More than just a bag lady

Well I have to hand it to my MP, Tom Randall. Whatever it is he wrote in his letter to the hospital it worked. Within days of him writing to them I had been given an appointment with the surgeon at QMC in Nottingham. To be honest I just expected him to say that they still weren’t operating and that it was just a courtesy call on account of my MP having been in touch but that couldn’t have been further from the truth.  I was supposed to have the telephone appointment at 9.40am on Wednesday morning so imagine my surprise when at 9am my phone starts ringing. I was driving Big Girl to school, had the dog in the car cause he was going to doggy daycare and I totally wasn’t expecting it to be Mr E, the surgeon, on the other end of the phone. Luckily I had hands free in the car so I was able to carry on driving and talking, because I wasn’t expecting the conversation to go as it did! Mr E apologised that he hadn’t been in touch sooner but he had only just received a reply from St Marks. He...

Today I said goodbye to my trusty Honda Jazz… And have just been to pick up this bad boy… Both cars are motability cars provided by the Motability scheme. The way the scheme works is that I exchange my PIP benefit allowance that my disability entitles me to for a brand new car that is owned, taxed and insured by motability. They even deal with all the servicing and MOTs (if you have the car long enough for it to need one) so all I have to do is put petrol in it! Click  here  to find out more info on the scheme and what benefits you can exchange.  You’re supposed to only have a Motability car on a 3 year lease but I had the Honda for 4.5. There were a few reasons for this- when the 3 years were up I was in and out of hospital and not well enough to look for a new car, then Covid closed all the car show rooms and then I’ve had to wait for 5 months to get my new car. I ordered the Kia Nero way back in September but because the world has gone to shit there’s a delay on new ca...

On Friday I had a meeting my local MP. He’s a Tory, which meant that I had a dilemma. Did I go and ask him for help in chasing up my surgery date or did I ask him about ‘party gate’ and why he continues to support Boris? Part of me wanted to go in there and grill him on why he’s not written to the 1922 committee, why he always votes with the whip even when it means his constituents will suffer as a result and to make him understand that I’m angry. Every time I switch on the news there’s another scandal, another cost of living increase, another example of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer and I’m fed up of it all. Fed up and enraged.  But when I wrote this on my Facebook page last night…  …a friend wrote this comment which got me thinking… ‘Definitely ask for help for yourself. Having a go won’t achieve anything as they’re all deaf and will say exactly what you want to hear and then deliver nothing. They’re all the same just different coloured leaflets and tie...

  This week it’s Feeding Tube Awareness Week. There are lots of different ways people can be tube fed and all us tubies end up being tube fed for a variety of different reasons.  The picture below shows the two main types of feed: parenteral and enteral. The main difference is parenteral enters the body through a vein (via a Picc line in the arm or a Hickman line in the chest) and enteral goes in through a feeding tube in either the nose, mouth or abdomen.  Enteral feeds are usually milk based and can either be to supplement a person’s diet  or to replace it completely. Because they still have to be digested in the normal way they aren’t used when you need to bypass the gastrointestinal system completely. They are usually used when a person cannot eat enough calories to meet their nutritional needs. This may occur if you physically can’t eat, can’t eat safely or you need more calories than you’re able to eat. Some common reasons for needing enteral feeds include: ▪️a...

Well, what a weekend of sport it was for our house! Saturday saw Big Fella’s football team win 4-1 against a team that always play dirty and eff and jeff on the pitch. Apparently Big Fella played really well considering it was his first full match since coming back from injury and was just pipped to the post for man of the match. I didn’t get to watch the match as we had a timetable clash- I had to leave the house to get Big Girl to her netball match just when Big Fella was kicking off.  Big Girl’s team lost 32-34 but the teams were really evenly matched so it made for a good game. She was playing GA, which isn’t her position, as the team was short a shooter and she managed to score half the goals despite it blowing a gale. I had the pleasure of freezing my fingers off filming her for her PE A- level but instead of getting a thank you all she did was moan that I didn’t take any photos!! Trust me, trying to film, watch the match and do my sideline Mum coaching is multitasking in the...