Sunday 25/05/08

I am always amazed at how poorly designed wheelchairs can be, and how the people that make them, obviously dont have to be sitting in them all day. The chair that i have now is very much a stop gap measure, until my new chair comes in July. But it stupidly had spikes on the footrests, with velcro attached, to make sure the feet did'nt slide backwards. Of course i slid out, during a bed transfer, and even though the footplates were folded up, the weight managed to pull them down, and lets just say the end result was not pretty. Another couple of centimeters, and I could have had serious internal injuries.

I suppose i have been lucky so far, in that i have never needed stitches. Yes I have fallen a lot, ripped out my shoulder sockets a few times, bruised and carpet burned my face and arms, but i have never broken anything. The doctor wanted me to go into Naas Hospital, but this was not even an option for me. I sometimes do not understand,why people are so firmly attached to this life, that they will do anything to eek out another extension in this life. Besides, knowing my luck, I'd probably come out of the hospital in naas, with an even worse condition, like MRSA or something.

When the doctor told me that it would take me a long time to recuperate, the very stubborn side of me kicked in. Nothing can come between me and the Celine Dion concert that I am going to , next Friday in Croke Park. I have been planning this concert for 6 months, and will go up on a stretcher if needs must. Although I have seen parts of her concert on Youtube, live from Tokyo and Pretoria, and they left a lot to be desired. Even though she has a great inventory of songs to draw from, "river deep mountain high" , and "i drove all night", are certainly not the best. Even though I dont speak French, I rememeber years ago buying one of her French albums, which I thought was fantastic, so I will be more than happy , if she sings, J'attendais or Vole. (By the way, I managed to sell my two surplus tickets to the celine concert yesterday, to a really nice chair user and his girlfriend I can't setup a seller's account on ebay, and they dont reply to support emails, even though they are really good and fast at clogging up your inbox with junk!).

Hopefully the weather will be fitting for an outdoor concert. It will be my first time in Croke Park. My brother was saying he went to see Celine in Las Vegas a few years ago and she was amazing. She could sing the alphabet, and she has great interaction with the audience, so I really am looking forward to it.

At the moment I am contacting the IWA about the possibility of getting an assistant to come to Pisa with me in September. It does'nt look like I am going to be able to get an Italian assistant. Its no fun having to confront personal issues with a stranger who you can't even communicate with, so it would be better to have the assistant issue organised at this end, although I hope it does'nt end up costing me as much as the price of the holiday. But at the end of the day I might have to bite the bullet, and sacrafice money for another trip or something else, in order to make the holiday to Pisa in September, a real holiday.

(My sister, mother with new niece Ailbhe, neighbour Susan & moi)Wednsay 14/5/08:i am the most stubborn person imaginable. On occasions it serves me well, and sometimes it backfires horribly. But I'm so glad that this time, it helped me have a great holiday, in a country I had long dismissed as an unobtainable dream.

Well, thanks to the net and Vincenzo Pomerico, the dream became reality,and I can now add italy to my small but growing list of tried and tested countries. It does grate on me that a weeks holiday for me costs the equivalent of a family of four for two weeks. But what is the alternative? Stay at home, and watch the world go by? Been there, done that, and am in no great hurry to revisit those days!

Having lived on diet coke for most of last week, for energy reasons, it feels good to be at home, back on my new fave iced tea, and a better nights sleep in my own bed. Its all a happy memory now, but I can now turn my attention to the upcoming celine dion concert in croke park on may 30th (still can't figure out how to sell my two spare tickets to it on ebay!), and my long awaited return visit to my friends in spain, now that their kids are hardier.

There is always some problem, I spent the day in work with a nose like a tap, and barely able to anwer the phone. Is it an allergy, or the beginnings of the flu? Either way, I am taking a genuine sick day tomorrow, as I would be useless to them, and was already beginning to make them splutter At least, I want to try and get down the web report on italy, while all the details are still fresh in my mind.

A girl from limerick contacted me through the site, to ask how she can convince her brother who has FA to start exercising. He seems very like me, not even thinking of years down the line. Believe me, a terrible world openss, hen you are no longer weight bearing. Hello shitty world of hoist and humiliating dependancy!The net is a brilliant tool, and even if its yoga moves, put dependancy off for as long as you can. I never got to see magnificent rome at night, because the bed was ssa lot higher, so I had no choice to be tucked up by 9And some people are worried about a hell? Give me a fuckin break!

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