Hello and welcome to 2012

Happy New Year

How nice is it to have a brand new year lie ahead for us? As I wrote previously I am not one for making new years resolutions. I used to, but found that by the year end, most of them were never realised. Instead I write down a list of goals I would like to achieve given the time and usually the money. This year there are numerous things going on my list. Things like getting the bloke to finish painting the bedrooms, (2 down three to go), changes to the garden in order to make it easier to look after in the drought like conditions.
Continue to declutter.
That word would have to be the buzz word of the past five or ten years wouldn't it? Everyone is at it all over the place. The problem is as soon as we get rid of some things a new lot sneaks back in the door. I used to have a system that if I bought something new into the home then I had to remove something else. But after a few years of neglect that system well and truly went out of the window.
So now, I do my best to buy less and remove an item when it is no longer useful to our family.

Anyway back to the list. Let's see. Oh yeah, I need to buy a wheelchair the next time we go to the city for a follow up sleep study appointment. I have put this purchase of for a while as it is a little difficult for me to comprehend that my health has deteriorated to this level. Someone close to me used to tell me; as a way of inspiring weight loss in me, that if I didn't watch what I ate I would end up in a wheelchair like my dad. Real helpful. NOT!
So now of course here I am on the verge of buying the said w/chair. Self fulfilling prophecy?
I have done my research and the one that looks like it best suits my needs is sold and available in Perth and it costs $1428. That is a big outlay, but if I want to move around outside my home then there is no choice really. As regular readers would remember I had the experience of using a chair last month, sheesh last year even. And it was fine using it where no one knew me, but it's another thing alltogether to be pushed around in my own home town where I have lived all my life and where I have worked.
Have to take a break, can't keep my eyes open.
Back again. Right where was I? Yes, meeting people I worked with will be the test. In some way I feel less of a person because I will be in a chair, and having to get the bloke to push me in it. It's not that I think people with different needs are inferior to me, not at all. I worked with and advocated for people who had a disability for many years. In fact I now have more empathy at the obstacles people in chairs face. My own father was in a chair and he was a big man. Initially he found it quite hard to accept it and he would Initially he found it quite hard to accept it and he would make a fuss quite often.
It's the vulnerability and the fact that you are dependant on someone else to get you where you want to go.

Wow that was more than a mouthful. Back to my list. I want to then be able to go to the dentist and have my eyes checked. I haven't been able to access these places due to my inability to walk any distance. My eyes have certainly deteriorated due to the ageing process and the strain from using the computer way too much. And there's the dentist, oh the lovely dentist. I am really scared of the dentist. Hate the smell of them, the pain the loss of control when your mouth is jammed open and someone is fiddling around in there. But my teeth have been neglected and in urgent need of treatment otherwise I might end up with plastic ones.


Well that's all I can write for today, my eyes are shutting and I just have no energy in me.


I hope this year will be a good one for all sorts of reasons.

Take care,

Jan

Note: For some reason blogger has changed the format and I have no idea how to work with it. Please suggest things if you know anything. Also if you have tried to comment and not been able to let me know. I have had one person tell me she is having trouble posting.
Thanks

Part Two-Tuesday

Hi, as promised I am back to report on last Tuesday's activities. In the weeks leading up to the trip I had researched and located a business that hired out equipment for people with disabilities. I was able to book a large wheelchair and we were to pick it up early on the Tuesday morning. Of we set with map and address . Of course the search for the place was made that much harder by the ever present road works. The street we wanted was blocked by bitumen trucks so we had to detour, but with some good driving and detective work by the bloke we found the place and quickly loaded up the very large wheelchair. We then headed for the nearest shopping mall which was Westfield Carousel. Leading up to this day I had been very worried about how I would cope going out in public after a few years at home. I worked out that it had been about 7 years since I had been into a shopping centre. After sitting in the chair, I made sure that my skirt was covering my legs so that no-one would be affected by a flash of my brilliantly plump legs.

pic from bariatric product catalogue


I steeled myself for the expected looks, comments and rudeness. As we bumped across the car park (yes we had parked on the outskirts of the car park as the ACROD bays were all gone I wondered if the bloke was going to tip me out of the chair or get me run over. We made it to the doors and as they slid open my senses were assaulted by the noise, smells and visual smorgasbord. We were in. First stop was the chemist where I purchased a new pair of sunglasses. My reasons for doing this was I had misplaced my sunnies and I felt that if I wore the glasses it would help shield me from the stares. Yes a bit of ostrich like thinking there. ha ha.

 Then I saw that they stocked the toiletries that we use so we bought those before heading further into the mall. Of course I noticed that people were staring. I expected it but the surprising thing for me was that I was so happy to be out and about buying able to buy some things for myself. The magazine kiosk with racks of colourful goodness drew me in like a moth to a flame. So much choice. I was in heaven.

 The bloke pushed me from one end of the mall to the other and the poor thing he did a great job as it was hard work to push someone so large. I couldn't get over the amount of food stalls in the food court. The blended smells of various artery hardening products made my stomach to flip flops. After a couple of hours or so I asked the bloke to get me out of there. The noise, the piped Christmas songs, the crowds, the hustle and bustle the overwhelming plethora of shopping temptations had taken its toll. Oh and when we went into the Telstra shop I was left unattended when I was sitting right in front of the counter waiting to be served. The young man didn't appear to see me or the bloke standing there. He looked to the young girl behind us and asked her if he could help her. I was stunned and turned to look over my shoulder and then saw the look on the blokes face at the same time as he muttered we were here first. I am not sure thought whether he genuinely did not see us, or if he was put off by the site of the fat, middle aged woman in a wheelchair. Never the less when he served us he was business like and helpful. Turned out he couldn't help us as I had not taken the ipad in with me. Oh well that happens.

The medical appointments were to follow later that same day but I will leave it here as I am shutting down in the brain department now.

So until tomorrow, take care and thank you for your interest.