So many blog topics and not enough time. There’s a lot going on so I thought I’d keep a few topics separate.
A couple of days after coming out of hospital Helen from the hospice came to see me so that we could put together a list of all the support I would need to get back on my feet and get me in touch with all the right people. This has been so invaluable. Within days I had been contacted by most of the people concerned and appointments had been set up.
Firstly, the district nurses were contacted to help me deal with the dressings and infected area. They now come as often as I need them – sometimes daily, to make sure I have all my dressings on correctly and keep me stocked up with all the gauze, pads, creams and gels that we are getting through. I had hoped that I would not still have need of them by now, but unfortunately the fluid is still leaking – a little worrying as the wedding is less than a month away.
I also had a joint home visit from the ‘two Ann’s’. One was a Physiotherapist and the other an Occupational Therapist. Ann the Physiotherapist noticed that I have a sublux of my left shoulder – basically the bone structure has collapsed slightly due to the muscle not being strong enough to support it. Therefore she advised me to avoid letting it hang loose by my side and to make sure it was supported at all times. She has also given me a series of exercises designed to strengthen my basic arm movement, and to maintain flexibility of movement in my hand. The hand exercises do need to be completed by someone else so we had Ann come out to the house and got through them with Kim afterwards. They take at least half an hour every day but since starting them I do feel like the swelling in my arm has gone down.
The other Ann, the OT, as soon as she arrived at the house started to come up with suggestions of ways to introduce handy solutions I might use to overcome simple problems. By the time she left I had on order a trolley, a stool, a kitchen prep board (that allows me to slice, stir, grate and a few other actions I was struggling with), and we have also booked a trip together to a disability shop where you can try all the gadgets on offer before you buy anything.
Then I had a couple of visits from Karen, a ‘family support advisor’ who has been helping me to understand the process of applying for disability benefits. This has actually become very crucial as my primary motivation for receiving a disabled status is that I wish to qualify for the ‘Motability’ scheme – allowing me access to an adapted vehicle for one handed driving. In order to apply for this I need to be accepted as qualifying for Disability Living Allowance on the highest rate. Karen has helped me put the form together for this – which I have found quite a depressing process. The whole form is worded in such a way as to describe all of the things you can’t do, need help or support with. I prepared a draft version of the form before Karen came over and when she went through it with me she really challenged me to re-think a lot of it, to emphasise the amount of disability I need to overcome. I found this upsetting at the time – it made me realise just how much I was struggling with everyday tasks and how much time all the additional physio/dressing activity etc was taking. Anyhow, the form is now in the post and I’ve been told it could be 11 weeks before I hear anything so I should just forget about it until then.
That’s all the main contact so far but I do have a trip planned to go up to the hospice next week and see what on-site experiences are available that I want to tap into. They are starting a creative arts group that I might be interested in, also I wish to try the complementary therapies. I’ve decided to be open minded about what’s on offer as my initial reaction to an invite to daycare was to imagine lots of little old ladies dribbling into soup, but I am reassured it is a lot more exciting than that!
Amy's BC Blog 