Tag: disability

10 reasons I think my walking frame is awsome

My Nimbo walking frame that I call Martha
My Nimbo walking frame that I call Martha

My Cerebral Palsy means that I use a walking frame outside the house. I use a wheelchair too but I think that my Nimbo frame, which I’ve named Martha, is especially awesome. Here are just some of the reasons why, in no particular order:

  1. I would find it very difficult to leave the house alone without it
  2. It has a seat on the back
  3. I love the colour
  4. The colour makes other people smile
  5. When my friends are trying to describe a shade of blue, they will sometimes say things like “a shade lighter/darker than Martha”
  6. When I’m standing at the top of a hill or ramp I could just pick my feet up and roll down it if I wanted to. I haven’t done this since I was a very small child, but I still get tempted. Pretty much every single time.
  7. It can double as a clothes horse when I’m trying to get my laundry dry
  8. I can hang my bags on the sides when I’m out shopping
  9. I once saw a little girl in town who was crying, when she saw my walking frame she looked at it and stopped crying for a couple of seconds.
  10. I could choose to accessorise it for special occasions or fancy dress parties if I wanted to.

My physio appointment

My Physiotherapy session the other day went well. We focused a lot on my ankles, my hips and my legs. I came away with some new stretches to focus on. One is something that I’ll be able to build pretty easily into my normal daily routine. It basically involves sitting in ways that will stretch my adductors, the muscles around your inner thigh that you use to bring your knees together. This I should be able to do while I’m on the computer, watching TV or reading, so that it shouldn’t be too hard. The other stretch will lengthen the gastrocnemius muscles in my ankles and lower legs, (these are the ones that help you run and things like that), which have been feeling pretty tight lately. I have to remember to stretch three times a day. The gastrocnemius stretch will be the one that I’ll find hard to do at first I think, partly because I don’t find the stretch itself all that easy to do, and secondly because I’ll have to try and remember to build it into my day at intervals that work well for me. I know this sounds like it should be easy, but believe me, it’s also easy to let it pass me by when I’m doing other things. Maybe I should do it before my meals or something? Hmmm…

We also discussed the Botox injections that I’ll be having in my legs in the next few weeks. These should help to relax the muscles so they won’t be quite as tight as they have been. When I have these done I’ll have to do lots of intensive physio to get the best results out of the treatment. This appointment was made months ago, and I’ve been looking forward to it ever since. It’s something that’s worked well for me in the past, and I’m hoping that it will again. As always, time will tell and I’ll keep you all updated

I also managed to pick my night splints back up the other day and they now have walking grips on the bottom so I won’t have to take them off if I need to get up in the middle of the night. I’ll let you know how that works out.

Time to see the physio

Well today’s the day I go for another appointment with my physio, and I’m pretty glad about it. If I’m being honest I feel like the muscles in my legs, especially around my knees and ankles have tightened up lately. I’m not a medical professional so I can’t say for sure that they are, but it will be nice to get her opinion on things.

I won’t be surprised if she agrees with me that my legs are getting tighter, but it’s still not something I’ll be happy to hear all the same.

While I’m at the hospital I’m going to pick my night splints back up too because I’m told that they’re ready for collection after I sent them off to have some walking grips put on the bottom. This means I’ll (hopefully) be able to wear them for longer periods without having to take them off and ask someone else to put them back on. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to take some pictures to put on here too.

That’s it for today, a short and sweet update. I’ll keep my fingers crossed that I have some interesting, and maybe exciting, things to tell you all about my physio session and my night splints next week.

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.