Week-ends Out

During my time as an in-patient I was allowed home for a few hours during the week-ends of:
August 1st and 2nd, 8/9th and 15/16th.
These I looked forward to, but they also took a certain amount of planning.

The physio had to show me and my husband how to transfer from wheelchair to car and vice versa. Something else to learn and I had to also feel confident in letting my husband take control!

On the very first visit home I looked forwards to fish and chips from the local "chippy". I managed to sit at the dining table along with other members of my family. I just bursted into tears as they were all eating with knives and forks whilst I had to have my food cut up for me and could only use a fork. This was the first time that I had encountered my "disability" on this level.

I visited our local cricket club to watch a bit of the action, but it all seemed so unreal. I was sitting in a wheelchair trying to make small talk with all my friends. I put on a brave face and joked about it but underneath was really smarting.  Other days out usually involved trips to my local Matalan store to buy suitable (and bigger) clothing.

Eventaully, I began to cherish these days and had accepted the fact that this was my lot for the time being.

I have always maintained from day one that "this was a temporary state of affairs and I would recover from it"

*I now have a greater understanding of what it is like to be disabled and can empathise with them.
People who see me with a walking stick and walk infront of me do not comprehend that they can put me off balance.
People who use toilets for the disabled who shouldn't do not realise that they can be the cause of "accidents".