Latest / Unbalanced with Cerys Davage / 64. Italy antics and health updates...

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64. Italy antics and health updates... · Unbalanced with Cerys Davage

0:10
Hello everyone, welcome back to another episode of Unbalanced
0:13
with Me, Kerry Savage. I hate to say it guys, but
0:17
summer is well and truly over. We've had such an amazing
0:21
summer. The weather has been absolutely
0:23
amazing. The sun's been out all through
0:26
the summer, which I think it was overdue for the UK definitely.
0:30
But now that it's September, which I find it so hard to
0:33
believe already, the sun is gone, you know, the weather has
0:36
really changed. It's still quite warm at the
0:38
moment, but we have to just let go.
0:40
And I think that's been hard for me because as you guys know, I'm
0:44
a summer person through and through.
0:46
But you know, I'm determined to make the most of this season.
0:49
I know that the autumn and the winter can be really difficult
0:53
for a lot of people, including myself with different
0:56
disabilities, and I'm just going to try and brace it and make the
1:01
most of it. As much as I'm going to miss
1:03
summer so much and miss the warm weather and be able to just go
1:08
out without having to wrap up warm and worry about seizing up
1:11
from the cold, I'm going to try and make the most of it.
1:14
And I'm going to take you guys along with me.
1:16
Obviously it'd be rude not to really, wouldn't it?
1:19
So yeah, we're just going to have to brace ourselves and just
1:23
take it easy this new season. It's the last quarter of the
1:26
year, which is again, crazy to say, but we're going to get
1:30
through it together, OK? We're going to be fine, I
1:32
promise. For those of you not watching
1:35
the video, I want to just kind of describe what I'm wearing
1:38
because this is a very special outfit that I put together with
1:44
the help of my mum and my sister Becca.
1:47
They went shopping in London and they got me this adorable top
1:52
for my birthday and they noticed it in Camden Market and they
1:56
realised that it's the colours of unbalanced.
1:58
So it's it's a beige top with some patterns on it, brown
2:03
squares and then green and pink flowers, which are the colours
2:08
of imbalance. And I'm wearing black trousers
2:10
to make up for the whole brand of imbalance.
2:13
So you could not get more unbalanced than this current
2:17
outfit today. So I just thought I'd show that
2:19
one off. It's very similar to a top.
2:22
I have that have deeper pinks and greens that you will see in
2:27
an upcoming episode actually, but I'm just absolutely obsessed
2:30
with this top and I needed to give my family a shout out for
2:35
seeing this in the market and being like that isn't balanced.
2:38
And that's, that's the inspiration you guys should
2:41
take. You know, if you're stuck for a
2:42
colour scheme, just unbalanced colours are the way to go.
2:45
And I have noticed that most of my outfits that I wear fit into
2:50
the colour scheme of unbalanced very unintentionally, but maybe
2:55
kind of consciously making that effort, you know, to just
2:58
represent imbalanced everywhere I go.
3:00
Today's episode will be a mix of two things.
3:03
So I went to Italy recently over the summer and I shared a lot of
3:08
my experiences online on my Instagram.
3:12
And I had a lot of feedback asking for a podcast episode to
3:16
just kind of talk through my experiences, make some
3:19
recommendations about the accessibility.
3:21
And I did have some interesting experiences that I would, I just
3:26
want to share just because I know Italy is a very popular
3:30
destination and even though the summer's over, it's a good
3:33
chance to kind of plan for next year or if people want to go
3:37
when it's less busy and the summer holidays are over.
3:41
I just thought I'd share whilst the experience is fresh in my
3:43
mind. But I've also realised that
3:46
since I started this podcast and in my first episode I explained
3:50
a lot of my symptoms and how I'm affected by LGMDI.
3:54
Haven't really done an update of that.
3:57
And it's been 2 years over 2 years since I started my
4:01
podcast. And two years can mean a lot of
4:04
change in one's progression with LGMD.
4:07
So I thought I would finish the episode by talking about just
4:13
the little ways that I've felt more of an effect by LGMD.
4:17
And the whole point of this podcast is to keep things real
4:21
and authentic. And that includes sharing my
4:24
journey. You know, this is, like I've
4:26
said before, a vocal diary in a way.
4:29
And I think this is a good time to just kind of reflect on how
4:32
I've been and the changes that I'm noticing.
4:36
And maybe I know a lot of you guys will be able to relate to
4:39
that as well. So if you are going through the
4:42
same thing as me, you're not alone.
4:44
And it's just a part of life with LDMD, isn't it?
4:47
To just always adapt to these changes?
4:50
To begin, I want to thank you all for the lovely birthday
4:54
messages that I received a month ago now.
4:57
And I had a truly lovely time. I celebrated with friends, I
5:02
celebrated with my boyfriend whose birthday was actually
5:05
recently as well. My birthday is very close
5:07
together. It was really lovely.
5:09
But then literally the day after my birthday, I went away to
5:13
Italy. So my birthday was short lived
5:16
at home and I was whisked away straight away to Milan with my
5:20
family. So I took my own wheelchair to
5:22
Italy, which I've done quite a few Times Now with different
5:26
trips and holidays. So I'm kind of used to the
5:29
system with the wheelchair now. So I flew with British Airways
5:33
and I did fly with them as well when I went to Florida in July.
5:36
And their system is really good. Online before you check in, you
5:41
can kind of log into your booking and add assistance.
5:45
And that's something you know we all do with disabilities, always
5:49
forward planning things, but it's just a good way to kind of
5:52
reduce the stress when you actually arrive.
5:55
So you can choose from different levels of assistance.
5:58
You can choose assistance right to the aircraft, right to your
6:01
seat in the aircraft, or just assistance through the airport.
6:05
And I always choose the option assistance to the aircraft
6:08
because sometimes when you turn up at the gate and then you need
6:11
to go to the aircraft, it's still a bit of walking to the
6:14
actual plane. So you can choose the option to
6:17
keep your own wheelchair right up to the aircraft.
6:20
And then the staff, as soon as you board the plane, the staff
6:23
take the wheelchair away from you and put it straight in the
6:26
hold of the aeroplane. So that's great because
6:30
sometimes using the airport wheelchair doesn't always work
6:34
out for a lot of people and it's just nice to have the comfort of
6:37
my own wheelchair there. So yeah, I got whizzed through
6:41
security and passport control and everything like that in my
6:45
wheelchair. You really do get Princess
6:46
treatment when you're in an airport in a wheelchair.
6:49
They really do prioritise you and I'm lucky to say I've never
6:53
had a bad experience with taking a wheelchair.
6:55
So I took my own wheelchair with me.
6:57
And then when you land on the other side, wherever you go,
7:01
they tend to meet you at the door of the aircraft with your
7:05
wheelchair. You may need to wait until
7:07
everyone else has left the plane, but that's fine by me.
7:10
I'm OK to just wait a little bit and then they meet you on the
7:14
other side with your wheelchair. If not your own wheelchair, they
7:18
will bring a wheelchair from the airport.
7:21
So in Milan they met me and my sisters with three wheelchairs
7:25
that were from the airport and drove us all the way to the kind
7:31
of wheelchair slash buggy drop off point in the airport.
7:35
So we just had to wait there then for our own wheelchair.
7:39
We only took my wheelchair between the three of us.
7:43
It was kind of meant for us to share, but obviously I'm the
7:45
most progressed so I did use it most of the time.
7:49
And I think looking back at our holiday, maybe we would have
7:53
benefited from having two wheelchairs just for Caddy and
7:57
Becca to share one as well. But to be honest, we had so many
8:00
suitcases and because we don't yet have an electric wheelchair,
8:05
that meant both my parents pushing, so it just wouldn't
8:08
have been ideal I guess. I think once we do have electric
8:12
wheelchairs at some point, it'll be a lot easier.
8:15
But yeah, anyway, so that was our nice little airport
8:18
experience. So no complaints there.
8:20
I think we took a taxi from the airport.
8:23
No, we took a bus from the airport to the centre of Milan.
8:27
So that was about an hour. There weren't any lifts into the
8:30
bus but you know, I managed and I think I'm really, really
8:35
grateful for my parents and my dad, especially you.
8:38
You will hear more about what my dad did to make sure that I
8:42
could survive on this holiday. But it did include a lot of
8:47
pushing me upstairs when it came to using coaches or trams.
8:51
In Milan, the trams aren't accessible and they're very old
8:56
fashioned trams and there's there are very steep steps to
8:59
get onto the trams. So with a wheelchair, you know,
9:03
you can imagine everyone trying to hold the wheelchair on and
9:06
then hold me on by shoving me basically just like grabbing my
9:10
hips and shoving me up to help me.
9:12
So yeah, that was an experience as well.
9:14
One thing we did look up beforehand where the metro stops
9:18
in Milan. So the tube, the underground
9:20
tube and every single stop said that they were accessible and
9:24
wheelchair friendly. So we were like, this is great.
9:26
We can just use the metro everywhere we go and it'll be
9:29
great. And we had a little itinerary
9:32
plan for the two days we were in Milan.
9:34
But unfortunately, every single metro stop we approached in
9:38
Milan, the lift was broken. It was under maintenance or
9:43
something else, just just had a big barrier around it and it
9:46
just wasn't available, which was a shame because, you know, they
9:50
advertised as accessible. So anyway, we ended up having to
9:55
do a lot of stairs, a lot of escalators, and it was just
9:59
frustrating. You know, when you plan to use
10:02
the tube and then the lifts end up letting you down.
10:05
I think the only stop where the lift was working was the one
10:08
right by the duo MO, the cathedral in Milan.
10:11
And so that was the only one with a functioning lift.
10:14
But every single stop we tried, I have so many pictures in my
10:19
phone of just let down after let down of sorry, this elevator is
10:23
broken. Sorry, this elevator is under
10:25
maintenance. That's kind of the main way you
10:28
get around Milan, unless you want to walk for ages, which I
10:31
didn't want to make my sisters do.
10:33
That's just kind of the only way.
10:35
Or unless you want to fork out for an Uber from A to B to C to
10:39
D, you know, Milan is, is a kind of place where you want to, you
10:43
want to get around, you want to travel, you want to see a few
10:46
places around the city. And it's not a huge city, but
10:50
yeah, it's just not very accessible.
10:52
And even when we were walking around, we had things like drop
10:56
kerbs were really, really steep or they were still like a slight
11:00
bump in the drop kerb, which meant that my dad would have to
11:04
tip me back on the wheelchair to the anti tippers in the back and
11:07
kind of shove me up onto the pavement.
11:10
And obviously, as you guys might know, Milan is a really old
11:13
city. So the streets are really cobbly
11:16
and just really bumpy. There are a lot of tiny little
11:19
steps and it's kind of like an obstacle course really if you're
11:22
in a wheelchair. So we did struggle a bit with
11:25
that. But like I said, if it wasn't
11:26
for my dad just navigating those streets like that with me in the
11:31
wheelchair, you know, But no, I was very safe in his hands.
11:35
And even if I had my own electric wheelchair, I don't
11:38
think I could have navigated those streets because there was
11:41
still a lot of bumps to get over that you wouldn't have been able
11:45
to do if you just kind of rolled onto it straight.
11:47
I don't know if that makes sense.
11:48
I'm explaining this the best I can.
11:50
I did have to sacrifice a lot of energy to do some stairs at some
11:54
metro stations, but my dad again stepped in and carried me up
12:00
these steps at the metro stations in Milan.
12:03
Fair play to him. Honestly, I could not have
12:06
survived without him. He was just an absolute trooper
12:09
just throughout that whole trip. I think the nice thing with
12:12
Milan is you do get to see, you know, the Duomo cathedral, the
12:17
castle and there are some lovely views.
12:20
The architecture is amazing. The the big shopping mall right
12:24
by the cathedral is definitely incredible.
12:27
The food obviously is amazing and most of the places were
12:31
accommodating for Celiacs. We did have to kind of look
12:34
around different restaurants first before finding one that
12:37
was definitely gluten free, but it wasn't a huge struggle.
12:40
You know, I've definitely struggled in places like Nice a
12:43
lot more. This is fine on the gluten free
12:46
side, but I wouldn't say it was a very relaxing part of the
12:50
holiday. I guess the point is to city
12:52
sightsee and to see as much as you can.
12:55
I don't think I would go back to Milan in a rush.
12:58
I'm really glad I went because it's somewhere I'd never been
13:01
before and I think I'm glad I went now before I'm before I'm
13:05
even more progressed and I would have even more obstacles and
13:09
struggle even more with getting piggybacks or navigating these
13:14
cobbles. And so I think this was a good
13:17
time to do it before it was too late in a way.
13:19
But I don't think I would rush to go back.
13:22
To be honest, I wouldn't recommend it as the most
13:25
accessible place. It was a real shame about the
13:28
lifts and I don't know how long they've all been out of order.
13:30
I don't know if this is a normal thing in Italy, but that was a
13:34
big let down. I think that would have really,
13:36
really been amazing for us if they were all available, but
13:40
sadly they weren't. But like I said, we were only
13:42
there for a couple of days and then we went to Lake Como, which
13:46
was much nicer. I would say the streets of Lake
13:51
Como was still very cobbly. We went to Como town, which was
13:56
very cobbly and very bumpy, but still we managed to do it in a
14:01
wheelchair. There are a lot more paths when
14:04
it comes to Como because, you know, you can kind of go to
14:08
different viewing points or the the bridge and things like that.
14:11
So that was OK. We ended up staying at the north
14:15
of Lake Homo and there are lots of really, really beautiful
14:18
villages all the way around the lake.
14:20
They're all quite similar to each other, I'd say, in the
14:23
sense that they all have really, really steep steps, steep hills,
14:28
cobbly grounds. Oh, the sun is coming out, guys.
14:32
Yay. I manifested the sun to come out
14:36
anyway. Yeah, I think it is such a
14:38
beautiful place to visit. It's just a shame that it's just
14:41
not very accessible. I think there was.
14:44
I think I could tell there was more of an effort when it came
14:46
to the different villages around Como.
14:49
Like there are definitely ways to do it accessible.
14:52
We did still manage to see a lot of the villages around Lake
14:56
Como. I couldn't tell you a lot of the
14:59
names of them, but we also went over the border to Switzerland,
15:02
to Lugano, which I really recommend.
15:06
It's beautiful there. We took the wheelchair there.
15:09
It was a big day, kind of a long day walking around and I think
15:13
we had a few people watch us navigate these streets with a
15:17
wheelchair, probably thinking fair play, I would never take
15:20
the wheelchair here, but I found Lugan Lugano a lot flatter.
15:26
There weren't as many hills or steps or anything like that.
15:29
It was all quite kind of flat and the view is just
15:32
breathtaking. So I really do recommend Lugano.
15:36
I also recommend Lake Como, but I think you have to be prepared
15:41
if you can, to take some steps or to walk up hills or to roll
15:45
up hills. Again, I'm really grateful I
15:47
have my family around with me because a lot of the activities
15:51
such as going on a boat trip or we took cable cars up to the
15:56
mountains. And even to get to the cable
15:58
car, we had to walk up loads of stairs, which again, my dad
16:01
carried me up. I think you have to be prepared
16:04
to do things like that in Italy. But we did stay in ground floor
16:09
Airbnb with a pool, which is really nice.
16:12
And it was right by the lake and it was, it was beautiful.
16:15
So we did have time to relax as well.
16:18
Do you guys struggle with sunbeds?
16:19
Because I wish there was such a thing as kind of more accessible
16:24
sunbeds. There might be a thing, I don't
16:26
know. Please, if you do know of
16:28
accessible sunbeds, please let me know because I've never seen
16:31
one. They're just so unnecessarily
16:33
low to the ground. To get up from the sun beds, I
16:36
would either need someone to lift me up or I would need to
16:39
turn and kind of face the sun bed and then use my arms to push
16:44
myself up. But my hips are so weak now that
16:46
I don't think I could do that for much longer.
16:48
But yeah, why are sun beds so unnecessarily low?
16:51
Like there's just, there's just no need, is there?
16:54
So we stayed in Como van for the rest of the week and I
16:58
absolutely loved it. It was really, really nice.
17:00
I think we did a good balance of one day we would go out and
17:05
visit different villages and then the next day we would just
17:07
have a chill day at the pool. But I did notice that I fell a
17:11
couple of times, not out and about, but just in the Airbnb
17:15
with my family. I fell twice in this Airbnb and
17:20
I think they shook me more than my usual falls just because I
17:25
wasn't walking. And so the first time I fell, I
17:29
was just stood and I think, I don't think I was leaning on
17:32
anything. I was just kind of stood by
17:34
myself in the middle of the kitchen.
17:36
And then I just kind of lost my balance and fell.
17:38
And this was the first time I could tell that I was going to
17:43
fall before I actually fell. Because usually when I fall, I'm
17:47
walking, my knee buckles in and I'm on the ground before I know
17:50
it. But this time, I was losing my
17:52
balance from just standing up so slowly.
17:55
And I knew that I had nothing around me to lean on to stop me
17:58
from falling. And I could feel my imbalance.
18:02
It was kind of in slow MO. And I literally said before I
18:05
fell, I said, guys, I'm going to fall.
18:08
And then I just fell flat on my face, not on my face.
18:11
My face is absolutely fine. It was just my hands and knees.
18:14
My knees were very, very bruised after that because the floors
18:17
were hard. But I think that one knocked me
18:20
a bit. And I got, I did get really
18:22
upset after that because one, I'd never fallen from just
18:26
standing up. Usually it's when I'm walking.
18:29
The second thing was that I could tell that I was going to
18:33
fall before I actually did. So that that was a new one for
18:36
me. And I don't know, I feel like
18:38
that just marked a new kind of progression in a way because I
18:42
just wasn't, it's just not something I'm used to.
18:45
For example, this pain that I've had in my right leg, I, I'm kind
18:49
of used to it now. So if the pain happens, I'm just
18:52
like, OK, never mind. I'll just, I take this as my
18:55
sign to rest or whatever. But if the pain happens in my
18:58
left leg, which never happens, if that were to appear on my
19:01
left leg, I would panic because I've never had that before.
19:05
So I think when a new progression happens and you're
19:09
not used to it, it can be really, really scary.
19:11
And it can kind of just be a reminder of this ticking clock
19:15
that you are going to lose mobility and you might be
19:19
running out of time before you lose another part of your
19:22
mobility. So I think that really knocked
19:25
me that evening when I fell because it was just different
19:28
from the other times. I think it was overdue though,
19:31
because every time I go a while without falling, I always think
19:36
to myself like, wow, I really haven't fallen for a long time.
19:39
And I kind of jinx it in my own head.
19:41
I never say it out loud, but then it ends up happening and I
19:46
had fallen not long before then. I think it was like a couple of
19:48
weeks before while I was walking.
19:50
So I don't know if it's because I was with my family and I was
19:53
feeling more kind of comfortable with them so much that I just
19:58
felt weaker in a way. I don't know if you guys agree,
20:02
but I think when you do hang out with the people that you're most
20:06
comfortable with you, you tend to kind of be a bit more
20:10
careless. You kind of tend to show less
20:12
care towards yourself because you don't need to look after
20:15
yourself as much because you've got these people around you.
20:17
So if I were to fall or drop something, I know that I have
20:22
people around me to help me who understand and can just help me
20:25
right back up. So when I fell that one time, I
20:27
just kind of needed to sit on the floor for a bit.
20:29
I was like, you know what, I'm down now.
20:31
I'm just going to wait and wallow in this pain for a
20:34
second. But anyway, literally the next
20:36
morning I reached over to grab something that was kind of the
20:41
same level as my knees maybe, or maybe a bit higher.
20:44
So I just reached over, which is something I knew I'd be able to
20:47
do because I've done it before. And I lost my balance and I fell
20:51
and that was, that was quite funny, to be fair.
20:54
I fell behind the sofa and anyone watching would have
20:57
laughed. And my dad and my sister back
21:00
out. They were there and they kind of
21:01
watched it happen. But it was the same kind of
21:03
feeling like kind of in slow MO, like, oh, down I go.
21:07
So that was again due to imbalance.
21:09
And I would say that my balance is quite good overall.
21:12
You know, my physio is said that my balance is quite good now,
21:15
but you know, it's been a long summer.
21:17
I haven't had physio for a while.
21:19
Maybe it's that I don't know and maybe it is the lack of routine.
21:23
I do find that going on holiday really just throws me out of my
21:27
routine. My body's quite confused and I
21:30
think when I came back from Italy I was really ready to get
21:33
back in just my normal routine of going to work, going to the
21:36
gym, knowing when I can rest and exercise.
21:40
Whereas with the holiday, it's kind of like a mix and you don't
21:43
really know what's going on. So maybe it was that.
21:46
Anyway, I did feel a bit down about those falls, so I shared
21:49
it on my Instagram story because I just wanted to keep it real.
21:53
But also I was wondering if anyone else had these weird
21:57
falls where you just stand still and then suddenly you lose your
22:00
balance and fall. And I had so many people
22:04
replying to my story saying, yeah, I feel exactly the same.
22:09
I've had that exact same feeling.
22:11
I've had the exact same kind of fall.
22:14
I just felt so much better as soon as I spoke about my own
22:19
experience and then having this response.
22:21
Obviously I'm not glad that a lot of other people have this
22:24
because it sucks to be honest, but I'm just so glad I was.
22:28
I wasn't alone, it was normal and that there were other people
22:31
who could relate to me. And it really just lifted my
22:34
mood. I was like, you know what?
22:35
I've had my moment, I've had my cry, I felt sorry for myself.
22:39
And now it's a new day and I'm just going to pick myself up.
22:42
And I'm not going to let that one moment define me because I
22:45
think when you do have a bad day, you can easily think, OK,
22:50
well, is this just day one of the rest of my life?
22:53
Is every day going to look as bad as this now?
22:55
And I think you can get carried away when you do have a bad day
22:59
or a fall thinking, OK, well, this is it now.
23:02
Like I'm just going to constantly be like this.
23:04
But I haven't had any fall since then.
23:06
Touch wood. We'll see.
23:09
But I think it's just making me more aware of just ways I can
23:14
maybe help myself. So I'm thinking of maybe getting
23:17
a cane or a walking stick or something, not just for balance
23:22
and to just kind of have something to hold on to.
23:24
But I feel like it would be a really good visual aid because
23:28
I'm really struggling with being out in public and no one knowing
23:32
that I have a disability and that I'm very easily compromised
23:36
when it comes to my balance. So I'm thinking of getting 1.
23:40
So I'm going to speak to my physio.
23:42
I'm going to see what the best options are.
23:44
And I'm going to keep you updated because I know a few
23:47
other people with LGMD with canes and they just say that
23:50
it's really, really helping them.
23:53
So I'm just thinking why not? You know, as you can probably
23:56
see and as you have been able to tell from my video episodes, I
24:00
wear a lot of pink. My brand new Stanley Cup right
24:03
here is pink that I was gifted by my best friend for my
24:06
birthday. My Apple Watch is pink, my
24:09
bottle is pink, my coffee flask is pink, everything is pink.
24:12
So if you couldn't tell, it's my favourite colour and I might
24:15
just get a pink cane to match that because that'll be so fun.
24:18
So anyway, I'll keep you updated when it comes to that.
24:20
Maybe I'll vlog it, who knows. Anyway, sorry, got a bit
24:23
sidetracked there. But yeah, those things happened
24:26
while I was in Italy and it's just kind of made me be a bit
24:30
more cautious about about how I go about life, I guess from now
24:34
on. When I came home, I travelled
24:37
home by myself because the rest of my family stayed out in Italy
24:41
for a few more days, but I had to come back to work.
24:44
Good old annual leave. That meant I had to leave my
24:47
wheelchair with my family because I had a suitcase and I
24:50
couldn't have pushed a wheelchair as well, but also my
24:54
sisters would have probably needed the wheelchair as well.
24:56
So I travelled back by myself and as soon as I arrived at
25:01
Milan airport on my dad, bless him, drove me an hour and a half
25:05
at least to get to the airport and back just to drop me off.
25:09
Bless him. What a trooper.
25:10
So as soon as I arrived at the airport, I made myself known to
25:14
the British Airways staff that I needed some extra help, some
25:18
special assistance because on my booking it probably said that I
25:22
had brought my my own wheelchair.
25:23
So I wanted to let them know that I didn't have it on the way
25:25
back. And she was like, yeah, no
25:28
worries, just wait right here and someone will come to you
25:30
with a wheelchair. And lo and behold, 5 minutes
25:33
later someone turned up with a wheelchair and wheeled me, not
25:37
only through security and passport and everything like
25:39
that, but through duty free, through the departure lounge and
25:43
all the way to my gate where there was like a special little
25:47
assistance kind of waiting area. So I had an hour to wait before
25:51
the gate opened and he dropped me right there.
25:54
Literally. It would have been so much
25:56
walking. I'm so glad I made myself known
25:59
to these people because I don't think I would have been able to
26:02
walk all the way to the gate. The airport is bigger than I
26:04
thought it would be, so I was just chilling then by myself in
26:09
this little accessible nook. There was no one around.
26:12
It was so far removed from the centre of the airport it felt
26:15
like. Anyway.
26:16
It was honestly like a different world and I was just kind of
26:19
chilling there for an hour, and then as soon as the gate opened,
26:23
someone came to get me and wheeled me from the gate right
26:27
up to the aircraft. And it was very pleasant.
26:30
And you know, I was really nervous about flying back by
26:33
myself, but it was all good in the end.
26:35
So I think the main lesson here is to just make yourself known,
26:39
advocate for yourself. It's so important.
26:42
If I hadn't made myself known to the staff that I needed like an
26:47
accessible way to get to the gate, I would have really
26:50
struggled by myself. And like, why put yourself
26:52
through that when you can just accept a wheelchair, accept the
26:56
help, And that's what they're there for.
26:58
And it just really made my day and I saved so much energy.
27:02
OK, now we'll move on to my health update.
27:07
I guess since I've come back I have had a lot of time to
27:11
reflect on just how my condition really has affected me over the
27:16
past couple years and I realised that I'm struggling with a lot
27:21
more things as of very recently. So I thought this would be a
27:24
good time to just kind of update on that front.
27:28
Like I said with the falls, obviously those falls were very
27:33
new and I'm just going to kind of keep an eye on them.
27:36
But just be aware that I can fall just from standing up now
27:40
and that is a possibility for it to happen again and not just
27:44
when I'm walking, which again can still happen.
27:47
I still catch myself a lot. So if I'm walking, sometimes my
27:51
knees would buckle straight unexpectedly and I would could
27:55
just kind of have that whoa moment of am I gonna fall and
27:58
then just kind of catch myself? I have a lot of who that was
28:01
close moments when I walk, so that can be a bit frustrating as
28:06
well. Wow, the sun really has come
28:08
out. It's still raining though.
28:09
I'm really confused. It's been a really weird day
28:12
today weather wise it's been quite confusing.
28:14
It was pouring it down this morning but now the Suns really
28:17
come out. Wow guys, maybe summer isn't
28:21
over after all. The sun is like illuminating me.
28:23
You like can't even see me anymore.
28:25
I'm just like a bright light. Anyway, I've also noticed that I
28:30
just can't get up from the floor now.
28:32
I only had one way to get up from the floor as of the past
28:36
few years, and that was to get on all fours and then slowly
28:42
kind of go into the downward dog position.
28:44
So raise my knees off the floor and raise my hips all the way up
28:49
to downward dog so that my hands on my feet are still on the
28:52
floor and then my hips are in the air.
28:55
And then I would just kind of slowly use my arms to climb up
28:58
myself to sanding. But I really, really can't do
29:03
that anymore. I've noticed that if I'm trying
29:05
to get into the downward dog position, not only are my hips
29:09
too weak to even try and lift from the floor, but also my feet
29:13
slip. And I don't know, like I've
29:16
never had this issue before. You know, if I've like fallen in
29:19
the same place and gotten up from that same place, my feet
29:22
just can't seem to get a grip on the floor and my feet just slip
29:26
and I need that grip. It's almost as if I need to put
29:30
like, put my feet against something like a wall to stop
29:32
them from slipping away because I need that stability to just
29:36
help me get up. I think there was one time where
29:38
I fell or I was just on the floor by myself and I struggled
29:43
for so long to get back up. It was something I don't think
29:47
I'll do again. I've completely avoided mat
29:50
workouts now, so workouts on like a yoga mat on the floor
29:53
just because I can't get back up, like it's not worth it.
29:57
I think that time when I was on the floor by myself in this very
30:00
flat, I think it was right here in this spot where I'm sat.
30:03
I was on all fours crawling around trying to find somewhere
30:06
to get up and I can lean on something like leaning on the
30:11
sofa might be somewhat helpful, but it's just lifting my hips up
30:16
that's the real issue. And honestly, I can feel the
30:19
ache in my hips just talking about it.
30:21
So that's something I'm trying to avoid altogether now is to
30:24
just be on the floor, because most times I just need someone
30:27
to lift me up from the floor. And to be honest, that's quite a
30:30
common symptom with LGMD. It's not extremely alarming.
30:34
The only worrying thing is that if I'm by myself again, I would
30:37
take a very long time to try and get up, if at all.
30:41
Or I might have to, you know, I dread the day where I'd be
30:44
stranded on the floor and have to wait until someone gets home
30:47
to come lift me up. So yeah, that's not ideal.
30:50
On that topic of my feet slipping on the floor, I've
30:52
noticed that when I try and get up from a seated position, say
30:56
I'm like sat on a toilet and the bathroom floor is not grippy at
31:00
all. Or if I'm wearing socks or
31:01
something, my feet would slip. If I'm trying to get up using my
31:06
arms. I need my feet to be firmly
31:08
planted on the floor, otherwise I'll just slip and I my hips
31:13
aren't strong enough to like actually get up from that seated
31:16
position. There was one time where I was
31:19
stuck on the toilet. Obviously not in my own home
31:22
because I have a frame where I can lean on to help me up.
31:25
But my feet was so slippy on the floor because it was just my
31:29
feet against the floor. They would they just kept
31:31
slipping and I needed that grip. And I was so desperate to get
31:34
up. There was nowhere around me to
31:36
lean on with my with my arms. So in these moments you have to
31:40
get creative. So what I did was I licked my
31:44
hands and rubbed them at the bottom of my feet to give them a
31:47
grip. And that then stopped my feet
31:49
from slipping on the floor. And that is how I got up.
31:52
I managed to put my hands on the toilet seat.
31:55
My feet were plantly gripped onto the floor now because I'd
31:58
licked, essentially licked the bottom of my feet through my
32:02
hands and that's how I got up. So, you know, you do have to be
32:05
creative in that way, but it's made me feel the need to use a
32:09
Shiwi a lot more, which is I have explained this before on
32:12
the podcast on another episode where it's basically to help
32:16
people who can't pee standing up to be able to pee standing up.
32:19
And it people use it for camping and festivals.
32:21
And I've used it quite a few times, especially if I'm going
32:25
somewhere where I don't know what the bathroom situation is
32:27
like and I don't the last thing I want is to be stuck on a
32:31
toilet cubicle by myself. That has proved very handy as
32:34
well. But it just kind of feels weird
32:36
to use it indoors in like someone's house or something
32:39
because it's supposed to be for like public restrooms.
32:42
But I guess you can use them anyway.
32:44
So yeah, that's another thing. I think my hips are so weak and
32:47
my arms are getting quite weak as well to kind of push me up
32:50
that I need my feet to be firmly planted on the ground to kind of
32:53
lock myself into that position. Otherwise there's no getting up.
32:57
Basically, I have found that just getting it from seats in
33:01
general is a lot more difficult. I really need to lean onto
33:05
something to kind of push myself up with my arms.
33:09
So if I'm sat at a table in a restaurant, I love having those
33:13
chairs with armrests. I don't know why most
33:16
restaurants don't have that because they're just so much
33:18
better. But usually I would need to
33:20
extend my leg all the way out and slowly shift my weight onto
33:25
that, using my arms on the table to push me up.
33:27
And I'd need to shift my weight onto my hind leg that's just
33:32
stuck all the way out, kind of locked in and in an extended
33:35
position, if you will. Or for example, to get out of
33:38
this current seat, might this seat is quite low.
33:41
So I would need to turn with my back to what you guys are the
33:45
camera and face the chair. And to just really slowly use my
33:49
arms to push me up and kind of like doing a process up in a
33:52
way, which just isn't great for your arms.
33:54
But it's kind of the only way I get up.
33:57
But I've just had to be more open with letting people raise
34:01
me and asking people to just lift me up because I just can't
34:04
do it. Not that long ago, I was in a
34:07
nightclub for a friend's birthday and I tripped over
34:10
someone's foot and fell flat on my face and I wasn't drunk.
34:14
OK before people say that because that's what people tend
34:17
to say. If some, if you fall over, that
34:19
person's so drunk. I wasn't.
34:21
And I think that's a whole other topic, actually.
34:23
Maybe I'll do a podcast episode on drinking and clubbing with a
34:27
disability because there's a lot to digest there.
34:30
Anyway, so I tripped over and obviously I can't get myself up
34:34
from that position. So people immediately came to
34:37
try and help me up. And I just had to be like, you
34:40
just have to put your arm, your arms under my armpits and just
34:43
lift me all the way up. And they would lift me about
34:45
halfway thinking that I could use my legs to straighten and
34:48
get up, but I just can't obviously.
34:50
So I'd have to be like, Yep, keep going, keep going up, up,
34:52
up. And then they eventually got me
34:54
up to standing. So it can be a bit embarrassing
34:56
and a bit humiliating and it's a very vulnerable position to be
35:00
in, but that's the only way I can get up now.
35:02
So I just have to kind of accept that and just be open to asking
35:07
for help. And people do like helping
35:09
others, you know, if I've fallen a few times in different clubs
35:11
and stuff and people are always willing to help you because I
35:14
guess people fall a lot more in clubs anyway, even if they're
35:17
not disabled. So it's, it's OK to ask for
35:20
help. You know, it's, it's really
35:21
fine. I've noticed a lot of
35:23
progression in my arms as well. So when it comes to doing my
35:26
hair or even doing my makeup, there's obviously a lot of, I
35:30
don't know, exercise. It's like back and forth motions
35:32
with your arms and your wrists, you know, applying makeup on
35:37
that can be a bit of a struggle, especially on a week, a day.
35:40
My arms can really be exhausted from doing that.
35:43
So I've learnt to kind of maybe lean my elbows on my dresser to
35:47
tie my hair or to do my makeup or to just take breaks and not
35:51
beat myself up. Because the last thing you want
35:53
is to just get frustrated at yourself and not being able to
35:56
do your hair right just because your arms are so weak.
35:59
Like I hate tying my hair up and trying to make it like a perfect
36:02
ponytail where my arms just can't keep up with it.
36:06
So I need to kind of learn to give myself some grace where
36:09
that's concerned because, yeah, that that can be quite tough as
36:13
well. I guess with these progressions
36:17
happening and these kind of new symptoms, it just really hits
36:20
you when you're used to doing an activity or something a certain
36:25
way and you have to change that because you, your body just
36:29
can't keep up with it anymore. Like the way I get up from
36:32
chairs or the way I used to get up from the floor and I just
36:34
can't do it anymore. Or the way I do my hair and my
36:37
makeup or get dressed, you constantly have to adapt.
36:41
And I think when you have to change that adaptation to doing
36:45
it differently because your body can't keep up with it anymore, I
36:49
think it's those moments that you really feel a difference
36:52
that you really feel like, oh, my body's changing and this is
36:56
just kind of an an extra step towards the deterioration of the
37:00
condition. So I think those moments can be
37:02
really, really tough. And it was all these little
37:06
changes that led me to wanting to do an update because there
37:09
were enough changes to do an update of my condition.
37:13
Just things like that I think can really hit you.
37:17
And I think that's OK to just take that moment and be upset
37:20
about it because it's completely normal.
37:22
And it is sad when you have to change the way that you do
37:26
things to adapt to this, you know, and your body just can't
37:30
keep up with it. And I think my mind works so
37:33
much more than my body. And it's a constant thing of
37:37
having to slow my mind down a bit and to just listen to my
37:40
body and show it some grace and to just try and keep going and
37:44
find new ways of adapting. But doing that makes me a very
37:49
kind of easy go with the flow person because I'm very used to
37:52
adapting to different ways, especially at the last minute.
37:54
So I guess that's one positive out of it.
37:57
I mean, you know, life still goes on.
37:59
There are still people worse off than me and I'm still living a
38:02
pretty good life. So as down as I do get about
38:06
those moments where I fall and I feel really useless and I need
38:10
other people to help me, it's still good to focus on things to
38:14
be grateful for and to just try and stay positive where you can.
38:18
And you know, it's, it's not all sunshine and rainbows, but it's
38:21
also not all doom and gloom. It's all about finding that
38:24
middle ground and just kind of ebbing and flowing with those
38:28
emotions that come with having LGMD.
38:31
And on the topic of LGMD, September is quite an exciting
38:35
month when it comes to awareness in general because September is
38:39
Muscular Dystrophy Awareness Month.
38:41
So there's lots of resources you can find about just muscular
38:46
dystrophy in general. You can follow Muscular
38:48
Dystrophy UK, an amazing charity that has been there for me a lot
38:53
during my kind of journey. Also, September 30th, if you
38:57
don't already know is LGMD Awareness Day, which is like one
39:00
of the best days of the year. By now, this year I will be
39:04
speaking at the social media conference Comrie in the Vail
39:08
Resort in Wales. If you haven't already got your
39:10
ticket and do you fancy coming along, please feel free to do
39:14
that and support the amazing people behind this organisation.
39:19
I'll be giving you all sorts of tips on content creating and how
39:23
to master that. So that's what I'll be doing
39:26
this September 30th. But I have got some very
39:29
exciting content coming up. Of course, this podcast will be
39:32
celebrating LGBT Awareness Day with a very special episode out
39:37
on the 28th. So keep your eyes peeled because
39:40
you don't want to miss this episode.
39:42
I have a very highly requested episode with some very special
39:48
guests and they're special to me in my heart and they're special
39:51
to a lot of people listening and watching.
39:54
So you don't want to miss it. It's going to be amazing.
39:57
I've already recorded it and I know it's going to be so good.
39:59
I'll be also raising a lot of awareness on my Instagram and
40:03
TikTok. So make sure you follow my
40:05
Instagram at Unbalanced Podcast and my TikTok at Keras Davidge.
40:10
And also cure LGMD 2Y, who are proud sponsors of this podcast
40:15
are celebrating 15 years of their charity, which is just
40:19
amazing. So I would really encourage you
40:22
guys to check out their website and to donate if you can.
40:26
If you go to Cure LGMD 2 YS website, which will be linked
40:30
below. As always, you can check out all
40:32
the facts about LGMD and also donate.
40:35
Guys, thank you so much for listening today or for watching
40:38
and just for hanging out with me.
40:40
It's always a pleasure if you guys have any thoughts.
40:43
If you've been to Milan or Como and that you want to share with
40:47
me, please feel free to comment below.
40:49
If you have any recommendations of other places to visit, I
40:52
would really appreciate those as well.
40:54
I'm looking for more accessible places to visit because, you
40:58
know, it's all about adapting and I still want to enjoy
41:01
travelling in the best ways possible without having these
41:04
elements of surprise. So I'd love to know where you
41:07
guys went this summer if you did go anywhere or if you have a
41:10
favourite place that you would recommend, don't forget to
41:13
comment that below, you know, help share it with the rest of
41:16
the community that's also watching.
41:18
So anyway, lots to look forward to this month.
41:21
So keep your eyes peeled on my social media and I can't wait to
41:25
be back with you guys with another episode very soon.
41:28
But until then, have a lovely couple weeks and enjoy this
41:32
changing seasons. Try and embrace it as much as
41:34
you can, like I'm trying to do. But if you are an awesome
41:39
person, then this is your season.
41:41
Enjoy. I'll catch you guys later.
41:42
Bye.