More training at Loch Lomond 11th May
Friday 10th May I drove up to Glasgow so that my team and I could get some more valuable training in. First things first though, my Barclays Commercial team were holding a charity evening for the event on the Friday night and I really wanted to attend. I arrived in Glasgow mid afternoon after leaving home at 7am and booked in to my hotel room at the Novotel. They had reserved me a parking space in the car park so thankfully no dramas getting in. After having a bath I lay down on the bed and promptly fell asleep so was lucky when I woke up just before the event started. I rushed down to Glasgow town centre and was amazed to find a whole street of disabled parking bay just 300 yards from the venue, now that's the way it should be! Ann and Raemond from Capability Scotland had come over from Edinburgh to be at the event so it was great to catch up with them again. First we had the auction that raised over £2500 by giving away weekend golfing holidays, spa days, a chance to drive a sports car for the day and much much more. Then the raffle raised nearly as much again with prizes of meals out, cinema and theatre tickets. All in all the evening raised over £5000 which put us well on our way to our 10k target. After the raffle the disco started so all the girls jumped on to the floor to "bust there moves" and make some shapes while all the guys stood at the bar ogling. J
Saturday morning we all met up and drove the 40 odd miles up to Loch Lomond for the days training. A beautiful setting but we managed to arrive on the same day as a hill climbing race so we had to compete for space with 50 or so runners which wasn't great. So Caroline, Louise, Cat, Rob, Peter and I got all our kit on and started the ascent. Everyone was in great spirits and it was pretty impressive that we had all managed to get our diary's in order and make it happen. Straight away we could see that this was going to be worth the effort. In the Lakes on the first training session we had an army of people around all giving instruction and advice but now it was just down to us. Very quickly we got in to a rhythm and began to cover some good ground along some pretty hard going tracks. We had a few mishaps along the way but generally we were working well together as a team and it was exactly what we needed. We did have one section that caused us a problem though. On the way up we climbed through a section that was 20 foot high and full of very rough uneven rocks which really took some concentration and strength. The problem was that on the way down after 50 or so runners has been up and down, the rocks were all very wet and slippery which added to the danger. We solved this by tying the main rope to a tree with a slip knot that Pete fed slowly so that we had the chair secured to something. It was pretty breathtaking hanging off the side of this drop while clinging on to the rock with my fingernails, so I was glad when Cat said we wouldn't do anything quite as hard as that on Ben Nevis!!
All in all the day was a great success and really helped us bond as a team and work out how we would do things on the day. So a big hats off to my team members for dragging me up the mountain and not dropping me on the way down.
Bring on the Big Un!!!
Ben Nevis Challenge - Training weekend 5/6 April
The Ben Nevis Challenge - 31st May 2008
This all started for me when I received an email from Leanne at Capability Scotland about two weeks ago telling me about an event that was being organised to raise money and awareness for Capability Scotland and Scope. Straight away my ears pricked up as I have always been keen on doing events like these and needed to find out more. The challenge was to have teams led by wheelchair users reach the summit of Ben Nevis and the expedition would be led by ex SAS man Ken Hames. First of all we had to get through a training weekend which would be held in the Lake District and would give us all a chance to meet our team members and learn what we'd need to do.
The training weekend started for me with a six and half hour journey up to the lakes that should have taken four and a half! I new I shouldn't have been a cheapskate and should have taken the toll road!! So I finally arrive at Youth hostel Arnside; a well meaning youth hostel in a picturesque village in the middle of the Lake District. Thankfully, as so many had suffered the same fate of the dreaded M6, dinner had been postponed so I still managed to eat. After dinner our group of wheelchair users, organisers, and volunteers headed down to the village hall where we would meet our expedition leader Ken Hames and learn about our task. Ken is ex SAS but is best known for leading so far three expeditions of disabled people across some of the most inhospitable terrain in the world, also known as the TV production called Beyond Boundaries. Julie McElroy would also be attending; Julie who is 21 was one of the team members of the latest Beyond Boundaries expeditions that managed to cross the Andes in South America. Julie has Cerebral Palsy but has that steely determination and drive that would put most of us to shame. It's as though she sets out to prove that nothing is impossible even with a disability but she hasn't set out to prove anything, Julie is just living the life that she feels is right for her.
This weekend would be purely training to get ourselves accustomed to the equipment, get used to the type of terrain we would be climbing on and also to get to know our team mates who had volunteered from all walks of life. My team included four members from Barclays Commercial, Pete, Rob, Caroline and Louise and one member Cat from Burness , the overall sponsor of the event. Ken arrived in the small village hall to brief us on the days ahead and what would be involved in getting us to the top of Ben Nevis. Was he really trying to scare us? Thankfully right next door to the hall is a pub where most of us then congregated to meet and discuss the next couple of days.
Day 1; 5:30am. Due to there being only one wheelchair accessible shower and toilet in the youth hostel I was wakened by Dave, another four wheeler in my dorm to let me know he had finished in the shower and it was my turn, great thanks Dave!! I showered and went back to the dorm to get dressed and ready. First thing was to go back to the village hall and meet Russell from RGK wheelchairs, Russell is the MD of RGK and they would be supplying us with the wheelchairs that we would be using for the event. These are not normal wheelchairs as you will see by the picture but more four wheeled mountain bike but with no brakes, which is a slightly scary prospect to say the least and means that you have to put your trust in your team members 100%. Firstly we needed to get used to the equipment so we spent most of Saturday on the hills around Arnside learning how to best to pull and push the chair with me on it. One of the first challenges would be a five bar gate that we had to get over and we had to work out the best way ourselves. These would be the kind of problems we'd be faced with on Ben Nevis and we had to learn how to tackle them now.
Day 2, 7.30am. Decided to give myself a lie in as the shower itself was pretty useless and really not worth getting up two hours beforehand for. Today was going to be much harder than yesterday; if day one was all about familiarising yourself with your team members and equipment day two was about familiarising yourself with the type of terrain we would be battling against on our ascent to the top of Ben Nevis. Whereas yesterday had been mostly a run round a country park with a few steep hill thrown in for fun today was all about what we would really be facing, and that meant steep inclines riddled with boulders, walls, tree trunks and slippery steep shingle tracks. It was up to us to work out the best route through and that wasn't always easy. By 12 o'clock we had reached the top of one of the hills in the Lakes but we all realised this was nowhere near the effort that would be needed to get to the top of Ben Nevis. Ken felt we had not even accomplished a 10th of what we would be doing on the real climb.By the time we got back down again it was well past lunchtime and time for us all to go on our separate ways. I think we all had had an amazing weekend but I think we all left that hillside with a little more respect for the challenge ahead. Ken also left us with some parting advice, more training, definitely more training which was not what we wanted to hear...
Some video clips to come soon when I have edited out all the backsides and swearing from them!!!
Open cast surgery on my bladder!!
I have just come out of hospital after a bit of major surgery so I thought I better tell you all about it. I've just had the "Clam ileocystoplasty procedure done on my bladder but it will take up to six months to see the full effect of the operation.
To start at the beginning I have been having trouble with my bladder for a couple of years now. Nothing serious but the level of capacity was continually dropping and eventually this would reflux back towards my kidneys and cause me problems in the future. I had spent a lot of time with the doctors and nurses at Stanmore working on the different types of procedures available to me and it eventually became clear the "clam" would be the best option for me personally. On one of my visits to Stanmore and by pure chance I bumped into a guy outside the gym who'd had the "clam" and he raved about it saying it had been the best thing he'd had done.
With his words still at the back of my mind I agreed to go ahead and waited for my time to come up which was Wednesday Feb 6th. I was admitted on the 4th which I thought was a bit early but they had a good reason, they needed to clear me out and that meant my bowels. Now here I should explain what the "Clam ileocystoplasty" procedure actually is in basic terms (if you want the details then Google it), well the clam procedure as it best known is where the bladder is sliced open in a clam shape and a section of your bowl is cut away, unravelled, washed (I would hope) and then stitched into your bladder to create a bigger football of a bladder thus alleviating the problems I was having with my ever shrinking one.
So there I am on Monday 4th after just arriving at hospital, sitting on my shower chair above the loo with a very long book waiting for the very strong laxatives that the nurse has just given me to take effect. Same procedure the next day until I was all clear, lovely!! Oh and I forgot to mention I would be nil by mouth from the 4th until at least 10th and that meant no liquids as well. The only good thing was I that could lose up to a stone in weight so there are always positives to be had! The 6th finally came and off down to surgery I went, a few sniffs of the old gas and away I went. I don't really remember much of that night but when I woke up the next day I didn't feel too wonderful. If there are bonuses to be had out of any situation then it's that I have no sensation below the chest so no real pain. I did feel very groggy and nauseous but not too much pain which was good. By the next day I was up in my shower chair having a wash and even fancied going to the café as I felt great, but that lasted until I got to the end of the ward and then I just wanted to go back to bed again. No pain and sensation can be a good thing but my body was shouting at me that I had to take it easy. The next few days I decided to spend pretty much in bed as I felt it was the best place for me and I didn't hear anyone arguing. I also had several tubes coming out of me from all different places so it was easier to stay put. I had a supra pubic catheter, I had a drain for the excess fluid from outside my bladder, a tube up my nose, a drip to hydrate me while I wasn't eating or drinking and a normal catheter up my willy so they had me pretty well pinned down. Each day one of the tubes would be removed and thankfully it was the one in my nose first which was horrible as every time you swallowed you could feel it grating in your throat. Finally all that was left was the supra pubic which I had to flush out each day as the patch of bladder would continue to create mucus for several weeks.
By the following Monday I felt ready to leave but everyone was telling me to stay put as I had to remember it was a big operation I had had. Wednesday I made a break for it and was allowed home. My mum agreed to come and stay with me as I was told that I needed to be in bed for the best part of two or three weeks only getting up for a few hours a day. I set up a computer next to my bed so I could work and made a stack of DVD's that I could watch. Friday was stitches out day so I called the district nurse to come over who I hadn't seen in at least a couple of years. The wound was very much like a caesarean scar but about 3 times longer (I am told) reaching from one side of the stomach to the other, at least 8 inches long and just above the hair line. The nurse took the stitch out which is just one long piece of thread as it's stitched underneath to make a neater scar. Now I just have to take it easy and flush out the supra for a few weeks and hopefully all will be well.
I am told that it will be a while before I see the real benefits of the surgery but it won't be long before I have to start capping the catheter so I can start building the capacity up again which I am looking forward to. Hopefully one day very soon I will be able to live life without a catheter and a leg bag which will be great if I get there.
Whelchair World record Attempt - The Eden Project
An unusual Guinness World Record attempt was taking place at the Eden Project, St Austell, Cornwall. Wheelchair users from all over the country being invited to establish a world record for the largest ever gathering on ice. This is a record that has never been set before. The record attempt was being coordinated by Leanne Grose to celebrate the launch of her DVD Leanne's Chair Workout - which was filmed at the Eden Project.
So at 5am I got out of bed and started my journey down to Devon. I had borrowed my friends sat nav so that I didn't have to worry about directions and the sat nav told me I had 224 muiles to go. It was dark, raining and 5am!! Not a time you would normally see me up and about. One good thing about driving at 5am is that there is no one else on the roads so I may have pushed the speed limits a little bit!
Arrived at the Eden Project just after 10am which was pretty good going and went down to the ice rink to meet up with people. The Eden Project is wheelchair friendly if you take in to account that's its build on a hill!! So basically you can only really go one way and that's down. Once at the bottom there is a wheelchair friendly train that takes you back to the top again. The car parks are all accessible but I did have to ask for help from a guy to push me up a hill that was just too steep to do on my own (and I did try, I promise). Therefore I would say that The Eden Project is totally accessible for a wheelchair user as long as you have someone with you for the steep parts.
Back to the Wheelchair World Record attempt, the event started at 11am so the areas around the rink started to fill up from 10am onwards. I moved around talking to people and handing out flyers and was really pleased to meet up with a couple of members to our site; Rob Chillcot and his girlfriend Sarah. As 11am approached everyone got on the ice rink and had great fun going round the rink and spinning round in circles on the ice. Afterwards the press took loads of photos and we had a speech by the organisers. People then went off in different directions; some to go and watch the wheelchair dance show by Chuffs and others to where Leanne was doing her book signing. I watched the wheelchair dance show and was very impressed by the co ordination of the dancers and how good it looked to watch.
That was it then, event over and now for the drive home, another 224 miles ahead of me!! As I got on to M5 the heavens opened up and it pretty much rained the whole way home. So much so that I was concentrating so much on the road that I missed my exit on the motorway and had to divert which added another 30 miles to my trip. Not a happy bunny I was!!! Got home around 6pm so not a bad round trip to Devon and back in just over 12 hours.
Phew I was knackered though!!
Meeting the White Lodge friday 19th am
On Friday morning I arranged to meet with Juliette Francis at the White Lodge. The White Lodge, based in Chertsey, supports disabled children, adults and their families or carers in Surrey and the surrounding area. They provide a specialist children's centre offering daily therapy services, nursery education for young children with Cerebral Palsy and they have youth schemes providing overnight activity breaks at their Tree Tops accommodation or in the family home.
The White Lodge also support physically disabled adults in developing interests and achieving individual goals by offering services within a variety of locations. These include therapy services, creative arts, leisure and life skills, information technology in the Karten Computer Suite, supported volunteering, support in finding employment and in accessing other local facilities.
I met with Juliette and Jacqui Bremner and started by talking to them about the wheel life. They loved the idea and are looking forward to telling their members about the site. I then got a tour of the complex and it was amazing to see all the facilities they have for working with disabled people. They have a great outdoor adventure playground for children and are currently building a new £2 million pound complex where they will have health suites, computer and IT rooms, therapy rooms and a café and recreation area where people can meet and socialise. It should be ready in June 2008
I first heard about the White Lodge through my dad who had supported and raised money for them through his company almost 20 years ago so they have been around for a long time. 45 years to be exact and they are totally funded by donations, so if you can help then get in touch with them. Go to http://www.whitelodgecentre.co.uk/.