November started benignly enough but ended with a bit of a bang. Storm Arwen, which battered the north-east coast in particular, brought freezing weather and our first snow of the year. Fortunately, the snow soon disappeared, but winter is now clearly with us. The month also ended with tighter Covid regulations following fears about the new Omicron variant. Despite being at risk, I am still waiting for my booster jab which is booked for a home visit on December 3.
Following on from last month’s piece on MND research, it was wonderful to hear that the Government actually took note of the petition urging more funding, pledging the full £50 million requested by the petition for MND research over the next five years. On top of that, rugby league star, Kevin Sinfield, duly completed his gruelling 101 mile run from Leicester to Leeds in 24 hours. At the time of writing, he has raised over £1.8 million, with donations still coming in. Amazing!
See: https://donate.giveasyoulive.com/fundraising/kevin-sinfields-the-extra-mile-challenge.
Also following on from last month, with the T20 Cricket World Cup, Scotland, sadly, but as expected, didn’t reach the last four, thereby relieving me of any sense of guilt in supporting England; but England also disappointed, not reaching the final. My disappointment was not to last long, however, as the autumn rugby internationals soon followed, with Scotland beating Australia, while Ireland, Wales, France and England all defeated southern hemisphere teams. I now have just one more week to wait before the start of the Ashes test cricket series between Australia and England. Five-day test matches are not everyone’s cup of tea, but I can happily watch every single ball, especially as I now have the time. Inexplicable to many people, I know, but in my case, true!
Physically, I have noticed yet more deterioration in my hands, arms and shoulders this month. Although it feels as if the degeneration process has accelerated, scientific evidence supports the view that rate of physical decline is actually constant. I suspect the perception of acceleration derives from the fact that when you have so little capability left, a further small loss is much more noticeable than before. Simple tasks such as putting on my specs, or blowing my nose, are now very difficult. One particular source of frustration is my inability to scratch most parts of my anatomy so an itch in most cases just has to be tolerated.
Earlier this month, arriving for my usual Wednesday morning at the Nottinghamshire Hospice, I was met at the door by Jo, one of the volunteers. She told me, with considerable enthusiasm, that the Arts & Crafts table had been set up so I could make a wreath. ‘Why? ‘, I replied, ‘Has somebody died?’ In hindsight, it wasn’t the most appropriate quip to make in a hospice! Fortunately, Jo saw the funny side of it and patiently explained she was talking about a Christmas wreath. When the time came to choose activities, I declined wreath-making on the grounds that my hands weren’t sufficiently functional to make anything. But Maggie, who organises the Arts & Crafts, looked terribly disappointed, and Jo offered to make the wreath to my instructions, so I relented and agreed. Jo began to make the wreath using my chosen materials, but she’d never made one before, so soon ran into technical difficulties. Maggie was then called upon to assist. I now found myself with a team of two at my command who busied themselves completing the wreath while I watched, making the occasional contribution. At the end, Jo and Maggie insisted on taking photographs of me with ‘the wreath I had made’. All my own work? Hardly!!