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September 2019 – Coming Home

The hospital rehab team had taught me the basics of looking after myself and transferring in and out of the wheelchair.

Accessibility issues

Now I had to adapt to living on my own in a house that wasn’t modified.

The stairlift had been installed 2 days before I came home, along with a ramp to make the house accessible, but the rest of it was unchanged.

I soon discovered quite a few other challenges – the thresholds to get in and out of the property where really high, and the mini ramps provided – not safe. Also the wheelchair issued for upstairs was too big to negotiate the landing – these triggered lots of conversations with the local council and wheel chair services.

Whilst I wasn’t eligible for any funding for items over £1000, the council where very supportive with the minor works.

I had also desperately tried to get the bathroom adapted to a wet room before I came home, but it couldn’t be scheduled in time, so I knew that was looming too.

The next few weeks seemed fraught with various workmen in and out, and also more issues where uncovered – I couldn’t reach the controls underneath the fire so that needed replacing too.

Car conversion

On the plus side DaVinci Mobility converted my car to hand controls, and I started to get to grips with them (interesting at first!), but gradually became second nature (unlike getting the damn wheelchair in and out of the car!).

Also, there is nothing like your own bed, it was so nice to have the peace and quiet of your own home, and last but not least, it was wonderful to be reunited with my lovely Paddington – I’d really missed him.

lop eared rabbit snoozing on the rug — Paddington Bunny

take care

Julia xxx

5th September 2023

Ironically, it was 4 years to the day I left hospital following my 4 month stay, that I moved into my new bungalow.

Yes, the move was stressful, but the removal team where great and I was in (with all my boxes) by 1pm.

It was a startling contrast to that day 4 years ago when I returned home to my unadapted house, struggling to get from a to b due to the landing being too narrow.

Basics, like getting in an out of the house was a nightmare, involving multiple threshold ramps that even the council occupational therapist described as unsafe.

Moving into the bungalow was so much easier, I’d carefully considered everything, so it was easy to move around, but most importantly no stairs to contend with!

I will not miss the painfully slow ascent and descent of the stairlift.

It is lovely being able to easily nip from one room to the other if needed, rather than having to wait until the next time I need to go upstairs/downstairs due to the hard work of getting on and off the stairlift.

The move has been frustrating, it’s incredibly hard trying to do all the packing (and unpacking) from a wheelchair.

Also, having to rely on others to do the things I can’t – is something I hate in general, but was very much amplified during this time.

I desperately wanted to be able to decorate myself, arrange the furniture and hang up pictures. I cannot tell you how frustrating it is being unable to do these things…

Moving in day – no apologies for the boxes!

Anyway, I’m in and life is a lot easier, so as they say in Klingon “Qapla!” (Success).

Take care

Julia xxx

August 2023

As I write this, surrounded by a sea of boxes, I fully understand why people say moving house is one of the most stressful things you can do.

As much as I had built plenty of contingency into my plans, I didn’t expect what has gone wrong, and the subsequent delays, which sent my blood pressure rocketing.

All being well, the utility room and kitchen will have the final items finished tomorrow.

The flooring was finally finished on Monday, despite a catastrophe of errors.

Firstly, the joiner miscalculating the amount of flooring needed, then the subsequent delivery from B&Q delayed due to sickness, then there wasn’t enough underlay.

Oh, and bizarrely, being left with 3 untouched boxes of flooring after all that!

A VERY stressful month indeed…

But, what has been finished is looking good.

My bedroom before:

I had all the fitted furniture taken out, then the wall housed the fitted wardrobes was moved back 2 feet to make the room bigger, and new wardrobes with sliding doors added (sliding doors are much better as my chair doesn’t get in the way like standard doors).

I’d also had to plugs moved so they’re much easier to access too.

As you may have noticed, I enjoy using colours too.

So, wish me luck for the final items to be finished off and my move next week!

Take care

Julia xxx

July 2023

I’m delighted that the ramp is now in place so I can easily get in without any help!

There’s quite a bit of work already taken place:

Plugs installed at a better height for me (just in the lounge and main bedroom).

Wall lamps in the lounge installed, so I can change the bulbs!

The electrical work sadly put paid to my plans just to have the walls painted, so I needed a decorator to strip the old wallpaper, he’s then put lining paper up which looks great.

Radiator moved, and another disconnected – in preparation for the kitchen and some patio doors.

The ramp (or course) and the drive widened.

The fireplace replaced (before on the left).

And, the bathroom has been done (you may notice a blue theme 😂).

You can’t tell from the picture, but there was a 2 inch step into the shower, which obviously made it unusable for me. So, I’ve now got a nice level wetroom.

The central hall was really tight for me to navigate, there was no space to turn around, so I’d planned on having the large cupboard taken out to open it up.

Unfortunately, I then discovered that was where the boiler lived! I mean, why would you put the boiler in the hall in the middle of the house?

I forgot to take a before picture, but the difference to the space is amazing!

August is going to be a very busy month, the work on the kitchen starts next week, which involves taking down a couple of internal walls – can’t wait to see the results!

Take care

Julia xxx

June 2023

Sorry for the radio silence, there has been lots going on behind the scenes.

Firstly, let me introduce Dougal.

I got Dougal for a rescue, he is 2 years old and he is such a sweetheart- spends his evening curled up asleep on my knee.

Let the works begin!

I’ve bought a bungalow!

Sadly, I’ve been unable to buy and sell in the normal way as accessible accommodation is like hens teeth!

Apparently, less that 10% of homes in the UK are wheelchair accessible. So, I’ve had to buy and arrange for the work to be done before I can move in.

The last 2 weeks have been a blur of trying to arrange quotes and deciding what has to be done immediately.

I actually bought the bungalow without looking around it (no access), my Mum and a friend went inside and took measurements, while the estate agent did a virtual tour.

I had arranged for a permanent ramp to be installed , but unfortunately the chap that was carrying this out became unwell and needed to reschedule.

Fingers crossed for next week.

I’ve got a temporary ramp at the moment, but I need someone to get it out and put it in place for me to get in.

I have to say all the tradesmen have been very helpful with this. Although, when they’re running late and don’t communicate it’s incredibly frustrating when you are literally sat on the drive unable to get in.

Ironically, sone of the work that I thought might be difficult; remove a wall and move the fuse box, has been met with a no problem.

Yet, having sockets installed (at a good height for me) felt like opening Pandora’s box!

I’ve taken sone before shots so will update as the work progresses, so watch this space.

Take care

Julia xxx

2022

I have to say I’m pleased to see the back of 2022.

I lost my Dad, Rupert, and I was unfortunately ill most of August/September- but the third course of antibiotics seemed to do the trick.

Then, just as I was beginning to feel better Zebedee wasn’t right. I took him to the vets, he was then referred to an specialist Exotic Hospital.

The X-rays showed he had spondylitis, which obviously shouldn’t be the case in a 9 month old hog. He was given medication to keep him comfortable and to try and manage the seizures.

Unfortunately, the seizures became worse despite increasing the gabapentin, and I was devastated to have Zebby put to sleep on the 14th November.

It wasn’t all doom and gloom though, I’m blessed with an amazing group of friends and have had many wonderful lunches and outings with them throughout the year.

When the recent cold spell meant the condensation pipes from my boiler kept freezing (resulting in water dripping into the kitchen!), my fantastic friends came round in a rota twice a day to defrost the pipes for me.

Typically, the pipes are on the side of the house that isn’t accessible, as there was only the gas meter there so it had never been an issue until then!

Thank you for reading, and wishing you all a happy, healthy and peaceful 2023.

Julia xxx

July 2022

The COVID rates seem to be dropping again which is good news (the cynic in me thinks this is probably connected to the schools breaking up).

July was a stressful month, starting with a hospital visit, followed by a leak in the bathroom, then of course the heatwave.

NHS Inefficiencies

I think the NHS is fabulous in an emergency situation, but in other areas the inefficiencies are there for all to see.

I had to have a small op done, I was told it was under a general anaesthetic, but when a queried that they agreed it could be under a local (much better!).

I had to go for a pre-op assessment, followed by a second one as the op wasn’t carried out within the 3 months of the assessment.

Eventually the op was booked, and I was told I was on the afternoon list so needed to get there for 10am. I queried why and was told it was then they had time to assess everyone on the day.

I arrived for 10am and 90 mins later a nurse went through the forms, and I was told the surgeon would come to see me, then I can sign the consent form.

At 14:45 the surgeon arrived, went though the forms and checks, “you aren’t taking any blood thinners are you?”

“Yes, I’m in Apixaban for recurrent DVTs”

“Oh! We normally tell people to stop taking these! Did you have a pre-op assessment?”

“Yes, two!”

The surgeon then disappeared for a while, when he returned he said it wasn’t clinically unsafe to go ahead, but it might affect the chances of success, and did I want to come back in 2 weeks?

I said I was here so might as well go ahead and try, so went down to theatre just after 4pm. Luckily, it all went well.

What was the point of me having 2 pre-op assessments were I detailed my medication, plus it all up there on the SPINE for people to access, if nobody bothers to look at it?

Random gestures of kindness

There’s a local circuit I do most days to try and keep fit (unless its raining or over 30c!).

Recently, I bumped into a couple I often see walking their dog, and they commented that I had a Lord of the Rings hoodie on (I have several!), and it turned out they were also huge fans of LotR.

He very kindly offered to let me have some memorabilia from when the films first came out, asked me where I lived. A few days later turned up with a lovely selection of magazines containing features on each of the films.

What a lovely thing to do!

Run, Hedgie, Run

Zebs has surpassed his personal best again and his now done 6.98 miles in a night!

Amazing for a little creature the size of my hand, with the tiniest of feet.

Take care

Julia xxx

June 2022

There’s been some increases in the COVID numbers this week, Cambridge are in first place with a 41% increase. Second place goes to the Isle of Wight with an 80% increase – interesting that has happened just after the Isle of Wight Festival…

Meanwhile in America they’re going backwards by banning abortion! Which seems incredibly unreal for the 21st century!

The Funeral

My Dad’s funeral went really well, it was a nice simple service to celebrate his life. We asked people to dress informally and at was nice to see people wearing rugby shirts (my Dad’s favourite sport).

The flowers were beautiful too, we’d chosen sunflowers and irises and it was a lovely vibrant display – I wish I’d thought to take a picture of them afterwards.

Beep, Beep

I heard a strange beeping noise in my kitchen (its amazing how a small beep can become so so irritating). Moved things around, checked all appliances, removed the battery from the CO2 detector – but it continued.

I convinced myself it was coming from the boiler, so rang my local plumber who said he’d call on his way home and take a look.

He checked the boiler over, and then realised it was coming from what I thought was a defunct CO2 detector on the ceiling (in my defence I had poked it with a broom handle and it hadn’t beeped so I thought I’d checked that!).

After my accident – I knew I wouldn’t be able to reach any detectors on the ceiling so got new ones I could place on surfaces in reach, should have got someone to check the batteries were taken out of the old ones!

The plumber was lovely about it and said he didn’t want paying for the visit (although I insisted).

Other things

Seven weeks later, the burn on my leg has healed to a nasty scar, so glad I don’t need to go for the weekly dressing changes any more.

I was also lucky when I had a week off work, the weather was glorious – didn’t do a great deal, trip to a garden centre and lunch out etc, but was nice to sit in the garden in the sunshine and read.

Zebedee averaged over 4 miles a day in June, and has entered the 250 Mile Hall of fame! He’s slowly getting a bit braver and lets me stroke hm while he eats.

Its also a year since I got Pippin – what a cheeky, lively character he has become!

take care

Julia xxx

May 2022

As COVID has become less newsworthy, Monkeypox has arrived, the word is it can be contained.

Remember someone saying “we’ll send this virus packing in 12 weeks!” about COVID? I won’t hold my breathe on that one.

As more findings come out of the Sue Gray report, it’s hard not to feel anger that Downing street partied while people couldn’t be with loved ones in hospitals/nursing homes.

According to the BBC News article Sue Gray says there were “failures of leadership and judgment in No 10 and the Cabinet Office” for which “the senior leadership at the centre, both political and official, must bear responsibility.”

Which in my opinion, is a travesty of how people expect the government to behave.

Bureaucracy and arrangements

May has seemed to pass in a blur of appointments, waiting and bureaucracy.

We’ve met with the Funeral Director, and then the minister to organise the service for my Dad.

I’ve also had to contact various organisations about utility bills, car and house insurance etc. Most have been accommodating, but one lady said “is the policy holder there as we need to speak to them not you” – good luck with that one! Although, when I pointed out that wasn’t possible as the reason I was ringing was to notify them of his passing, they did quickly apologise.

The actual funeral is tomorrow, the 1st June.

My Dad was a huge rugby fan, so we’ve asked people to wear rugby shirts (if they have them) and if not, dress informally, as we want this to be a celebration of his life.

While the rugby shirts was actually my idea, the more I thought about it, the more it didn’t reflect my relationship with my Dad, as it wasn’t really something I followed or chatted in detail about.

I happened to look on the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) site (this was who he did his national service with), and saw that their emblem was a white horse, with a bolt of lightening and a crown.

This just resonated with me for several reasons. Firstly, my 2 wonderful Arabian horses were both grey (white), my Dad also spent many weekends taking us to competitions, so lots of happy memories. Secondly, my Dad was always super diy Dad who could make or fix anything which ties in so well with REME.

So I’ll be wearing a REME hoody with his REME cap badge.

Other Stuff

The 4th May was the 3rd anniversary of my accident, it went by without much acknowledgement, I feel there’s no point in looking back, just focus on the future.

I’ve been going for weekly dressing changes on my leg, which thankfully is now healing well.

Zebedee is still very shy, but is a good runner! He has a new personal best of 5.65 miles in one night, and is already in the Hedgehog Running Club 100 mile Hall of Fame.

I also noticed Pippin’s nails were getting long and to my amazement, he let me trim them while he was sat on my knee eating a biscuit! I used to have to take Paddington to the vets to get his done as it was a 2 person job, so this was great.

take care

Julia xxx

1st May 2022

This was the day my Dad passed away.

He collapsed in the early hours of New Years Eve (my birthday), was taken to hospital and it was about 7pm before we got a phone call to say he’d got pneumonia.

We were initially told he was responding well and just needed some physio to build his strength up before he could come home.

Then out of the blue, we got a call to say he’d got end stage heart failure and had a limited time left. The hospital pushed to try and send him home with carers coming in 4 times a day, but what would happen if he needed help between visits? So we decided a nursing home was the best option.

The home he was meant to be going to had a COVID outbreak, so he went to one much further away. However, when he’d been admitted we were shocked to find out that they also had COVID within the home! We were advised that they were retesting and normal visiting would resume as soon as they were clear (this didn’t happen in the 3.5 months he was there!).

My Dad was a kind and gentle man, he always smiled and had a great sense of humour, which he kept until the end.

He was also a big animal lover, he used to feed the birds in his garden and was delighted when he had a hedgehog in residence too.

When I was in hospital for 4 months following my accident, he drove to see me every day. He also looked after my rabbit Paddington, visiting twice a day to feed him and let him have a run around the lounge.

I felt really guilty about him looking after Paddington at first, then when I asked about Paddington my Dad’s face would light up and I knew he enjoyed spending time with him. To the point that, when I eventually came home from hospital he said to me “make sure you look after MY rabbit!”.

He was also a super DIY Dad too, when I got my first horse (Misty), I mentioned I was going to get a saddle rack, and he immediately said, “its ok I’ll make one for you”. Next time I visited there it was, apparently made from bits of old paddling pool frame he’d kept in his shed (this is where I get my “it might come in useful one day” tenancies from). He even made a wheel clamp for my horse trailer too.

This was probably why when he did his national service he was in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME), and spent most of his service in Aden driving and fixing tanks.

He also loved nature and walking outdoors – particularly in the Lake District and Rivington Pike.

I’m lucky to have had such a wonderful man as my Dad – gone but never forgotten.

RIP Dad xxx

April 2022

The Covid figures are falling, North Tyneside currently in pole position with a rate of 225 per 100,000!

No sense, no feeling

One of the obvious issues with having no sensation in my legs, is not knowing if you have hurt yourself.

Just before Easter, I was making a cup of tea, but the tea bag burst so I needed to refill the kettle. I then accidentally knocked the lid onto my knee (my kitchen isn’t adapted to the surfaces are the wrong height for me).

I obviously didn’t realise until I went to replace the lid. I put cold water on it immediately, but unfortunately it quickly came up into a large blister. A look on google seemed to point to getting medical attention due to the size.

I drove to my local hospital (Wigan), as they have a minor injuries unit – meaning I could avoid A&E. However, when I got there I discovered they’d reduced the amount of patient parking, and the number of disabled spaces. After 20 minutes of circling the car park, I gave up and headed for Chorley Hospital.

Thankfully, the parking was much better there and I found a space, went to A&E and was seen in about 90 minutes. They applied a dressing and said to come back if it got infected.

The secondary issue with lack of sensation is that your brain doesn’t get the messages from the central nervous system to say there is an issue and to send additional resources to help with the healing process. So, any wound below your injury level always heals a lot more slowly and is more prone to infection.

I managed to keep the blister intact for 10 days before it burst. I was then concerned about how to treat it as it seemed to be looking worse (should probably have asked more questions when in A&E!), so spoke to my GP practice who told me to contact the community Treatment Room.

I’ve now got weekly appointments booked until the end of May for dressing changes…