For me, AFO splints can mean the difference between walking and not walking. I don’t technically have spasticity in my legs, but I do have high muscle tone. To put it simply, muscle tone is basically the amount of effort your body puts into moving the muscles. People who have high muscle tone either have spastic (tight) muscles, or a mixture of tight and loose muscles causing involuntary movements. People with low muscle tone struggle to move because their muscles are too loo

My first pair of new splints didn’t have any heel on them at all, which caused rubbing and awful bruising on my heel. When I tried these splints on at the hospital, I knew that they didn’t feel right, but I went with it because I wasn’t used to them. I had suspicions right from when I saw the moulds of my legs because they didn’t look like my legs at all. I was sick of the constant battle just to get splints that actually work for me. I was sick of not being listened to. I ha

Eventually, I got back on my feet once my blisters had healed on 10 December 2024 but I only walked a short distance before having to stop. Apart from the feeling that my feet were moving in the splints, it felt fine to start with, but as I walked further, my feet began to hurt again. I stopped straight away because I didn’t want to put myself through all that with the blisters again. Funnily enough, I knew exactly what the problem was: Besides from the new splints not being

As I mentioned in the first post, I have had three pairs of splints in the last few months. The original pair of new splints did not fit the shape of my feet at all… Something drastically went wrong with the mould. I think the Orthotist (the person who deals with Orthotics) forced my leg and foot into an unnatural position when they took the mould. It was painful too, which isn’t normal. When I looked at the mould, I thought that it looked weird (it didn’t look like my leg at

A couple of years ago, I saw an image of a girl wearing a pair of AFO splints with the caption “If you give a girl the right pair of shoes, she can conquer the world”. I didn’t think much of it until my recent issues with my splints. I can walk without splints but not long distances because I get tired easily when I have no support to control my movements, so I wear splints on my legs called Ankle-Foot Orthoses, also known as splints, but there are many types of splints. You

Carrying on with my last post, about the switches on my clipboard on my bed, although I learned approximately where my switch for my lamp is, I still have problems with finding it in the dark because I have to feel for it with my foot whilst my foot is under the covers… So, to help with this, I bought some glow-in-the-dark stickers. I bought different-sized circular stickers and one big roll of glow-in-the-dark tape, I bought both because I didn’t know which would be best. Th

Although I only really use my bedroom for sleeping in and storing my clothes, standing frame and electric wheelchair, there are quite a few bits and pieces that I have gathered to maximize my independence and to make it more accessible. I have always struggled with keeping my quilt up when I am in bed, especially during the summer months because I have a lighter tog duvet when it’s hotter and as the summer quilt is thinner, it moves more when I move. I have a double quilt so

Welcome back! When I was living with my mum and dad, I also liked to be as independent as possible because that’s how I was brought up...

I store my DVDs and other bits and pieces in my TV unit drawers. Being neat and tidy is great, but there was a bit of a problem with...

When I was living with my parents, I called them when I needed help, but when I moved, some carers said that they didn’t hear me when I...

There are many different types of equipment and gadgets out there and even the smallest and simplest thing can mean the difference...

Following on from my previous blog post on the social care system, we all know that the Covid 19 pandemic has a lot to answer for,...

Haven't read Part 1? Read it here. Before I wrote these posts, I asked several people about their views on the live-in care crises, and...

In the UK, the Social Care system is split into several different categories, I believe one category is shared housing; shared housing is...

Communication. This is an umbrella term used to describe a huge variety of ways we tell others things. The way each person communicates...

I forgot to add this to my previous posts... Way way back many centuries ago... Oops, only a few months - When all the adaption work, the...

Wow, what a year it has been! On 20 May, I published a blog post announcing that I had been given the tenancy of a two bedroomed flat,...

I've been thinking about this for a while now, and I have always wanted to write a blog post about it, but I didn't know how to word it...

Hey hey! How are you all? I know that I have been quiet on my blog since December, but I am still here... I promise! I just wanted to...