Message Eighty Eight (the END... and a beginning)

I've decided to take up the mantle and write the blog myself. I've started a new one because I didn't want to write for my own team, and it's a fresh perspective. Potential names for the sequel jokingly included: The Last Laugh, I Laugh In The Face of Danger (as Simba famously says), I Had a Brain Haemorrhage! Lol, Shake a Leg, At Least I Didn't Break a Leg, Gloria Gaynor Said It All and Patient's Guide to Pet Therapy (a nod to Dad's personal blog you can see here), but I settled on How To Walk. You can read more of my story here:

www.howtowalkbyelizabethstarr.blogspot.com

A big applause for Dad and the amazing job he has done of keeping you all up to date, often when it was very painful. And a big applause to you, who have thought about me, prayed for me and visited me. I kept every card I was sent hanging proudly and there's nothing like countless people across the globe rooting for you to give you strength. Basically everyone who saw my bed was struck by the number of people who cared for me and I was struck too.

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."

Message Eighty Six (by Elizabeth)

I had a good second day, the first I unsurprisingly feel a bit rocky. I had a long
session with the much-acclaimed speech therapist. She is really nice. She said she once had a patient who had strained their voice trying to do a poo. Careful everyone. The neuro-psyches are looking out for me and have taken it upon themselves to help me with my dissertation and are gonna take me to the library. They also did some complex testing and the answer is, surprise surprise, I'm very bright but impulsive. They're gonna look at how I can help this. (I blew the memory and word-defining tests out the water obvs).

I heard the phrase 'hydro' and looked up like a dog catching a sent. They take a man to hydro Friday afternoon in Hinckley (as the General, although closer, is hard to book). I told the physios l love "splish splash", but they can only take one at the moment but at least I said. She said I will be having daily physio though so yay.

They're very accommodating to me and different rules apply to different people depending on their needs, so I can like, go out for a meal in the evenings, not the back by 8 rule of the hospital.

I am getting used to doing step-transfers with two, and I have been wearing my foot splint a lot more because of this. I've quickly got used to my own room though I miss the communal banter. Most of all I like the control of the light and can make it nicely dark