#SSS - 26th April @Burnaid @KPFoundation @BCNA2013 @whynotppl @TinieTempah @jameelajamil

So in the last 2 weeks, I've had my stitches out - it felt ok. A little unnerving but not painful. I did jolt my arm down and elbow the nurse in the face, which I felt bad about, but it should have been expected really.  I've been told to massage a lot to get the firm tug of the skin down. It's improving more and more each day, so I can't complain. All the hard work is definitely paying off!

I went to see Shrek with Alex and her boyfriend Daniel, with a charity called Burnaid last weekend! Fay, a lady who I see at the QE about my burn scars, called me to ask if I wanted to go. Very kind of her. It was nice to have a get together with others too. Burns, I can imagine, can be a lonely, isolating time for some people, especially if they look different to the norm to most of society. It's very sad for them, but it's true.

I had very visible burn scars on my face and of course people are going to look, it's not nasty, it's just general curiosity. I would, and still do, do the same. I'm lucky that my scars are on the side of my face, it's not so directly visible to being looking front on. But even if it was, it would be embarrassing to have people starring at you. Some times if someone is so different to the norm, people can't help but stare. They may be looking and think that poor person, they must have been through a lot. That's what I would think. It's natural to look and wonder with curiosity.

Manners should stop you from offending someone with a long stare though. It's rude and you shouldn't. You should also teach your children this too. Today I was in TouchWood Solihull, looking for some nice shoes for my brothers wedding and a young girl with her mom, was looking at me. It doesn't bother me at all! I mean it, I'm not offended by a young child looking at a big red scar down my face, I would do the same at that age (and at this age, I would do the same without making it obvious).
I looked back at her and smiled a few times, then she started pointing and tugging at her mom. Her mom turned to see what she was pointing at and made eye contact with me. I said to her there and then, you should tell her not to point, it's rude. And the mom pulled her daughter to the side and had a word with her. That's good parenting!
It's fine to stare, I totally understand it, but pointing is just rude, no matter how old you are and no matter what it is your pointing at. If you want to tell your mom something, talk to her and tell her. Don't point kids!

Anyway, I was shopping for some heels to wear to my brothers wedding this August. I couldn't find anything nice to fit my ridiculously flat foot! I need a new foot shell on this leg, I need one with a curve to it, to at least sit on a slightly curved shoe. I'm not looking for a 6" pair of heels, I'm talking a slight in-step in the heel of a wedged shoe!

This is the shoe I've got my eyes on anyway, which I thought would be fine to wear with my foot. Carvela - Kurt Geiger click here.

I need a slight curve in my foot cover though. The current one is completely flat, so wouldn't fit nicely in this curved sole. I'm seeing my prosthetist this week so I'll ask hime about it! Fingers crossed it will be achievable anyway! I'm on a mission to get into these shoes.

I have, not so gracefully, accepted the fact that I can never wear high heels, with the strain on my knee joint. But I can wear a little wedge like this surely!!!
If they'd try a little harder for me, I will be able to get my prosthetic foot into this! I'll be nagging my prosthetist Tim about this anyway. I suppose I shouldn't nag him for this while I'm STILL WAITING FOR MY NEW LEG! I've been waiting for like 8/9 months for this new suction socket leg now. It's ridiculous! Anyway, I won't moan about that on here! It's a suppose to be a blog about things that make me smile, when I think about how long I've been waiting for this leg, it makes me want to scream, not smile!

So last weekend I went on a little trip with my Godmother Margaret, to look at a venue I was considering for my friend Alice's hen weekend! It's not until next year, but theres no harm in looking around for a cool place to have it! It was a lovely sunny day too, so it's always nice to have a little spin out in the car. I won't say were we went, as it's a surprise for Alice!
I was a little disappointed with the venue I went to though, it wasn't as nice as it looked online, so the hunt is still on!

After this little spin out I went for a meal with Nan, Alex, Dan, Grace and Isabelle. Got home to Nanny Js and had a secret little cry. I was feeling a bit low, it might have been all the lads that were out that night,  in our restaurant. It  made me reminisce on the life I had before my accident and how much I miss it!
It was just a small little dip anyway, I woke up the next day feeling fine! Still smiling! :) 

So I'm booking tickets this week for a little trip with Alex and the KPFoundation. A weekend away, meeting other burn survivors.  I'm looking forward to this trip with Alex! It will be a nice get away, to a beautiful place on 6th June. I'm very much looking forward to it.

This week I'm going to be focusing on my presentation for BCNA Their next roadshow is in June and I'll be doing a little presentation there! Talking about my brain injury and how it's effected me etc. Eeeek, I'll be polishing it up this week and doing a few trial runs so I've got it down to a T by June! :) 

I went to see a lovely lady called Kay at West Park, a therapist dealing with getting back into work. They hold an event on a Thursday, I didn't make it last week, so hopefully I'll get to it this Thursday!
I'm excited to get back on to the paid employment ladder! I've missed it!

So I've paid my £15 for membership with Why Not People , their first gig will be held on 1st July with Tinie Tempa! I'm really looking forward to it!

So I don't have much more to tell you really. I'll hopefully be updating you with more info next time re working/driving again!
 It won't be long until I'm doing both of these again! Fingers crossed by at least September! I'll give myself a few more months to heal up and recover fully! Plus I need to focus on the voluntary work I'm doing at the moment for Black Country Neurological Alliance!
I'm meeting a lovely lady Linda Chen next week too, to talk about help for the amazing organisation LimbPower!

Exciting things on the horizon!
Until next time,
Peace xxx

#SSS 12th April - New horizons

Happy Sunday everyone!

So whats been going on, hmmm well a lot has happened since my last post actually.

BBC Radio 4

I went down to Bristol a couple of weeks ago, to a BBC studio to do a little talk with Radio 4 shared experiences. I went down to Bristol in a taxi, payed for by the BBC - I met Sian there, a lovely young girl who lost her leg to a taxi cab in New York! It was so lovely to meet this lovely lady. So many people make friends online these days, it just feels so much nicer to meet your new cyber friend face to face!
It was a lovely little trip! Friendly taxi guy chatting away on the journey there, even though it was like 9am and I was tired! haha

It was lovely to get there and meet everyone. "Shared experiences" is a programme on Radio 4, where a group of people get together and talk to Fi Glover about their life experience.
On this programme there was me talking about becoming an above knee amputee, Sian was talking about her experience as a below knee amputee, and David was a lovely man who had become paralysed from the neck down in a diving accident in Australia!
It was just like a friendly chat with them all really.
The recording was at the end of March, but it will be aired on BBC Radio 4 at 3.30pm on Tuesday 2nd June. I'll give you all a reminder closer to it being aired so you can, if you want to, give it a listen.

My operation was a great success!

All 3 of my pouches have been removed  from my shoulders and chest and the skin has been pulled up and over the burn scars! All is covered up now, apart from the top of the scar by my ear, which is nothing really. So it was all well worth it!

They left a wobbly bit of skin under my chin, it's an extra piece just wobbling down. They wanted to leave it until all of my swelling etc has gone down, incase I needed it elsewhere. I think it's all fine though so hopefully they'll be taking that extra piece of skin off soon.

I have an appointment this week with my surgeon, so I'll have a chat about it all and find out what the deal is, what the next plan of action is.
It's a never ending trail of operations really. There is always something that could pop up. There is always a new product to try and procedure to do, so it's hard to put a time on it really. I can't know when it will be finished with!

I'm very lucky though, imagine if this was me in a 3rd world country, with no facilities etc to do what they have done to me. I am incredibly lucky! We all are! You reading this right now, you're lucky to have the technology to do so.  Never neglect your understanding of just how lucky you are to be in your situation. No matter how shitty your day has been, you are so much better off than others, think about that the next time you moan about being stuck in traffic on your way to work, or forgetting your lunch. No matter how rubbish your day is, there is alway someone out there who would LOVE to be in your shitty situation! Just remember that one! ;)

My time in the QE hospital was great. Nice and relaxing, a good looking male nurse helping me out, decent food, nothing to complain about at all! Big up the NHS!

I had a lovely visits from my friends. A lovely card and chocolates from Poppy & Skippy. A visit from Alice, Pad & Fiona, they brought me a few lovely little treats! My dear friend Lauren came to see me too, I was having a little bit of a freak out while Lauren was with me! I was thinking I looked like a Walrus! I was thinking about a film I saw ages ago called Tusk, where the guy is amputated and then skin is used to cover him up into a Walrus looking creature! It really was NOT a good thought to have in your head while your taking doses of Morphine!

DVLA 

So, I've got my amended licence back from the DVLA! Yipeeee!!! it's a relief to just have it back anyway, I know I can't do anything with it yet, as it's not next on my list of priorities that Alex wrote out for me! (Back in my blog post in march).

Now my operation is finished with I need to focus on the work I'm doing at the moment with BCNA. I could do with having a meeting with these people to discuss my ideas etc.
I haven't been doing an awful lot for them, other than tweets and posts here and there. I did do their last newsletter but the next one won't be going out till June, so I just need to stay focused on their social media and also work on my presentation!

TEDx 

They want me to do a presentation talk on my brain injury to share at the next roadshow event! Eeeek, I've never been a good public talker, I don't have a great deal of confidence talking to a large group of people! At least they'll all be strangers who I probably wont ever see again. I'll get a little powerpoint presentation done this week for me to practice my talk!
 In my preparation for this, I had a look at some TEDx talks, I found this one with a young man talking about his brain injury.

I personally don't think my injury is at all noticeable, but it will be interesting to talk about the things I have struggled with and the things I've done to try and help my situation.
You never know, if it's any good the TEDx Birmimgham might give me a call ;)

Peggy & Burt

My dear friends Sam and Emma O'Brien have both got new pug puppies!!! They are so so cute, I can't wait to meet them! I need a little date, a puppy date, to just meet up and play with them! I can't wait. Little Peggy Sue and Burt!  You can see the two cuties on my friend Lauren's Instagram, if you click here.

Charlotte Trust Fund 

I've never met this little lady Charlotte, but I've befriended her mom on Facebook. She is a very young quadruple amputee! She lost her hands and feet to meningitis! But the brave little girl is pushing her way through her young years with a huge smile on her face! Such a little cutie. Anyway, there is an event coming up this summer,  to help raise funds for her. A sky dive event, you can see her page on Facebook here.
So I would LOVE to do a sky dive to help raise money for this little girl! Hmm I probably shouldn't! Too many scars etc.
I couldn't do one when I was travelling through Australia, because of the scars I have at the back of my head, from my brain tumour as a child. So I doubt I'd be allowed to do one now! With even more scars! Not to mention my poor little brain! It's had some bashes in its short 26 year life! And it's still sparkling like a diamond! Imagine how intelligent I could have been, haha

Munjed Al Muderis - Osseointergration

I had a lovely little chat with this friendly man the other week. It was the day I was released from the QE hospital. My new friend Michael Swain called me, while he was with Munjed. He was heading to the airport to fly home to Sydney, so i was very lucky to briefly catch him before he flew back!
If you click here you can see his site and the work he does.

He has helped so many people all over the world who are amputees. He does a pioneering surgery to implant a prosthetic leg into the residual limb. It is so cool! It's definitely the way that surgery is going. I predict in 20 years time, all amputees will have this!
I have made friends with a couple of people who have had the surgery, just to hear more about it, pros and cons, the lot.

I'm hoping to get as much information on the surgery as possible, until I'm 100% certain I want it! It is certainly a life changing thing to have done, but so new and fresh that there is bound to be some problems further down the line. My dear friend Gemma had a very similar procedure in Europe somewhere, she has had it for over 10 years and it has been great for her and he active lifestyle. However, she has recently had trouble with an infection in the open wound that the prosthetic is attached to. After 10 amazing years with it, it is only now that she is having to deal with the infection. Her leg had been taken out and she is moving around on crutches until it's all healed up and can go back in. That could be a matter of years! What a bummer! I wouldn't want anything like that to happen to me, I'm not sure that it would with the different/more advanced procedure from Munjed in Australia, but with the small possibility of it happening, it is enough to put me off the thing all together!

Munjed is back to England in June, to do a conference talk on it all, so I will get myself to this to ask all the various questions I may have. In the meantime, I'll be asking a few new friends who have had the surgery done, Michael, Mitch, Shone, Belinda, and Viktoria La.
 Any questions I have about it I can ask away to any of these lovely people. I'm about 70%  towards wanting it done, but I need to be 100% until I'm ready to for it!

So, I have an appointment tomorrow afternoon with my prosthetist Tim Howard. I really really REALLY hope things speed up with this. I'm sick of this uncomfortable strap attachment, I really want my new suction socket leg, I feel like I've been waiting for it for years!!!!  It's probably been about 6 months since I started waiting for it, when I first had the mould of my thigh made. It literally feels like 6 YEARS AGO!!!!!  I'm sure it will be well worth the wait anyway, fingers crossed I'll get it soon.


Until next time, have a good couple of weeks everyone!!!