The following morning I did as I was told (which as anyone who really knows me will tell you, I never do as I am told) and rang the numbers the doctor had given me, this lead on to a lovely meeting with I guy called Rob, he went through a load of paperwork with me, sorted some visual aids for me to use around the house, and put together something called 'My Personal Rehabilitation Plan'. A couple of days later I receive my box of goodies, in this box there was a talking clock (to go beside my bed , so I just tap it and this delightful American voice tells me the time), a boil alert, so I know when a saucepan of water is boiling, a big button telephone, which I hate and has been returned to the box, contrasting chopping boards, which have saved my fingers a few times, a writing frame which looks ridiculous and I refuse to use it, toenail clippers, which, shhhh, I cant use because I cant see my toenails AND MY WHITE CANE, this piece of equipment has been my lifeline, it helps me support myself on the return journeys from the hospital (except when my Mother grabs hold of it to steer me across the road, or when she grabs me under the arm and the bloody thing fly's through the air), it gives me confidence to go out on my own, I always use it if I go somewhere new where there is the possibility that I might need to find somewhere on my own, it also lets people know that I have a visual impairment, most of the time people give me space and try not to bump into me, if not I simply hit them with it!! But before all that, I had to have my 'training'....so I had two gentlemen from the visual impairment team who helped me through my training, first I had to learn how to use my stick correctly, which is much harder than it sounds as I wanted to rush along with it, but apparently you have to 'slow down' which is not a phrase I understand! Throughout my Mobility lessons, I learnt how to safely cross the road, how to use the stick for getting me up and down steps, kerbs and stairs, getting on and off a bus, they took me to my familiar places and they taught me a safe route to take from the station to the school where I work, I then had lessons in, mowing the lawn, hovering and ironing, all of these techniques have been invaluable to me, and I use them everyday, it involves taking the task I am about to do, and divide it into much smaller chunks, it also means going over things twice just to make sure and visualising in my head the activity I am doing. Then over the next 6 months I had to start going to the shops, walking around and just finding my way around things. I felt awful, I hated what people must have thought of me, here I am signed off from work, and I am going shopping, again, this is something I had to do, my Doctor had said to me when I was moaning one time that he was signing me off again, that if I couldn't cope with every day things, and couldn't go out on my own, how was I going to go back to work, so he singed the form, slapped it in my hand and sent me home.
Sight concern were worried about the time I spend alone as I cant 'watch' the telly particularly on a bad day, so they completed a application for Calibre talking books which helped me through the early stages and gave me something to loose myself into, later they also sent me a Dab radio, which I love. I also received a bus pass and a railcard, My now ex partners Mum had kindly paid for all my train tickets up to London during the treatment, and the railcard then knocked off a 3rd of the price. Some of the things put in place didn't and still don't sit well with me, I had a stand up argument about applying for a blue badge with a lady from sight concern, she argues that if I came out of a supermarket for example and I am used to the light in there, and it was very sunny or dark when I came out I would be unable to navigate myself across the car park safely, I remember sitting with this stupid form in front of me and refusing to answer the questions properly, the woman kept sighing and I wanted to tell her where to shove the form...she took the form and posted it for me,,,,, bugger me if a few weeks later a bloody blue badge lands on my doormat, I hated looking at it, until one day I had to go to the QE2 for a certain test, there was no where to park so my ex parked on a side street, when we came out, my eyes had been dilated and I kept tripping over things, so he left me standing on the corner of the road on a grass verge while he got the car....I hear a car draw up, and I feel for the door handle and get in....you can guess the rest, I still wonder whose car I had got in, no words were exchanged as soon as my backside touched the seat I knew I was in the wrong car and leapt out, the person quickly drove off, and I stood there trying to act cool.
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