Early this month I had a rare venture out into the world to visit my GP for a flu vaccination. Since my last trip out, 2-3 months ago, our daughter, Fiona, had bought me a bright new face mask, in Gordon tartan (my father was a Gordon Highlander) to rival Doreen’s dinosaur mask! As we […]
Another month has gone by without me passing beyond the front door. Fortunately, though, we have regular visits from friends and family. We also had some entertainment watching our conservatory roof and windows being replaced. I’d planned to have the wooden frames painted this year but wood-rot was worse than anticipated so we opted for […]
As August comes to an end, I sit looking out of the window at the rain and mourning the loss of yet another televised cricket game. It is, though, in sharp contrast to the very hot weather (by UK standards) earlier this month. I find such hot conditions difficult to cope with, particularly sleeping. Being […]
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 […]
A period of glorious, sunny weather, combined with relaxation of Covid-19 lockdown rules, allowed us to entertain family members in our garden this month. It was lovely to see them, unconfined by a Zoom window on our iPad. Also this month, live golf and football has returned to our TV screens. I even watched a […]
With Covid-19 lockdown keeping people at home, there have been sightings of wild animals in our deserted cities. We had our own encounter when, early one morning, I spotted a beautiful pair of wild mallard ducks floating in our pond. They seemed happy, and stayed for about 20 minutes. They returned next morning but the […]
April: Our first full month in lock-down courtesy of Covid-19. Like everyone, we are missing seeing friends and family, and learning how to make video calls using Zoom. My MND puts me firmly in the high risk category for the coronavirus but, on the plus side, I already have my own home ventilator! To protect […]
This month brought with it a number of anniversaries. It is a whole year since I said farewell to Sussex and moved full time to Nottingham. It is two years since my MND diagnosis was confirmed, and over 3½ years since the onset of symptoms. My MND ‘bible’ tells me the survival rate after this […]
Former Scotland rugby player, Doddie Weir, has been in the news again this month. He was interviewed on BBC Breakfast TV alongside Rugby League star, Rob Burrow, and pro footballer, Stephen Darby, both of whom have recently been diagnosed with MND. Tragically, both men are even younger than Doddie (49). Rob is just 37, while […]
January saw the end of my participation in the MIROCALS clinical trial, finished with a final visit to Sheffield hospital. I will not find out whether I’ve been taking the trial medication or a placebo until the final patient completes the programme. That won’t be until the end of 2020. The bad news is that […]