Well, today I was hoping to get my website up and running but due to circumstances beyond our control we have not been able to get it done. The guy who is very kindly teaching me bits about computermebobs and webthingys also spends time in a wheelchair. He has set this blog up for me and has encouraged me to do it daily, so I do have a great deal to thank him for already. I did however try to do a bit of designing for the website, it became apparent why I did not take art. Colors, which go with what, lettering, slogans oh my God, now I know why I was a lorry driver. I did however manage to get something scanned and mailed off to him, so I hope that I may hear tomorrow, assuming that is, that he has not done himself a mischief by laughing so much.

So what happened today? Well, obviously my planned visitor was unable to come so instead I did a bit of looking on the interweb for different things, investigated a way of people being able to donate on line. Got held up with constant notifications on Facebook for a while and then replied to some friend requests of people I had not seen or heard from for quite some time which was nice. Also, my Blog page has been passed on and liked already far more than i thought it would, and for that I thank all of those that have done it. It helps not only for when the donation site is up and running but also keeps me interested in writing it.

Wifey took me out to my pond this morning, she was really quite excited about me going out to see it, and I could see why. It takes a while to establish a pond, it’s making sure the water is filtered enough but that there is enough good bacteria to keep it clear. For the first time today, I could see the fish right on the bottom of the pond. It was as if we had just filled it with fresh water. The fish that had a nasty red mark on it’s side has cleared up on it’s own which is good, I struggle to catch them, sedate and treat them now I’m in the chair and this was one of the fish that belonged to my late Father in Law. It was his fish that made us build the pond at the old house in the first place, then we bought some, then we moved and had to build another. We just didn’t think it was right to get rid of his fish after he had passed away, the Mother in Law could not look after the pond and we were the only place that could build a pond. We did speak when we had to move, about having to sell the fish but my Brother was adament he would help and so they have stayed, (which I’m glad about because it is relaxing watching them).

The rest of the day was spent with me inside, really don’t know what I was doing but looking back, whatever it was does not seem to have been constructive. I do remember watching something on the television, I don’t know what it was BUT, I do remember eating a large packet of Twiglets for lunch. As I said, not very constructive. I tell you what, it is almost frightening that at the age of 37 how little memory retention I have since my accident. I know I’m Grandfather, (she’s only 2 months old, so stop with the old jokes before you start), and that usually age could be a contributing factor but hells teeth. I’m beginning to wonder if me not being able to walk is such a bad thing. Imagine the people who now own my old house, sitting down watching the tele and I pop in and ask what they are doing in my house, bloody hell, it doesn’t bear thinking about. I pop up town for a pint and forget that I live in Chard now, heaven knows where I could end up.

Still, sorry, off on a random tangent then. Oh yes, I’m inside and wifey gets on and cuts the hedges while the weather was suitable and before winter comes along. A job I should be doing, and wound me up to start with. Having to watch my wife climb the ladders to cut the hedge while I sit down and watch. It just doesn’t feel right. My eldest daughter washes the “Chucklebus” and the jeep, whilst my son and youngest daughter wind each other up resulting in shouting and screaming, up until the point my youngest daughter takes herself off to bed bless her. Then peace is restored. Tonight, I got on to my sofa, CUDDLED UP WITH MY WIFE, and watched a film. What an excellent end to the day. Now she has been more than used to sitting and watching films on her own when I was away with Army, be it for a weekend, a couple of weeks or months whilst I was on tour, and the same for me, but when you live in the same house, you are both there and watching a film but CAN’T cuddle up, it is a whole different kettle of fish.

So not much to report today, but maybe tomorow, if you are able, set aside a couple of hours when the kids are in bed if you have any, before you go, or when you have gone to bed. Put a film on and enjoy that lovely feeling when you just relax, cuddle up and watch a film. You’ll miss it if ever it isn’t there….trust me.

Goodnight all.

I`d forgotten just how much a headache used to hurt…until today. Bloody hell did it knock the crap out of me. I woke up this morning around seven and it was like there was a goblin in my head knocking hell out of a gong, I felt sick, no energy to move and in fact when I did move I had to put my head back down, NASTY. Wifey made me comfortable and turned out the bedside lamp, the light was unbearable which made my wife ask me the question “Is this your Dysreflexia? Should we be worried?”

For those of you, which would be most I suspect, who don’t know what Dysreflexia is I shall try to explain. It is actually called Autonomic Dysreflexia and it affects people who have a level of injury at the 6th thoracic vertebrae (T6) or above, in simple terms the body raises the blood pressure to let the sufferer know that there is a problem that can not be communicated through the normal nerve channels. It is a life threatening condition that must be dealt with by initially taking emergency medication which we carry on a medical warning card and then ambulance crew who will then take you to the hospital. It is therefore very important that we learn the symptoms to identify it before it gets out of hand and possibly results in death. One of the symptoms is a thumping headache, good times eh?

So, I decided to stay in bed whilst my wife took the kids to school and my youngest to nursery to see if I could get rid of the pain. Eventually, at half one I woke feeling a little better and had a soak in the bath. Half an hour later and I was right as rain again. Unfortunately we had to cancel my acupuncturist which I hate having to do but she is very understanding. Treatment will resume next week as normal. We had a visit from a med-equip guy today with some riser blocks for my sofa and my bed. This will mean that it will not be such a struggle for me to transfer from my bed to my chair until I get stronger and then we can remove them.

Unfortunately, I’m sorry to say that nothing else has happened today. But I am going to tell you something about Wednesday. As I said on Wednesday’s Blog, I went to my friends place for a coffee. Now her husband and her father built some wooden blocks to support some wooden ramps they had made so that I can get in to the kitchen and the lower part of the house. This is the only way in for me in my power chair due to the width. On Wednesday when I got there to save her moving the vehicles from the garage door, she got the ramps to get me on to the covered area at the back of the house. After a lot of her messing around trying different ways to achieve our aim, I sat in the garden under an umbrella whilst she sat under the covered area. You see, again, it is not just that I can not walk. I hope slowly to make people aware of the many things that change for the paralysed person. In this case, I can not visit friends like I use to.

So, back to now. I am sat with my wife and my eldest daughter watching a film and get this, for the first time since December last year….I’M ONLY ON THE SOFA!! That’s right, my sofa is up on blocks like a stolen car with the wheels removed which has meant that I can now transfer on to it to watch films. You have no idea how great this makes me feel.

Tomorrow, I’m hoping to get more done to my website for my fundraising. I really hope you will check it out when it’s done.

Thanks for reading, and goodnight all.

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