Time
for an update in the life of a para rider!!
Lots have been happening
since I last blogged, mainly lots of exciting things with my personal/ family
life. Back at the beginning of June I attended a ball in Cardiff for a Spinal
Injuries charity. A few special friends and family went and it’s always a good
excuse to get dressed up for a night and to have a few drinks... We had a great
night; the food at the Cardiff Meurcie was amazing. The fun and frolics
continued into the early hours of the morning... As I had driven over and
someone else was driving my car back, This was in an attempt to save money as
the price of the hotel rooms was really expensive, I was very shocked to
receive a motoring offense fine for £70 as I had been photographed driving in a
bus lane!!!! Ffs I was actually looking for the hotel and thought I was in a
filter lane going off left round the back of the hotel to the car park! So the
plan of saving me money didn’t work!!!
My son Harry has been taking
his GCSE exams so the house has been quite tense with all the stress of
revising and exams, luckily he survived and it’s now all over and he has
officially left school. I am so very proud of him, as he has coped so well with
the upheaval of the changes in home life since my accident and spinal injury. I
think he now needs a summer job as he and his friends are loitering around
eating me out of house and home. I’ve got loads of things he could be doing,
but funny when I ask him to do anything he’s always busy!!
Harry my clever gorgeous son xx
Stella my daughter is still
at school for another couple of weeks till the end of July when they break up
for summer. She loves spending time at the yard with me riding her horse she
has on full loan called SPOT. They are really are getting a special bond now
and its lovely to see them coming along as a great little team. Spot is so
tolerant of me wheeling around her trying to help Stella with Grooming, tacking
up, putting rugs on... she is fab and I can’t wait to see their little
partnership develop over the summer. We have been out for loads of family Hacks
where I go on the batec and take Alfie the dog up to the common. We have a
great time racing and laughing. I love this special time we spend together.
Once I got stuck in a ditch and Stella had to dismount to help push me out,
once out and Stella back in the saddle I got stuck again!!! We laughed so much,
poor Spot and Alfie they probably think I am a nutter… they may be right!
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| Out and about hacking! |
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| Meet Spot Stella horse she has no full loan, She is gorgeous and so patient !! |
I’ve also had more
challenges this month, I went to an interview.
I was in there for about 3 hours; this was quite a massive achievement
for me as I haven’t had an interview for a good few years, especially now being
in a wheelchair and having to cope with that too. I am so excited to be able to say I have been
offered the job of Continence Nurse Advisor for a company called Wellspect.
This is such a great opportunity for me to continue with my nursing and develop
a new role within a massive company providing training, education and support to
colleagues and clients. I am hoping this will develop into something enjoyable
for me to get my teeth into. Obviously I am a little anxious as I have been
with the NHS for 25 years... but time for a change now going onto private
business will be a huge learning curve but one am defiantly ready for, I can’t
wait.
I’ve also had letters of
disappointment from the South Gloucestershire CCG turning down the funding for
my bladder treatment of Botox, so I have now to go to appeal, I have written to
both my consultants at Salisbury and had no response, it’s actually quite rude
considering I took the time and effort to contact them about the situation, I
just hope no news is good news and things are happening behind the scenes!! As
if…… well I am on it and have now contacted the PALS service (patient advice
and liaison service) to see where I stand. As apparently it’s a post code
lottery as to where you live, that determines whether or not you get funding
for treatment… well my postcode area “SAYS NO”….
I continue to be challenged by my physio; I
still go weekly to sessions in the gym with the broken babes, which is a lot of
fun and obviously hard work! Seona is amazing at helping me balance and the
work I’ve been doing in the gym is actually fantastic, the positions I get into
are hysterical, but as with any exercise it lifts your mood and is great for a
burst of endorphins. The classes are so funny; the one good thing is that I am
treated just like one of the team. I can do a lot of the same exercises that
the others do..!! Well nearly… I have
now stated standing in the stand frame I have at home. This has taken me nearly
a year to be able to stand, first it was a difficult decision as to who was
going to pay for the stand frame, either Salisbury of South Glos medical trust.
Once sorted, ordered and delivered, and it wouldn’t fit through the door!! Ha
ha... In the new office.. So my dad and Harry had to take the stand frame apart
and rebuild it. I hope that they have put it back together correctly as it’s
now holding my weight…which is a lot these days!!!
Apparently the research says you should stand
3 days a week for up to 1 hour, this will be beneficially for increasing bone
density and this will help present the risk of fractures, it also helps enhance
blood pressure and circulation. Standing also aids digestion, bowel function
and bladder drainage, and it also can
help with stretching the muscles preventing the onset of contractures, its
known to improve respiration, voice
control, wellbeing, alertness and sleeping patterns. One of the main benefits
is that standing also helps improve skin integrity by relieving pressure
resulting from sitting for prolonged periods. So with this long list of
benefits, all I need to do now is find the time to do it…. One thing that surprised me on standing next
to my son was how much he had grown in the last 18 months of me sitting down,
lazy cow I am sat down all the time!! Harry towers above me now… Even the dog
has to get involved in the act…
I now go weekly to the Avon
RDA, I absolutely love this, it is an amazing feeling to be in a safe
environment a be riding the simulator, we work on core strengthening and
balance all while going up and own through the paces from halt, to walk, trot,
fast trot, canter and now this last couple of weeks have added fast canter!!!
OMG this really puts the pressure on...
I have to concentrate so much to stay balanced, but I just go with the
motion... I love what it’s doing for my
mental health, I feel so free from the confines of my wheelchair and the list
of befits you get from standing also relates to exercise and this form of
exercise is amazing for me as a para… we are working up to getting on the real
thing at the RDA and experiencing the facilities there of their hoist, I have
been told that even at the RDA not all horse as hoist trained. But I am working
towards this, I Can’t wait to see where this goes. Hopefully I will be able to
get on a real horse there soon, fingers crossed.
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| Super Flynn taking it all in his stride!! |
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| up up and away!! Amazing hoist by Dolphin mobility |
I haven’t been riding on
Super Flynn lately, but we have done a few hoist desensitizing exercise
sessions but the weather the last week has been so hot and so many horse fly’s
around that I think any horse that could stand still in that would deserve a
medal. We did give it ago one day last week and Flynn was really good, but he seemed
to be moving a lot faster than normal and was quite fidgety due to the horse flies.
But we still manged a short walk!! I absolutely love the feeling I get from
being back in the saddle. I can’t wait to be able to have more sessions, but it
is difficult to try and get enough people there at the yard to help, as it’s obvious
I can’t have these hoist sessions without help from the para team at loan oaks...
I am also luck to be
selected as a leg up for talent star on the sponsor me direct social media
programme, this uses the platform social media such as Facebook, I am required
and supported to obtain 10 sponsors, with the backing of the programme it helps
to advertise yourself as a up and coming rider, I am still waiting for my
classification assessment, which seems to be taking ages, but also I may be
able to be assessed at the RDA. Hopefully fingers crossed I am working with a
few individuals to be my first supported businesses. I can’t wait and hope
these come off. The idea is the companies or individuals, support me by
donating in kind something of value to me to be useful for the horse and rider
and yard environment, or cash so that build up so it pays for lessons, competitions,
training days or things I need for the horse. www.legupfortalent.com
At the moment I am getting
use to blogging every day as this is what I will need to do for the sponsor me direct
I can blog for you programme. It’s a way of advertising for the companies that
support me. I am use to blogging as still do
“Your Horse” magazine once a month and my own blog which is amazingly
being followed and to date viewed by people from all over the world. 12,286
have read my blog which is amazing; I love the fact that people are interested
in my journey from the start when I was injured almost 20 months ago. I’ve been
to hell and back and am now defiantly on the up up! I am still looking for local companies/businesses
that could get involved and support me. If anyone knows of anybody that would
like to be involved supporting me to get started please get in touch. I will
consider most opportunities. myparajourney.blogspot.co.uk
I am certainly working very
hard at this new venture, spending lots of time contacting many local firms and
businesses to see if they would like to support me for 12 months, I think just
today I have emailed about 7 companies... It feels like a full time job!! Ha.
The things that motivate me is being able to fund this expensive adventure,
starting at the bottom looks very daunting looking up… but with my goal of riding at British para dressage I understand
that it is a very elitist sport. I have mentioned previously it’s who you know
and not what you know… well I now need to know some wealthy people to help in
this adventure.
Well at the moment we are preparing
to go away on a family holiday, I can’t wait to go away; we have decided to go
on a cruise, the ship looks enormous and I can safely say I hope that my sea
legs kick in!! As in the past I’ve suffered being sea sick but everyone who has
cruised before tells me you don’t feel the waves. I hope their right. Well we are frantically packing and trying to get organised, as it’s amazing
how much stuff I need to take, it literally
is everything but the kitchen sink!! No and it’s not that I am taking too many
pairs of shoes, ha ha. My daughter packed as soon as I told her about the holiday
as she is so excited, but I keep finding her taking out clothes from her case
and wearing them, them putting them away on the FLOOR in her room like normal..
Anyone who knows me, knows I love
washing NOT , but I am running out of time to get organised!! And things take
slightly longer now am in this bloody chair.
I have loads of things to
look forward to in the near future; hopefully I will be able to announce some official
sponsors on my leg up for talent program soon. I am going back to hospital as
have to have some more tests, but I am not really looking forward to this! I
have my new job to contend with, which should be exciting and also more riding
at the RDA. I am chasing up the classification application form as this seems
to be taking ages, may be its got lost along with my consultants reply!!
Keep following my progress
as I reach for my dream of getting back in the saddle and riding at the BD para
dressage.
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| Buzz (light year) best pony on the yard ever!! so cute |
