Not much has been happening in the world of George for the last couple of days, my Wife and I had to go to Taunton on Tuesday to look at getting me a suit as I have `outgrown` mine and we also had a couple of things to try to look for. The difficulty in buying a suit for me is that I can not try it on until I get home so it is to an extent a bit of a gamble, fortunately this time it was a gamble that paid off. I’m not having to go to court or anything just yet but I have a dinner to go to at the weekend and feel that I ought to get dressed up for it. The dress that my Wife had chosen had arrived via delivery and so the hope was that this would also be just right for the evenings dinner. Only the trying on would tell…..but alas it was not to be, and so it seemed inevitable that a further trip to Taunton would be required.
On Tuesday evening I attended the TA as I had an interview with my OC, one which was for me a little unnerving as it was to divulge what my immediate future held within the TA. As it was it lasted a good three parts of an hour, we chatted about a range of different things and of course what I was hoping for and where my future, or my immediate future lay within `B` Company. The immediate outcome was a good one, putting me in a role that I had around four and a half years experience in which has made me very happy. It offers other opportunities and courses in the future if I am able but first and foremost, it gives me a role in the Company, which obviously allows me to stay, for the time being anyway, in the Battalion.
Today we returned to Taunton to seek out the dress for my Wife to wear to the dinner at the weekend. This is definitely one of the pro`s of being in a wheelchair. I remember having to endure clothes shopping before my accident, the endless shop to shop to shop and the seemingly clock stopping waiting whilst the clothes were tried on. However, now I am sat down it is a whole different kettle of fish! No walking from shop to shop, and no walking aimlessly around outside a shop or inside a shop that you have no interest in, oh no, I sit down! To be fair to my Wife, it was a rare occasion that she would have to do this when I was with her as I was generally away with the Army, some may say that the Army was the reason we had stayed married so long, because I was never home! All joking aside though, my Wife is a diamond and I love her very much. God knows I would not have put up with me all these years!
So we found the dress, it looked great when she tried it on and I will be a very proud man to be `wheeling` next to her when we `walk` in to the dinner at the weekend. It will be great to catch up with some old friends as well. We returned from Taunton to collect `Pickle` from nursery, she had really enjoyed herself today and was in a really happy and giggly mood when she got in to the Chucklebus. This afternoon my `Wednesday friend` came over for coffee and a chat. It was quite chilly today but it was made a lot worse by the wind so it was mutually decided that we would not `walk` to Ilminster today, instead we sat in the warmth of my bungalow and talked about what had been going in respective lives. She and her husband are going to come up to the forest on Friday when I am trying the Tramper again. It will give me a chance to see how it copes now that we have had the rains and everywhere will be muddy. It will also allow video to be taken of me using it. This will show me if it looks like it is going to topple despite me not feeling it or visa versa. It will show posture and if I struggle to cope with difficult terrain in a more upright position. In short, it will offer a different perspective to what I will have seen and experienced. I will of course share this with you, the readers, as I hope it may be of use to others in my position who are looking for a similar piece of mobility equipment. Who knows, maybe I’ll request the opportunity to trial other `off road capable` mobility wheelchairs and scooters from the manufacturer and take them to the same location and write a bit on how I found it. This would offer a genuine view from a paraplegic point of view, whilst I could not comment on how it may be for a tetraplegic it may at least help less abled and paraplegic disabled people to look at the right piece of mobility equipment for their needs and disabilities. Kind of a `Top Gear` for the disabled if you like.
So that is really what I’ve been up to over the last couple of days. Nothing really exciting, but still quite busy. I have been struggling with my leg spasms again also. I dread going to bed as it hurts so much when they spasm and straighten themselves out, but I can not keep staying up until stupid o’ clock in the morning to avoid it. I have to go to bed and that is all there is to it, and potentially, the longer I stay in the chair with bent legs, the worse it will be. It seems to me that it is because the legs are being straightened, or stretched, that the spasms occur as it causes pain. I look forward to my standing frame arriving in a week or so as this I hope will stop the spasms when I go to bed. We shall have to see. I am reluctant to take an increase in medication or I fear I may end up in no better state than when I first left the spinal unit. I was taking so many tablets I felt like a Smarties tube!
Well I hope that all is going well for you, and that you have maybe made a start on your Christmas shopping. This will be the first Christmas away from our house, but also the first in our bungalow, so a good effort must be made not just for my children, but my Wife also. A real tree this year I think, with new tinsel and decorations, not a budget to break the bank but one that will make the festive part of the year both enjoyable and memorable for the family. Until next time.
Goodnight all.