Living Positively with Cerebral Palsy Update

[rcwallace21]

Hi everyone, I have not blogged for 6 months which is not great. I'm still here! My PhD has taken most of my time up and I've had a few hospital admissions to cope with as I have a bladder which does not work properly (neurogenic bladder) and I keep getting urine infections. In addition, I was asked to join the neurological standards development committee to develop the neurological standards for Scotland. I am a patient representative and I am trying to raise awareness of cerebral palsy as an adulthood condition when I am working with the medical professionals on the committee.

This year I went to Jersey for a holiday. My best friend lives and works in Jersey as a lawyer so it was great to visit him. I am really impressed with wheelchair accessibility in Jersey. We stayed in a apart-hotel in St Helier which had a fantastic roll in shower and there was a lot of space for my wheelchair to move around the apartment. The buses were fantastic and all of the buses had wheelchair access. It was £2 to go to anywhere on the island.

Mum and I had a fantastic day out at the german war tunnels which was completely accessible for powered wheelchairs and fascinating because it told the story of the german occupation of the channel Islands. We also had a great day out at Jersey zoo. This zoo concetrates on conservation and so there is lots of rare animals at the zoo such as fruit bats and orangutans. The zoo has hard paths which was good for my wheelchair and the cafe and disabled loos were accessible to. The highlight of the holiday was being able to access the beaches via a beach wheelchair. I have not been on the beach for at least 10 years because my power wheelchair is incompatible with sand! I felt a great sense of freedom and the chair was really comfortable and had big tyres to cope with the sand. I managed to get down to the shore line and my friend had to rescue me from the waves. Lol! I would give Jersey a 10/10 for accessibility and enjoyment. Please let me know where you have been on holiday, recomendations are welcome.

I look forward to writing a new blog soon. Rachael x