18 September 2011
Two things I meant to mention yesterday for other MND sufferers and their carers. One, is that the fasciculations in both arms and legs ceased some considerable time ago. maybe even up to 12 months. When I stopped to think about this I wondered whether it meant that all the damage that was going to be done, had been done and that I might plateau from there on in. Sadly, this did not prove to be so in my case. As the readers will have noted my legs continued to weaken until I could no longer walk even with a frame and my arms are steadily getting weaker and weaker so that I can no longer able to feed myself or even hold my electric toothbrush. This last piece of lost independence occurred over the last few days
it is for this reason that I have spent the last four months battling with the voice activation people as I am becoming more and more dependent upon voice. As a stop gap I jointly designed a splintered finger with my occupational therapist, Lynne, which is used in conjunction with an articulated armrest loaned to me by my MND team at Addenbrooke’s Hospital. This certainly allows me to press any key at present and this, in conjunction with ‘sticky keys’ means that as long as I have some movement in my left arm I can pretty well managed, in conjunction with voice commands, but what I am planning for is the day when I do not have any movement in my arms at all.
I hope this is helpful and if any reader, or their carer, would like to discuss this further then make a comment on this entry from which I will glean your e-mail address and be in touch direct.
As well as my body I sometimes think I’m losing my mind. Let me give you an example. At the golf club the other day one particular member was extremely kind and helpful and he happened to mention, in the course of conversation, that he was going into hospital the following day for an operation , which sounded pretty serious but he made light of it. I made a mental note to ring his wife two or three days after the operation just to check up on how the operation went and to wish him well. I may be forgiven, for what I did next, as this was a relatively new member who shared the same Christian name with another relatively new member. So what do I do? True to my mental note I rang up what I thought was the member’s home and asked the good lady who answered the telephone, who I assumed was my friend’s wife, how the operation had gone. She sounded a little puzzled but then said, oh yes, you mean the one he had on his foot nine months ago. That must be it, I said, thankful for the get out ,and mumbled something about meaning to ring before but I’m sure she understood how quickly the weeks fly by etc etc. Of course, I felt .a complete idiot and then put things right by ringing the right member’s wife. ( I’m pleased to say the operation appears to have been completely successful). What a wally I am!.
The cricket season being over, so far as I’m concerned, I have now turned my attention to watching the odd game of rugby, in the World Championships taking place in New Zealand but, unlike the cricket, I promise you I will not be giving you a blow by blow description of any particular game that I watch.
Following on from making a complete fool of myself, as told in the story above, here’s another guy who now knows that if you have any cans of paint in your car you will always put them in the boot. . Click here to see what can happen if you don’t.