Author: Nicola Golding

My name is Nic, I'm 26 and just happen to have Cerebral Palsy that I've had since birth. It mostly impacts on my legs and my left arm and so I use a walking frame. When I'm not blogging I can usually be found making YouTube videos, reading or trying to write a novel.

Using the mircowave

When it comes to cooking and making food I am a big microwave user. I’ve talked many times before along with how I struggle to use the hob, and take things in and out of the oven. I try and use the microwave as much as I can because it’s so much easier and I worry less about falling over or dropping or burning myself than I do when I’m trying to  use the oven or a pan. I even cook pasta in it.

However, while I can use one without too much difficulty, cleaning one isn’t so easy. I can do this for myself, and I can take the plate out, wash it and put it back in okay, but cleaning the back of ours that we have at home is something I find a bit tricky.

There have been a couple of times that the door has almost hit me in the face while I’ve reaching in to clean the back of it. Trying to hold on to the counter so I feel more balanced and making sure the door doesn’t spring back on me with one hand while trying to wipe the inside of the microwave with the other isn’t always easy. Sometimes I struggle to reach all the way to the back too so the whole process can take a while, but I usually get there eventually and I just have to hope that my food is still warm by the time I’m done.

If there’s someone else around, they’ll often lend a hand to sort it all out, for which I’m always grateful, but I still always like to try and do as much as I can for myself.

In need of a rest

Anyone who knows me well will tell you I’m not much of a sleeper and never really have been, not even as a baby. I’m the kind of person who is usually at their most productive first thing in the morning. I like to get up early so that I can start crossing things off my to-do list as soon as possible.

However, just lately I think my body has been asking me to slow down and rest up a little. I’m far more sleepy than normal, and I’ve noticed it having an impact. Over the last couple of weeks walking has been taking me a lot more effort than normal. I think that I’ve been moving slower too and needing to take far more rest breaks than I would usually. I know that I am lucky to be able to do all of the things that I can do, but sometimes it’s hard not to get frustrated at myself when I can tell I’m not doing as well as normal.

I’m still trying to make sure that I keep up with walking and just take as many breaks as I need to. I’m hoping that if I try and not push myself too hard over the next week or so and get plenty of sleep it should pass and then things can get back to normal.  It’s times like these that the seat on the back of my walking frame comes in very handy.

Avoiding crowds

It’s safe to say that I’m not a fan of crowded places. It’s not the noise that bothers me as such, its more that I’m afraid of being knocked over or knocking someone else over with my walking frame or my wheelchair.

I use both buses and trains on a regular basis, and I always try my best to avoid using them in rush hour times. It often means that I sometimes have to make my homeward journey sooner or later than I would like, or arrive far earlier than I need to. This can be annoying sometimes, but I feel much more comfortable doing things that way.

Yesterday, I found myself in a busy train station just after 6pm. I thought things might have been a bit quieter by then, but there were still loads of people around. I followed my mum and the man who would be helping us onto the train with the ramp to the platform, but ended up just behind them because I couldn’t weave my way through the people going the opposite way quickly or easily.

My mum noticed what was going on and started walking at my side, stretching out her arms to stop people from walking into me if they hadn’t already spotted me and started moving out of the way. The man who worked at the train station also kept hanging back to make sure that we didn’t get separated.

In the past I’ve almost had people walk into me on lots of occasions and I’ve had to let out a yelp to let them know I’m there so that neither of us end up on the floor. If someone catches the back wheels of my walking frame, that can sometimes throw me slight of balance and make me wobble too, so I have to try and be aware of what’s going on behind me as well as in the front and at my sides.

It doesn’t bother me quite as much when I’m in my wheelchair because I’m already sitting down, but I still don’t find it pleasant and I’m sure whoever is pushing me at the time doesn’t either. That said; I have almost ended up with someone sitting on my knee a few times when they haven’t seen me coming.

Making decisions

Just lately I’ve found myself thinking about how my Cerebral Palsy impacts on some of even the smallest decisions that I make in everyday life. Often, I make these choices without really realising I’m doing it. They aren’t big, important, or life-altering, but they can make thing a whole lot easier.

Take buying shampoo and conditioner for example. I will always try and pick some that comes in smaller or lighter bottles because I find them easier to lift. I’ve dropped some of the bigger bottles on my feet in the shower before and it’s not nice.

I also try and avoid buying anything that’s too expensive because I have trouble keeping the shampoo or condition on my left hand before it even gets to my hair, so quite often it will just end up on the floor and I’ll have to start again. This can be frustrating at times.

My CP also sometimes has the deciding vote in whether or not I should buy that item of clothing that I’m drooling over in a shop because I look at how easy with would be for me to get on and off. I sometimes struggle with buttons and zippers. It could be the most beautiful dress that I’ve ever seen, but if it’s one that I wouldn’t be able to manage very easily, there’s a good chance I might not buy it.

I try to keep my CP in mind when I’m choosing where to go for a day out. If I know that I’m going to want to walk on this day out rather than take my wheelchair for whatever reason, I have to choose somewhere that is a manageable distance for me to walk around, preferably with lots of places that I can stop for a rest. Although, now I have a walking frame with a seat on the back, finding places to take a break is less of an issue.

This is just a short list and I could probably go on. These are just the first few things that came to mind.

Cooking with pans

Many of you probably know that I struggle with cooking. I talk about it often and I’m hoping it’s something I can gain more confidence with, or at least be able to find more meals that I can easily make for myself. I’m also hoping to come up with some ways around doing things that I find hard.

There are lots of reasons why I find it hard to make my food because of my Cerebral Palsy. I’ve mentioned some of these quite a lot and you can read more about some of them here.

One of the things that is tough for me is cooking in saucepans on the hob. I find it hard to balance, hold the pans in place and stir whatever is in them. If it’s a large amount of food, that makes it harder for me to mix it around the pan too. More often than not, bits of it end up falling out so I make a huge mess, and half of it ends up stuck to the pan because I hardly ever seem to be able to do it properly.

The other day my heart sank when I was asked to keep an eye on something that was cooking and give it the odd stir. I placed one hand on the worktop to balance myself and stirred the food constantly with the other, even though I probably only needed to do it once every so often. Thankfully, the pan was sturdy so I didn’t worry too much about it slipping.

My mother came back and I asked her to check if any of it had stuck. I was so relieved when she told me it was all fine. It felt like a small achievement, because I’d been a bit worried that things would end up going wrong.

I’m glad they didn’t. I hope that one day I’ll feel more confident when it comes to cooking. For now, I guess I’ll just have to keep trying.