Come on you lot, where are you all.  I know that it is summer so you might be on your holidays but you can still blog.  If you are not on your holidays yet, where are you going.  It would be great to get feed back from people whp have found good or bad accommodation and to exchange your holiday experiences.

I am off tomorrow for a short break.  We are staying with friends and here is dedication for you they have actually built a room with an ensuite bathroom so that I can get in with my wheelchair.  Yes built it!!  Lets hope they have got it right or it could be a bit embarrassing!

I am going to go in their pool, which should be interesting.  I have made the decision that I will be fine after all it will be easy going in, just wheel me to the edge of the pool and tip me out of my chair!!  Getting out might be a bit more interesting but how hard can it be? 

So I look forward to your responses and reports of your holidays

fifi

So it all starts again.  I have had my check up at Stoke which is a long drive, close on three hours from us through the worst trafic you can imagine. (Well the worst I can imagine in ciew of my recent time spent in rural France and now in very rural Lincolnshire)

Floppy legs might mean cysts on the cord or a prolapsed disc so I have to go back for an MRI scan.  Botox to the bladder means a visit to the Urologist and I have to go back for that.  Ill fitting calliper which could be causing Autonomic Dysrefelxia attacks (mild but potentially threatening) means I have to have a fitting for a new one and new boots so I have to go back and with past experience that will mean about three or four visits.  Missing Dexascan (bone density) for the last five years means that needs to be done too so ..... I can have it done at my local hospital!!!  Hurrah!

Very interesting to some of you, Stoke is looking at the way that wheelchair users are handled and catered for in the community and in general hospitals in terms of check ups such as mammograms, smear tests, and  dentistry and other proceedures.  So if you have had any thing done outside of a spinal centre it would be interesting to hear your experiences in how you were handled and how you were actually treated.

Well today we finally got the money from selling our bungalow in France so we no have nothing left there except a small part of our hearts.  Now we just have to arrange for the money to get back to the UK and we will be very happy indeed.

I have been having a good old go at ebay and I have finally gotten myself a proper bureau to write at instead of the end of the table, I always felt like a second class citizen there now I have my own special space and it is great.  Old bureau from the 1930s made in solid oak.  Not everyones thing but I am so totally into that Art Deco thing.  It must have been living in France where Art Deco is definately the stuff to get and it is cheap cos there is so much of it about.  So now I have my space there is no excuse for me not getting on with my book, but I bet I can find one!

Finally got my referal back to SToke and am there next week.  Lets hope that the loss of function in my legs is just a passing phase and not something that is going to worry me in the long term.  But at least I will know and can stop fretting about it.

But now the drudgery of everyday calls and the eurpoean ironing mountain awaits!!  I wish I could click my fingers or wiggle my nose (a la Bewitched) and it was all done!!

Take care Grant

Fifi

Well, I managed a mile and things went badly wrong.  Woke up on Friday and my legs had turned to mush, my torso was as floppy as a rag doll so I think that a mile will be my lot.  The worrying thing is that now my legs seems to have gone weak and stayed it.  Transfering has suddenly turned into a nightmare and getting off the loo is a real worry.

Hopefully I just pushed myself too far and full function will return but I am now trying to get an emergency appointment at Stoke to get checked out as the legs are not good at all and my balance has gone off too.

I know for those of you who do not walk or stand this will all sound familiar however for me it is a returning nightmare.  I was completely para for about 6 months before and then I got function back and was able to stand and walk with help but to return to the full para phase is not good, especially as I have lost a lot of the skills of doing transfers, dressing myself with ease and generally getting about.  Lets hope it is just a temporary blip accentuated by anxiety.

Still a mile is very good, it took me five days but I did do it!

My friends came over at the weekend and did a make over on my garden and I think that in no time at all it will be full of lovely flowers and looking a picture and as soon as it is I will take a photo and share it with you all.

Fifi

Hello every one

I thought you might like to hear of my latest venture.  As a incomplete paraplegic I am able to walk with some difficulty, sticks or crutches along with a calliper but never with ease and always with pain and some risk of falling.

I have joined Weigh****chers (7lb off in four weeks) and their latest challenge is to walk a mile and a half in a week.  Now for me this is a real challenge.  Apparently there are 2000 steps in a mile, therefore 3000 in a mile and a half.  My hall is 40 paces from end to end, therefore 80 for the round trip.  that means 37.5 trips up and down the hall in a week, or 5.5 per day for seven days.

I start tomorrow and I hope that I can manage it.  Wish me luck.

I have also increased the distance that I force myself to cycle every day on my motoMed bike from 6 to 7 kilometres in 23 minutes.  It is really hard work I have to keep a rate of 45-50 rpm and this is hardwork on my legs but I do feel like I am not only helping them to get strong but I am increasing my heart rate and giving myself a bit more of a cardiac work out which has got to help with getting my weight down.  I would add that I have had this machine for about three and a half years and it has really helped me with my legs, reducing the involuntary spasming especially in the car and also reducing the pain levels.  I am sure that it aids circulation and reduces the amount of swelling in my legs too.  A good bit of kit for anyone who has some residual leg movement to help strengthen them or for those who do not I think it will help to keep the muscles in good order by offering passive excerise.  I am not selling these ust thought my comments may be helpful.

Can anyone recommend any other equipment that will help to keep my body in good order for a longer time?  I have also got a multigym (still in the box) and hope that will help me with upper body strength.

Hope all is going well with you all and please pardon the self indulgent out burst of early.

Fifi