Playing Pool S'Morning

And I had a rare treat s'morning, I think it is getting easier as it kind of knows how well I can play

Fsck Every Susannah

So later on s'afternoon Timmy will have to re-fit that FES device onto my right leg and then I will be able to walk into Aardvark

Which I did and I was able to give them back my £20 freebie card which is full of stamps now

MegaCycle

And me and Timmy went to gym s'morning and I did a 10 km cycle. It was 2 minutes quicker than last week

Sara-ing

And Sara The Physio is coming in today at 1pm to check on how I am doing. She recommended the big plasters which are stretched to twice as big before being stuck behind my right knee every few days. I don't understand what's going on but they seem to have helped enormously

And she came in, was well impresses with my walking, said "We will have to practice walking without the stick", was suitably impressed when  I told her I walk around the kitchen like that most of the time and stuck some needles in my knee to acupuncture my leg which has helped, no matter how cynical you feel

Curry-ifying

Well I have just been stood on my feet and walking about (with no stick) for ages while I peeled, chopped, stirred, added stock, stirred again etc to make this weeks curry. In a while I will need to micro some rice to go with it but not yet.

So for now I am resting

Gymming

And I went to gym s'morning and did 3 exercise machines followed by 10 minutes on the foot trainer machine, the cross trainer. In the past the longest I have managed on that was 6.5 minutes so I am getting better

And my legs mega ache now, must be that machine

On the way there we had to call back into Diablo's to pay for last nights dinner, their cash card machine had died so many customers couldn't pay

Diabling

And we are going out for dinner to Diablo's On The Quay with that Freya tonight. It is somewhere I wouldn't have been able to go in my wheelchair but now....

Well nice night of food etc we had. My food was delicious and it just felt a bit strange being capable of going in somewhere like that now.....

'Wimming

And we went swimming today and it was fine. The steps into the pool are fixed which was nice and I got in, did 4 lengths, some exercises, did 2 more and more exercises then 2 more. Then I stepped back out on the steps.

And "someone" did say "It's fixed, want it?"

The Day After

And it is the day after valentines day and my PC is still showing me the heart to send someone a romantic email

Breath Deeply

Well s'morning I had to fix up the photos taken at Rocky last night as it was late when we got back and ever since then it has been a quiet day

Where We Are Eating Later

And we are popping out to eat as Rocky is so far away today.....

Ooooooh, a good time was had by all

Aargh

And we had to nip into town and look for a black miniskirt to wear over my Rocky Horror gear tomorrow

And we had to walk loadsa distance in the shop to find the till etc

Gym

And we headed over to a proper class in gym today which went well. Afterwards I got on the new(ish) Crossover machine and lasted 2 minutes longer than last time I tried

Getting Ready

So before we nip to gym today me and Alex are starting to look at tomorrows Rocky Horror costume

Late Dinner

And I am cooking the one potato that was left over from last week for tea, baking it.

And it is taking longer than a long think in Longitown

Across The Universe

And already I can't stop singing my Health Food Shop song which comes from my different version of gord nose what... Aardvarking across the universe, boldly going forward as we can't find reverse...

The original was Star Trekkin'.... it occurs to me

Didn't He Do Well

So my timetable now sez "Long cycle" for Thursday. So before Timmy had arrived s'morning I had already got a bottle of water waiting in the hall and today I started off cycling and didn't look at time/distance. I think this was much better than last week when I was speeding and gave up after 5 km. Towards the end I was looking at time/distance and realised that I was going quicker than I have ever.

10km in almost exactly 50 minutes

Therapy

So the binmen came and took away the bags and left behind them the small, emptied, foodwaste bin. So  thought "I will get that back when I go out to the car to go to gym" but then "NO, it's good for you walking about, go and get it".

So I did

Out For Tea

And in a few minutes me and GGtGG are heading over to my ex neighbour's house for tea, Ruth's in Mynydd Cerrig

Wow it was pleasant. Hard walking to Ruth's as I couldn't see where to put my feet, for the first half, after that it was fine, we walked in and had a lovely evening with Ruth and her now 1.5 legged chap and her son. I think it may be monthly now.......

And GGtGG found it, no prob. He took me the way I used to travel but it was just getting dark so my vision was no good

Cheesy Chopper

So The Cheesy Chopper is coming to do my toes s'morning. Can't decide what to title her, Luscious Linda, Sexy Susannah, Gorgeous Greta..... or Naughty No-Name....

And didn't she do well. She complimented me on the state of my feet and was just generally very nice

Aqua Aerobics

So today instead of swimming I am going to an Aqua Aerobics session that they are running at t'gym

But need to have an early lunch first so I will be off to do that in a tick....

Off to pool in 3 minutes....

And wasn't it hard work. It felt like hard work that was doing me sum good anyway. She did comment that I couldn't manage everything but I was trying

Strange Dream

And I recall a strange dream that I had last night. I dreamed that I met a chap I haven't seen since secondary school who was carrying a massive (A2) photograph of him that his mother had taken professionally. Stephen Wheeler he was called...

Vegan Icecream

And I had some vegan ice cream out of the freezer tonight

And it was actually rather delicious and apparently not quite as fattening as dairy ice cream

Oops

Then after napping we headed Morrisonwards. Now last night I prepared home made curry and baked spud pieces, today I thought "Buy rice" so we popped off. This time instead of long or short grain I bought some pilau rice which I really enjoyed and am glad I bought another packet of microwaveable to eat when I take the rest of the curry out of the freezer

Gosh, when I was putting my FES on before going out I noticed that the battery had started to die. I thought "Nip out then do it later", nipped out just to MoreReasonsToShopAt was walking for less than 20 minutes, and when we came back it was nearly all gone. Lesson as soon as it starts to show it is almost entirely gone

Walkies

So s'morning on the way to gym we popped into Wilkos where I picked up more napkins and personal tissues. I walked in and out of the shop.

 Then we headed gymwards, I went in and walked up the stairs as Alex had said he would let me off cycling after my exercise machines if I did that as I had done so much walking at t'shop even before I was in gym. Then I led the way back down the stairs

Lick Me

So I was adding summat to my shopping list for this weekend, as I am an unstable weirdo I spelt it "Gar-lick". Fairy Nuff, no offence.

Later I had a mo in front of my PC and I looked it up. 

Oh double dear, Lick my spear it means....

Sunday Dinner

And we had the Sunday Dinner (or the first third) tonight as Timmy was working yesterday. The onion was rotten but the rest of the veg was nice and I used a whole jar of curry paste, with 1 normal sized and 1 small tin toms

Horror

And we are going to Rocky Horror Show this Saturday......

.....Miller

And I am scared, I will have to walk out to the car and it is *so* windy that my walky stick is gonna try to blow away every time I lift of off the ground.....

I survived. And the swimming was OK, I did all the exercises they wanted, including having to insist that I did a 7th and 8th length swimming to get Timmy off my back. There was a mother & child in the big changing room but I just about managed in the smaller room. Although because of the confusion I forgot to take the sticky plasters off my leg and had to do it later which hurt more. Then Gareth had to flannel and soap my leg before I napped and he put on a new one

Different Walking

I have been trying for fscking ages to make my right toes come more upright when I am walking, to stop them dragging on the ground. But today I started walking just with my whole right foot lifted further off the ground. I wasn't sure so I asked Timmy to look at both my feet and knees as I walked and actually became more convinced that it was right even without his opinion, it just feels more even even tho I am having to work one side harder. And he said that it will soon become normal and not feel so strange

Rugger

And the Wales vs Ireland match is on in a bit....

And I missed the first 6 minutes as I was napping but as for the rest......

More Reasons To Shop At.....

And yes, we did it again, my weekly trip.....

Technology

You know how I have said that technology has gone mad since my accident?  ATM I am watching a program on BBC4 about Formula E electric race cars

Listening

So I have finally figured out how to listen to Test Match Special on my mobile phone so I can kind of have it on all day "in the background"

Weather

And we are back to traditional Welsh Weather s'morning....

UberWalking

So yesterday I "woke up" after my nap, got dressed etc, looked around and thought "WTF is my walky stick?", went for a pee and there it was, beside the bath. I had obviously walked from the bathroom to my bed without it

Walking

And I think to myself now "Oh lordy, gotta walk that" but then I try it and just manage it

Really

Is it really Friday today? Dunno why but it just doesn't feel like a Friday today

Hooray

And I will take my itchy armpit to the proper class @ gym later....

AND my armpit is no longer itchy once he put the fungal infection cream on it...

And what fun it was. It did make me think "Wow" as I was just able to walk over the up and down stairs device left/right, and right/left, alternate feet the whole way. Then I cycled after the class for 10 mins and I managed 2.5 km.

Veggie Now

And I really enjoyed the pints of Guinness that I drank tonight, oooh it was lovely and I haven't been able to drink it for years (noisy link)

Freebie

Then me and Timmy headed down to Farmfoods to spend the token they had given me as I complained that there were no more Creme Egg Lollies

Cycling

So s'morning we went to gym and got on a cycle machine. I did 5km then called it a day

Leg

And I have noticed recently that I sit down "normally" and that hurts my right knee a bit, just a bit. When I used to sit down I had to move my right foot out before I started to sit down but now I just sit down normally

WTF?

So I was glancing round a charity shop's web page and I found these, strange and useful (to the user) devices

What Fun

And we (me & GGtGG) are off to the swimming pool in a bit (noisy link)

And after my 8 lengths etc I got out, wheelchaired to the changing room, got changed, wheelchaired back out over slippy wetness etc then when I got out onto carpet I walked the rest of the way to the car. Gosh, it is still well difficult walking but it is so much easier than it was even last week

More About Walking

So last night I was walking to bed at about ten to twelve. As I was going I thought that while walking is still difficult etc it is easier than it was last week. Which is easier than it was the week before etc etc

No BB

And the broadband went down s'afternoon, I had my bath and nap, still down, went out shopping with Timmy (to Kwikfit) and luckily found it had come back when we came back. It was out for about 4-6 hours

Garage

Then after lunch we took the car to Kwik-Fit and they said yes, you need 1 tyre but come back later. So we are waiting

So we went back later, sat and waited for ages and they replaced it with a brutal, more hard wearing tyre as they had none of the cheap versions

Timming

So s'morning me and Timmy went to gym with one of new cards, ones made by Timmy, that tell me which machines to use this week. AND we started on a new machine this week, it's generally to smarten up my shoulders

Put....

Your hand on your hip.... (/singing)

Not Gymming....

No, because we are going fscking swimming today....

Strange. So I got in the pool, did my exercises etc then we went and climbed in the jacuzzi. Which was supposed to be relaxing but was way too unsettling for that. Least said, it was very strange

Yes, but what do they expect?

Because he's a fscking Tory.....

Walkies

So all day I have been dreading cooking dinner tonight, it was my usual Sat dinner of roast veg &c and I just thought "More 2 feet-ing". So it came 'til tonight just before dinner time and I was walking about the kitchen cooking. That wasn't difficult at all, it was the easiest time on my feet that I have had today. As soon as dinner is eaten I am back to "not wanting to walk much"

It was strange, obviously having summat to do makes walking easier, but most of the time there is nowt so do-able.....

Senti

So me and GGtGG headed out to check he could find Ruth's house for Wednesday (We are both having dinner there) and then we headed back thru Cwrt Henri where I lived before opposite Ruth's.

Lordy, it was all a bit emotional for me, driving along roads I remember so strongly from my past that I haven't seen since my accident &c

Instructions

Lordy, so yesterdays MOS has got to tell today's "Neil needs this cream there and this cream there" then today's MOS has got to tell tomorrows etc &c

Head Exploding

No, it does my head in. Until a number of weeks ago I used to wheelchair on a Sunday to carry my bedding out to put it in the wash, now I carry it out on my own two feet

(And Denyse I remembered to put it on a hotter wash)

The Old Ones

And I am watching on YouTube an episode of The Young Ones. Fun

Baldy

And I said to Ed "Can u trim my hair?", he said "No, I'm back next week and it's not too long", but I said "You aren't here for 3 weeks", he checked and said "OK, trimming"

Weary

So I am a bit weary now. Thinking "Oh Lordy, I need to get up on my feet and walk to the loo". But it is still better than being in a wheelchair

Food

As Ed(weena) is working today and he really dislikes my usual Saturday food of roast veg I have had to cook the Sunday (and Monday and Tuesday...) dinner of curry tonight. It was fine, all went well, except that it takes loads more time than roasting veg.

But it's done now, got to think of some accompaniment.... 

Not Allergic

So today my nurse, Ed, agreed that I am probably not allergic to those plaster thingys, as I have had no reaction so far, so it will be OK to keep them on 'til Tuesday, which is a great relief to me

Aargh. Weeping now

And after taking those new big sticky plaster type balancers off my knee I think I am gonna cry it hurt so much

Gym

So I went to gym today and did various exercises recommended by Sam and it went well. She said "Can u get down? " but I managed it even with my wonky knee

Daing

And we went to Iechyd Da and had a good time

Washing Up

And I did the washing up after lunch as we are going out to Iechyd Da, to their Folk Night (noisy link) to have dinner tonight

Docs

So we had to nip to the Drs for an appointment today. Basically he gave me the same cream for my spotty chest and an anti fungal cream to put on my armpits, well a MOS will have to put it on, I can't see where it's supposed to go

Sticking Needles In Me

So Sara the Physio phoned me s'morning and said "Because you have this issue with your leg, shall I come round to see u instead of meeting u at the gym?". So she came round, gave me some Kinesiology Tape (and ordered much more) and stuck some needles and pins in my leg

Sigh

Oh me and Timmy are going off swimming again...

Tho the last couple of times we have been I have been able to fit my own "training flippers" by myself, again an improvement

And it went as well as can be expected. I did various "Improve your hamstring" exercises and 6 lengths. Timmy did comment on how much quicker I am swimming since I got my right foot to work too

Walkies

Yes, it feels OK, this walking stuff, I am back to doing it.....

Back On My Own Two Feet

Then when I was just about to cook dinner Denyse phoned and told me off for self-diagnosing and not walking. I said that it was so much better after resting etc. So when she hung up I A] Put the dinner isn't oven and B] Tried walking to the loo. It went so well I got my proper chair back up to the table and parked my wheelchair in the corner.

I am back on my own two feet now. Not just 'cos Denyse nagged me but because of the rest I had today

Odd/Strange

And it feels really strange to be in my wheelchair in the house again. I lnow it won't be for long but it feels SO strange

Phew, feels normal once more to be not in it

Some Better

And into t'bath s'afternoon, getting out of my wheelchair and walking about the bathroom then climbing into the bath it was defiantly a lot easier to walk than it was s'morning. Still not perfect but a lot better/easier than it was. So hopefully another 24 hours in wheelchair then I can abandon it again

Half Gym

So I wheelchaired to the gym today and did all upper body exercises, including the hand cycle thingy.

It's done now

Ouch

Right. My view is that "It's fscked" but MightyMike says "No, it's tendonitis" so at a guess rest it

Well as I need to rest it I will ask GGtGG to nip out to the car and fetch it in for me to use, as a guess I will use it today and tomorrow then try to start walking everywhere again

"If you think you have injured a tendon, stop doing the exercise or activity that caused your symptoms and rest the affected area initially. As your symptoms start to improve, you can gradually return to your normal activities"

So Timmy txted me to say "If it hurts you need to see your doc" but as it doesn't hurt now, it only hurts when I am walking on it I suspect that just resting it will help

And as "resting" when GGtGG got my 'chair out I asked him to put the foot holder for my right leg on so I am not even having to hold that leg upwards. It is the leg that has been causing all the trouble, my left leg still works

Hooray

Fecking swimming today...

We shopped yesterday so nothing else in my diary for s'morning

Well it wasn't too bad. I had forgotten what a difference being able to kick with 2 feet again makes. So I was able to do my 8 lengths easily

I Can

So s'afternoon I was struggling with walking. But come cooking time I just found that I was distracted enuf that I just got on and did it.

Gord nose

Strangely Fixed

So after all my walking s'morn my right knee was complaining lots, not wanting to move property etc. I was a bit concerned but thought WTF to do?

So I had my bath, was sitting in warm water for about 20 mins, not exercising or owt, got back out of the bath and my leg is about 87% better

More Feet

So we went out and first of all we walked into to Morrisons. and did the rest of my weeks shopping. But we couldn't find any frozen chopped onion or picture frames for my won on EBay pic so we went to Farmfoods and again walked in and had a look around. We just found some onion bits there so we headed down to The Range where I was still walking (up and down the escalator too, which was a bit of an event) and right at the back of the fscking shop, the longest walk away, we found some picture frames

All these combined with having to walk around the car to press buttons for the diesel fill up after Morrisons stop that was a bit of a long walk s'morning 

When we were heading to Farmfoods after the diesel stop I thought "Wheelchair, boot"  but then I thought "NO, you are so much better just keep it up" so I did

Again

So I managed to walk up & down the kitchen to make our dinner. Just lawks and lordy. What can I do now...?

Phew

So Alex came to work yesterday carrying a new car battery, plugged it into his car which has been here for 3 or 4 days, and this morning it started and he was able to take in home again.

Relief

Uber-Struggle

So s'morning I changed my bed and just carried the box out of my bedroom on my own two feet. I know that it is 2 or 3 weeks I have been doing this but it still amazes me, just how much more capable am I?

Struggle

Gosh, my brain hurts. I am still walking, it is SO late but I still am.... My brain hurts, it just wasn't the usual for some years....

Important But Hard To Explain

So after my bath I stood there drying myself, I was drying my back, start at the top going backwards and forwards then I reached the point where I needed to move my arms over the towel and rub the bottom of my back and my bottom. As it has been doing for many years my left arm just did it, but my right arm which hasn't been able to do the same move without much help from my left just did it today. For the first time in how many years? So yes, it might seem small and irrelevant to you but it is proof, in so many strange ways, both big and small, that I am getting better

Pat & His Black And White Cat

And the postman came s'morning and dropped off a security camera and recorder for the car that in a moment of paranoia I bought. It's still in the box but we have been to gym and are back having lunch so hopefully...

And Timmy is as we speak booking "our" trip to Belfast

So he has my credit card and is making the payments for a June trip for GGtGG, me and Alex

Classworthy

And I am going to my only gym class of the week at lunchtime, potentially followed by 10 mins on a pushbike

And I managed it all. The class went as well as classes do, it seemed rather busy today so Sam didn't have as much Neil time but it was ok. After I did 10 mins on a bike. After 5 mins I had done X distance but in the second 5 I did 1.5X

Really 2 Feet

So just now I stood up in the kitchen and walked to the bathroom for a pee without my walking stick

Dunno, no doubt someone will tell me that is is too difficult and dangerous, so don't do for these reasons but...

Aardvarking

Then after 5 we headed into Aardvark and bought a weeks fruit and veg and milk etc

Half Hearted

So I went to gym and just did 4km on the bike. It took me about 23 mins and then I said "Let's go", Timmy replied "You did 10km last time we were here together" but I just thought "Enough"

Icy

And it was well icy today, taking Alex home. After 12.30 there was still loadsa ice on the field but as I didn't have my camera with me I had to take a photo with my phone. Which isn't as clear but you can just about see how much ice there is on the field. By the afternoon

More Farmfoodsing

Then because I needed some more garlic bread and summat that isn't sweet potato oven chips (for Alex) we popped back to Farmfoods. Where a MOS was being very positive, she hasn't seen me walk before etc.

And we bumped into a passer by who I met somewhere and she hadn't seen me walk before either.....

What A Day

What a day, at least it is over now. Right, first thing Alex, who was s'posed to go home at 10.13 today, had a car crisis. It wouldn't start. So we looked in the garage, in the boot of the car, in the end we popped to the neighbours and asked to borrow some jump leads. We plugged them in, left the car for half an hour while my car was running, then Gareth got in my car and reved it while Alex tried to start his. Nowt.

So we had to take Alex home, nearly all the way to Cardigan, he lives miles away, in Drefach Velindre.

So because that took so much time we couldn't go swimming so we headed to town for a walk

We parked up at the corner of Blue St (the bus station) and Lammas St and set off walking, with no wheelchair accompaniment. We walked thru town to the new shopping centre that used to be the Cattle Market Car Park. Walked all the way up thru that, gave a busker a quid and walked back down to the old Aardvark shop, it's now a café and a very nice one. After a brew in there we walked all the way back to the car. Big walks!! And big walks as we weren't in gym today so I did loadsa outside work

Gizzit

And each and every night about this time I think "Gizzmy wheelchair" but every night I think "No, good practice" so...

Nearly Winning

And after a morning of genius there is only one that I haven't won this month

Sick Of It

And good lord but I am sick of this fscking rehabilitation, I just wanna be better. Dunno if my process will ever end but I suppose the consequences of 'failing' doesn't.....

More Walking

Then s'afternoon we popped out to get some more coffee and sugar for the staff and a few bits of cleaning stuff.

We fetched it from Home Bargains in Carmarthen and again I was on my own two feet with no wheelchair in sight

-ing

So we went to gym s'morning and did 4 machines followed by a 10 min cycle. On the machines I felt nearly at breaking point but I just carried on without complaining. The very fact that I felt able to just carry on is a sign that I am getting fitter/healthier

Strange Dream

So I had a strange dream last night. I dreamt that in town we had met Naomi from (ex) Brer Rabbit and we drove up to her new house and had a cuppa

Really strange when my alarm went off s'morning I was thinking about this and couldn't tell whether it had been a dream or if it was real. To get to her new house you drive past where Brer Rabbit was then a couple of minutes later you turn right.

Gord nose.....

Struggle On

And I have been a bit pi**ed off with having to carry stuff about today but I just did it. On my own two feet...

What Fun....

And we are off to the swimming pool in a bit....

(not real photo, somewhere else)

So we went and mostly I am just astonished at how well my right foot is kicking water away.  So because swimming is so much easier/faster I did all 8 lengths, easily

And I was nervous about being able to walk afterwards, but I tried it on the way out of the 'pool to the car and that gave me some confidence so we got home and I just walked

BUT  even tho it has been fixed for a week it was the first time I have sat in my "normal" wheelchair since it was fixed and just wow, it's wide enuf etc