Early Start

Well I had to get up super early today, again tomorrow but I'll get to that, as I had to take my youngest nephew to his Primary School early AM for the pre-school Christmas party. I was also mean't to take the middle boy to his Primary School beforehand but he seems to have come down with the stomach bug the youngest had at the weekend/earlier this week.

So with one boy home ill, another going into hospital for an operation, we had to take my youngest nephew super early before school to get him in in time for the pre-school Christmas party. Esp. after he missed the other Christmas Party his brothers attended that he couldn't because of the aforementioned stomach bug.

Now as my brother and his wife are returning to work tomorrow I need to get up super early again and get to their house prior to them leaving for work because the district nurse is coming sometime tomorrow to change the bandages on my eldest nephew's feet. No idea when tomorrow but given his incapacitation we can't move him afterwards or leave him alone while attending our own planned trips.So they have been delayed a day.

Also we might have my middle nephew to look after as well if his stomach bug hasn't settled down. So we might have 2 ill/injured/incapacitated little boys to look after. Also my brother's broadband is almost out of bandwidth for this month so I can't go online at all so there goes the plan to take the laptop or iPad to pass the time. A long day looking after a possibly cranky boy. Not that I would blame him given the pain he is in, if there is anything I know about is being in pain.

So my brother has packages for Christmas being delivered to our house so my Father would have to stay in at our house in case they arrive tomorrow.

So our plan to go finish our Christmas shopping and then do our grocery shopping is out and we will have to get up early Saturday to fulfil them. As Sunday we have our large Christmas shop to do at the supermarket, and Christmas Eve is spend cleaning and preparing our Christmas meal.

Day Late or Early?

Well I got my Citylink deliveries this afternoon. Both arrived together. One original due Monday and the other yesterday (Tuesday). So they are both officially late but the one I had to reschedule although it was due Monday it came out a day earlier than the earliest rescheduled delivery date they gave me yesterday.

I think that they were putting the second order out today to be delivered and someone realised there was an order rescheduled for Thursday for the same address and sent them out together rather than come to the same address two days running.

I suppose I should consider myself lucky that they didn't hold back the second package another day to fit the rescheduled date given.

Other news, tomorrow is a super early morning for me, my two youngest nephews will be dropped off well before 8 AM as the eldest is due into the hospital at 8 AM and we are a distance away from said hospital esp. during morning rush hour.

We have to give them both breakfast and drop each off at the relevant primary school. My youngest nephew isn't normally due in the AM class but tomorrow morning is the Christmas Party at the pre-school/nursery so we have to drop my youngest off by five to 9 AM in the morning. So the middle one will be dropped off around quarter to/ten to 9 AM and get to the second primary school by the five to nine for the start of the party.

My eldest nephew is due into hospital at 8 AM and is undergoing an operation of his big toe and both his parents are attending with him. Not that I blame them, I would do exactly the same in their shoes. So we have to go back for the youngest around 11.30 AM (just the same as last year when we did the same routine for his Christmas Party then) and there is a chance we have to go back in the afternoon to pick up the middle one after the end of school at 3.15 PM.

We will have my youngest nephew in the afternoon rather than the morning tomorrow and he's still not eating much. Poor love is suffering from a bad stomach virus, he just got over the flu a few days prior to getting the virus.

So that's about all that happening tomorrow.

Today we went to the cemetery to put down the Christmas wreaths on my Godparents and Maternal Grandparents graves. Just our way of including them in our festivities although they are no longer physically with us.

Seasons Greetings

So Christmas is fast approaching once again and in a week we will be getting ready for the last ‘sleep’ before Santa as the children’s programmes keep informing us.

This coming week will undoubtedly be the busiest for myself and my family, what with getting ready for the actual day, finishing shopping for stocking fillers, finish wrapping (started doing this this afternoon!), delivering wreaths to my family graves, three different graves at two different cemeteries (which is scheduled for Wednesday), grocery shopping for the festive break (scheduled for Sunday the 23rd, the 23rd being our preferred day leaving Christmas Eve for preparing food and any emergency items we need to rush to the supermarket for before early closing time).

And those are just the tip of the iceberg for the coming week, also tomorrow (Tuesday) and Thursday are childminding days when we look after my youngest nephew then put him into his nursery class at 1pm. Also my youngest nephew has come down with a stomach bug which is a shame as he is just getting over a horrid cold.

Also my eldest nephew is going into the hospital on Thursday to have an operation on his big toe, he has a horrid ingrown toenail which is causing the toe to become continually badly infected. It’s an in-patient appointment for a short operation which means he goes in early (around 8am actually) and hopefully will get out in the late afternoon at the latest.

Also on Thursday (or Friday) depending on my schedule (with my eldest nephew going into hospital that day we might have the school run and feeding the eldest two that afternoon/night) to drive across town and hand in our (my parents and I as well as a couple of small things on behalf of my nephews) presents for our aunt into her house as well as pick up the bags she generally has. Not all ours, mostly gifts for my three nephews, my brother and sister-in-law as well as our own from her to save my Dad struggling home on the bus with multiple bags of gifts.

So all in all a busy busy week!!

So hopefully it will be worth it on the day(s) to come.

So if I don’t get back to you before then, have a great holiday season regardless of your religion or beliefs on the season, I wish you all well and hope you have a great time.

Lotsa News

Well I have quite a bit of news.

First, my desktop broke and although it spent around a month away getting fixed and did get a new Power Supply Unit installed and was returned to me it still is showing signs of problems. As the company that my parents bought the PC from as well as the extended warranty have went into administration I doubt any further repairs will be done if it does go belly up again. Which I think is a good chance of happening. So I am using my Mother's laptop quite a bit still despite the desktop having been returned to me a couple of weeks back now. Also tomorrow a portable Samsung drive (1 TB) is due to be delivered and I will be transferring as many of the files I want to save from the desktop before anything unfixable happens to it.

Second, the last month or so I've had a lot of birthdays to see to. Three in October and another two in November. Now Christmas is  upon on once again. So I'm rushed off my feet figuratively keeping up with everything.

Third, I am receiving a Chrome Book for my Christmas which I hope will take the stress off my PC until I can save up enough to buy a new main PC once again. As I do spend most of my time on my PC on Chrome, either browsing or YouTube, or shopping, or blogging, this type of device is right up my street. Although I can well understand how it's not up everyone's street so to speak.

Fourth, I've almost finished my Christmas shopping, such as it is. Now my parent, or to be precise my Mother, and I have to just figure out what to give my brother and sister-in-law and we'll be all set for the big day. So to speak.

I definitely know it's winter now. I got my first cold sore this week and today I had to spend about 15 minutes defrosting/de-icing my car windows before I could take my youngest nephew into preschool today. Also the slippery pavements are back. Didn't miss any of these at all I can tell you!!!!

It's Here

At long frigging last people!!

Argos delivered my Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight today along with the Argos order I placed for my Mum on Sunday. Argos must of decided to deliver both orders at the same time, the second order's delivery scheduled day. Pity they didn't figure to inform me of the change of delivery date for the Nook when they did that and I wasted an entire day waiting in and looking out for a delivery van arriving. I had my blinds open till quarter past eight last night without reason, we prefer on cold dark nights to close them darn things and try to ignore the approaching winter season as much as possible. We feel the cold we don't need to see the accompanying darkness.

Third Strike

If this was a baseball game Argos would now be striked out officially. After contacting Argos yet again about them not updating me when Barnes and Noble changed the UK release date of the Nook readers and having me waiting in twice this month all day for a delivery which wasn't coming, I have spent today - the official release date - waiting for Argos to deliver the Nook I ordered (and they took payment for the same day on October the third) - and no delivery. I was assured by CS at Argos that my order would be delivered sometime today between the hours of seven AM and eight PM. It is now eight PM and surprise surprise NO delivery from Argos. A third lost day waiting in on their delivery dates and NO Delivery at all.

I am now going to email Argos yet again and ask why I did not receive delivery when unlike the two other delivery dates I was given that B & N did release the device today, no further delays.

1942

Why the date? Well today is my Mum's 70th birthday so it means she was born in 1942, hence the post title. Also coming up with post titles gets monotonous and difficult after a while.

I gave her a new fifth generation iPod touch in red which she loves, my Dad gave her a new watch and some toffee, from my brother and his family she got a football top with the number 70 on the back ( he said it was either that or 'Old Git') as well as a digital photo-frame with a SD-card full of pictures of my three nephews.

Next up is my sister-in-law's 40th birthday on the 30th of the month. My middle nephew, also my Godson, turns 8 on the 25th of November and his Dad turns 38 a week before hand on the 18th of November. After that there is only Christmas to see to. Yikes, busy busy.

Idiot Liars

After waiting in for hours, and making sure my Dad was on hand and vigilant on the two occasions I had to leave my home today the tracker with TNT says that I was unavailable to receive my shipment and it's now it's status is marked as 'Exception' whatever that means.

So God only knows when the are going to get around to delivering it, I won't say redelivering it as they never attempted to deliver it at all today. I hate when courier companies think it all right to outright lie to and about customers. Also for a courier that was supposed to be delivering up to six pm he managed to scan my package in quite swiftly at barely 6.13 pm. Last *ahem* delivery must have been pretty close to the depot there?!

Annoyed!!

Well, it's almost 5 pm and we've went and let in my brothers cats early tonight due to the torrential rain we are experiencing. We got back at 4.45 pm and my Dad announcing, "I can't see it coming now", he predicts. I am waiting for a delivery which TNT has which is out for delivery. I told him that delivery is between 9 am and 6 pm and that's over an hour away. He announces, "they knock off at 6 pm", which is wrong they deliver up to 6 pm and then return to their depot but apparently I'm wrong. I hope the delivery comes just going on six pm so I can show I'm right and he isn't. It's the reaction I got when I stated that delivery can be any-time up until six pm, basically I'm stupid and he knows better, he's not willing to accept that I can possibly be right and they can deliver up until 6 pm and that's not when the van is due back at their depot. It's the condescending way he stated I was in the wrong that 'got my goat' as they say.

A Week to Go

I mentioned to my Mum to enjoy her last week in her sixties. Come next Saturday, just one short week away, she will turn 70 and enter her seventies.

On a great note, the iPod 5th Generation I pre-ordered away back on the 14th September in hopes it would release and be delivered in time for her 70th birthday was dispatched yesterday via TNT. So I'm thrilled, the amount of times I've heard, "One day I'll get a new iPod just for myself and not a hand me down from you!" I can't count. Not only will she get a brand new iPod but also be the first in our family to get the new iPod touch. I pre-ordered the exclusive red one which is only available from Apple themselves for her.

I'm excited to see how she reacts to getting it. I think I'm more excited about giving her the iPod than she will be about receiving it!! <g>

Another Day

As another day comes to an end I have an update on the 5th generation iPod touch I ordered in hopes of it being released and delivered by the 20th of this month. It updated today to dispatch on the 12th with delivery being on the 18th. So even if it does take four working days to arrive after dispatch it will be here in time for my Mother's 70th birthday which is a relief.

Yesterday I got confirmation that the pre-order of the Nook with Glowlight would be delivered by Argos next Monday (15th October) even though the message about contacting Argos as my order might be delayed is still showing on the order page.

Nook ST Glowlight

Got confirmation today from Argos that my order of the Nook Simple Touch Glowlight reader will be next Monday, October 15th, between the hours of 8am and 6pm. So that's that sorted, there was a note on my order page which suggested my order was being delayed and to get in touch with Argos to get an update.

I received my Kobo Glo on Friday past and once I fully test drive both fully I decide which suits my needs the most and pass the other over to my Mother. If the iPod 5th generation that I have on pre-order since pre-order became available direct from Apple UK store doesn't get released (and delivered) in time for my Mum's 70th birthday which is the 20th of October I will give her one of the readers for her birthday instead and keep the iPod for her Christmas when it actually does get actually released.

October 2012

It seems like ages since I posted to this particular blog, but I'm hoping that with the help of the new software I have my laptop I will be able to once again blog more frequently.

Please excuse any errors and slips through as I'm just learning how to use the Dragon NaturallySpeaking software and when I proof read I tend to miss the odd wrong word which is to be transcribed.

I am currently being treated for anaemia anaemia and having to take iron tablets three times a day. I am due to get another blood test at the end of the month and am also due for my flu jab this month as well.My brother and his family left yesterday for the October holidays at their home in France.

I am suffering from excruciating back pain at the moment as well as my other health worries.I am sorry this is such a brief update but I'm finding that incredibly hard to still still for any period of time.

Right Blog This Time

Well I've finally remembered to post to the correct blog this time around. I intended my last three posts on my Invisible Me Blog for this one.

Well, my saga with PC World, has entered the next phase.

To recap:

1 - July 29th placed order for Google Nexus 7 Tablet on pre-order when it was due in. At that time the estimate for stock was the 10th August.

2 - July 30th order processed and money charged to bank account.

3 - July 31st money paid to PC World from bank account.

4 - August 2nd 'in stock' on website for immediate delivery/pick up.

5 - August 3rd contacted PCW because item had been 'in stock' for almost 48 hours and no update to estimate for dispatch/delivery, still showing 'out of stock' on order page in My Account section.

6 - August 4th, order page changed to delivery in 3 - 5 working days. Mon 08/09

7 - Got phone message (and email) from customer service saying tablet would be with my this week, dispatch on Monday.

8 - Monday no change, Tuesday no change, Wednesday morning no change.

9 - Wednesday afternoon receive email with tracking number for Royal Mail, dispatched this afternoon. 8th not 6th. Just took a week since stock came in to dispatch, is that really, 'as soon as stock is available' that my order page has stated since the 29th.  Also dispatched the 8th not the 6th as my order page still states.

10 - Delivery? Who knows. Could most possibly be next week now or Saturday if RM is quick from depot to here.

I have bought many items from PCW in the past ten years or so but this is the first time I've dealt with them online. I prefer in-store at the moment.

Cream Crackered

Well, it's official I am cream crackered. Today was along, sore and not to forget tiring day. I had to get up early this morning to get my Dad's sister June to the hospital for her wrist operation done. Only it wasn't our hospital but the one a city over instead. So instead of a quick ten minute trip there and back, traffic lights permitting, I had two round trips today amounting to over 100 miles. I'm totally sore and everything hurts. I had to get gel put onto my bad shoulder prior to both journeys. So I could get through them at all. Now I find that this is the first of two wrists that needs this surgery. So I might have to do the same 100 plus miles round trips sometime in the next few weeks again. Sucky to say the least. Also tomorrow is another early morning as my Mum is due at the dentist's at 9.30 to see about a filling she lost which is causing her a lot of pain and discomfort. After the dentist she wants to go into the city centre to go to her building society and hit a couple of shops. So another tiring and early day tomorrow. Not as bad as today thankfully but still an early bird special.

Life Update

Well this time around I decided to update on this blog rather than to my invisible me blog. So since the end of May when I got my new Samsung Smart Camera my Dad's birthday has came and went as has Father's Day which was the next day.

DV300F

My new (smart) camera from Samsung arrived, it turned up dead on time that was emailed to me by DPD. I love getting deliveries via this courier. They email you confirming they will deliver on the a certain date and then once it's on the van for delivery they send an update with an hour time slot and have yet to be late.

Totally loving this courier service. No waiting in day all day and finding out that delivery was attempting despite no card being left and you being home and having to waste yet another day waiting for delivery. Happened to me more times than I care to remember, that one!!

So I am now the proud owner of a Samsung DV300F camera. Dual view, plenty of shooting modes, HD movie clips and also wifi enabled. Allowing you to back up (once you set it up) via Wifi to your PC rather than have to use a cable or pop out the memory card. Direct Wifi backup, as well as wireless emailing of selected pic/vids and other options.

Fun!!

I'm looking forward to getting to grips with it. I've popped in an old Micro-SDHC card until my Class 10 arrives, Class 4 will do for me playing around and learning until the higher class one arrives.

Royal Fail

So my order to Memory.co.uk has been despatched as it's by basic (untraceable) Royal Mail it will be any time from 3 to 5 days. Same as my DSLR bag which I paid to have resent last night via Paypal, I've had no update from the seller yet to say it's been despatched yet but it will be 3 - 5 days and you can't chase it up for 21 days after despatch with company/seller if it hasn't already arrived.

The email from Memory Shop says that if the delivery doesn't arrive to wait 21 days before contacting them. Also it says to check the depot if it doesn't arrive within the time slot to see if it's there awaiting picking up there during this time.

One problem the RM are very reluctant to check unless you have a card for missed delivery on hand. I experienced this problem with the DSLR bag delivery, they were reluctant to check as I didn't have a card, and couldn't find any packages for me and still swore they attempted delivery in early April and they left a card and I didn't pick up after a month so they sent back to seller and now I've had to repay postage to get my bag sent back to me.

RM are hopeless. Sellers/companies are telling you to check depots if I doesn't arrive but RM depots are very reluctant to check without a failed delivery card.

Walking

I've come to the conclusion that my Dabs order is obviously walking up to Scotland from Wednesbury. The parcel left the Wednesbury Hub at one minute after midnight on the second of March and it's now almost ten past five pm on the third of March. Yup ... 41 hours and 7 minutes after it left depot and no update.

Just a quick post to vent ...

My three nephews have just been picked up about half an hour ago after being here since early while their parents went through to CostCo.

Not much to say. My hands were pretty sore this morning as was my wrists so I'm not up to typing much. Sorry!

A Break

No I'm not taking a break from blogging, I am finally getting more than a couple of weeks intervals between therapy sessions. My physiotherapist on Wednesday has given me a month's break before my next check-in with him. He also said if I don't deteriorate any when I come he will probably discharge me with my regime of physiotherapy.

So good news there. My OT which I attended on Thursday wanted to see me in 3 to 4 weeks but said she was booked solid for the coming month as far as she knew so it would probably be around 5 to 6 weeks before I got a appointment to return.

As the receptionist who makes the appointments had left for the day by the time I walked back to the reception area we pushed the sheet the therapist gave me through the glass windows for her to get the next day and send out an appointment to me for my next OT check-in.

I have gotten myself a small pocket camcorder, a Kodak PlaySport ZX5, which Amazon had on sale for amount 40% off RRP. I also bought a 16GB SDHC card, a tripod (gorrilla pod), a pouch as well as a remote control (which is still to arrive, next week sometime according to seller).

So I seriously using my cam to do a video diary of my Fibro/RA/Carpal Tunnel etc., so that when I return to the OT I can accurately tell her how I got on with the hand splints she gave me as she asked me to last time. As I have extreme difficulty writing or typing I find that either audio or video records to be the easiest way to adequately keep track of my various aches, pains and difficulties.

I also got the cam to allow me to vlog my book reviews, this was my main reason for wanting one to be honest. I have fallen terribly behind in my reviewing as I couldn't handle the hand and wrist pain that typing up reviews was causing me. So I thought I could record my review, upload to a free service like YouTube and embed the review in a blog post.

I'm still learning to use the cam and trying to find the best quality, ease and resulting video at the moment. I'm using the health diary I am recording for myself as a way to get used to recording videos. I have found that I have extreme difficulty keeping my eyes trained on the camera lens and not wandering all over the place. That said I do this is real life and find it hard to look directly at people while speaking to them, so it's not just a video/cam problem, it's something I do a lot in real life.

It's actually a form of fibro-fog as I struggle to concentrate.

Well, my hands and wrists are starting to hurt again to I'll sign off here. Maybe I'll even post a vlog post here, who knows?!!!

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Yes, it's happened yet again! I have a tentative diagnosis for yet another condition to add to my ever growing list.

I went to the OT at the hospital, yet another hour spent feeling less than optimistic about not only the present but the future.

The OT was thrilled and pleased about my 'supposed' marked improvement of my hand strength. I now according to measurements taken today have 150% on one hand and 100% on the other of increase of strength in my hands. That said, I had less than 10% three weeks ago at initial assessment. So to put into perspective I have around 25% - 30% on the minimum strength I should have in my hands for a female of my age.

She was shocked at how less than impressed about this improvement. As my pain in my hands and wrists has gotten more than 200% worse than it was previously there is also the fact that over the past few weeks I have begun to seriously drop objects I'm attempting to pick up or hold. As well as experiencing a lot of difficulty actually gripped any object, painfully difficulties, all in all for me personally on a day to day basis I have less functionality in both my hands regardless of what strength tests results I have. That only shows that when I squeeze as hard and as painfully as possible on the grippers I can on the 3 occasions I get each hand tested manage to hold the grip at a certain strength.

It's the same as saying that my PT can manipulate my shoulders to complete certain movements I can't personally do so repetitively. Unless I can do an action several times in row within a specific period of time being able to have another person manipulate said joint once under their own strength these results have to real impact on my daily functionality when all is said and done.

It seems the added pain and the dropping problems I am experiencing, as well as the lack of sleep I am getting due to severe hand pain, is caused by something called Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. I was given two sets of splints for my hands/wrists, one to use during the day when doing any activity where I need to grip anything, so basically most of the time, and another to wear at night.

I have to come back in 3 to 4 weeks, I'm not sure when as the receptionist had left for the day when I got back to the entrance so I had to put my sheet with the time frame from the OT through the gap between the closed windows and hope the receptionist gets it OK tomorrow and sends out an appointment to me. The OT said although she wants to see me within the month it will probably 5 to 6 weeks as she's booked solid for the next month.

I'll have to stop here for now as even with my hand splints on my hands and wrists are becoming very painful, too painful to continue on for now. I'll post tomorrow about my next step in the shower saga, it's not good news at all!!

Camera Here

Well the Kodak pocket (handheld) camcorder I bought arrived today, along-with the tripod I bought but the memory card I ordered at the same time has only just now been dispatched from the Jersey 'partner' of Amazon and estimated delivery not till Saturday at the earliest. As the internal memory in video mode is only 12 seconds - yes you read right seconds, not minutes - I can't really test it properly until the sdhc card arrives.

I've completely charged the device which took around 3 hours to do roughly, set all the relevant details into the settings and checked it sits on the tripod correctly. But unfortunately 12 second recordings can't really allow you proper testing time.

So my practice with my camera is on hold till the 8GB SDHC card I bought with the camera arrives from IndigoStarfish. Something I've found with this 'partner' company is that any orders sent to them even when an item is in stock takes at least 24 to 48 hours to be dispatched and several days to actually arrive. Rather false advertising to say next day or 2 day delivery on items farmed out to them on the order pages.

But nothing to be done for that. The price alone for the right class of card, and avoiding buying a cheap knock off from a less than scrupulous seller, I figure waiting 4 days at least for the card from Amazon themselves is better than chancing spending the same price on what could possible not to be the correctly provided card type or size. Something I've seen happen to many people buying memory either through sellers or on ebay.

I got a month before I'm due back at the PT and if I haven't deteriorated, stayed the same or even slightly improved, the PT says he will discharge me from regular check-ups for now with the exercises I have been given for my shoulders.

PT today

Well I have my PT appointment in less than 2 hours time which marks my first of two therapist appointments this week. Tomorrow I have another therapy appointment at the main hospital which coincidentally charges for parking in the disabled car park. That's if I manage to get one of the limited disabled spaces as my appointment is at 3.15pm just around the beginning of visiting hours so there is a massive increase in demand for these parking spaces at that time of the afternoon. Originally I had a 2.45pm appointment which meant I would have to be there not long after 2pm, an hour before visiting starts, that was more likely to have an disabled space at this time. Unfortunately my appointment was put back two days and moved half an hour later.

I will have to arrive even earlier than I would normally need tomorrow in  case I have to park out-with the disabled area, generally prior to receiving my first blue badge I generally had to park at the farthest out of the car-parks our hospital has and walk into the main entrance from there. At that time it took me around 15 minutes (originally) to about 30 minutes that it was taking me to get to the hospital itself prior to getting my first badge through.

So fingers crossed I will get a disabled parking bay tomorrow as I have a long enough walk in from the entrance to the PT department and another from the reception to the OT's office.

As my hands are beginning to hurt again and I need to try to eat something for lunch and take my second doses of medication prior to leaving for my appointment at around 2.30pm I'll sign off here.

Wish it was Friday

I really wish it was Friday already, I can tell you, I've got the Physiotherapist tomorrow at 10 to 3 in the afternoon, this time only 2 weeks between appointments. I've always thought that stupid, given my degenerative condition not much improvement can happen in barely 2 weeks. I've had no real improvement since my initial assessment in December so shortening my appointment from 3 weeks to 2 weeks wasn't a welcome move for me. Especially given it's the day next to my Occupational Therapist's appointment at the other larger hospital which is on Thursday (changed from Tuesday/Today) at 3.15pm. Also that one means paying parking to park in disabled area if I can get a spot then as this is smack dab the start of afternoon visiting hours which I know is hard to next to impossible to get a disabled spot due to the major influx of visitors for the start of visiting time.

As for the Physiotherapist deliberately making my next appointment the day after (at that time) my OT appointment for some reason which I don't look forward to at all. At least in January I had about a week long grace period to recover from my OT assessment till my PT appointment. Any appointment, but most especially one to the hospital given the long journey and long walk into the PT department, is exhausting for me not to forget painful as well, so I like some recovery time between them to y'know recover!

So needless to say I will be glad to see Friday arrive, and fingers crossed - if I could manage to cross my fingers which I can't currently given the degeneration in them - that they go back to not separate weekly, or at least a day or two grace between them and more importantly back to three week intervals at least.

If nothing else the cost of travelling to both hospitals on a fortnightly basis and any parking charges is a good reason to want them spaced further apart both in appointments and from each other.

Confused

So my Dad has been speaking to relatives who know of disabled people who have had walk in showers in upstairs bathrooms and can't figure out how the OT told this morning that they don't.

Leaving me with two options, move house to a place where there is a downstairs bathroom or attempt to get planning permission from the council to install one. Both very expensive options that are beyond our grasp.

I believed a split level shower is just a fancy say of saying walk in/sit down shower in one of those little cubicle's you see in all the advertisements.

So, I'll just have to see what my OT @ the hospital says. Maybe she'll know how a 'split level shower' is different from a walk in shower that has been installed in many an upstairs bathroom in my area according to those who actually had it done or know someone who has.

Knew It Was Going Too Well

I knew things were going my way a bit too much, after months and months of struggling I finally had my Occupational Therapy assessment last Tuesday, she sent an urgent fax to the OT from the council to come see to the adaptations I need to continue living independently.

It's gotten so bad that I haven't able to use my over the bath shower that the OT had installed for me just after we moved into this house about 8 years ago.

So both she and OT at the hospital say I need a different shower that I can walk into, the hospital OT called it simply a walk in shower the OT today said I needed a 'split level shower' given the degree of my disability now due to the degeneration of my lower limbs.

Another Wasted Day

Well only half a day or so this time. After waiting in on Thursday all day at my brother's for his new modem to be delivered and it was a no show, we were there early again today to wait for it's replacement to be delivered. Brother phoned BT at lunchtime and found that what he was told on Friday about it being through today was wrong and it wouldn't be here till tomorrow. So he phoned us and we came home about 1.30pm.

So early day tomorrow and goodness knows how long a wait for this delivery if it actually comes that is. Then on Wednesday at 2.50pm I have my physiotherapist which tends to be brief thankfully now that I have had my assessment. 10 minutes at the most, takes me longer to struggle my way down the long corridor to and from the room my therapist is situated in.

Thursday, Friday and Monday the schools have in-service days so all three of my nephews will descend on us at before 8am in the morning and stay all day till their parents pick them up after school at around 5pm.

The Occupational Therapist from the council's social work department, strangely the same one who came to assess me several years ago and had my now unusable shower put in for me is the one doing the assessment once again. She is coming at 11am on Thursday as well to see me the OT at the hospital faxed through an urgent fax about getting this OT out to hopefully get me the aids/help around the house that I badly need now.

Then on Friday at 10.20 am I have an appointment to have my tooth extracted.

All in all a very busy week. Next week thankfully I have no appointments and am clear until two weeks tomorrow when I am due back at the OT at the hospital on Tuesday the 21st at 3.30pm.

Filling Day and New Blog

Well, I had my filling done and had my teeth scaled and polished. I also got the results of my x-ray on my tooth. My dentist suggested an extraction so I am going back next Friday to have my tooth extracted and a dentist from the dental college is being brought in to do it as there is something awkward about the tooth which means she needs expert help to extract it.

I also posted my very brief intro for my new blog Invisible Me where I will post more well thought out and written posts on my life as a disabled person living in this dire time for ill/disabled within the UK. Not up to the eloquent blogs and postings of such disabled bloggers as Sue Marsh and Bendy Girl but at least it will be honest!

Toothy Thoughts

Tomorrow I return to the dentist's to see if my tooth will be refilled or extracted. I went to my check-up yesterday and told my dentist that I have two missing fillings. One in a tooth that keeps loosing fillings regularly and the other I believed was in a tooth filled last check-up time.


The dentist said the hole/chip was in the tooth next to the two that were filled together last time but looking at my trouble tooth she thinks that it is too deep to successfully keep a filling in place so might be better to extract it. Something I've been secretly wanting for a few years now, as a have had to have it refilled at least 4 times in the last five years or so and the last twice it took more than one attempt for the filling to stay in.

Again With the Goals

Well in October when I briefly saw the OT at the hospital she asked me to compile a list of my top 5 'goals' I wanted to work towards through therapy and aids when needed.

I hate these goals.

Why?

Because I can never come up with anything and have no legitimate idea what she wants me to say exactly. When asked yesterday at the 90 minutes assessment I went through all I could come up with was regaining control of my personal hygiene. She asked for other goals and after a few minutes of sitting blankly staring and scrambling mentally to come up with another goal. Any other goal but finally had to admit I couldn't think of one single thing presently as my mind was totally drawing a blank.

So again she wants me to think and compile some other goals for my next appointment which should be sometime in the next month.

I've goggled, I've searched all the various health related blogs and forums I visit, but still drawing a complete blank on that front.

I'll just have to ask her what goals is she continually asking about. I was referred to gain help with my seriously degenerated condition from my specialist. I knew I needed help either through the use of aids, therapy or probably both to help me regain functional independence which I no longer have having to rely heavily on my Mother as my carer on a daily basis.

I can dress myself, if I wear 100% stretchy clothes which don't require me lifting my arms too high and can get on and off using my one relatively 'good' arm. I can with struggle make my own bed which really only relies on me tidying up my duvet over my mattress. I can't however change the bed clothes just straighten them up when required.

Yes, I can use our hoover, just because we bought the lightest one we could find which I can use sitting down on my bed to hoover the limited carpet area left inside my bedroom.

But that's about it. Showering, hair, cooking, making drinks ... etc., etc., etc., require some-else to do the actual work for me.

So apart from helping me regain the ability to take all aspect, or most of them anyway, for personal hygiene onto myself all I can think of was gaining the ability to maybe cook a simple meal rather than only being able to make myself a very very simple snack. Which is my current ability.

So apart from hygiene, cooking and making myself a hot drink that's about it for goals that I can think of. All important to daily tasks. Also help with doing heavier shall we say house keeping tasks might also be required along the way but apart from those I draw a blank. I'll just have to ask for examples of these apparently important goals as I have no idea really waht she asking me for.

10%

Well I spent over an hour going through an assessment with the Occupational Therapist today. Among the millions - well it felt like it - of questions I had to answer I had a few exercise for my hands (which the therapist seems to be concentrating on) including spending around 15 to 20 minutes going through the hot/cold water basin exercises for my hands.

Results of the machine used to squeeze to measure hand strength I scored very low with both of my hands. The therapist showed me the chart showing what my number count should be for my hands and I have less than 10% of the strength I should have.

So I was given exercises to do twice a day in hot/cold water alternatively as well as three exercise to do in sets of 10 during the day at least four times daily.

The therapist is faxing an urgent - urgent for our social work/therapy departments anyway - order to have their OT to visit me again at home to see alternatives for the current overhead shower I can no longer use even with help. As well as look into placing arm rails on both sides of the staircase within my house and also to see if something can be given to me to aid me getting in/out of bed which I have a lot of trouble with having to depend on my bed's metal bar on the headrest to propel me into/out of my bed and to help me sit up etc.

I will be getting my next appointment in around 4 weeks sent out within the next few days.

Panic Stations

Well we've just spent the last 20 minutes hunting down my letter with the correct time, department and therapist for tomorrow. As this is my first Occupational Therapy appointment I really need it to make sure I get to the right area at the right time tomorrow at the hospital.

Finally after that brief panic I figured my Father had moved the letter and not told us, needless to say he had forgotten all about moving it let alone where he had moved it to, I just took a chance figuring as it was sitting under my Kindle on my bedside cabinet since it arrived that he might have moved it to where he has habit of moving my Kindle when he mucking around with the stuff on my cabinet.

I must admit not to being looking forward to my OT appointment, mainly for two reasons:

1. I'm suffering from a cold and the freezing temp - snow expected by this weekend - isn't helping. So I'm feeling more listless, stiff, exhaustion than normal.
2. This appointment being the first can last up to an hour like my first PT appointment just prior to Xmas and also it's at the main hospital which results in a long long long walk in from the main entrance compared to when I attend my PT. Even though the room my PT uses at the clinic is quite a distance from the reception it's nothing compared to the distance I have to transverse when attending the main hospital for appointments.

Shh ... trying to sleep here

Well, I'm exhausted and it's not even 7pm. Nothing unusual for me normally but at have just cause today.

After getting up slightly earlier because I knew I would have to take my second round of medication prior to doing the nursery run because I wouldn't be back home in time for when I usually took them.

More Good News

After my 'good' day yesterday with news on my health/situation I received a letter from the hospital. Initially I thought that my specialist appointment at the Rheumatology Clinic had been delayed/changed but no, it's finally my appointment with the Occupational Therapist. It hasn't been forgotten, and definitely a load off my mind. I was going to bring it up on Monday when I have my next Physiotherapy appointment to see if he (therapist) could help me chase up the OT appointment for me as I was beginning to worry I had been forgotten.

Only bad news is that it's on a Tuesday at 11.30am, good time frame for me, but unfortunately Tuesdays and Thursdays are the two days I help out my parents with looking after my youngest nephew and take him into nursery at lunchtime. Also Tuesdays tend to me when I have to pick up all three boys from schools because both my brother and his wife often have after school meetings to attend.

I'll phone Monday morning to see if I can get the same time frame but on Monday, Wednesday or Fridays.

Appeal Update

Well I got a letter from the benefits people at the Department for Works and Pensions. Short and sweet again but good news this time.

We have looked again at our decision.

You made an appeal against a decision about being placed in the Work Related Activity Group. We have looked again at the facts and evidence used to make our decision. As a result we have changed that decision.

What happens now.

Your appeals will not be sent to an independent tribunal as the decision has been changed in your favour. 

The latest letter was dated the 6th of January, so after waiting around 3 months total since I received the first results of my assessment in early October.

So for once good news for me. After the DWP decision maker decided in December that he/she would stand by their initial decision of placing me in the WRAG, it's been reversed by the higher level DWP before being passed along for the independent appeal. I know I got a letter less than a month ago from this benefits department who would review my original evidence provided with the ESA form as well as the points I raised on the letter I submitted in October after initially being put in the WRAG. With only my appeal letter and evidence given in my initial assessment claim I am being placed into the SG (Support Group) as I asked to be looked at for eligibility in my appeal letter in October stating why I thought I qualified for it, the DM in December stated I didn't provide enough evidence in my appeal letter and intial form for this and it was being passed onto the appeal process. Re-assessment by the DWP/Appeal section at DWP have decided that the evidence is enough to warrant my claim on SG.

So, for the moment I can breathe easier and concentrate on the therapy I am currently undergoing.