Potential Match

I keep reminding myself that the email ends with:

Please note at this stage this is a chance for you to work with the potential dog so that we can assess if she is suitable, she is not definitely the dog for you. Matching visits are not always successful and the trainer ultimately has the final decision as to whether the match is to go ahead. If this match is not successful you will go back onto the waiting list at your current position until we find another potential dog.

...but it's really hard not to get excited!

On Tuesday afternoon, I got the call that I've been waiting for since forever. Well, okay, it's only been about 2 or 3 years but it feels like forever. The lady started off, just asking me about my work circumstances and whether anything significant has changed. Then she told me she's been training a black labrador puppy and she thinks it may be the dog for me.

I'm going next week to meet this potential assistance dog. I'll spend three hours or so working with her to find out whether we are going to be a good match or not. If it's a match, then I'll be booked onto a 2 week training course and could be home with my dog before the end of November.

I can't even describe what this feels like. I dropped my pen at work yesterday and it went under my desk. Normally I get frustrated because I have to ask someone to help me but I just smiled because there's a light at the end of the tunnel and even if this isn't a match, I'm at the top of the list now, so something will happen soon.

When did it hit you?

... and how did you deal with it?

I don't know how I missed it but I ended up becoming aware of a BBC programme, Without Limits: Vietnam, and I was watching it on iPlayer. I can't remember which of the people it was but one was saying that when they first became disabled, they were fine about it but then, later, it hit them and they got really down about it. I was talking to somebody at the weekend, who had a family member with a similar story. In fact, it's not the first time I have heard this... and my own experience echoes that of so many others.

I'm not even sure that it was just my disability that hit me and made me feel down. I think it was the whole package... losing mobility, leaving Finland, stopping teaching... all combined with the normal highs and lows of everyday life and work. It kind of left me wondering who I am and whether I have anything left to give. I have to confess, I was getting a bit worried about my mental health.

Not being one to just brush things under the carpet, I gave this some serious thought. After all, it's bad enough losing mobility. I can't afford to lose the plot as well! I came to the conclusion, after a fair while of thinking about it, that I'm not losing the plot and that anyone who has life-changing health issues is, at some point, going to need to stop and process it all. So I did just that... gave myself some space to process it all. And I came to a few helpful conclusions:

1. Control

I can cope with losing almost anything but not having any control over what happens is the hardest thing. Call me a control-freak but I need to remain at least partially in control of what is going on. That might be why I adjusted to the wheelchair better than how I adjusted to daily physio. The physio was thrust upon me, whereas using a wheelchair is my choice. It gives me control over my daily activities. A lot of things have happened that I have had little control over. That's fine but sometimes, I need to take control back. So when things are out of control, I need to find something that I can control, even if that is only my attitude and response to it.

2. Independence (or lack of it)

In general, people are very helpful. Don't get me wrong, we all know there are some horrible people out there, but the vast majority are nice and want to help others. That's great because we all need a little help from time to time. It's really difficult though when, suddenly, you need help with things that you have always been able to do... things that you would have helped others with. I'm quite independent and don't like people doing stuff for me that I can do for myself. So it's immensely difficult having to accept help with the simplest of tasks.

When people offer help, some people are doing just that - offering help. However, some people seem to need to help, as though it is their own need they are meeting, rather than the other person's. So if you politely turn down their offer of help, it's taken as a rejection of their entire being. Also, people assume that they know what help is needed, which is actually quite strange if they've never been in my position. How would they know? I think it's partly that they feel helpless. They can't make everything better so they try to compensate.

Conclusion: Sometimes, accepting help is not about my weakness but about helping someone else not to feel helpless. It's a balancing act.

3. Exercise and the great outdoors

I've never ever realised it before, but I need a lot of exercise and I need a lot of fresh air. If I stay indoors and do the couch potato thing, I quickly start to feel quite rubbish. Last winter, I got out a lot, went on lots of walks and it felt good. As soon as summer comes though, I don't like being out so much. I prefer to go out in the evening, when all the wasps have gone to bed but then it's dark and I don't like going out alone after dark either.

Recently, I have started working a compressed fortnight. That means I work 10 days worth of hours in 9 days and then get an extra day off, which for me is every other Friday. So I decided to make that my exercise/fresh air catch-up day. Last week, I went swimming. I drove miles to one of the big Olympic pools, with nice cold water and I swam for almost an hour. Then I went shopping, which means lots of wheeling myself around. Of course, I could do this on an evening or Saturday but doing it midweek means doing it on my own, which I think will also help me regain some sense of independence.

So, I'm hoping that by keeping these things in mind, I'll get through this phase of adjustment with my sanity intact.

Spending summer outside

I can't remember the last time I spent so much of the summer in the garden. There's a lot about summer that I just don't like: the heat, the sun, the wasps, even bees (sorry), nettles, too much greenery that might be hiding wasps, bees or nettles... The list is endless! However, contrary to what my family think, I do like being outdoors. I just don't like feeling stressed.

This summer has been different. Around Christmas time we started digging up this...

... and turning it gradually into this...

The obvious advantages are:

• it looks much nicer
• it's wheelchair friendly
• there are raised beds for my veggies
• there are 'safe' places for me to sit.

So throughout the summer, I've spent a lot of time (evenings and weekends) outside, enjoying my garden. We've enjoyed an abundance of courgettes, lettuce, peas, beans and herbs. In the last couple of weeks, we've started planting things for winter harvest - some potatoes, cabbages, little gems and so on. 

I'm now in the last five weeks of my Master's and I'm on with my final written piece - the End of Module Assignment (EMA). I need to do a lot of reading for that and I'm enjoying being able to sit in my netted swing seat with my tablet, reading happily, safe from all flying monsters.

This has been an excellent example of the social model of disability. That means that our impairments don't disable us but rather society and the way things are built. Whether we're talking about physical mobility or phobias of summer monsters, it's all the same. If our environment is right, we can function just fine. 

I'll leave you with some pictures of our veggies...

 

Travelling alone - reflections

I can't believe I've been back a week already. It only seems like yesterday that, in a moment of madness, I booked a week away in Finland. Before my holiday, I was really tired... exhausted... physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually. It felt like I was waking up, going to work, coming home and going to sleep. I needed a rest.

I did wonder if I was making a big mistake, heading back to Finland whilst I was feeling so low but it turned out to be just what I needed.

The Positives

Right from day one, in Helsinki, before flying north, my friend whisked me out for a long walk. I was a little nervous, as it was a warm day... sunny... without Neil... wasps??? Actually, I didn't see a single wasp ALL week! Consequently, I got tons of exercise. I propelled myself miles! I sat outside coffee shops drinking lots of coffee and eating pulla. It was also really good to sit and chat with friends that I feel like I've known for ages... people who know me really well.

Apart from the night each end in Helsinki, I stayed in a hotel. Being completely alone allowed me some time to get spiritual refreshment. Tempting as it was to go out and spend my whole week seeing people, I decided before I went that I needed some time to pray and seek God. I know some of my friends and family won't get that but for me, it's really important and it makes a difference.


The Not-So-Positives

The biggest downer happened on Thursday morning. I had planned a great day out in Oulu, visiting old friends there. I was all on track until I started getting strange flashes in the corner of my eye. My heart sank, as I realised what it was. Within minutes, I had full-scale visual dramatics going on and the mother of all migraines hit. Fortunately, two of the friends I was meeting decided to brighten my day and drive north to see me instead. By late afternoon when they arrived, I was feeling much better and we went out for dinner.

That leads me onto the second negative. The only wheelchair accessible eateries in town were Hesburger and Pizza Rosso. The latter was lovely but took us forever to find. Everywhere else had steps, narrow doors, no toilets, etc. This became a bit of a theme for the week. In Neil's absence, it was much more obvious how difficult it would be to live independently there... impossible, in fact. Even the main supermarkets didn't have wheelchair trolleys. Dropped curbs were totally hit and miss. Mostly the infrastructure for accessibility just isn't there.

The photos show two touristy places, a museum/art gallery and a Santa's grotto type place. Both have steps to get in and I didn't find an alternative entrance.

In a way, this kind of bothered me, but in another way, it was helpful. It made me feel like I'm in the best place, here in England. Much as I miss many aspects of living in Finland, I wouldn't trade my independence for anything! So then, it began to feel more like a proper holiday, rather than a visit home. So, at long last, coming home actually felt like coming home.


Blending it all together

I wanted to get to a place of feeling a proper connection with home, whilst not losing a different kind of connection with Finland. I think my week away was really good for beginning that process. I certainly came back, looking forward to being back at work and feeling like I'm in a good place. I guess I can't ask for much more than that.

Some other nice pics of the week

Kemi's answer to Stonehenge?

Walk round the nature reserve

Kemi's Pink Church

The town - clean, light and wide

Personal Learning Environments

I'm still ploughing on through my studies. This week, one of the themes has been Personal Learning Environments (PLEs), as opposed to institutionally provided systems such as Moodle. One of the tasks led to me mapping out my own PLE. Thought it would be interesting to share it. You can click on it to see a bigger, full screen version.

My Personal Learning Environment