Reduce It

And today I had to take the top cushion off my "rest your foot up" thingie as I could use it with 2 cushions and just my sandals but as I am now well enough to put boots on it was too high

Visitor

And I did have an unusual visitor today as she has been on Guide Camp for a week and in 2 days is going to Dance Camp for another fortnight. As she was leaving I said "If you can't be good be careful". She said "Do you know what that means?", I said "No" and she said "Right, I'd better tell everyone that you told your 13 year old daughter if you are gonna have sex wear a condom"

Terry

So now I am mid read of a second proper grown up book. But for this one I am very glad that the author didn't go to school with me. If he had I would have felt obliged to say "Terry - you pratt! Shit!!"

Up

So I got up s'morning, had breakfast, went for a walk (twice up and down to next door) then went into the bathroom to have my weekly shave. While I was doing it I thought "Aha, Freya is coming today, she always complains about stubble"

Night Night

So here I am still up this evening. I should go to bed......

More Boots

So as wearing my boots seems OK today, I went outside and walked twice to number 4 and back. My right ankle doesn't feel all turning over like it did last week. So who knows, a few days rest might have cured me, I will know more when I take off my boots and socks at bedtime tonight

It is still retaining some water but doesn't look half as rough as it did t'other day

Bread

And I went to make a sandwich for lunch and the last of my bread has gone mouldy, it was the last, it is on my shopping list for monday. Panic a bit but decided to have cous cous for lunch today and tomorrow

Call

And that Freya phoned me up from her mothers house, she is back from Guide camp, but she will be away this week as well (these young people, tsk tsk tsk) and said "Can I come and see u tomorrow instead" so obviously that's a yes. And it's proof that despite her teenage girl stroppy-ness she does want to come here and see me!

Boots

And as my foot feels so much better today I tried putting my boots on. It feel OK, we shall see when it comes time to take my boot off this evening but it feels well now

Clear

So I went to the hospital for a scan s'morning and they found I was clear.

So when I stopped shouting "Hooray" it occurred to me, "What is causing swelling then?" but anyway at least it is not DVT

DVT © David

Devastatingly Voluptuous Thighs

More Chaos

So today after my breakfast I was trying to keep me foot up etc. Then Ed came along with 6 Harry Potter films as DVD. So I sat up with my leg up and watched the first film. And it seemed like a new film to me, I had no memory of it and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Then I made a lunch etc. So now I have got the other 5 HP films to watch before "someone" takes me to see the latest at the cinema.

Then this morning someone from the hospital that I thought was gonna be able to x-ray me next week phoned and said "Come along tomorrow", which is no problem. So I will have to take back 6 doses of drug that they left for me when they thought I was booked in for next week, and then hopefully we will know more.

This afternoon I think I will watch Harry Potter 2

What A Day More now

First of all Paul came round and we made conversation for an hour 'til the chiropractor came around and cut my toenails and talked about the nearly but not quite ingrowing one, she can treat it either way so wait and see. So she did my feet and sloped off. Me and Paul went out and had a delicious lunch.

Then when we were back at home Paul said "You emailed Denyse about your ankle hurting, lets take a look" He looked and said "Dunno, but it's bad enough that you need to see a doctor", phoned the surgery and made an appointment for later. I said "But you are s'posed to finish work before that and pick your son up from school" He ignored me and took me to the doctors. Doctor took one look and sent me straight to hospital, suspected DVT. Eventually we did stuff, injections at the hospital. She sounded surprised when my blood test results came in, didn't look like I was in the DVT watch out area. Anyway they won't know 'til I have a scan on Tuesday next week so they have given me loadsa anti DVT medicine and an appointment has been made for the district nurse to come out and inject me every day 'til Tuesday. So dunno, either I will need serious Thrombosis treatment or are back to the doctor saying "What's wrong with Neil?"

It was 7 o'clock before Paul finished taking care of me

And "they" phoned me this morning (Thursday) and we agreed to do my scan tomorrow, so less waiting etc

Reading

And this morning, while I was waiting, I finished the first proper grown up book I have read in more than eight years, the first

What a day

So I woke up and got up and looked out of the window this morning. Tum ti tum, nowt to do. Just after 12 Denyse and Ed and Paul came here after meeting to discuss how I was doing for a number of hours. Soon we started discussing holidays and who I would be able to see then etc.

They did discuss how unbelievably well I am getting on, which was nice

Me and Denyse agreed to take on a holiday cover MOS until they get the cash (which is coming, eventually) to take on another MOS full time.

After a couple of hours talking to them three Sarah the OT came here to do some cooking. We distracted her with the TRUG and she spent most of the afternoon taking me round garden centres where we bought a plant and some seeds. She is gonna bring another plant with her next week and hopefully some netting to stop the birds eating my Blueberries

Then I defrosted and heated some curry for tea, Sarah's ingredients are in the cupboard for next week

Pauly

So we went out to Folk Club at Burry Port where they recognised me and said "Hi" as we went in and it was excellent, didn't leave 'til 11pm and evidently my piss is getting loads better as I only needed two all night. For both of which I walked from where I was sitting, did my piss and walked back. Someone else who was there noticed and complimented me as I was leaving

As we were going in a chap said "Ah, the whiskey mac chap", they had got the ingredients on purpose

Biting

And I heard one of my neighbours being very angry today, then someone, dunno, perhaps it was his mum, came out of his flat and said to a passer by(1) "Why does he bite himself?"

(1) A MOS

Edding

So Ed came s'morning and took me out in the rain to Waverley then Morrisons to do my weeks shopping. I didn't need so much from Waverley today but I still bought Organic Veg

Now I am reasonably excited as I have to have an early dinner then go out to play with Paul

&AE

So I was up s'morning and eating breakfast before my alarm clock went off

With My Right Hand

So I had Cannelloni for tea tonight, I made them t'other day and froze them, they were delicious. I started my usual cut and eat with your fork but it wouldn't work, so I had to fork LHS and knife RHS. And it worked, cutting stuff with my right hand. So if I can do it I have got right out of the habit of using my right hand to eat, I better start RElearning

Bookmarks Gone

So I was trying to look at the weather forecast today but my bookmarks had gone. All of them. Panic, panic, panic. I looked under help and it said try undo which I didn't know existed, tried it and all my bookmarks came back. Phew in the extreme

Tea

And for dinner tonight I had left over veg stir fry with with a spoonful of pesto in it and cous cous and bits on the side and it was delicious. I think I need to cook it every weekend to eat up the bits of veg as I am currently cooking for one, but it was delicious tonight

Patiently

So 3 days ago I decided to grow my long hair again. This morning I got sick of waiting

And knackered

So Paul was coming around yesterday to take me out to the Folk Club with stairs so we both thought "Oh dear what shall we do instead?" but ha, we were very busy all afternoon/evening putting together my new Trug which had been delivered. We bought loadsa compost but we haven't put it in yet, Sarah may want to move it etc then she can open the bags and get me manure and plants etc. Possible a compost maker too

Left walkies

I have just been outside for a walk and hoo-f^c^ing-ray my left leg still can remember how to walk properly. I am marginally worried that "you" might think "God's sake Neil, post about it again" but I am still so impressed that so long after my accident I can do such important stuff

Paranoia

So with breakfast I have just finished the last of the milk which is by now 2 days past it's best before date. Because it is "so old" I smelt it first, it smelt OK so I sipped it and tasted that sip. Again I thought it was OK.

But PARANOIA, my nose and taste buds no longer work properly, I hope it WAS OK

Well I got a MOS to check out the bits in the bottom of the bowl and he thought it was OK too.

....ing

And I have walked a bit today and "YES, my foot has remembered left foot forward, it's for the first time in more than 8 years but I can still do it"

Showing off

Then we went out for a late lunch which I ate all of with both my cutlery, knife and fork in two hands

Hectic-er

Then we went off climbing which was WOW compared with last week, 3 or 4 times as high and it wasn't hurting the toes in my right foot so much

Bang bang, chop, c, b, b, w, w

So Ed came to visit me at 11 this morning as we had an appointment later. Anyway we were bored for a while at the beginning and he took me out on the A4o to where I lived first in Wales. We went off up B roads looking for the second house we lived in but couldn't find it

Fear

And we are going off climbing in a bit. It really hurt my right toes last time but he has been back to the centre, explained my difficulties and they got stuck in to fixing one part. So dunno, wait and see, later today I will know one way or the other

Poshness

And it occurs to me..... When I was driving older cars I would keep the window open. An inch if it was raining or cold, up to all the way. But my new car you can look like one of those strange weirdo's I have seen about with no windows down. I used to think they were just weirdo's but my new car has air conditioning, effectively it can blow cold air at you all the time that you want/need it. Windows, who needs to open them?

Walking, properly

So Paul came down at 1 minute past ten this morning. I tried to tell him off and send him away but he was having none of it.

Over lunchtime we went swimming in Carmarthen. Just WOW. For the past eight years, when I was able to walk at all, my right foot has gone forward then my left foor has come up parallel, along side, my right foot has then moved forward and on I walked. Today I was concentrating at first but then I was able to relax that as my feet learned how to walk properly. Right foot forward, left foot forward, right forward etc etc. I relearned how to properly walk, got out of swimming pool and tried it again and I remembered. Hopefully I relearned how to walk properly today

This afternoon I was feeling a bit scared so I waited until a MOS came past, I told 'em my story and said "Can you stay with me as I walk" as I was nervous, set off and immediately felt confident walking with both feet, properly, again. Obviously summat has been learned again!!!!

Geetaring

Then Freya came into see me, she seemed more pleasant today but who can tell. After we had a delicious curry that I cooked earlier today (It was delicious) Later it was doing my head in as Freya was playing my electric guitar, the one that I used to be able to play. I had to go outside as I was upset when Freya came out and said "You gave me your talent" which made me cry even more

AND as Freya said "Try this" I got my guitar back out and while I still can't play it by a long stretch I could actually play better than I have managed in some years tonight

OT

Then Sarah the OT came over. We were discussing curry when the door knocked again. It was Ruth. So we all 3 talked for 20 minutes then Ruth apologised and left.

Then me and Sarah got into making curry. We had a recipe for Green Thai Curry and good lord was it easy to make. Put 70% of the ingredients in the blender, chop the rest and it seems lovely.

THEN we tried to order online my veg trug but the website wouldn't work, so we phoned them up and ordered it over the phone

So aargh etc, bang bang chop chop busy......

Tooth

So my tooth seems to have got a lot better, now I have stopped doing that rinse after every meal, and it seems that I can chew a bit with that side of my gob now

She's (Not) Got Pink Hair

And Claire the Psychologist came to see me s'morning, we talked about Brain Injury and getting better etc, she decided that it would be good for me to see her again but waiting for funding now

But at one point when I was expressing how clever I felt I was/am she said that clever people do get better from BI, so (smug, smug, smug)

Busy

So I have none of "my team" coming but blinking busy anyway

Wiv Paul

So me and Paul went to Headway meeting which was more pointless than usual as there was no guest speaker tonight, we all left early so we headed off until we came to a pub in Pontargothi which a) was more accessible, b) open and c) sold whiskey mac's.

Edding

Well this morning me and Ed went 1st of all to Waverley Stores where we got most of our organic shopping,and then we went to Morrisons and got the rest of my shopping list

Aargh

Can't say much, me and Paul went to watch motorbike races today, which was both shitty and exciting

Puppy

And I met a woman's eight week old puppy tonight, it was by far the youngest dog I have ever stroked. Both my dogs were grown up b4 they got rescued and moved to a kind home, mine

Reminded

Now I am gonna cook pasta for tea tonight. It used to be one of my regular dishes but I haven't cooked it in a couple of years that I recall, possibly 8 years in total. Because I wasn't sure about whether to eg bring the water to the boil first etc, I had to check it and yes, I had remembered every stage correctly

But it was actually nicer than I expected but it felt a bit strange putting that little pasta on to boil, I think I am used to cooking for at least 3 or 4 people at a time, but it was nice anyway. What's an easy dinner with pasta? Grated cheese and salad?

New Phone

So my new phone was displaying time a XX:XXam then later YY:YYpm. I wanted 24hr clock but couldn't find it. Eventually when checking the format I realised it was already set to 24hr clock instead of 12hr. So I changed it to 12hr (no change) then put it back to 24hr and now it is expressing the time as ZZ:ZZ. No AM or PM. Obviously it was confused and befuddled but now I have had to say "No, like this"

Up

Still looking at my car out of the window...

And today I wanted some CD's to put in it, but all my CD's are full of MP3's which I don't know if it can play. So I burned 2 new CD's converted to "proper" format. I put them in the car along with one of my fuller MP3 CD's, so we can test next time I am away.

At 7AM tomorrow, when we are leaving to watch bike races.

Pauling

So first thing s'morning when Paul came here he took me off to the Vauxhall Garage in Carmarthen where after much signage and discussion we left in my new (45 miles on the clock) Vauxhall Zafira which is strange and wonderful.

Then he drove my new car to the swimming pool where again my mobility seems to be improving. Then he drove me back here in my new car, handed me the key and went off

Lord

Well I have eaten my dinner tonight and didn't even remember to be careful with half my mouth. Obviously much better

Edded

Well, what a day. An hour later than usual Ed arrived. Firstly he looked at my phone, click, click, click. No joy. So we went to the O2 shop where the chap with the "guru" badge on fixed my phone for free. It was because I was trying to send photos, which I had taken with my phone, and it got stuck, trying to send massive files.

Then we came back here and I had loadsa salad for my lunch then we went to Dynamic Rock where we went in. Ed said he was surprised that I didn't go "See you next week" but I got stuck straight in. Put on the harness, put on the cap (over my head-wear), then just got stuck into trying to climb. I only made it about 18 inches today but they have now met me and will change some of the grips etc and I will try again next week

I only managed 18 inches but it was climbing up from a standing position by myself

Phew

Oh and Paul did weigh me again s'morning. 10lbs less than I was last weighed, you have gotta loose it slowly to stay thin, so (TICK)

Busy

And I was 16/18 of the way through eating the starter at lunchtime(1) when I remembered that my tooth was out. Obviously much better

(1) I was in the café at the end of King Street with Paul, as we had already been out to St Clears looking for where this chiropodist is, at a guess she must be totally mobile

Muesli

And eating breakfast s'morning was much easier, I was able to chew with 1½ sides of my mouth, so obviously it is getting better/improving

Car

And it has been announced tonight that my new car will be ready on Thursday but it will take them a day to sort out the insure so on Friday morning I am going to pick up my new car.

Cooking

So Sarah the Occupational Therapist came to see me after lunch with a few more ingredients. Together we made Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni which is now awaiting to be cooked for me and Freya's tea. Half of it, the other half is in the freezer awaiting another meal for the two of us. ObAnd there is a small amount of the tomato sauce in the freezer too awaiting some boiled pasta to eat it by myself. But good lord, it looks much too posh for me to have cooked, surely I opened a packet and it was just there

Breakfast

So I got up s'morning, went to the kitchen, prepared a bowl of Muesli, brought into the living room, popped a spoonful into my mouth and suddenly thought "Aargh, where has my tooth gone?"

No more title underlining

I can understand it like today's and can't find a way of making it automatic, hence stopping. Unless someone drops me a line with tips?

Burry Port Folk Club

And me and Paul went out and had fun

Shoppies

And we went to Morrisons to do the weeks shopping, which we finished, did some chores here now awaiting to go to the Dentist later which I am marginally scared of, they are taking out 2 badly broken teeth

Fark, well I have done the dentist, she took out most of one of my broken off teeth but her back prevented her doing any more. They will send me another appt in 6-8 weeks

My mouth feels really strange as I explore it with my tongue, where has that broken many summat-d bit gone?

& At Em

Well, I got up so my alarm clock went off mid-breakfast again

Unexpected

I thought "Oh no, how..." but I managed all by myself, no help required

Tennis

And this afternoon I am being bored so watching telly. I have looked at the first 10 channels or so and the only vaguely interesting thing I found was a repeat of yesterdays Wimbledon Male Final

Walkies, properly

And this is the second day when I haven't been wearing my hi-heeled boots, just proper footwear on, and it seems OK

Still humming

Yes.....

Ho hum

Gosh but Saturdays seem boring as I am busy from Monday to Friday now

Wow

And my door knocked tonight. It was Ruth and her son who has been alive about as long as I haven't been IYSWIM. It was lovely to see them etc etc

Great

And double good lord. My new 3D grater arrived this morning, so when it had dried from it's wash I used it to make tonight's dinner, instead of my old 2D one, and just WOW. I now know I didn't have trouble grating, but trouble with my old grater

Paddling

Then we went off to the swimming pool, and good lord, last week I hadn't perceived the improvements but this week I could. Just wow. Today when I was walking in the pool if I concentrated my right foot would hit the deck heel first, move over as I continued, hit the deck with my big toe second (for the first time in over 8 years), bend over and relift up. Like a proper foot walking does. I had to concentrate but it worked properly, for the first time in over 8 years

(SINGING AND DANCING)

Receptor

So when Paul was here today our conversation got around to the telly, I showed him that when we start it it sez "Not connected" and then I have to backwards switch it on, which leads to about 100 channels. He said "Wait when it sez that", waited then it sprung into life, with 1000 TV channels. Will I be able to find summat to watch?

Pauling

Lord, a night. Paul was here when Freya phoned and said "Can't be bothered making my way to yours, cu in the Folk Club in a bit?" so we said yes then headed into meet her. The club was good but seemed to be way too busy earlier then quieter as night went on

Today

Well first thing s'morning the chap came to fix my 'chair but as he wasn't able to change the front ones to a bigger size and I decided not to change the back as punctures are inevitable he did nowt. Later today they phoned Ed and told him that they couldn't change the front ones as my 'chair is on a prescription so I am waiting for another appointment with the doctor to change that.

Then we went out for a drive, in the end we arrived in Tenby, which was as busy as a beaver as loadsa schools are closed today, so we couldn't even find a space to park.

Once we came back Ed thought he'd better phone the climbing place we were booked into at 1pm and say we would be 10 mins late, their answer phone said shut 'til 2. Eventually they got back on and we made another appointment for next Thursday

BTW at one point today I met a really groovy visitor

Grate

It might seem like a small task to you lot but it was the first time I have managed it in more than 8 years (/smug)

Pauled

So today I put up with Paul. He came here and said "Right, if we are swimming every Friday then we need to move the voluntary work that we do at Carmel to Wednesday. So come on then....", so we drove to Carmel and drove around taking pics of any litter in gateways, then after I came back I emailed them to them. When we were out, before we went to Carmel we went back to the O2 mobile phone shop, I got a couple of things sorted on my phone then asked them if the camera could have an icon on my home page, as we can't find out how to do this. He said "No, because this button on your phone is to switch on the camera". Oh, a bit embarrassing and proof that we haven't been looking in the instructions. Then we asked for a "Car charger" which we bought so I will be able to SatNav and so on

Resplinting

So I decided yesterday that I would be wearing my splint again today. It wasn't moving a long way out, just a very little unbalancing but better be safe than sorry

Lord

blogging from bed

Watching Telly

And I watched Mock The Week tonight on iPlayer and it seems odd, like an old style of program with new stars

Lord

so tonight I am trying out BLOGging with my new phone

Drinking

And for the last couple of nights I have noticed myself drinking from eg a glass of wine as if it was a race, finish my drink in one gulp then pause for an hour and a half before you have the next one

Daughter

Then a lovely daughter came to visit me, she didn't criticise me or raise her voice all day!!! She did like the food we had made earlier but apparently she isn't eating so much these days so half of it went in the bin. My half was all enjoyed

Sarah

Then Sarah the OT has been round here for a couple of hours. Firstly we talked about why I was upset today then we cooked. She apologised for not sending me some recipes but she has been really busy this week and didn't have time. So she brought some veg which we added ingredients to from my cupboard and made a risotto type thing which hopefully Freya will enjoy when we eat it tonight

And she brought a bit of paper with what she is gonna ask "them" to fund for me, she thinks it will improve me generally

Pickled Onions

So today I opened a new jar of pickled onions that I bought, and WOW, I can smell them

Lie in

So my alarm clock wasn't set this morning and I still got up at 7AM

Busy

And after tea Paul came round and drove me to Swansea to the Folk Club and it was very impressive. I was more impressed with the Sat Nav function on my phone which I used on the way there, it was the first time I have ever seen one and wow

Well

What a morning. First of all Jackie txted me to say "I understand why you cannae gizza lift, c u there" then I went to the shop with Ed. We shopped well sitting down, got everything we needed etc, then when we were at the back of the shop I stood up and walked off pushing my trolley. And this time my foot wasn't being as wrong, it seemed a bit more possible than a few weeks ago. And while we were at the shop it occurred to me that next week we will have to try Waverley Stores to try and buy more organic stuff. He said "Wanna go after here" but no, I need to try them out first then get the rest in Morrisons

Horrible Histories with Stephen Fry

And I watched a whole half hour long program on iPlayer today. It was..... erm.... a program

Hot

Gosh, it is roastingly hot again, the weather seems to have remembered that it's summer time. Just now I was outside and I pointed at a cloud and said "Look, it's the only one", kept on watching it as it blew across the sky, by the time it was half way across it had evaporated or melted or whatever the do, it had gone

8

Well I am splintless again, it made no difference

Phone Call

Then Jackie phoned me. Sh*t, sh*t, sh*t. She has got the results of her scan back and very bad news. She won't be able to work here or with me. Dunno what she is gonna do, The Leonard Cheshire organisation are obliged to find her some employment but what? I think the dole beckons....

Busy

So today I had a visit from a Psychologist and Wendy^h^h^h^h^h Helen^h^h^h^h^h^ Denyse. The Psychologist, Claire (without pink hair), seemed to talk a lot of sense and made some useful suggestions for the future. She is coming back on her own to see me in 3 weeks

7

Well I woke up early s'morning and it was 7 by the time I had put on my boots and splint etc. Yes I am wearing my splint again, not that I think it makes a difference but they have said "Take care, ask advice" etc

Not nuff

And it seems that I haven't written much for today but I feel there should be loads more. I went to the swimming pool and had my biggest son as a visitor, and we were beginning to talk about how he (and they) felt when I had my accident

Surprise

Then I had a surprise visitor, he didn't phone and lemme know when he was coming 'til last night, but good lord, he is much bigger than I recall but as handsome and clever as ever, he is going to Ecuador on a student 'learn stuff' trip soon

Paul

So then Paul came in later, he caught up with some paperwork etc then we set off together. To the swimming pool, which was very strange, but it seems that my right leg is bending further than before etc. But I am exhausted now

And we went and had a lunch there in the café afterwards and it was nice to sit down somewhere peaceful for a while

Up

So I got up s'morning and was putting my boots on when my new alarm clock and other device went off

Pics

Wow. So at last I figured out how to take a pic with my new phone, and good lord, it isn't as obvious to use as my camera but it takes photos of outstanding clarity and quality.

Wow once more

So Ed came round s'morning. We had no plans for today so we pottered together for a bit, cutting the grass etc. He helped my log onto O2 to check my bills etc

And walked up and down beside me saying "Your foot is not turning over"

Bin

So I was eating breakfast this morning when I thought "Oh no, yesterday was Wednesday and I forgot to put the bin out." So after breakfast I went out and checked, no, excellent, so I put a late bin out and beat the bin men to it by about 12 minutes!!!

Wow

So Paul was here later because his son was cheating in races at school so he feltt obliged to watch. This evening we went out and spoke to someone knowledgeable in the Mobile Phone Shop and left half an hour later with a Nokia E7 which is my new phone. We had to leave it charging and were awaiting it to adapt to the new SIM card so we went out and had another lovely dinner Little And Large's then when we came bachttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifk here my phone was working half. It still won't send btinternet email but we were warned that was hard and we will see the guru in't shop tomorrow who knows what to do. It is confusing but exciting. And the mini keyboard is a treat

It is still a secret but when I can work it fully I will publicise the number

But it is a treat

Sleep In

So I had a 'relax' morning with no alarm clock(1) as Paul is going to his son's sports day today and coming to take me out about 4 o'clock this afternoon

(1) So I didn't wake up until 9.03AM today!!!

L8R

Then later that Freya came over to see me again. It went well with her today, she was very pleasant. As we hadn't cooked with Sarah this week we had leftovers from the freezer with an extra cheese sauce made and added as we both thought it was too dry before. Both of us said that it was nicer than last time even without the extra sauce so who knows.....

OT

So Sarah the OT came here today and instead of cooking she took me out to the garden center to look for Trugs to buy. They didn't have any in stock but we came back and looked online at them, I said "No ta, much to expensive" and Sarah said "It's OK, he is buying it for you"

Sleepy

So I went to sleep last night without putting my extra night time splint on my right arm. Dunno, it still seems as good as..... s'morning, I suspect that when they are reassessing my foot splint I shall enquire about this too