Days 177 to 182 - Heading for the Handfasting in June

The day is rapidly approach for the handfasting, and we are busy busy with the arrangements.

The final touches are all coming together; we are so looking forward to seeing some old friends and some new ones too. A few practicalities have to be dealt with: walking up the aisle on grass in a long gown might prove to be a little obstacle to overcome, as well as the ring on my left hand. We think it will be better on my right hand as that doesnt swell or cramp up, but all these things can be dealt with: where there's a will there's a way, and we certainly have the will.

We are constantly faced with problems, none that we have found to be insurmountable as yet. A challenge we have had to face regularly are the trolleys at the local supermarket, those ones that attach to a wheelchair; they are far too small for a family shop. I have walked around the shop before, so that we might use a normal trolley, but it really is too far some days. Today however, we tried something different: Paul got a trolley and i scooted along behind in my wheelchair under my own steam, although now i have a blister on my one good hand from steering: and my toes hurt from "scooting", so we have been thinking about buying a little battery chair just for shopping trips.

We have always said that we didn't want to use too many aids because it's too easy to become used to using them and then you become unable to do without, so we have steered away from walking sticks and other non essential aids. However, now that we are more aware of what is possible and what might need some assistance, it is very much a case of: let's try this or that and see if it helps or if it makes life run smoother for us all.

Physio with James is presently working on the "mechanics" of walking, and flexion of ankle and knee and stability of hips and pelvis. We have also resumed the treadmill exercises at home to further enhance my walking rhythm and stability. It's amazing just how many individual components actually go to make up how we walk, from hips and pelvis to legs, knees and ankles and feet. Each has a part to play, and if any one or more of these component pieces is not quite right our walk will be "wrong" or unstable.

The most difficult thing is to actually remember what each piece is supposed to be doing! When we learn to walk as children our walk becomes second nature, but right now because certain muscles are not working in my leg and foot I have to concentrate on every facet of each step: from lifting the foot, to placing it in the right position, and so on. Not easy, believe me.

The rest of this post is from Paul:

Guilt Trip: No food!

This morning I had to pop out first thing to get some milk. When I got back cleo and the girls were sitting down and I was informed that "We must go and do some shopping today, there's NO food in this house!"

Hmmm, so, feeling guilty I check in the kitchen and I find that there is bread, eggs, cheese, ham, a freezer full of goodness-knows-what, a cupboard full of cereals and tins of all kinds, as well as bacon and burgers. This is construed as "no food"?. On further questioning I discover exactly what "food" is defined as in the minds of teenage girls these days: crisps and chocolate.

Right!

Another Milestone.

I would like to mark this post with a note that of course 21st May marked 6 months to the day since the stroke. I have said many times before that sometimes it seems the time has flown by, and other times it seems ages since then. What I would say is that cleo and I have always been a team, and as such we meet everything we do head on, hand in hand, together. That's how it will always be for us. Right now, although our lives have changed dramatically since the stroke, we have settled into a routine, and we are starting to look forward to the future too.

Long may it continue