Month: May 2016

Sat 21st we got ourselves sorted this morning and headed back to Suffolk. Tomorrow will be my parents Ruby Wedding anniversary so we are going back to celebrate it.

A couple of months ago I was chatting with my sister Emma and said how we should do something for mum & dad to celebrate the fact that they had survived 40 years of marriage (and there have been some tough times) and hadn’t killed each other. So apart from saying we should do this and speaking with Tina at the home guard social club where our parents drink, and conspiring with Julie from mums darts team that is all the credit I can take. 100% of the organisation of it all goes to Emma. Emma designed and printed the invites, sorted the cake, balloons, the meal, the menus, the lot. We squabble but I wouldn’t be without her. I’m lucky and proud that she is my sister.

So we are at the parents and time to get ready and get to the butchers arms for dinner. Emma and I have an extra surprise for mum & dad as they think that it’s only us that are going for the meal (parents, Emma, Andrew, Nathan, Maddie, Deb & myself). There will also be Aunty Jayne & uncle Chris (dad sis & hubby), Judy & Dicko (mum cousin & hubby) & Julie & Richard (the youngest bridesmaid at the wedding, Judy youngest daughter & hubby). So there was 14 of us and it was lovely. The food was fantastic and the portion sizes were huge. It was a great atmosphere and a good laugh. 

From there we went back to the home guard were Judy, Dicko, Julie & Richard joined us and the darts girls were waiting, also Danny & Alison, Sally & Peter, Laura (George), Christine, to name just a few (short term memory fart). The cake was up there so they cut that & handed out slices to everyone. I say everyone but I didn’t get a bit I had to wait until Sunday!! It was lovely to chat to faces that I hadn’t need in such a long time. 

I think our parents enjoyed themselves. Top marks to my sister for keeping it all a secret and not letting anything slip when speaking to mum. Mum is like Pirot it’s hard to keep things from her. Well done sis.

Sun 22nd a relaxing morning had by all. Bacon & egg sarnies…win!! Popped up to see Emma, Andrew & the kids. Mum came up & forgot to bring cake so we sent Nathan down to get cake while Emma made coffee. Finally I got some cake……yummy!! 

So it was time to leave but before we left Suffolk we pooped in and saw Laura(George), Martin, Molly, Abi & the cheeky monkey that is little Daisy. Oh and not forgetting the four legged craze ball that is buddy the lab. It was lovely to spend time with them all. We also got a date in the diary for them to visit. Awesomeness!!! 

Laters 💋

Morning folks.

Wednesday 18th May

Sarah (Headway) picked me up at 10:30am and we went to cheshunt to speak to someone called Peter about me maybe doing some voluntary work.  It’s like the nest step in Headway for me to help me on my path to eventual return to work one day.  So there is plenty for me to look at right now.

From there we went over to Welwyn Garden City to the Saebo centre. There we met with Glyn. Finally after following him on Twitter for a long while. He is fantastic bloke. Funny and puts you at ease straight away. I messed up all his measurements as I should have been a medium glove-medium brace, but no not Claire 2.0. Because of my skinny fingers a small glove was a better fit……sorry Glyn 😊 

So I have a trial period with the glove and then we decide if it will be beneficial in the long run. Glyn was very pleased with the range of movement I already had. It’s just my index finger and thumb that need a little bit of encouragement as to where they should be.

Thursday 19th May 2016 (1 Year)

Well it’s a year since Claire 2.0 was created. A whole year since my aneurysm! Well it will be at around 15:30 this afternoon!! Crazy! So thank you brain & body for fighting and not giving up!!! I will return the favour by pushing myself harder than ever. 
So I started that off with a PT session with James in the Gym. 1hrs of hell……..felt good at the end……..because it was over!! He worked me hard and challenged my core. It was a good distraction, even if it was only for a short time. Came home and sorted through some music as music is always a good distraction. 

Deb called to see how I was doing, she said it felt a wierd day to her. I try to imagine what it must have been like from her side, and I can’t. I guess unless you are in that situation you don’t know how you would act so you can’t even begin to understand what she went through. Or even what all our family and close friends we feeling. From my side I was fine 1min and in intense pain the next. Then the next few days it’s like a silent movie, or like watching a TV with bad reception and every so often the sound comes back for a minute or so then it’s gone again. I have very little memory of my behaviour or actions and then it all got worse and I remember very little, if anything.

Yildiz came round after her meeting at PCL, where see saw Deb who reminded her that it had been a year. I case I haven’t said before Yildiz was my boss when all this happened. She was on hol in Egypt when it happened. So she came round and brought snacks. So we sat here and chatted shit for a couple of hours. She brought Deb a basil plant and a bottle of wine.

Deb got home from work and we went for dinner. To celebrate life. 

We had a lovely Italian meal. Talking about how far we have come in the last 12 months. It was beautiful the two of us. After we stopped in at Deb parents for a catch up before heading home to chill and then bed.

Friday 20th May 

I got up early with Deb this morning as I have an appointment with Angus the psychiatrist this morning back at Danesbury at 09:30am. So Deb will drop me off and then pick me up later. 

Well that was eventful. It was good to talk to someone independent of family and close friends as there is no opinion given just guidance for help you make sense of everything. The 90mins went so quickly. I felt quite good at the end.  I would like Deb to come next time so that he can get an understanding of Claire 1.0 and the changes that have made Claire 2.0. When I told Deb in the car she said she would come next time. 

Deb dropped me in Hertford and went back to work. I had a mooch around and then headed back to Hoddesdon. 

I thought I was ok after the session this morning but I wasn’t so I was in bed by 21:30. Knackered.

Laters 💋

Well………I had a productive day. 

Started with a bit of CogMed………..nearly lost my patience a couple of times but that’s nothing new with that programme. The most frustrating part is when I think I’ve solved a task, the score drops and then my brain points out where I went wrong. For example I have to remember a series of dots that light up and the numerical order. I’m doing well was 4, now 5, then 6 and now I’m on 7numbers to remember……….so I’m watching them all light up, remembering the order, now it’s my turn to complete the task! Ok…..1✔️2✔️3✔️4✔️5✔️6✔️7✔️…..boom yeah!! NOOOOO score drops……..brain engages……..no no nooooooo 5 was under 2 not to the right……..muppet!! Yeah cheers FOR THE HELP!!! 

So frustration was taken out on putting a wash load on……..except you calm down quite quickly as you try and pick up a top to throw onto the washing pile……..especially after the 5th attempt!! Dramatic effect epic fail!! 

Ok time to compose myself…….ok I’ll watch a bit of Rizzoli & Isles. Perfect!

Right enough perving at the tv time to force my arse to get to the gym! I don’t want to but I have too. Get there and James is back from his hols. So we decide…….sorry James decides that we will do some new moves today. Off the top of my head I can’t remember the machines but I was bloody tired at the end. We have also booked some PT sessions as I need a bit of a kick at the mo.

Got home and it’s was time for my favourite task of the day…….the washing up. I had to do it quick as one of my dear friends Kerry was coming round for a catch up and to cut my hair. It’s been a couple of months since we saw each other last so it was lovely to see her. My hair is fabulous too!!

I’m going to Cheshunt tomorrow with Sarah (Headway) to possibly look at volunteering. Then we had over to Welwyn Garden City to see Glynn for an assessment to see if a product called Saeboglove http://www.saebo.com/saeboglove/ would be of any benefit to me. Fingers crossed.

I am also booked in with another James at http://www.physio4you.co.uk for an assessment Monday 09:30am to see what extra we can get done to aid my rehab.

So all in all a good day now time to sleep.

Laters 💋

Morning folks.

How are we all?? 

I’m ok, thank you for asking 😜

It’s was nice on Sunday to catch up with Corrine & Christy. I haven’t seen them since I was in hospital. Still both as crazy as ever. I was a well over due catch up. 

I’m a bit lost this week. I’m getting very angry when I can’t do my exercises correctly. Or I can’t get up off the sofa without using my left arm on the arm to help push me to standing!! I’m trying to get back into the swing of the gym……..failing miserably there too!! 

I was looking into extra physio as I’m not very good at motivating myself as you can see. I’m really struggling to decide if I really need neurophysio or just physio. Or is that just me believing I’m further along in my recovery than I actually am?

We now have a table and chairs for outside so we dined alfresco styleeeee last night and it was beautiful. 

 How beautiful is that!! 

We had rainbow trout so Asbo went and sulked……

Right time to get shit done. I’m not having another unproductive week!

Laters 💋

Hello poeple I apolgise for my poor permance on here over the last couple of weeks. There is no excuse that i can give. The truth was that I couldn’t be bothered. Infact I couldn’t be bothered with anything.

But I am back now.

Today I want talk about A couple of companies that I follow on Twitter. All I can say is I can’t imagine how hard life must’ve been for disabled before social media. You can find out so much so quickly about programs, or equipment that is available to help improve your life.

Okay the first is a company called Special Effect www.specialeffect.org.uk find then on Twitter @SpecialEffect. These geniuses have helped children and adults alike you are big gaming fans. They managed to adapt control pad’s & computers so that disabled people can join in with their friends and play FIFA or Call of Duty, or any came that they want. Thanks to the guys at Special Effect now nobody is left out. Honestly check them out and see they amazing work that they do. The happiness that they give is priceless! Thank you Special Effect 😀

The next is The Grappler www.the-grappler.co.uk, find them on Twitter @The_Grappler_.  This piece of equipment is sure genius on such a simple level. And I got the opportunity to speak to Dave Savage who invented The Grappler. This is some of our conversation:

Me: That really is an ingenious bit of equipment and very clever how it could be used by disabled people and how you can adapt it for the disabled people. Maybe I could persuade my local gym? I’m certainly interested in it. How can you adapt it for people like myself who is temporarily paralysed down my right hand side. I will would like to include you in my blog later if you don’t mind?

Dave: We can fit a lap belt to keep the user in position. We use to do a removable seat, but this was useless if the machine wasn’t bolted down. We have a lot of wheelchair users who prefer to get into the Grappler seat rather than work hard in the own wheelchair and have to then sit in their own sweat. The ‘Kiss’ charity user the Grappler for people with brain injuries/strokes. They use their stronger arm to position the weaker arm in place on the rope holding the other hand in place, like a double grip. This eventually retrains the brains pathways to control the stroke effected arm so after a while the arm muscles recover some movement and strength. It also trains your heart and lungs directly, I have a customer who bought a Grappler for home and he says it’s saved his life. He has advanced emphysema and he now manages to do everyday tasks with no difficulty. Hope you get to try a Grappler soon it has no impact so is great for training injuries. 

Honestly go and have a look at this piece of equipment that is ingenious. If I had the space here at home and with a little bit of saving as I’m not working at the moment I will have one of these myself. When my gym instructor James comes back of holiday I will be bending his ear about this and maybe we can persuade Broxbourne council into getting one at the John Warner centre. 

Can tailor the eve of the companies they are ingenious.

Laters 💋

 

 

Well a packed weekend we had. 

Friday 29th it’s Dan’s birthday so we head over to Twickenham for drinks. Deb is driving so we plan to stay at Hobbit & Veg’s place so that Deb doesn’t have to do a round trip in one night. And it was good fun I let my hair down and drank probably shouldn’t of but I did. It was lovely to catch up with everyone specially people that  I hadn’t for a long time, over a year in fact. 

Trying to walk drunk when you can’t walk very well is very entertaining. I did chuckle a lot. I turned round to Deb at one point and said “don’t talk to me I need concentrate on walking I can’t multitask”!!. Brilliant!!

Saturday 30th. We get up and sit in the front room chatting about last nights shenanigans. Hobbit was asking about Tracy’s cat puffcat and if he was still alive. My response “no he was old and drunk”……after realising what I said and not being able to remember what I was meant to say I just started hysterically laughing for what seemed like ages, tears rolling down my cheeks and struggling to breathe. 

So we all went and met up for breakfast. On the way there hobbit turn to veg and said that she had stepped in dog shit, but instead of checking the bottom of her shoe she pranced about like a pony. That was it hysterical laughter round two. I had to stop and try and keep my balance while laughing. Again tears rolled down my cheeks. 

Granny didn’t look very well at all when she got to the pub for breakfast she was looking a bit green around the gills. And have a bit of a struggle with eating her breakfast. Breakfast finished and we just sat there chatting shit basically, the most randomness conversations you can have. Then Veg came out with an absolute corker classic. Veg and Hobbit are going to Whitstable to see a friend so veg said “isn’t that where touching the cloth is made”. That’s it round three of hysterical laughing started. “I mean tipping the velvet” Veg corrected herself in between hysterical laughter. Once I could control myself a bit I couldn’t resist in saying “I’ve seen the review for touching the cloth and its shit”! the laugher continued.  We all left the pub at about 3pm after getting in there at 9am. All sensible and everything. I think if we didn’t have places to be we stayed in there all day.

In the evening we went over to Debbie’s bosses house as it was his wife’s birthday so they have a little barbecue party. Again Deb drove. When they live is absolutely beautiful. It was a good night John kept coming in with the shots of something, I have no idea how many I had. They were nice though, I would say it was probably a little bit like tequila rose but with  hazelnut. Apparently I was a nightmare to get in the car to go home. When we got back to the flat I managed to gracefully land on my bum on the floor, then got myself on my knees into the bedroom where Deb helped me to bed.

Sunday 1st. I am mentally and physically exhausted, it’s been a busy weekend for me. New surrounding I have been in, seeing people I haven’t seen for a long time and also seeing new people, new faces, it’s a lot for my little old brain to take in. And the copious amounts of alcohol probably didn’t help. So I dropped in and out of sleep all day. I was best friends with the bed. 

Deb took herself on a 20+ mile bike ride. She caught the train to Stratford and the rode back along the river. Her bum did hurt by the time she got back. She was so chuffed with the self for doing it and she wants to do it again. We sat on the roof terrace and had a burger and then I went back to bed as I just wanted to sleep and if I have stayed outside then I would’ve got burnt. 

After sleeping again we sat and watched some films. The new Jungle book, then Maleficent, then RED. 3 awesome films. 

Monday 2nd. I’m still not moving much. Still really tired. So another day of doing nothing. Deb was in clean up mode so she would blitz a room then watch a program and then blitz another room then watch a program. When Deb gets in cleaning mode I stay out of her way. It’s safer. 

Then we get to today. Tuesday 3rd May. Up early and done stretches in bed. I have a load of different strength bands to use on my leg. I’ve had really ingestion this morning. I know I know I result of the drinking. I had to wait in for a sofa to be delivered this morning. Now time for more exercises……

Laters 💋