Message Eighty Seven (By Elizabeth)

"The staff use walkie-talkies (radios) to communicate as it's got floors and twists (not huge though). I got a kick when I came back one night and heard them radioing "Elizabeth has entered the building"  I said they looked fun and can I play with them, and the staff member burst out "they're not fun!!" That novelty must wear off so quick when you're trying to get someone to assist you.

The physio is a Zimbabwean lady called D. She used to be a manager in the NHS but took a step down to have more quality time with patients. She's super nice and chuckly, but also very teacherish. We've gone back to basics like sit to stand and ironing out all the wobbles, which she says have improved really quickly. There are a lot less sound effects partly because I don't feel so wobbly and partly because its's too melodramatic and they'll just look at me like, "what?!" She always laughs when I do something stupid but is also a bit disparaging. Today she give me a "nice talk" basically saying I need to shut up and concentrate, so I didn't speak a word after that and mimed and we couldn't do what she envisioned because I kept giggling but silently and it was making her laugh too and she said she was gonna give my parents a bad report and I loudly then blamed her for making me laugh. We've also been using the parallel bars a lot and practising that technique. Her advice was: 1. control EVERY movement, 2 stay in the middle, 3. try harder. I feel like I've moved from primary school to secondary school. 

 I've also been given a lot of homework, excises from physiotherapyexercises.com which makes me feel more in control as I can DIY. There's also a bike machine I can use and she's taught my parents more stuff they can do with me, like gymball/plinth work and sit to stand and they're keen. She said I'm improved a lot in just a week,  probably cause I've cut the messing around and I've been remembering all the steps to walking well on the parallel bars."