The week kicked off with the first of two keenly awaited lift opening parties – this one for the older generation!!!!. As you would expect, I took the opportunity to escort each and every one of the guests up to the second floor living area, beer in hand. Apart from catching up with many of mum and dads oldest friends and the neighbours, it was great for me to finally meet the builder and have a drink with both the architect and a good family friend who very generously made all the new wooden windows and doors. As you can imagine, given my current predicament, there has not been a whole lot of entertaining going on in the Gribble household recently so it was good to return to form. Now the fogies have set the precedent, the younger version is planned for a couple of weeks time. (more…)

As is the tradition in the Gribble Family, Saturday morning starts with a visit over to Grandma Cle’s house for a bun and some tea to catch up on the results of the weekly bridge match. Given the frequency of these visits has reduced over the last nine months or so, it was a rare treat to be able to jump into my power wheelchair and scoot up the road. (more…)

To end a relatively relaxing week, on Friday night my beloved siblings and I popped out to the local cinemax to watch ‘The Hangover’ which was mildly entertaining. Then on Saturday following my early hydrotherapy appointment it was time to support my youngest auntie in the grand final of her club tennis. Grandma was also courtside as spearhead of the cheering squad and trash talking. Thankfully after almost three hours and the sets being tied they won on countback by two games. After years of being supported at my various sporting events it was nice to finally be around especially with the result going the right way. (more…)

After what was quite a tiring and emotional week, Friday night was the first time I was able to sleep in my own room in just under nine months and it was the first time that Penny, Martin, Mum, Dad and I had slept under the same roof for over 12 months. As such, Mum whipped up an incredible lamb roast for the five of us and a cheeky bottle of bubbly was opened to celebrate. Similarly, some of the boys joined me to watch the rugby on Saturday night to check out the new room and christen it with a couple of frosties. We hope the lift will be in towards the end of next week. (more…)

What I haven’t been telling you over the last month is that much of my time in physiotherapy has been spent in a walking frame with two assistants supporting the frame because of my poor balance (mostly due to weak abs) and one physio moving my legs, attempting to replicate the walking motion. Although I can support my weight through my legs, assisted as well with forearm supports attached to the frame, the biggest challenge to date has been initiating forward momentum. The two main reasons being my inability to bend my knees and/or switch on my hip flexors (large muscle at the top of your leg and front of your hip). (more…)

More and more over the last couple of weeks I have been given the opportunity to be in an upright position in a standing frame. The main purpose of this is to retrain my legs to support my body weight and encourage balance to return. Obviously after spending so much time either seated or lying horizontal and having minimal feeling or proprioception (knowledge of where your limbs are in space) this is a serious challenge. As difficult at it has been I am now able on occasion to stand unassisted for between 15-30 seconds. However, the slightest puff of air or murmur is still enough to send me tumbling. Another issue when in the upright position is that the tightness of my calves tends to rock me backwards on to my heels therefore causing me to lose balance. Hopefully some more stretching sessions will help to improve this. (more…)

My week started with a maiden journey in our newly acquired Puffinmobile (wheelchair friendly van) and a trip over to the Eastern Suburbs to a friend who was having a sit down dinner party for 30 people – yes 30 people. Given the size of the sandstone steps at the front of the property, four random gents were summoned to carry me “Cleopatra style” down into the house and straight to the dinner table. Lucky I was in my manual wheelchair! The hostess did a truly magnificent job – I have never seen anyone serve this number of people a gourmet meal with such ease. As it was quite a late finish the rest of weekend was relatively routine with gym in the mornings and chilled time at home in the afternoons and evenings. (more…)

After the phenomenon of last Friday night, this weekend started with a cheeky DVD (Super Bad – one of my all time trashy favourites) and early lights out. A prompt start on Saturday morning meant we were in the pool for hydrotherapy by around 10.30 and completed a worthwhile session with the right knee starting to unlock on demand (which has been a problem in previous weeks). Following my weekly osteopathy appointment, I was off to an engagement party of a very good Australian friend who was back from the UK. I ended up having a very encouraging conversation with a guest who had previously suffered a debilitating stroke and had just learnt to walk again (using a frame) after almost 7 years – what an impressive and determined guy. It turned out being quite a full and entertaining day as we were using the Nuggét (Martins brown commodore) as the chosen form of transport and therefore many a car transfer was performed (the physios were very impressed). The inclement weather meant I was man handled with the best of them as we tried to speed up the transfers. (more…)

It is not every Friday night that you sit down to dinner with almost 1000 people ‘with a touch of puffin’. I have to say in the lead up to the inaugural Puffin Magic Ball I was both nervous and excited. As I mentioned during the evening, when you are a kid growing up you never imagine attending your own fundraising event in a wheelchair but I can happily say it was one of the most memorable nights I have ever had. (more…)

Following a busy morning at hydrotherapy and osteopathy on Saturday given it was a breathless sunny winters day, I ended up spending the afternoon with ice cream in hand down at Balmoral Beach watching some enthusiastic windsurfers. Similarly on Sunday I took the opportunity to take my motorised cart into one of the local harbour side parks with a couple of beers and a few old college mates to reminisce of days gone by. Due to its proximity to home, I enjoyed being able to motor my own way back, albeit as the weather was turning and the sunlight fading quickly. (more…)