Tag: Cerebral Palsy

Trying not to splash in puddles

Sometimes, I think that I must have a bigger inner child than I actually realise, at least where puddles are concerned.

I used to love splashing in them and walking through them when I was much younger, and I still always seem to end up trailing in them even if I don’t intend to. I try my best to avoid them and it still always seems to happen, I’m not sure if this is because I find it harder to move quickly out of their path, or because of some childhood instinct.

When I had serial casting done as a child I remember played out in the rain for a bit too long in our school playground. My mum had already warned me that I should use the undercover area that it had if any showers hit us, but this particular day, I didn’t think it was heavy enough for me to do that. I didn’t notice that a few of the bottom layers had started to peel off until I got home at the end of the day and got a telling off from my mother. Opps.

This time around, I’m taking the completely opposite altitude and if the ground is even slightly damp, or there are any grey clouds overhead, I go out in my wheelchair just to be on the safe side because I don’t want to have to go and be recast . Nor do I want an even bigger telling off from my mother because now I really am old enough to know better. I always take some form of waterproof covering out with me just to be on the safe side too. This weekend for example, and wrapped a bright red waterproof coat around my legs, and tied it around my waist to hold it in place.

If it were dry enough, I would still take Martha instead of the wheelchair, but for once I’m making sure that I am sensible. The other day mum also remembered that we have waterproof walking trousers up in the loft so I’ll be taking them with me next time for added protection.

If there are some dry days while I’m in pots I think I will still use Martha, but only if it looks like it will be a fine day. I’d rather not risk it over the next couple of weeks. There’ll be lots of opportunities for me to splashing in puddles when this is all over and done with, after all.

 

Trying a different chopping board

Regular readers of this blog will no doubt be able to tell you that I admit to not being much good in the kitchen. My Cerebral Palsy means that I struggle to do a lot of cooking for myself, although I will have you all know that I’m a complete whizz with the microwave (as long as the things that I put in aren’t too heavy).

One of the things that I find hardest, next to lifting heavy pans and carrying them around, is chopping things up for myself.  I know that there’s the option to buy pre-cut things. I often do this when it comes to veggies because I’m always adding these to something else, but when it comes to fruit I really wish that I could just buy a bag of apples and cut them up when I felt like it, rather than having to buy six individual packets of one prepared one. I know that I could just simply bite into it instead, but I had braces when I was a teenager and now I hate doing that.  Plus, I think it would be good if I could master things cutting them up business for myself.

A while ago, I met an Occupational Therapist who said that she could get hold of some chopping boards with spikes on for me to have a go at using to see if they helped. She did this a couple of weeks back actually, but I’ve been so busy posting about my on-going serial casting treatment that I haven’t had a chance to post it yet. If you want to find out how that’s going, then you can find all my posts about it so far here.

One of them that she was able to loan me was this one here, which has a small circle of spikes to put things on while I tried to hack into them. I decided to use a small, soft and probably slightly passed its best, peach and a small apple. I wasn’t planning on eating these after because I knew that there would probably be nothing left by the time I was done with them.

Chopping board with spikes

I would like to point out at this point that this post is written entirely from my own experience and what works/doesn’t work well for me won’t be the same for everybody, this is just what it was like for me personally. I decided to try using this after talking to an occupation therapist.  I’m not a medical professional so I cannot say if these would work well/be suitable for anyone but myself, so therefore this post should not be used as a replacement for medical advice.

The peach didn’t work as well as I was hoping that it would. I thought that I would find that the easier of the two to cut, but I think that the stone may have made it more difficult for me. I found it hard to press in down on to the spikes and it kept wobbling around. I still managed to cut it a bit, but I gave up in the end because I was afraid that I might cut myself. I doubt that I would  have done, I think it was just a confidence thing, but I felt I had done the best I could anyway.

peach on chopping boardPeach after

The apple went better than expected thought. I still found it hard to push it down onto the prongs very far, and it took me a couple of tries but I did it. It was a good job that it wasn’t a larger one though because I’m not sure that t would have balanced as well. I think it would have needed a few more spikes.

apple on chopping board

However, I did managed to slice the thing clean in two which I have never been able to do before so I was pretty pleased with that one, so it made me think that it might be worth getting myself one after all.

apple after

I think that I should also say that I found it much, much easier to clean than any of the other cutting boards that we have at home, because it was much smaller and lighter. I found it much easier to get in and out of the sink and I wasn’t as worried about dropping it.

I’m glad that I was given the chance to experiment with some before I buy some because it’s made me realise that some things will still be a challenge, and that I would like a bigger spiky section that the one on these boards.

Snug as a bug in a rug

Today’s post is a series of good news stories! I love it when this happens. I have three things that I’m feeling very happy about today!  Go grab a cup of tea and I’ll tell you all about them.

Ready? Okay, let’s get started!

So, on Monday afternoon I went to have my left leg re-potted after I had to get that one removed because my little toe was feeling a bit on the squashed side, so off I trotted to the hospital to get recast. This is where good news story #1 comes in. When they put my first pots on last Friday, they had to cast me lying on my tummy so that they could get my ankle into the right position. When I was a child, I had this done in sitting, but on that day, my ankles were too tight to do this with me sat up, so I had to lay on my front. My left leg always has been the tighter of the two. The right leg has stayed it its cast the whole time.

However, come Monday afternoon, even though I’d only worn the original pot on Lefty Leg for just over 12 hours and had it taken off on the Saturday morning, even by the time Monday rolled around, the people who work in the plaster room to get my foot into the right position to pot me in sitting! I was truly amazed by this. I can’t wait to see the end result on both sides.

When they put the new pot on, they made sure that my left pinky toe had lots of padding so it’s now snug as a bug in a rug, which is the second thing I’m pleased about today.

The third thing that is making me happy is the new pair of joggers that I have invested in. I can’t manage to get my jeans over my casts at the moment so I’ve had to wear shorts and skirts (without tights). Over the last couple of weeks, the weather has turned really cold in the UK, so I have been spending a lot of time wrapped up in blankets when I leave the house.

That won’t be an issue now though because these jogging bottoms are a perfect fit and so hopefully they’ll keep me nice and warm and snugly, just like my little toe.

I think I may need to buy another pair…

The Serial Casting begins

It’s fair to say that the last couple of days have been quite busy, and today is looking set to be the same.

I had my Serial Casting pots put on on Friday as expected. I was quite surprised when they decided to cast me while I was on my tummy this time around because it helped to get my legs in a better position due to how tight they are. I don’t remember them having to do it this way when I was a child. I didn’t really mind it to be honest, although I was a little upset that I couldn’t be nosey.

They decided that instead of only keeping them on for a week, because they’d got my feet into such good positions they would keep them on for a fortnight instead. When these come off, I’ll go straight down to the orthotics department to have my new splints cast too and then go back into another set of pots for probably another two weeks at least.

This time, I didn’t get to  chose what colour I had the casts, but the plaster technicians did offer to put some glitter on them for me. I decided against this so that my family and friends could draw all over them for me instead if they wanted.

Things seemed to be going okay from there. I mastered walking in them pretty fast and my only worry was that my feet were cold, given the time of year.

Later on the evening though, my little toe on my left side started to really hurt. I thought it was mostly because my feet were nice and warm by that point. It got worse during the night so I went to the hospital on Saturday morning just to see if they could trim the pot back a little bit to see if they could release some of the pressure on it. I should point out that my pinky toe was absolutely fine apart from being sore, I just felt that it needed a little more wiggle room in there.

This no reflection on the people who put them on for me whatsoever. These things just happen sometimes and I’m sure the next one they give me will be just fine.

In turned out, that on Saturday morning, someone would be able to help us cut the cast where it needed to be cut, but there would be no one in who could put another one back on until Monday (today).  The nurse tried her best to be able to keep the pot on, but cutting it back just moved the pressure to different parts of my foot, so it was decided that it was for the best to take the whole thing off and start again. The right one is absolutely fine so that one has been left alone and I’m still wearing it.

So this afternoon I’m off back to the hospital to be recast. Even though that one was on for just over 24 hours there’s already a notable difference in my left ankle when you stretch it, so I’m looking forward to getting it back on again and seeing what the result is at the end of the process in a few weeks time.

I tried my water proof shower cover out last night with some help from my mum. We coated my leg in an extra bin bag too just to be safe, and propped my foot up on a stool to prevent it from being exposed to water as much as possible. It was a success.

My next serial casting adventure

Today is Friday and I’m excited because today I’m starting some treatment that it’s hoped will loosen up my ankles and make the new splints that I will be having made very soon rub my feet less.

It’s a process called Serial Casting. I had it done a few times when I was a child to relieve some of the tightness in my ankles and it worked really well. I haven’t had it done since I was about 12, but we’ve been debating doing another round for a while.

Basically, what happens is, my lower legs and feet get put into some light-weight pots. Because they’re so light, I can still do all the things I would normally, I just have to be careful not to get them wet. After a week, the casts come off, the effectiveness so far gets tested, and then another set of casts go on. This process gets repeated for around three or four weeks, depending on how well it goes.

The difference is that this time, I’ll be getting cast for those new ankle splints and spring splints in between the penultimate set coming off me and the final set going on, while we can get my foot into a  (hopefully) improved position when the splints get made.

In the past, it’s fair to say that I’ve had a few problems with splints rubbing me and causing me blisters, but the idea is that making my ankle muscles less tight will help to combat this problem.

I’ve had this done before, and even though I know it’s nothing to be afraid of I’m still a bit nervous. Things should be much easier for me this time around now that we have a walk in shower at home, and I’ve invested in some waterproof cast covers too, neither of which I had as a kid. I haven’t used the latter before so let’s hope they work! I’m told that they work fine in the shower (but maybe I’ll get mum the first time) so I’m hoping that they will also mean that I can go out in light rain too.

Obviously, I’ll keep you all updated throughout the process.

My inner child is still hoping that they’ll let me choose what colour I want. They’ll most probably be getting scribbled on regardless…

Have a good weekend folks.