NOT GOING TO PLAN

It is surprising how quickly things change..and not always for the good either.

So am not back at work since the near mishap with the taxi .  The directors of the company called to say that they could not guarantee  to have the type of car and ramps that I would need for my type of wheelchair. so contract ended.  So this left me in a bit of a dilemma. Have spent the last few days ringing around taxi companies to try and get the right kind of car/ramps for my chair so that I can get to work safely.  OH and who are happy to deal with access to work.  Not as easy as it sounds actually.

After talks with my employer I am now temporarily working from home. On top of all of this my hours are now having to be cut to enable me to go to Physiotherapy twice a week so I  can learn to walk again.  It means that things are in a fine balance at the moment and am going week to week with my job as at the end of the day it can not be worked from home on a permanent basis.   Not great news. So now looking for work to do from home on a permanent basis's until all the rehab is done and dusted and once more I can return to the world of full time employment in the big bad world.  It does however make me wonder how other wheelchair users get over this as I know  that I am not the only person out there that goes to work in  a wheelchair?

Things for the holiday coming along fine all the meals are now booked on site and the itinerary is done (trust me 9 of us we need one!) and passports being sent off for. We have even started the holiday clothes shop.  Although still stressing about paying it off , I have to believe that by hook or by crook I will do it, there is no way am disappointing those kids of mine!

 These are the liners for the new legs.  As you can see there are a screw/ratchet type of fitting and the liner its self are made of silicone type material.

My first Physio appointment is going to be this Thursday so hoping things go well.  Have been putting the legs on to try and get used to wearing them. As part of this been trying to stand at the table with them on to put pressure through them. I am a little concerned though as when I take the right one off there is some whitening on my scar that could be a pressure point .. guess we will have to wait and see.

The nerve damage is worse then it was and this causes a lot of problems during the day and at night I am finding it difficult to sleep with it.  Unfortunately they could only get me an appointment for mid July for the pain clinic.  Having  tried all the usual suspects it is time to move on to the big boys of drugs as well as alternative procedures that may be available to me.  These might include having something placed into my spine to release chemicals into my spine to block the pain / messages. Not so convinced with that one though


Some good news though for a change.  Heard from the grant department at Motability and we have been awarded the full funding for a Ford Galaxy that  I should have new issues transferring into with or with out my legs. Down side?  Of course there is ....it wont be delivered until August this year.

IT COULD ONLY HAPPEN TO ME

yet again it has been an eventful time for me.  I am beginning to think that "quiet" "normal" or "smoothly" applies to me and mine.

I think the biggest news is that I have finally got my legs back. So have been in touch with physio and have gone down on the waiting list. In the mean time I can put my legs on at home to get used to them as well as practicing standing up from the wheelchair  and putting weight through them when doing my boxing and weights.
Better news then last week when I got 3  streets away and realised that I hadn't picked them up!! Would the ambulance drivers go back for them..would they hell!! They where happier to take me all the way to the Freeman's for me to sit and do nothing.  Well that's not strictly true they weighed me and I had lost 4 and a half pound and found out that my new wheelchair, as well as being a nuisance to the ambulance service who complained constantly about trying to strap it in on the ambulance and refused to lift it over my step and tilted it instead even though i told them about my fall, didn't fit in the Freeman disabled toilets.  You can imagine the mood when I got home.  So I showed them and ate an Easter Egg.

I finally got up the guts to go out socially on a hen night last Friday. This proved to be interesting and quiet fun actually.  The hen of the night who is a long standing suffering friend had planned her route taking into account me and runs to the toilet etc.  All the pubs we went too where friendly, helpful and the toilets clean and accessible ( although if there was an award for the best it would be the Cooper Rose).  Over all I had a very fun night and didn't think about dancing from my wheelchair leaving me feeling like I had done a 48 hour workout at a gym 2 days later !! The one or two spoilers of the night ( and there always has to be one), was the lady who fell on me drunk and the man who thought that "people like that shouldn't be allowed in pubs and clubs".  To the lady who fell on me you could have at least replaced my drink and to the man who complained about me being there , karma is a bitch so watch out !!! You still have time ahead and you never know what is around the corner.

Well the grant form has gone and we have been awarded the grant for the ramp, surveyor been out and now just waiting for the work to start, however that could be months yet.  Have been to the holiday company and have booked the wheelchair on as well as priority booking for me as things are so behind schedule now that it seemed the best thing to do.  Lets face it I don't think I will be fit enough to walk around the theme parks all the time, in fact I will probably be lucky if I manage half the day walking on and off.  Thinking of videoing the holiday from a disabled point of view for my Youtube account but that is still in discussion.

But just to round things up you would never guess what happened to me on Monday?  I swear you could not make this up for a soap. The taxi driver was getting me out of the taxi at work and was in a hurry. Because his doors where not wide enough for my new wheelchair he had to angle the chair.  As he was bringing the chair down the ramps( telescopic) the chair wheel went off the ramp taking the big wheel and chair with it and there was me hanging sideways off the top of this ramp ! The driver couldn't straighten me up but tried to continue to pull me down the ramp which resulted in more of the chair going over the side. At this point I was a wreck.  If it hadn't been for a lovely man at the bus stop who missed his bus to hold me up to stop me from falling I dread to think what would have happened.  He had to tell the taxi driver to lift me at the same time as him to get me off the ramps and on to the ground. When I got on the ground my Tyre had  been pulled off the rim completely, you have the taxi driver trying to ram it back on and pysio from the NHS down stairs in the building where I work down trying to sort me out and get me in the building on the rim.   Anyway they got me into the building on the rim of the wheel made sure i was alright and got me sorted with a repair from wheelchair services and sent me home.  Damage sustained was tyre off, buckled rim, lose break, twisted support bar and a very very shaken jen!! Thats twice now in 3 month but at least this time I didnt hit the ground but still........

Its back to work tomorrow and to say am nervous is an understatement !

LIMITATIONS

It's nice to be doing a job where I know what am doing and am left to get on with it. They are a lovely people I work with and are very helpful with time off for hospital ,doctor's and phsyio.  Which is good really as on Wednesday this week I collect my re made sockets, so hoping the fitting goes well and I can stand in them with out too much pain in order to start my rehab.

It means I may have to re adjust my hours at work which may put a strain on our finances especially with the holiday not far away.  Did I not tell you? ooh well its only 166 days till we fly.  Thinking of re starting the You tube videos again to document what it is like to try and go on holiday with a disability as well. The new wheelchair is working better for my job not so much lower back pain or leg pain but still some. So finally relented and going to go see the doctor about it.
Not sure what they can do about it though as have exhausted all the possibilities for the nerve damage. The next ones are the big hitters such as the morphine types and the patches and not sure how that is going to effect me and working.  Still waiting to hear from the DWP and Access to Work regarding my complaint, looks like am being ignored so may have to resend them.  Filling in the grant form to try and get  a different car,something I can transfer into.

Have been referred to Mr Talkani again since the fall as well just to make sure that there is no permanent  damage.  OT are due out next week to do an assessment on cost and the surveyor to see if it is possible to lower the door frame, so still in the process of trying to get a ramp fitted. At this rate I will be up and walking by the time they get round to it.

Off on a hen night next Friday around the town so that should be exciting and a new experience for me. Not sure how I feel about  it but my friend has looked at all the pubs and planned a route with me in mind...still though it will be the first time in a year I have gone out on my own in the wheelchair for a social reason, so a little nervous to say the least.

And on a final note my bug bear at the moment The Big Body Squad.  People getting all kinds of benefits, adaptations,help and re housing including having a house specially built for them....all because they are over weight!!!!!!!!!!!!! and me???nothing, ziltch, Zero!!!!

Maybe I should just give up work, and get fatter then  I am, sprog a few more kids, just for the hell of it and I just might get the help I need......just a thought.