Hotels and Accessibility

I thought I would do a quick post to kill time whilst on a long train journey.

The Ibis room in Glasgow I just stayed at was so close to being accessible, but failed for a very simple, fixable reason. 

The bathroom was excellent - wet room style with shower stool and plenty of grip bars. 

However, getting to the bathroom would be a problem for anyone with a wheelchair larger than mine (a Quickie Helium to give you an idea).  The gap between the bedroom door once opened, the end of the bed, and the wall was a squeeze for me, and therefore needs to be much bigger in order to accommodate a variety of wheelchairs.

That is pretty much it, and by changing the layout I am sure it could be fixed.

Engaged!

Yup, back in February. And now that University is over and my dissertation is in, I can start planning it properly - my first wedding dress appointment is in June. *EXCITEMENT*

The Waiting Game

Sometimes you have to take things into your own hands and make things happen. Finding the waiting times for the Baclofen pump surgery ridiculous, I rung up my surgeon's secretary and tried to get an ETA on waiting times - they were not good. I could be married by that point and still not have it (oh yeah, by the way, I got engaged, woo!). So I asked if I changed hospitals, would the waiting time be shorter, and BINGO! They gave a rough waiting time of 8 to 12 weeks - GOOD GOD. If I had known that I would have changed waaaay sooner.

So I am now on the waiting list at the new hospital, and in two days time I meet with my new surgeon so I can get to know who he is. This is awesome news, but I am going to remain cautiously optimistic as with hospitals things can change very quickly. But still, YAY!

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Part II

The Ugly (cont.): I can only assume the pain blinded me to all sensible decisions, as even after that I STILL decided to travel back on the train. Instead of, you know, the sensible choice of going to the nearest A&E. One bumpy taxi ride later, we are nearing home (my street at the time was full of speed bumps), when I finally decide we better head to A&E. The taxi driver was awesome, and did his best to drive has carefully as possible.

Once at A&E, it was a loooong wait (without pain killers) before I got seen, with Ben having to explain the procedure I had had earlier. Over and over again. Finally I was admitted, and by this point the spinal headaches had kicked in, which as anyone who has had needles in the spinal area will know, are the WORST. HEADACHES. EVER.

And so, sweet, sweet pain relief in the form of morphine arrived.

The Good: I finally got out of hospital just over a week later, all scans and blood tests fine, to come home to a brand SHINY NEW WHEELCHAIR! Yup, my Quickie Helium had arrived - good timing, right? The move into the new bungalow happened a few weeks later, so even more great stuff!

Also, my re-trial was set for a later date, and this procedure went without incident and was 100% successful! The best way of describe the feeling over Baclofen is of a warm, floaty feeling and most chilled out I have ever been ever. If they could have put the pump in then there I would have been all "HELL YEAH!" I also slept like a log that night, which never happens unless I am absolutely knackered.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Part I

Has it really been September since I updated this? Damn. Apologies, but what with work, my dissertation, moving, hospital appointments, this just slipped off my radar. So I will try and keep this as to the point as possible, but there is a lot to cover!

The Good: Last I posted, I was about to have Phenol Injections - and the procedure went exactly as planned, it was a little painful, but having needles injected into your thighs would never be a pleasant experience! After doing some bendy tests, my consultant was happy with the results.

The Bad: The Phenol injections have now worn off, boooo. They didn't last as long as I thought they would, which is a shame.

The Good: Following this I also had my Baclofen trial shortly after, which involved injecting baclofen into the spinal fluid. I have taken a video of the procedure, which I might upload some time in the future, but I know some people find medical prodecures and big needles iffy.

The Bad: The trial had to be stopped halfway through as they couldn't get any spinal dluid out, so were not able to procede, again, booooo. This was after the needle had been inserted, wiggled about, taken out, re-inserted, wiggled about, etc, in about 4 or 5 different places in my lower spine. At one point the nedle brushed a nerve ending, and pain shot down my left leg. FUN. So after all this fun having needles repeatedly inserted into my spine, the procedure couldn't be completed! No fault with my consultant, she was lovely and doing the best she could for it to be as painless as possible.

The Ugly: Having gone home in some mild discomfort, and napped at my parents for a bit, we decided to head back home. This involved catching a train at The Dreaded New Street Station, which, in hindsight, was a terrible idea. The mild discomfort had now gone up a level, but all hell broke loose when I decided to use the loo before catching the train. Now the disabled loo there, is basically, scary in most cases, as the light is on a timer and will switch off by itself - very annoying if you are not ready to leave, not to mention the scary noise of the air freshner coming on! So what is the worst thing that could happen? Getting on the loo was fine - then the pain kicked in. I will refer you to this:

Hyperbole and a Half's Scale of Pain

The pain was probably a 8-9 Yes, on the loo, in the dark, and unable to transfer back to my chair because the slightest movement was searing agony. My screams could probably be heard throughout New Street station. If I wasn't in so much pain I probably would have been mortified when I was finally rescued.