Part I
Before I start telling the story I ought to point out that I am naturally a 'glass half full' type and, I hope it does show, I can usually find a joke in even the most dire situations. So I apologise in advance for anything I may say that gives the impression of moaning.
I was diagnosed with Fibromyalogia and Spondylosis 12 years ago, I felt that diagnosis was a life-changing event but little did I know the drama that would follow now, in 2009.
In 1997 I lived in an area where the GPs were very overworked and the Senior Partners very comfortable in their rut. I'm not in any way blaming them, at the time I had an answer to my back problems, even been told that to continue working would lead to a wheelchair situation [I had a very physical job - standing for 8 hours at a time and carrying big stock boxes] The only problem was the house that I lived in at the time, it was 3 storeys high and on the side of a steep hill, a car was essential but I couldn't afford one with no job. I loved the people around me and would miss them but I felt I had no choice but to move.
So began the registration process with the housing department to allow me to move and driving around looking for empty properties. My daughter had already left home and who knows where my son was going to end up as he was attending University at the time so I had the advantage of asking for a downsize to a two bedroomed property from the present three bedrooms. There were other issues to consider, perhaps it would be advantageous to move back to the area where I had lived previously, we knew the area and it was near to my mother who couldn't get to the house on the hill, it being two steep a walk from the bus stop.
So, I ended up doing an 'injured' animal routine and going back to where I felt safe to lick my wounds. It was pointed out to me that there would come a day when I wouldn't have a car [not realising the car would disappear within a couple of months - the exhaust fell off and others factors meant it wamted too much work] and so this residence turned out to be ideal, within walking distance of Mom and the small shops and a short bus ride from a major shopping Mall.
Over the past 11 years however, the drawbacks of the house have become very evident, there is no community spirit because the people I knew previously have either moved on and/or forgotten me, I am surrounded by either elderly residents living in their own little world of habit, [and have a completely irrational hatred of me because I am not like them] or young couples at work all day. But the good points were that my mother came and helped me as much as possible when her angina wasn't affected by the weather and as the house had been totally neglected for about 40 years I had plenty to keep me busy doing as much DIY as I was capable of and became very creative,[mainly due to being poor] but a plus point was I had returned to GPs I had known for years and were friends who I could talk to.
So over the next few years things continued apace and I didn't seem to be getting any worse once I had learned what to avoid. Then my mother had her first stroke albeit a minor one and I developed walking difficulties so I bought a small mobility scooter to help me get to her house, I needed quick access to her, but I didn't realise that the scooter I had bought wouldn't cope very well with the hills here so although I was more comfortable I was actually slower than walking! A few weeks later she had a stronger stroke that temporally took her speech and her writing ability so she was in need of even more care. I invested in a bigger scooter that didn't mind the hills and was quicker and safer! [I've only tipped this one over one time compared to three on the small one due to the lack of dropped kerbs] My mother managed to have another stroke a few weeks later - 3 strokes within 5 weeks was being a bit greedy I thought but Hey! Ho! that's life [well mine anyway]
And that was life until half-way through 2006, to find out the happenings after then until the present day you will have to read my next posting which will hopefully be tomorrow
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