I went to Stoke Mandeville hospital today, to the place I spent 8 months when first paralysed. Jeez, even the thought of the place gives me the shivers, such is the horrible association.

However, I went, and I had ultrasound scans to my kidneys, bladder, prostate and middle area generally, then X-rays of my spine. Then I saw Mr Belci, my consultant whilst there, who is always very friendly to me whenever I go. He talked about my body and the state of it, saying that there was nothing that was going wrong that I wasn’t aware of, and pronounced me in good health, given my circumstances.

He did talk at length though about the coming years and the expected deterioration in skin condition particularly, with a lot of advice about wheelchair technology that I needed to survive in a reasonable state. Pressure relief from wheelchairs that stand me up artificially is the technology he says is essential. I listened carefully and obviously will take his advice, wherever I can afford it.

Thank you to my lovely helper for making it possible to even get there!