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Word of the Week #19 2019

May 10, 2019 by Anne Sweet 18 Comments

Hello and welcome to the home of Word of the Week, a nice and simple weekly linky, with everyone welcome to pop by and share. The idea of the linky is to reflect back on your past week and share it with us. It’s great if you can sum it up in a word or phrase, hence giving us your Word of the Week.

There are not too many rules with this linky, just remember to read at least another couple of posts in the link up after adding your link. Do try to stick to the theme of summing your week up. I will read and comment on all posts and tweet them out for you. I also have a Pinterest board devoted to Word of the Week and I will add posts to Mix Please add the badge below to your post so that others may find us and join in. If you comment or tweet then please use the hashtag #WotW

Word of the Week is open from 6am on Friday Morning to 12 noon on Monday. Plenty of time to join in!

If you are unfamiliar with the Word of the Week linky then please feel free to ask any questions. New linkers are always welcome, we love to hear what you have been up to in the past week.

MY WORD OF THE WEEK

Dentist

Ok, there has been a lot going on this week, and I could have chosen a lot of words. I have gone with dentist because this week I had to have two back teeth extracted. I have never been afraid of the dentist, but for some reason my anxiety was extremely high.

The Dentist was incredibly nice and made me feel totally at ease. The extraction barely hurt at all and although when the anaesthetic wore off it hurt, I was able to control the pain with regular pain relief. For the first time ever, I have stitches in my gums which I’m waiting to dissolve or fall out. It wasn’t a bad experience after all.

A Few Words About Word of the Week

I think Jocelyn, the founder of Word of the Week, did an excellent job of creating a wonderful community. I was thrilled to be able to take over and even more thrilled that so many regular contributors moved with me. So Thank you, to all my WotWers (doesn’t quite have the right sound does it, you can be my WoWers instead 🙂

The idea has always been to sum up your week in a word or phrase, but we’ve never been really strict on that. Basically we are a link up of weekly round up posts and I’m happy to accept any of these kind of posts, even if you don’t have a particular word. Recently I’ve accepted the lovely Laurie from Meditations in Motion who writes lovely thought provoking posts and round ups. Also new is Enda from Endastories who also gives us wonderful insights to his life and thoughts. It’s great when we have new people join our little community and I hope they will stick around.

My aim is also to round up a few people who used to link up before and see if they want to join us again. It would be nice to catch up.

Also, I would like to occasionally give a shout out to a linker or two as I’ve done this week. So, no big changes, just a couple of little ones.

Finally, a big, huge, massive, Thank You to all my WoWers. x

Here’s the badge

Raisie Bay

Instructions: Select all code above, copy it and paste it inside your blog post as HTML

And now it’s over to you, come and tell us what you’ve been up to in the past week.

Occupational Health in the Home

May 9, 2019 by Anne Sweet 3 Comments

Yesterday I was visited by an Occupational Health Therapist. This is only my second visit since leaving hospital three years ago.

On the first visit I was provided with all the disability aids that I needed at that time. I was grateful for them, but was also sure that they would be returned within few months. Little was I to know that my condition would progress and not get better.

I decided that as my needs had changed that it was time to see what else could make me more comfortable and life easier in my own home.

The Assessment.

I’d only mentioned that I needed help with showering but the occupational health therapist was quite thorough and one of the first things she noticed was my difficulty in getting up off the settee. She suggested that an electric reclining chair would be an option, and I will certainly consider this when re-decorating my living room. For the time being though I’m having to use an extra cushion just to give me a little more height while sitting.

a brown leather riser and electric reclining chair with remote control as suggested by my occupational health therapist — *Recliner/riser chairs can be pretty stylish these days.*

She discussed all the aids that I already had and suggested a few improvements. For example, hand rails rather than toilet frames. I like this because they take up less room but will still make sure I don’t get stuck on the loo!

Wet Room

My main wish had been to turn the downstairs shower room into a wet room, but sadly there is not enough room and a pipe issue. I have trouble getting in and out of the shower and I’m terrified of falling. Not only that, but the cubicle is pretty small and when you have to sit in the shower there is not a lot of room.

I could have the family bathroom turned into a wet room but the kids still love to have a bath so that doesn’t seem fair on them. We have a shower over the bath in there so the OT came up with some ideas. I can have a shelf on the bath to sit on and a step to get in. Along with hand rails I should be able to shower in there more safely. Plus we won’t lose the bath.

Another option is a bigger shower cubicle downstairs, with a lower step in. This is a great idea so I’m happy with these suggestions. We can always change them at a later date.

The Stairs

Another thing discussed was the stairs. I use them to come down in the morning and go to bed in the evening. Otherwise I do avoid going upstairs as it’s a lot of effort for me.

We discussed a stair lift, and although we already have the electrics fitted for one, the OT didn’t think it would be the safest option for me. She believed that I would be better off with a lift. We have the room, it could be fitted in the corner of the living room and up into my bedroom. But at this stage I don’t really want a lift in my living room.

For now I’m going to battle on with the stairs, at least it gives me some exercise each day. I remember, just a few years ago, I used to run up and down the stairs a few times, at least three times a day to exercise. How things have changed in such a short space of time.

Overall, I found it a useful visit. I hope the changes that are made will make showering safer and easier. I also have to decide on what to do about getting an electric reclining chair.

All other aids mentioned I have already, in fact I have quite a lot. But I do try to disguise as much as possible, I don’t like my house to look like there is a disabled person living here even though there is. My family think I’m crazy, but in my mind I’m still finding it difficult to accept my disability and don’t want to flaunt it.

*collaborative post

Games on the Go – Lonely Planet Kids review

May 8, 2019 by Anne Sweet 1 Comment

Games on the Go is the fabulous new card game available from Lonely Planet Kids.

Games on the Go, a colourful box with the lid open showing several playing cards and a wipe clean pen — Book Details
ISBN: 9781788683296
Curator: Lonely Planet Kids
41 pages, 41pp color | Dimensions: 120.65mm × 165.1mm

The Blurb

“Are we there yet?”

Banish the boredom of long car journeys and big trips with Games on the Go, a fun and colourful mix of spotting games, drawing challenges, word searches, dingbats and more.

A must-pack addition on any family trip, it fits easily inside hand luggage and can be deployed in seconds! Comes with 40 wipe-clean cards and a dry-erase pen, all stored in a small, handy box.

Games include:

Road trip bingo
Turning fingerprints into colourful friends
Amazon rainforest-themed crossword
Wildlife watching
Drawing suitcase contents
Dingbats and puzzles
Mazes
Drawing favourite meals
Making star constellations
Designing flags
Noughts and crosses
Drawing city skylines

Our Verdict.

This was a big hit with the kids before we even left the house. The little box contains loads of different activities, so there is something for everyone.

The game cards are all kept neatly inside the box and the pen fits in the side. On the end of the pen there is an eraser, so when you’re done you can wipe it away and someone else can have a turn.

Some of the puzzles and games are easier than others and many different skill sets are exercised. It’s a sure boredom buster, especially on car journeys.

It’s great for one child but I’m going to get more wipe clean pens so my three children can share them on our trip next week. There are plenty of cards to choose from, and the fact that you can wipe them clean means there will be no arguing if they want to do the same activities.

In fact, I am going to buy these coloured pens for them.

Disclosure: The product was sent to us free of charge but all thoughts and opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links.

Regrouping, Investigating, Boosting, Setting and Reviving

May 6, 2019 by Anne Sweet 15 Comments

Regrouping

I think when it comes to my health I am regrouping things all the time, it’s always a game of catch up. It’s hard sometimes to prioritise so things go astray, but occasionally I have to regroup and get it all back together again. I guess it’s the same for everyone, we all fall behind at times. But when you have a chronic illness it seems that regrouping things together again is a constant theme.

In the last month I have been regrouping my appointment letters and getting my calendar up to date. It seems a lot has been going on with me, Star and the Little Man.

Investigating

At the hospital last week I arrived on the ward to find two other Stiff Person Syndrome sufferers. Of course, my seat was right in the middle. The one female I see every three months when our treatment coincides, but I don’t have much contact in-between apart from the occasional text. The other Man I met on our Facebook support group and I’ve met him at the hospital once before.

It’s kind of strange how we all have the same condition but are all so very different. The female has had SPS for a long time and the treatment is working well for her, plus she has a fighting spirit and won’t let it beat her down.

The man is older and has other conditions, but still he can walk and drive whereas I can’t. But, then I do have a specific form of the condition which makes it worse for me. My bad luck!

Back to the Investigating. We asked the nurse about some treatments we had heard about and he gave us the full run down. I won’t bore you with the specifics, but it’s so different reading up on things like stem cell transplant or Rituximab on the Internet, than it is listening from the medical profession. In particular one who has experience in experimental treatments.

The long and short of my investigations are; I’ll not even try for stem cell transplant unless it’s my last hope. But I will see if my consultant manages to get funding for Rituximab. However, having heard how expensive it is I’m not holding out much hope.

Boosting

I am always trying to boost my health with my diet. After all, what you put in makes such a big effect on how your body reacts. But the other big thing is boosting your mental health.

Mine has taken a big dip in the recent months, but I really want to try and make things better again. I have a lovely retreat planned in a couple of weeks which will give me a boost, both in confidence and mental health.

I’m also exploring ways of increasing social activity because I know that sitting home most days is not doing me any favours. I don’t mind being alone, I have plenty to keep me occupied, but there is something about getting outside of the house, or just interacting with others that gives me a boost.

Setting

Last month I set myself a goal of getting out of the house once a week which I’ve kept to, often going out more than once.

I like setting goals and I’ve a few crochet ones that I have for May. I’ve also set myself a goal of reading/listening to four books this month.

Reviving

As I do spend a lot of time at home I think it’s time to revive the tired decor. In particular the living room. I have just to wait for someone to actually do the work now, and I’m hoping it will be real soon. Then I can order my new carpet.

I’m also hoping to get my bathroom revived, or rather re-structured as a wet room. We have a family room upstairs but the downstairs shower room is the one I have targeted. A wet room would make my life so much easier and safer.

So that’s my interpretations on the prompts this month from A Chronic Voice Blog written by the lovely Sheryl.

You can read my writing prompts for April here.

May link up party poster, back of woman facing yellow wallpaper and the words, regrouping, investigating, boosting, setting and reviving

Don’t forget to enter my Jord Watch Competition

My Sunday Photo 5th May 2019

May 5, 2019 by Anne Sweet 7 Comments

April Trees

These are the trees at the bottom of my garden. I’ve featured them here before, but these photos were taken on the same date three years apart.

Tall trees against a cloudy sky — *Trees 2019*

tall trees against a blue sky — *Trees 2016*

Let’s play spot the difference. The top photo was taken on April 28th 2019, the bottom on April 28th 2016. They are the same trees taken from the same angle but on different cameras.

It’s quite obvious that the sky is different, but you can wake up to a different sky every day of the year, it’s forever changing. But look at the Trees, In 2016 they are still pretty barren with leaves only just beginning to show their colour. Whereas in this year they are lush and green already.

The big bushy trees in the left hand corner have been cut back this year as they were hanging over our neighbours garden, but that’s hardly noticeable.

We have had a fairly mild winter here, we’ve not had any real snow, maybe a splattering. Whereas in 2016 we had some quite heavy snow. And although it’s been cold and the Country has been hit with some violent storms, we seem to have missed quite a lot. Then we had that lovely warm spell over Easter. I think all of this is evident in these trees at the bottom of my garden.

What do you think of my April trees? Have you had a mild winter too?