Our cruise - part 2

Friday 20^th May – Friday 27^th May 2011

We’ve seen Wizzys on Silversea before but this was the first time for us.

We asked for a normal suite, not adapted for Wizzy’s. Having seen the inside of disabled hotel rooms, I don’t like them. I even hate having to use disabled loos whenever we’re out anywhere….

After we had unpacked our suitcases on the first afternoon, we had to attend the compulsory lifeboat drill. On the Whisper and Shadow, they are held in the theatre, on Wind and Cloud, which are smaller ships, they are held in the Panorama Lounge.

When we arrived at the Panorama Lounge, we were instructed to go and take a seat into the Humidor. Inside the room were other passengers who were disabled in one way or another.

The staff then started giving the life board drill to the rest of the passengers seating in the lounge. However, us in the Humidor, we got nothing. This went on about fifteen minutes. I was not happy. It felt like those who had either a Wizzy or a walking stick were being treated like second class citizens, and that should the need arise for us to abandon ship, then we would be just be forgotten about. Silversea would be receiving a letter from the Passenger-from-Hell…..

After checking out the various decks, I noticed that there was not one disabled loo on the ship. They do have disabled suites, but it appears no loos. Not happy about that neither as it meant when I needed the loo I had to go back to our suite. Something else to be added to my letter.

When we went down to dinner on the first night, Georg, the Maitre ’D, stepped out from behind his lectern, held out his hand and said “Hello Mr & Mrs Harper. Lovely to see you again”.

It had been three years since our last cruise so what a memory the crew must have. He noticed Wizzy and was saddened to see me in him. I replied it was one of them things. It’s the usual reply I give to people.

When the Maitre ‘D has allocated you a table, the Waiter would then hold out his arm to the lady and he will escort her to their table. Georg took hold of Wizzy and pushed me to our table. Normally only special guests get escorted to their table by the Maitre ‘D so we felt honoured.

When we go to dine, be it on the ship or in the UK, I prefer to get out of Wizzy and sit in a normal chair. Here on the ship, the staff were so eager to help me get on and off the various chairs I ended up with bruises on my arms !!!!

After we had been seated, Wizzy, and later Stickies, was taken from me and put in the ship’s $300 per person restaurant. No storage cupboard for Wizzy or Stickies….

When we arrived at the port of Cadiz, we decided to venture off the ship for an hour or two. I wasn’t sure I could manage the steps off the ship so the Head of Security rounded up three members of staff and they carried me, sitting in Wizzy, down the steps. The same thing happened when we went back to the ship. Lets just say it was an experience I didn’t fancy doing again !!!!

When we got back to our room on the first night, an invitation was waiting for us. It was from one of the Officers inviting us to dine with him the following evening. It would have been impolite to refuse so we said yes… We had a lovely evening with a

dentist and his wife from Australia (they were hysterical. We dined with them on several other nights as well), and a dealer in commodities and his wife from Stow on the Wold. It must have been a good night because we spent three hours at the table, missed the show in the theatre, and were the last to leave the restaurant.

One evening Georg asked if we would like to have some company that evening. As we’d dined alone the previous night we said we would be delighted.

We were shown to our table and a few minutes later an elderly gentleman called John (he was a regular on Silversea – his father had been a director of a shipping company), Diane, the Spa Manager and Caren, the fitness instructor joined us. On chatting to Caren I asked her if she could give me a little advice on what exercises I could do to help me tone up my spare tire. With not being mobile any excess weight went straight to my middle. Not only is it bad for your health having a spare tire, my clothes were getting uncomfortable and excess middle weight wasn’t good for my IBS.

“Meet me in the Spa tomorrow at six. I finish work then and we’ll have a good chat”, she said.

At six the following day Caren and myself were sitting on the pool deck drinking Pimms and ‘Sex on the Beach’ as we left Mahon. After giving her the abridged version of my medical history, she said, “you’re going to be a challenge. I like challenges….”

A couple of days later Caren joined me in our Suite to give me an hour’ fitness workout.

“You really did put me to the test trying to find you exercises,” she said, “as I’ve never seen a person without a hip before”.

When I was on the floor doing some abs exercises she asked, “do you mind if I have a feel of where your hip should have been”.

“Course not”, I said.

She first put her hands on my right side and felt the hip bone there, then onto the left side.

“I.. I…I find it really weird”, she stuttered, “I’ve never seen anything like it”.

That’s me all round….

About 12 hours after my workout I started to feel the muscles in my stomach aching.

“Excellent. Keep it up”, said Caren, when I told her the next day…

Gradually as the days went along my pains began to ease slightly. I didn’t know if it was the warm weather, just being on holiday, or my new painkillers. Whatever it was I was so happy. I even managed to walk around the ship a little using Stickies. Passengers and crew who had seen me use Wizzy had made lovely encouraging comments when they saw me with Stickies. Even the Captain said so.

On of the loveliest places we visited on the cruise was Mahon. It’s a beautiful island, however it does have one fault, really steep hills. We would love to go back to Mahon for a holiday, however at the present time it’s not Wizzy friendly.

Shame….

Our cruise – part 1

Thursday 19^th May 2011

Today was the day we set off to Lisbon for our nine day cruise. This was the first holiday we’d had since having my hip removed. And boy were we looking forward to it.

Getting up at an unspeakable hour to get the taxi at 4.30am to take us to Newcastle Airport wasn’t the most pleasantest part of our holiday. However we were prepared to suffer seeing as it was Silversea !!!!!

One of the advantages of being in a Wizzy is you get fast-tracked though airport security. Newcastle Airport’s security staff aren’t the friendliest or nicest you could come across. However today they were the complete opposite. Just goes to show what a Wizzy can do….

Along with other ‘Wizzy’s’, we were taken to the departure gate in a specially designed van, then lifted up to the aircraft doors. As we were the first passengers to board, there wasn’t the normal hustle and bustle of finding your seat. Sadly Wizzy wasn’t able to be stored in the cabin, as we had been told by BA he would be, so he had to go into the hold.

“Don’t worry, it will be waiting on the tarmac at Lisbon for you”, I was assured.

When we got to Heathrow we had to be taken off the aircraft by one of ‘special assistance’ purple buggies. We were told by one of the ‘special assistance’ little men that there were not enough buggies to transport all the passengers who required help, so we were told to wait in a corridor while they organised another buggy.

We explained to the little man that our connecting flight left in 90 minutes in Terminal 3 – we were in Terminal 5.

“Another buggy has been arrange. That’s all I can do”, said the disinterested little man.

After fifteen minutes of sitting in a deserted corridor waiting for someone to come and collect us, John went to find a BA customer service desk. They contacted ‘special assistance’, to which John was told ‘someone was on their way and would be there shortly’.

Ten minutes later and still no one appeared……

Five minutes later we saw a purple buggy coming along the corridor. At last we thought. Err, no. It wasn’t for us, said the little man.

It was now, as we’d had enough. We explained to the little man that we had been waiting thirty minutes for someone to come and collected us, and that we were on a very tight time schedule for our next flight. He took pity on us and escorted us to the ‘special assistance’ area in Terminal 3.

We explained to the ‘special services’ little woman that our flight was leaving soon and she assured us that someone would come to take us to the departure gate shortly.

Several minutes later and ‘Anthony’ arrived. He asked if he could have our boarding cards then started fiddling with the computer. The little woman advised him that our flight was now boarding and he should take us to the departure gate. He ignored her.

“ANTHONY. THEIR FLIGHT IS NOW BOARDING. WILL YOU GET A MOVE ON !!!!”, she screamed. He still ignored her and continued typing away on the computer.

It had now been one hour since we had landed and we were still no closer to boarding our flight. To say we were a little annoyed, would be an understatement…

John grabbed our boarding cards from the computer desk. “As you are refusing to take us to the departure gate, we were going to make our own way there”, he yelled, and started pushing me (who was still in their purple buggy) and our hand luggage away from the special assistance area.

It was only then that ‘Anthony’ decided to help us. We eventually made it to the departure lounge with just ten minutes to spare. The ground staff were not happy with ‘Anthony’ as we were holding up the rest of the passengers as we had to board first..

British Airways staff are always friendly, however they were even more so as we were travelling business class as part of our cruise deal. What a difference !!!

Instead of three by three seats in pleb class, it was two by two with loads of leg room. Once we were in the air the cabin crew brought round the drinks. Normally we just have diet coke, but as we were on holiday we had a bottle of wine, with glasses made from real glass….

Lunch was amazing. Real china plates and china teacups. Proper metal knives and forks, and fabulous food. One of the cabin crew came round to take away our empty plates and she noticed that my coffee hadn’t been touched.

“Is there is problem with your coffee, Madam”, she asked.

“It’s just a little too strong for me”, I replied, if you know me you will understand this…

“I’ll make you another one”, she said, whisking the cup away.

A minute later she returned, “is this one better”, she asked, handing me the cup. I took a taste from it.

“Perfect”, I replied, “exactly how I like it. Thank you”.

“My pleasure”, she beamed.

You don’t get that kind of service in pleb class….

When we arrived at Lisbon airport, their ‘special assistance’ were ready and waiting for us. They were so much better than Heathrow ‘special services’. They even spoke better English than the Dipsticks at Heathrow… Unfortunately Wizzy was not ‘waiting for me on the tarmac’ as I had been assured. I was told it would have to be collected at baggage reclaim.

So with the help of the friendly Lisbon special assistance crew, who put Heathrow to shame with the help and service they gave us, we went to baggage reclaim to collect Wizzy and our luggage.

At Newcastle airport’s check-in desk our luggage had been tagged ‘priority’ so all three cases were the first off the luggage belt. However there was no Wizzy.

“Don’t worry”, said the lovely ‘special assistance’ man, “sometimes they put them with the bicycles”

We went to the reclaim area for bicycles but no sign of Wizzy.

“Don’t worry”, he said, giving my shoulder a reassuring pat, “we’ll will find it”.

After asking several of his colleagues Wizzy was eventually found, abandoned in the middle of the arrivals area, and damaged. Thankfully it was only minor and John was able to repair it there and then.

I was a little concerned we might get stopped at Customs as some of my painkillers are controlled drugs. I had to get special permission to take them in and out of the country – at cost of £14.50…. However we sailed though (excuse the nautical pun…).

We met the Silversea representative outside arrivals – it’s a lovely feeling to see someone holding up a card with your name on it – and she insisted on pushing Wizzy to the car which would take us to the ship.

Our chauffeur was lovely and friendly. So much so that we gave him a good tip when we arrived at the port.

Once our holiday documents had been checked, it was only a short walk/wiz along the port to the ship. Although I have difficulty walking upstairs, I was determined to climb the steps to board the ship. With John behind me to help, Wizzy carried by a member of the crew, and an officer walking in front of me to help if I needed it, I very slowly ascended the stairs.

I was shattered when I got to the top but I made it. Our holiday had begun…..

The Pain Man

Monday 9^th May 2011

“Back again”, smiled the out-patients receptionist at Monkwearmouth Hospital, as I handed in my appointment letter to see the Pain Man.

I wish the receptionists at the fracture and orthopaedic outpatients at the Royal Hospital were as friendly as they are here. No matter whether you speak to them face to face or over the phone, they are really miserable.

Like last week, John was able to come with me so we got ourselves settled in the waiting area. One of the auxiliary nurses approached me. I hoped it wasn’t for more obs. I didn’t think I would have grown since last week….

“Marie”, she said, “Dr Kumar has asked if you could fill out this pain questionnaire please”.

It asked questions like ‘how would you describe your pain’ and ‘how would you rate it out of 10’. I hate answering questions like that.

I asked John if he would come into the consulting room with me so he could explain how my moods change when my pains are really bad.

“How did the pain in your back start”, asked the Pain Man.

I explained about the mattress’s in the hospital. He flicked through my notes.

“Have you seen Mr Roysum since your MRI scan”, he asked.

“Err, no”, I replied, “that’s a bit of a sore point. Every time I have an appointment, it gets cancelled. The next time I am supposedly seeing him will be in June. That’s nearly a year since my first consolation”.

“I see”, he said, then left the consulting room. He came back holding a plastic model of the spine and pelvis.

“It would seem that your back pain was caused by a vertebra being displaced forwards due to the soft mattresses”, he said, giving John and myself a demonstration on the model of what happened, “your spine is very susceptible to this kind of injury as there is soft tissue damage caused by treatment when you were very young”.

He expressed surprise that no-one had picked up on this when I first reported the back pain, and that it should have been acted on sooner. He was also shocked, that given the soft tissue damage, I was given a normal soft mattress instead of one suitable for my back.

He then asked how things were with my hand so I explained what the Hand (Wo)Man had said.

“I would strongly suggest you have surgery on your wrist”, he said, “as I’m afraid it’ll only get worse”.

Just what I wanted to hear !!!!!!

“What’s happening with your hip”, he enquired.

“Nothing”, I answered, then told him what Kermit had said.

“I know I shouldn’t say this about one of your colleagues”, I added, “but I got the feeling that the Plastic Man didn’t want to do the surgery from the moment he saw me. I was also a bit surprised with Kermit’s attitude”.

“I think it would be in your best interests to get a second opinion”, he replied.

Interesting……

Now getting back to the reason why we were there – my pains – he advised me to stay on the Gabapentin.

I told him I wasn’t too keen on that idea as I didn’t like the side effects. He replied that they were the best painkillers for the type of nerve pain that I have. Reluctantly I said I’d continue with them.

He’s also put me on Nortripaline, which is in the same family as Amitripaline. I used to take them but they didn’t work.

“See how you get on with these and I’ll see you in a few months”.

The Hand (Wo)Man

Tuesday 3^rd May 2011

Saw the Hand (Wo)Man today. As the appointment time was 9.am and at Monkwearmouth Hospital, which is less than a mile from our house, John was able to come with me.

Before I saw the (Wo)Hand Man, the usual obs had to be taken by one of the auxiliary nurses.

“How tall are you”, she asked.

“That depends on which leg I’m standing on…”, I replied.

She settled on the length of the longest leg.

“What’s your weight”, she asked.

“No idea”, I replied, “as I can’t stand on the scales”.

“We need to know”, she said, “so you’re going to have to try and stand”.

Easier said than done…..

After much wobbling by me and much moving of the scales needle, she eventually settled on a figure.

“Mrs Harper”, called out a ladies voice from one of the clinic rooms.

I looked to see where the voice was coming from and waved to say I was coming.

“Hello Mrs Harper”, said the lady when I go to the clinic door, She held out her hand, “I’m Dr Petreczky”.

After poking and prodding, the Hand (Wo)Man confirmed what Dr Chapman had suspected. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in my left hand.

“What caused it”, I asked.

“Your elbow crutch”, she replied, “it’s because you’re putting strain on your wrist. I’m going to refer you to a consultant neurophysiologist for an electromyography. It’s a test to see how much damage there is to the nerves in your wrist”.

“What then”, I ask.

“It all depends on how severe the carpal tunnel syndrome is. I’ll arrange for you to get measured up for a splint. Wear it during the night and whenever you can seeing as you need to move your wrist with your crutches”.

“I think though”, she continued, “the only option would be surgery”.

I shook my head, “I can’t. I need my hand to walk. I’m going to be totally immobilised if it’s out of action”.

“Ok”, she said, “I’ll put down that surgery is the very last option. See how the splint goes and I’ll see you in a couple of month”.

I can’t even being to think what I’d do if I have to have surgery on my hand.

Step building

Friday 29^th April 2011

John had been busy planning the past few weeks on how to alter the steps at the front of the house. At the moment they are too high for me to safely get in and out of the house.

We did get a quote from a builder to install four low level concrete steps. One thousand pounds !!!!!!

John, being good with DIY and never says no to a challenge, said he could do it for about £200. Happy with that…..

So whilst everyone was enjoying the long bank holiday weekend, thanks to an extra day for the Royal Wedding – John spent that time mixing bag after bag after bag of concrete for the steps.

The steps aren’t pretty, and I don’t even think the builder would have done any better, however it does help me get in and out of the front door. What more could I ask for.

An early visitation

Monday 21^st March 2011

At 8.10am I was sitting in my GP’s surgery waiting to see Dr Chapman. Seeing as I have to rely on John to take me, appointments are either very early or very late in the day.

As the painkillers I was taking at the moment weren’t doing anything she decided to contact the Pain Man to see if he could come up with something to tied me over until I see him on May.

“I’ll ring him later this morning”, said Dr Chapman, “then I’ll ring you this afternoon”.

True to her word she did and a new set of painkillers are on their way.

Booking success

Wednesday 9^th March 2011

Following John’s suggestion that I give the appointments bookings website a couple of days to sort itself out, I tried again.

As predicted the 9am appointment had been released, so with crossed fingers, I pressed ‘book now’.

Success !!!!!!