Wednesday, February 27, 2019

Duncan's Health Update 27/2/19

Thank you so much for everyone who has been praying for me, here's an update on my health and our prayer needs:

1. We managed by God's grace to get the side of my bed rearranged so that i can get in and out of bed and bedroom with crutches (there wasn't much room before).

2. We're trying to get hand controls fitted to our van so that i can still drive. I'm really hoping to get this done in time for a training day I'm teaching in Sussex soon, and a Serge prayer day the following day. To get the right controls, I need a driving assessment but these take weeks to come through. Thanks to prayer, I got an earlier appointment via a cancellation. Time-wise, its still v.tight, so we need prayer that 1) we'd be able to choose the right controls, and 2) the parts would arrive in time.

3. We've had to fill in so many forms to do with disability - Shays done a great job on this. I've often said that being disabled is like having a part time job, between doctors and paperwork, it takes up so much time (time that neither me nor Shay really have).

4. My physical pain is very bad, especially in my back, and knees. I can be groaning out loud in pain for spells of an hour until i'm too exhausted to make any noise anymore. The rest of the time is constant pain but i can keep reasonably quiet about it. A few minutes ago, my knee dislocated, and wouldn't go back in right away - that's painful but its not as painful as the other stuff. Often, if I wake up in the night, I can't get back to sleep because I'm in too much pain. 

5. My mobility is getting worse, my knees stop me walking much. I'm using my stair lift, and crutches to get around the house.

6. This all creates lots of work for Shay. She's getting me food and drink whilst i'm stuck in bed. She's picking up prescriptions, making phone calls, filling in paperwork, home educating the kids. And helping me with anything in the day I can't do. I can't really take care of the kids atm, so she's doing lots of work.

7. We need to do some DIY to make place more disabled friendly. Its a challenge to make decisions about this when in so much pain, and also to know who to hire for stuff. I don't have the strength to do it, and Shay doesn't have the time.