. Getting on to my chair was a bit more of a challenge. It is like I need an extra couple of inches (stop it!), on my arms as I just seem to be an inch short on height needed to get my ass on to the seat. It took a good few attempts to get there but in the end I did manage to get on to my wheelchair. It was good not only as I had improved on the attempts needed to get on to the platform and chair but also to show that the `st-rolls` I am doing to Ilminster are having a positive effect, I am definitely getting much stronger each time I make that trip, a few more and I reckon I’ll have the getting in to the chair sorted so watch this space.
Alison came round for a cuppa and to inform me that she was not going to walk to Ilminster and that as it was so cold it was not a good idea for me to be out when it was not a necessity, especially as she was not happy, (a feeling which was shared by my Wife), about my needing to go on to the main road to avoid the debris which had given me punctures the day before. As a result we did not go and so for this week I can only declare to have propelled myself eight miles this week, next week will not be many as I have a full week. I am still trying to work out why I seem to have less time now I have no job compared to when I had two before my accident, strange. Alison left us to go and prepare tea for her and Steve who had decided to walk Jack to Ilminster and back as we had not taken our normal trip and we made the decision to get take out. My Daughter had asked if we could by way of telling us that she wanted to treat us to take out and that she would buy with her Birthday money. I told her that this was a lovely gesture but that her money was for her to save and buy something for herself, she is still learning about money and how little what seems a large amount of money will buy. My Wife drove to the take-a-way and took my Daughter, she was allowed to hand the money over, but her money had to be put in to her savings wallet. Bless her. From here it was a normal end to the night with me up until half two in the morning until I eventually went to bed to suffer the pain and spasms which I so look forward to every night, hence me staying up until such point that I am almost asleep in my chair.
Another of my Nieces had a Birthday on Saturday, March is a busy month for Birthdays, Nieces, cousins, Father and even mine and as it was my Niece Nina’s Birthday, my Brother and Sister in Law had a little get together in their house to celebrate. It was good to go to their place where they had moved the sofa’s around to make room for me in my chair. Darren and Chris (my Brother) helped me through the front door which has a step and then the threshold, and from there i was able to move myself around, even managing not to scuff the paintwork or damage the door linings!! We stayed for a good few hours and then we had to leave as we had a prior arranged meal with our usual dinner friends. We try to go for a meal once a month to six weeks as it gives all of us a couple of hours off, away from our homes and gives us a chance to have a good chat and vent to each other if it is required. Stuart and Louise, Bex and Rob and my Wife and I were in attendance as Matt and Debbs were unable to come which was a real shame. It’s really good to have mates like our `dinner crew`, to be able to talk about so many different things and have such a great laugh in a small village pub where the staff are friendly and the food is great. At the end of our evening I got talking to the landlord who also does the cooking, a really nice bloke who I am glad I spent time talking to. When we finally left the pub and said our good-nights to Louise and Stuart leaving Bex, Rob my Wife and I to walk the short distance to the Chucklebus. We pick Bex and Rob up on the way through which means that they can have a drink. My Wife does not drink and I do not currently drive, it is a minimal detour to collect them and it also saves two vehicles when only one is needed. By God it was baltic outside, the ice was thick on the cars and was even substantial on the sides of the vehicles. Our vehicle temperature gauge was displaying minus 11 degrees centigrade, how right this was I am not sure, but it was bloody cold. We dropped off Rob and Bex at their home and then headed back to Chard where we collected our kids from Darren and Tabatha’s house and then returned to the bungalow where the kids and my Wife went to bed and I again stayed up watching recorded episodes of NCIS until stupid o clock in the morning and eventually went to bed to enjoy? the spasms and pain once more.
Today we had a lay in, my Wife is obviously up early every day and does not wake me until some time after she has got up and so today it was time for her to also lay in for a while. I go to bed late as I have said, my Wife understands this and so lets me sleep in but then I feel guilty as I could actually help her in the morning by getting `Pickle` ready. Until I can get the spasms under controlI I will be reluctant to go to bed at a decent time, when under control it will mean I can get up earlier having had a good nights sleep. I really hope that I get a favourable communication from Stoke Mandeville soon so I may get my problems sorted out. We went to the car boot sale at Yeovil show ground today, it was freezing and I was quite surprised at just how many sellers had braved the cold to set up and offer their things for sale, despite this though, there was nothing of any remote interest that was being sold and to that end we came home empty handed. Normally we will have found a small item for the kids, or an ornament for the house but there was nothing, zip, nada, nought nothing. As for the rest of the day it has been tidying in the hope that we can properly use the extension room as a room and eat at mealtimes in there and get the stuff sorted that has needed up in the room and either binned, charity shopped, e bay or car boot sale when the temperature warms a little. My Daughter helped my Son with his homework as he has been struggling with it but I was really proud of them both. My Daughter for helping without being asked to and my Son for not giving up, I tested him on his spellings as well just before he went to bed and he confidently got them all correct, I hope that he is that confident when he is tested at school, bless him.
Tomorrow, or what would now appear to be later on today, I have an assesment at the gym, my new Physiotherapist is meeting me there so that she can draw up an exercise plan to target the specific muscle groups that I need to be building for transferring and lifting my body from and to various places. I am really hoping that they will also be able to help devise a routine of exercise for me to lose this circumference that I have developed so that when I go the beach in the summer, I do not worry people causing them to call the RSPCA reporting a beached whale or navigationally embarrassed walrus! For now though, I am going to finish the episode of NCIS I am watching which has around a half hour left, and then I will go to bed.
Good night all.