National Rehabilitation Centre
STANDING is becoming increasingly difficult and I have a constant feeling of muscle tightening all along my right hand side.
It is uncomfortable and at times painful, it is hard to explain but I feel like I need to stretch all of the time. I was looking through photos of me from last year and I noticed how easily my foot stood on the ground compared to how it is now.
At the moment I am forced to stand up on my toe because of decreasing leg length. I wasn’t sure who would be best suited to help me so I decided to contact everyone!
I recently received a reply e-mail from the National Rehabilitation Hospital, Dun Laoghaire who have agreed to see me as an outpatient on February 6.
I have spoken in the past of my acceptance with my disability and I still maintain that level of acceptance for my current situation – the problem is what lays ahead. If my leg continues to shorten it is going to get harder and harder to get around.
The sensible thing for me to do is to take small steps now that may prevent an unpleasant situation in years to come.
A friend of mine came across an article on a recent Irish breakthrough in bone regenerative technology and after some online research I decided to contact them.
I was hoping to arrange a meeting but unfortunately they were a little disinterested. This happens from time to time and it can be frustrating as I get my hopes up and feel disappointed when I get a ‘rejection’ letter.
The important thing for me to remember is that I can never give up. After I finished reading the ‘rejection’ e-mail I did another search and found someone connected to them and guess what, I e-mailed them too!
I will continue to contact people and surf the Internet and I know that I will eventually find the right person who will be in a position to help me.
If like me you are dealing with an ongoing battle with illness or disability please don’t give up hope. I write this column every week because I live in hope that I am helping at least one person. I write letters to various organisations because I live in hope that at least one person can help me. I believe there is an answer to each and every difficult question or situation we may be dealing with it just takes a little time and effort to find that answer.
On a more pleasant note I received a call from Shane Wallace from Donegal TV who has expressed an interest in doing a short feature on me and my campaign. I am thrilled and cannot wait to share my story with their viewers.
A lot has happened since I began this campaign and I enjoy reminiscing about the various activities I have participated in. I will have to start thinking of a new challenge soon. One of the things I have been quietly working on is my fitness.
Some of you may remember I interviewed local business woman and keen CrossFitter, Aoibheann Walsh a few weeks ago.
The response to the article was fantastic and it encouraged me to give CrossFit a go for myself. I have been interested in this form of exercise for a while but always assumed it was too vigorous for me. I am happy to say I was wrong! I plan on writing a detailed report of my CrossFit experience in the coming weeks so stay tuned!
Actor Sean McGinley.
AND FINALLY
This little story has nothing to do with anything but it made me smile so I thought I would share it with you. I recently attended a website launch in Glenveagh hosted by the Donegal Film Office. It was a great day made even better by their special guest actor Sean McGinley.
After the event was over we all formed an orderly queue for the buffet style lunch. There was a side door to the left of where I had been standing which suddenly opened and in walked Sean (I can call him Sean because he stood near me which automatically make us best friends).
There was a moment of anticipation as we all wondered whether he would assume skipping the queue was acceptable. After a quick look around he decided that he would join the back of the line like a regular Joe. I had a little moment of ‘fair play to you’ when I saw him do this.
The people he was with were encouraging him to walk up to the top but he was having none of it. Sean, if you are reading this (and I am assuming you are) stay grounded my friend.
Nikki Bradley is the founder of Fighting Fit For Ewing’s, a campaign to promote awareness of Ewing’s Sarcoma. Nikki is sponsored by All Sports in Donegal Town. Support her campaign by giving ‘Fighting Fit For Ewing’s’ a LIKE on Facebook or follow her on Twitter @nikkibradley59
Receive quality journalism wherever you are, on any device. Keep up to date from the comfort of your own home with a digital subscription.
Any time | Any place | Anywhere
SUBSCRIBE TO CURRENT EDITION TODAY
and get access to our archive editions dating back to 2007(CLICK ON THE TITLE BELOW TO SUBSCRIBE)