Volunteering
Finally! If you read my June Round Up then you might remember me mentioning a volunteer role I applied for – not the lABLEd podcast role, instead it was with Scope. Anyway, I can’t remember the reasons why now but there were issues with a few things that delayed everyone being able to start their role.
I was happy to receive an email letting me know that I could start – hooray! After 3 years of being a community champion, it feels strange to have a new role name but with the same type of responsibilities. It’s definitely taking some time to get used to, especially remembering to switch accounts (I have my personal one and now a volunteer account) at certain times.
Side note: A little over a fortnight in my new role and I’ve had to take a break – this is not related to my volunteer roles in any way but I’ve been quite unwell which I will talk about more later in this post.
Daisy (10 Months Old)
How is it possible that Daisy is now 10 months old? She is full of beans more than ever, I really have no idea where she gets her energy from… it most certainly isn’t me! She is surprising us every day now with what she can do.
Within the past month alone, Daisy can now saw ‘Dad dad dad’, ‘Nan nan nan’ and ‘Mum’ which I’ve actually heard her say once… it feels surreal that a little human is calling me mum! But I’m special because every time she says my name (from the one time I’ve heard her or Ewan and Mum hear her), she blows a raspberry after…
Love you too!
Oh… and her new one is ‘Doggee’!
Her crawling is getting there, she’s standing a lot in her cot and whenever she sees an opportunity. She makes this otherwordly noise that I cannot for the life of me describe what it sounds like… I’ll try to get a video of her doing it but please mind your ears!
She is full of mischief, cheeky, and still always smiling. She’s got quite a few teeth now too!
I’ve Been Nominated For An Award!
This came as a total surprise! I was nominated for a Scope Volunteer Award for making a positive impact. My instant reaction was, “Well, it’s pretty amazing what I can do just by sitting on my arse!” I’ll also admit that I laughed when I said that… I amuse myself, can’t you tell?
I was nominated for and won the Disability Gamechanger Award in 2019 for my work with Scope’s Travel Fair campaign and for a few other reasons which I feel terribly guilty for not remembering…
So, we shall see!
Physio
Admittedly, when it’s just me and Sophie in physio, it’s hard not to just have a catch up while doing some exercises. However, in all honestly, I did a lot more than we both expected! Plus I saw the Yorkshire Git (please don’t be offended, if he reads this then he will know exactly what I’m on about), who is my ex-physiotherapist.
That’s what I’ll refer to him from now on, I even got him a mug with it on! Anyway, it was really good to see him, I do miss him a lot… for the banter obviously. He was making Daisy smile and laugh which I wish I had witnessed because that would have melted my heart!
I’m getting distracted…
I managed to transfer with my frame from my powerchair to the plinth and back not once, but twice… AND by myself!! Well with my frame obviously but Sophie was close by and supervising. We elbow-bumped to celebrate.
I thought while I was having a drink, that I really wanted to try walking with the bars again… and I did! I surprised myself by walking halfway with the bars, then I remembered my powerchair is a tiny bit wider than the width between the bars, so I had to walk backwards, which I did with no problems too!
Yay! Best physio session to date!
That’s Life!
My story was featured in the health section of That’s Life (September’s monthly issue) which is a popular magazine in the UK. It was bloody hard to cram it all in 400 words.
Incy Wincy Spiders
Has anyone else seen an increase in spiders this past month? Well, we definitely have! Mum was out with the hoover at 2 am one morning trying to get one, but it escaped… then Ewan announced he had spotted a couple in our bedroom.
I slept downstairs for the next couple of days. Ewan finally got the hoover out and managed to get them all, not 1 or 2… but 10! Goodness me, they must have been doing the bloody conga on their way in!
Thankfully, they’ve all gone… touchwood.
I’m Struggling
I had a few days where I felt very overwhelmed with everything, I really struggle to keep on top of things and I’m still behind on doing things that I’ve wanted to do since Daisy was born and I get so frustrated easily because of it.
At the end of the month, I’m doing better than I was, I’ve noticed I go through this once a month and need to accept that it will pass.
I’ve Been Unwell
After the spider-geddon, I went to sleep upstairs again. I don’t get to sleep until 1 or 2 in the morning (which is normal for me) but on this particular night/morning I didn’t get any sleep at all. Not until I came downstairs at 5 am and fell asleep in my recliner.
Our mattress needs getting rid of but we’ve been putting up with it. After a couple of hours laying in bed, my back seized up, and at some points, I couldn’t move or it was difficult to sit up. Whatever it was, it was bloody agonising!
Having no sleep completely messed me up that day, and in the evening I think all the stress, pain, and lack of sleep got the better of me and I ended up with a really upset stomach.
It carried on for 6 days… diarrhea for 6 days… that was a lot and I’ve never felt so drained. Thankfully it’s stopped now and I know my diet doesn’t help, I’m still finding it very difficult to overcome my fear of trying new foods.
Adrenaline
I so badly want to tell you all a secret, and it’s making the adrenaline kick in big time! But it is big, very big! I’ve been trying to tell myself what’s going to happen but it won’t sink in, and I don’t think it will until I actually get there.
I want to enjoy every second and I really hope time slows down when it does happen…
Incredibly vague, don’t you think? I would give you a clue but I’d give too much away hehe…
Physio
Last session of the month and my physio already knew about what’s been happening as I emailed her about rescheduling a session. She wanted to try and find a way to help me be more comfortable in bed. The bottom line is, I need another profile bed (where it’s adjustable like hospital beds).
But there’s a wait and I need to be assessed. So, in the meantime, I’m waiting to get paid, and then I will buy some firm pillows to make do for the time being.
After that, I did some exercises, I managed to stand up 10 times using my frame, and I transferred from my powerchair to the plinth and back twice. Which I thought was very good as I hadn’t done much physio due to being unwell.
I was really happy to see Julie (nurse on the ward I was on) as I’d not seen her since… must be nearly 2 years! She absolutely adored Daisy and she so badly wanted a cuddle but still can’t just yet, unfortunately. Plus, my previous physio (not Yorkshire git), I hadn’t seen her since before the pandemic and she had a baby too so it was lovely to see her too!
What’s Happening in October?
Due to being unwell, I’m still behind on a few blogging bits so I won’t be posting just yet. Sorry!
More physio and hopefully an update on the bed assessment. Ooh, by the way, Sylvie finally has the headrest, so I can support my neck now when it starts to ache.
I’m hoping to get two blog posts written up – one for the second subscription box from The Stationery Society (I subscribed after being gifted the first box because I absolutely loved it!) and two for recommending Lyrical Host, I signed up to their affiliate program to be able to offer you a discount code when I write about them.
I’ve got a face-to-face appointment with my neurologist who I haven’t seen in nearly 2 years so it will be really good to see him and for him to meet Daisy!
So, keep an eye out for that post if you’re interested in going self-hosted! If you have any questions about the process of going self-hosted or anything about Lyrical Host then I will answer the best I can or include links if I don’t know the answer.
And the biggie… the reason behind the adrenaline rush… all I’ll say is that I’m ticking something HUGE off my 30 before 30 (well, 2 actually now that I’ve looked back on it)!
How’s your September been?
Blog Posts This Month
