Saturday 16 March 2013

16th March 2013

Hiya, It seems a while since we got in touch, so here goes. Not a lot happening with Steven's treatments. There are small improvements which seem so silly but are important. For example in the last few weeks, he's been able to move his little toe, left foot, he's been able to bend his left foot comfortably to put his shoes on (that's been a nightmare for a long time, such pain!!), he's been able to scratch his back with his left hand, he's been able to kiss his knee, and this week he was able to touch his left ear with his left bicep. All these movements are showing him that his body is okay, and that he can do certain things. His body is becoming more flexible, all he has to do now is gain the confidence to do these things "normally" and without thinking. His walking is improving slightly, but he still has difficulties with uneven surfaces, and people being near him. In other words his co-ordination is still not functioning correctly. His body has really paid for that 6 months of very little movement and a further 18 months of restricted movement. He still gets stressed very easily. If we say or do anything which he doesn't like, even simple arguing between me and Pauline he gets upset, and cannot cope. If he does something silly like dropping his walking stick, that upsets him. We try to tell him that sort of thing is normal, but he replies by saying it's normal to drop something once but not 10 times a day. He gets upset most days simply due to him waking up and realising that he is incapacitated because most nights he dreams that the whole episode is a dream, and waking up brings back the reality of it all. We too are like this and hardly a day goes by when we also don't feel tearful about the injustice of it all, but we cannot show this to Steven. Steven continues to go to regular physiotherapy sessions, and also twice weekly massage sessions. It is these massages which are making the most inroads into his improvement, they benefit him greatly. He's even learned the pressure points on his ears to relieve pain, very strange. It's now been over a year since Steven was given incapacity status by the local health authority, and yet he still cannot get any sort of pension until this decision is ratified by the national health authority, such is the state of Spain's economic crisis. And there is nothing we can do about it, thousands of others are in the same position. This makes us all so frustrated and angry, since the politicians and financiers who caused this economic crisis are still sitting comfortably with their gold plated salaries and pensions. Best regards Terry