Visit from the OT

Friday 23rd April 2010

I had a visit from an Occupational Therapist that morning.

When I was in hospital a referral was sent to Social Services for an OT to come and assess me at home. They had only just got round to dealing with it now…

The OT had requested that both John and myself were at home when he called, as he wanted to see how we managed with our day-to-day lives, seeing as John was now my ‘official carer’.

He hadn’t been in the house very long before he started to get on my nerves. He kept fussing over me which is something I really hate – “are you ok”, “take your time, there’s no rush”, “have a breather as you must be worn out”. He didn’t know how close he came to having his lights punched out !!!!

He asked if I could show him how I managed the stair lift.
“You must wear the seat belt at all times”, he told me.
“Why”, I asked.
“In case you faint while going up the stairs”.
“Thanks for that”, I replied, “I note your concern but no action will be taken…”.
“I can see you’re a very headstrong and independent person”, he said.
“Yep”, I replied.

He then asked if I could show him how I got in and out of the bath, which was to slide in, then on the count of three, John helped to heave me out. He shook his head.
“That’s putting too much pressure on your back”, he said to John, “we can’t have that”.
“How else am I supposed to get in the bath”, I said, “it’s either that or smell !!”.
“Mmmm”, he pondered, “I think I might be able to get you a bath lift”.

After showing him how I got in and out of the bed, he then wanted to see how I got in and out of the front and back doors. He shook his head again.
“That’s far too dangerous”, he said, as he watched John lifting my left leg onto the door step.
“Again, how else am I supposed to get out”, I replied, “I’m not going to be stuck in the house seven days a week”.
“I’ll arrange for a surveyor to come and see if a ramp can be built at the front and back”, he said, “that will allow you to get outside”.

It had taken a while but it looked like things were finally moving so I could have a bit of my independency back. Yippee !!!!