My Wheelchair Grows Up

At the end of last week I had my wheelchair tweaked. After persistent problems with wheels falling off and poor manoeuvrability I took it to the wheelchair clinic to be looked at. William the wheelchair wizard took it away for a couple of hours and brought it back a reformed character.…

How Do Ducks Go?

I had an early start this morning and despite being bleary-eyed I was very happy.

Last night I slept over at Laura’s house. She’s one of my oldest and closest friends. We lived together while we were at college and have got to know each other very well over the years.…

Tic Nic

The weather this morning wasn’t promising. The sky was thick with grey clouds all looking heavy with rain. It didn’t look like a great day for a picnic. But by the time we were ready to leave the clouds had given way to glorious sunshine.…

Life Is Grey Free

My wheelchair’s made getting about day-to-day much easier. It gives me a stable base and prevents me from constantly falling to the floor.

One extra benefit I could never have predicted was its ability to slow down the aging process.

While I’m trundling along, my ever-increasing number of grey hairs are regularly spotted by my vigilant assistants.…

A Walk Down Under

My friend Chiv is staying at the castle for a few days. This evening we went out, along with Bunny, to get some dinner. I left my wheelchair at home because we weren’t going far.

As we were walking home arm-in-arm, with me leaning on them both for support, Chiv started talking in an Australian accent.…

Emergency Care

I’ve described before how much worse my ‘ticcing fits’ get when I’m not well. They become more frequent and intense and I need constant care. This puts a huge additional pressure on whoever’s looking after me.

Last time this happened Leftwing Idiot wasn’t well either.…

A Call to Arms

I’d like to tell you all about the brilliance of Arms.

Not the sort of arms that lift boxes, open jars, tenderly hold children or in my case flap about haphazardly. I’m referring to a graffiti artist called Arms who’s having a battle of words with some building contractors using a large grey hoarding near the castle.…

Dear Team

Over the last seven days my amazing support team have offered their perspectives on Tourettes and on being carers. I’ve been touched by their thought-provoking, honest and funny accounts of their role in my care.

Bunny, Poppy and my sister all said they wished someone would write a post about them.…

Sibling Support

The final guest post for National Carers Week is written by my wonderful sister.

 

I am Fat Sister, Touretteshero’s only sibling and King Russell’s long-suffering wife.

I can’t remember Touretteshero ever expressing an opinion on biscuits as a child. Most of her tics then were physical and a fair number were directed at me, including elbow-biting, hair-pulling, and one particular incident involving a banana being squashed into my face.…

I am King Russell

The sixth guest post for National Carers Week is written by my brother-in-law – King Russell.


I am King Russell. I know Touretteshero because for twelve years I’ve been ‘going out’ with her sister – Fat Sister – and we’ve recently got married.…