Companionship

MARIE: We’ve been immensely remiss and haven’t blogged for an age. I’ve been busy in the garden, preparing to receive a family of bees and growing my rhubarb to such a size that you must admit the leaves make my bum look positively tiny. Jon’s been busy with computer matters and still is. He’s such a nerd and claims to actively enjoy the hours and days it can take to fix a bug or get a new device functional.

There’s nothing new on the pump front. We’re not surprised but perhaps very slightly disappointed not have an appointment yet. But I guess elective surgeries grind to a halt during the summer just as the rest of society. We’ve decided to be patient until the school holidays are over. If we still haven’t heard by then, I’ll have to get on the phone.

Meanwhile, we made an application some weeks ago for an escort service for Jon. Not perhaps quite as exciting as it sounds – I understand a firm hand on the elbow is about as up close and personal as it gets – but an opportunity for Jon to get out and about without having to rely on me.

He wants to spend hours on end in electronics shops. He wants to return over and over to one particular museum to perfect his photo of one particular exhibit. He wants to go in search of the perfect desk chair, and he wants to go fishing, and maybe he wants to attend lectures in bioscience. But he does not want to wait for me to have the time, and he certainly does not want to wait for me to have the inclination. And although I want to help Jon and be available to take him places, I recognize that too often recently my other commitments have gotten in the way of his plans. That’s not right. It made him feel a bit isolated and made me feel a bit guilty.

But then I discovered that our local authority runs this service (which they wisely omit to advertise) where those with permanent disabilities can get a free escort for up to 15 hours per month. We thought it would be brilliant for Jon to have someone who can drive him places and help him find his way round and give him a hand when he gets shaky and help him remember the drugs etc. etc. etc. – basically what Jon calls a thinking-brain dog.

Yesterday was the meeting to decide on our application and to our mid-sized surprise, it was approved almost straight away. Now we’ll have to see if the local authority has a suitable escort on their books. If not, we can find somebody ourselves – perhaps someone a wee bit international from Jon’s old language school.

Government-funded freedom (for both of us) – not bad!

Freebies

Last Monday ‘Mrs Eee’ my ergotherapist paid me a visit at home, very civilized and very convenient for me. She decided she would try and get me a pole to help me getting in and out of bed (see http://www.pakpaal.nl/home-en). Amazingly, this will be entirely free for me. Apparently, there is some bureaucratic nonsense where a pole by the bed are paid by the local council but a pole by the sofa is paid by the health insurance – but never mind, they can argue it out between them.

As to my problems with controlling the computer mouse, Mrs Eee had a menu of different mice (mouses?) and also gave me the option of having a custom-built mouse – again paid for by the benevolent and munificent state. However, I suspect my mouse problems are due to going off, plus possibly a bit of repetitive strain injury in the palm of my hand. But it’s good to know that help is there if I need it.

The pole arrived this week, and there was much dancing around it in celebration. We installed it by my bed, and it works – not in fact so great for dancing, but as an aid for getting out of bed it is very, very good. It also turns out to be ridiculously expensive, but who am I to care? Mrs Eee is coming round again tomorrow to teach me more tricks for how to get maximum use out of my pole.

Another source of excitement is that I have had a test ride on a tricycle – one wheel at the front and two at the back. I found it surprisingly easy to ride, mainly because it’s almost impossible to fall off, which is really quite reassuring given my recent history with two-wheeled bikes. Steering is a bit more tricky: on a conventional bike you lean over going into corners, while on the trike you have to keep all three wheels on the ground so it’s best to avoid tilting the bike. Tilting is an amazingly ingrown behaviour, though – neither I, nor Mrs Eee or Marie who both tried the bike, could stop ourselves from leaning over.

Naturally, I also have to look around to see who is behind me (fortunately unlikely to be a car as Holland has an excellent network of cycle paths), a highly challenging task with my stiff neck. Unless I get a trike with side mirrors and get better at indicating where I’m going, I’m quite likely to cause regular crashes with other bikers. I am also well placed to crash into those ahead of me because the brakes are not 100% perfect, and those next to me as I tend to drift off line into anyone attempting to overtake me. Anyway, Mrs Eee will take me for more test drives before letting me loose on my own trike, and I am considering getting L-plates.

If indeed I get a trike at all, as this must first be approved by the local council, and then sourced from the manufacturers. I’m told that this can be a slow process – but what passes for slow here in flat-land ? 1 week? 3 months? Well, the sooner the better as I have rather high hopes for my renewed mobility.