Early this month, I had my second post-lockdown outing. We had been summoned by our GP to have pneumonia vaccinations. We’d never had them before, but according to the NHS website, they are recommended for young children, the over-65s, and welders (yes, seriously!). June’s visit to the City Hospital only required me to venture out to the road where I ‘jumped’ into a WAV taxi and was whisked away. This time, though, I had to negotiate part of Mapperley High Street where there were other people!! Very strange to see after 3 months of shielding.
Doreen has been going out shopping a bit more this month. She decided her black face mask looks too funereal, so persuaded our daughter, Fiona, to let her have one of her spares, the one with dinosaurs on it. It has, apparently, been the subject of much discussion in queues outside shops.
With further relaxation of Covid-19 lockdown rules, we have accepted Fiona and family back into the house. It has been really lovely to see them all again, especially the grandchildren. We have, too, continued entertaining friends and family for lunch in our garden this month. We are fortunate to have a large summerhouse out there, which we can retreat to if the weather deteriorates. These lunches have been very enjoyable, especially when accompanied by a glass or two of wine, but drinking at lunchtime doesn’t do a lot for my concentration during the late-afternoon online bridge sessions I play most days.
One of the challenges of living with MND is trying to predict future physical deterioration, and preparing for it in advance. I mentioned last month that my elevated toilet seat is at maximum height, but can be difficult to get up from. This month we have had to put furniture raisers under the legs to lift it another inch. The skirt on the seat is now much higher than the toilet pan leaving a wide air gap all the way round, so while the water jet still functions well, the warm air drier is much less effective as most of the warm air escapes through the air gap. It does mean, though, that the backs of my knees are beautifully warm and dry!
The furniture raisers are ‘stackable’, so I could potentially add another inch of height if needed, but I might be struggling to get up there if I do. I already feel a bit like a bomber pilot, perched up there. Kelly says that if it gets any higher, she’ll be demanding ‘danger money’ to clean it!
There will come a time when I’ll struggle to get out of the shower chair, even with Doreen’s help. That’s when the home hoist will come into regular use. So far, it has lived in the hall, and been used to transfer me from the manual wheelchair to the electric. With potential bathroom use getting closer, we decide we should conduct some trials. Could we get the hoist past the electric wheelchair if parked in the bedroom? Could we negotiate the turn into the en suite bathroom? Would it be better to take the hoist into the bathroom, or bring the shower chair out into the bedroom?
When finished, we left the hoist on charge in the bedroom. Next time I went to the toilet, I manoeuvred easily past the hoist on my way in, but the return journey was more of a problem. I managed, somehow to snag on the protruding leg of the hoist, and while trying to reverse back out, I also caught up on the wheel of the bed. My efforts to extricate myself only succeeded in pulling both the hoist and the bed closer in, further tightening the Gordian Knot that I’d created. A cry for help was my only option, but fortunately Doreen was there to answer the call. Good job she wasn’t out shopping!