Shit happens, again!

It was a cruel irony that a couple of days before the start of national Carers Week my lady, who works in that sector within local government, fell and broke her ankle, again, and I effectively became her carer. Our life was thrown out of kilter a couple of weeks ago and it is taking me a while to adjust to coping with everything I have to do. The break was quite bad this time, in fact it was two fractures, and so they had to operate and put plate and pins in. As a result she has to keep her leg up most of the time for the next six weeks.

In some ways we were a bit prepared for the consequences of the temporary disability as it’s less than a year since she broke her ankle (same one) before, but unfortunately she has less mobility this time.

I really feel for those that are full-time/permanent carers. It’s not an easy job. Without them the health and social service sectors would grind to a halt. Carers are so vital yet so often go unsung. Our predicament should be short lived. We’ve just had to put our lives on hold for a short period. But for those that have to live this way all of the time I am sure often struggle.

My lady has been treated at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, where the treatment and the staff have all been first class. It’s a modern hospital that was one of the first, I believe, to have been built as a public-private ‘partnership’. Apart from that I only noticed one major flaw it has been designed, probably, by able bodied people for able bodied people. Yes they have no doubt conformed to disability legislation but that is really as far as it goes. You don’t really notice these things until it affects your life in some way. It is just so hard to take someone with their leg in plaster to Out Patients firstly there is a distinct lack of managed space to drop someone off by car, and near enough to the entrance. The next hurdle is to wander off and find a wheelchair. Another trial. I’m sure that those that are permanently disabled would be thinking that I should stop whinging and to stop being such a big girl’s blouse. Which may well be a fair point but my next gripe I feel is much warranted. You would imagine that a fracture clinic is going to have more than its fair share of bods on crutches or in wheelchairs. That given why on earth are their waiting rooms so user unfriendly?

There is nowhere to park a wheelchair, movement around chairs is difficult, nay precarious, and for a new facility that is treating people with broken bones it’s diabolical!

All these shenanigans along with some heavy duty diy, some days away and other assorted grief prior to The Lady’s accident has meant that I’ve been neglecting my blogs. I hope I’ve now got things under control and can get back to blogging a bit more. Watch this (and this: www.realaleblog.co.uk) space.