A Year Long Pilgrimage

Marguerita collected me last week and drove me to Peterborough.   It took quite a while to leave the hotel.  I had been there for 4 1/2 weeks and so I had got to know the staff very well.  There were hugs from many of them, and good wishes from all.  I had left large boxes of Ferroro Rocher for them as a thank you. I managed to walk out to Marguerita's car with my pack securely strapped on my back - slowly, and carefully.  The first time it had been properly worn for 6 weeks! Pack on, and leaving my home of 4 weeks. I was impressed with Peterborough, though I was restricted with how much I could see.  My hotel was about 500 metres from the city centre, and a little further to the Cathedral.  Each day I walked into town, had a rest (cafes are great for that), then walked back, a different way, and put my foot up for the afternoon. Peterborough Cathedral  Inside Peterborough Cathedral  The remains of the cloisters On my first day we walked...

Yesterday was an exciting day.  Not only did I come off the walking frame, but X Rays showed my bones had healed as they should.  This has meant that I can now weight bear on both my arm and my foot.   I can't stop smiling! Just on 15 mins off the frame!a I am to "wean" myself off both the arm splint and my moon boot.  I have been warned that it will be 12 - 18 months till my foot feels normal.  The surgeon wanted me to continue on the frame for another week or so, but with persuasion from me, he agreed that I was walking well and that my good old Pacer Poles were doing a good job at keeping me upright!  Having to stay on the frame meant all sorts of hassles, not least of which was how to return it to the hospital.  Today, wearing the moon boot, I got my own breakfast, went outside for a gentle stroll along the path heading into town, then returned to my room for a rest.  This afternoon I walked out to the restaurant in SHOES!  This is t...

Just over a week ago, on a Saturday afternoon, I met Marguerita.   On Sunday she turned up with a bag of books for me to borrow, and on Monday she took me shopping.  I don't think I've had such fun shopping for years!  We went to Tesco's, a chain supermarket like Coles or Woolies, but this one was huge - about the size of a BigW.  On the ground floor there were the groceries, fruit & vege, toiletries, the bottle shop etc., with the obligatory Costa coffee shop at the checkout exit.  The 1st floor was for clothing, homewares and such like plus another cafe, a perfect lunch spot! I was a bit concerned about how I would be able to hop my way around such a huge expanse, but I had no need to worry.   When we entered through the front door I spied some electric wheelchairs / gophers.   Marguerita went to the desk to ask about them, and we exchanged my frame for a key, and off we went!  Who knew that shopping could be such fun? Life re...

I don't have much of interest to report, as each of my days are spent moving from my room to the restaurant and back.  Having said that though, I have been meeting some interesting people.  I bailed up Gareth, a Welsh microscope salesman, telling him that I'm not usually so brazen, but would love his company while we ate.  I learnt that he trains people from all sorts of fields on microscopes, not just medical.   Once he was in Europe training people from a chocolate factory, as they investigated the cocoa beans they were using, and at another factory in Glasgow which was researching the biodegradable containers they were about to manufacture.   His hobby, with his telescope, was time lapse space photography.  The other night I met Jim and Lynn.  They were here for Lynn's Cochlear implant, which had been inserted before Christmas, and was to be turned on the next day. Then I met Jackie over breakfast, a retired physiotherapist,  who was ...

Well, since the last post I have left hospital and am now staying in a hotel.  I arrived here nearly a week ago, and yesterday moved rooms.  I have chosen a hotel that has a restaurant AND a lift for ease of movement.  I'm not sure that the nurses will approve of how I get around.   Entering and exiting rooms is the trickiest part.  I carefully open the door, without getting the wheels of my frame caught,  then I line myself up with the door, give it and almighty push, sprint through, as much as one can sprint hopping, before it crashes into me again, then one more shove and I am through! On my frame, with the new cast on my wrist, but still the post surgery cast on my leg. I have discovered that not all accessible rooms are equal.  My first room was an older one, with a marginally lower toilet and shower chair.  This was quite difficult standing, and is so much easier in my new room.  However, opening the room door is much harder as the...

Well, at the end of the last post I  said that my walking came to halt just before reaching the Red Lion Hotel.  In fact since that time I have only hopped, and only in the last two days!  Why?  Well.... This is long and tedious, with only a couple of photos, so don't feel compelled to read it.  I am trying to make it brief, but I know some people want the detail.  Last Saturday evening, a week ago, as I walked down the path on the side of the road, to the hotel, my feet went from under me.  I had slipped on a frozen puddle, which in a momentary lapse of concentration I failed to see.  My momentum, and the weight of my pack flipped me over like a turtle, but in the process my right arm and leg got stuck, while I continued to move.  The result? A broken wrist, and a broken ankle!  A passing dog walker stopped to offer help by carrying my pack, but I had a better idea when I saw someone get into a car opposite.   I asked him to a...