Cerebral Palsy Alliance

Posts Tagged ‘age’

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Pain

I heard a statistic the other day that both comforted and horrified me. Apparently 66-70% of people with cerebral palsy experience physical pain. I’ve never liked being a statistic – it’s so predictable and boring – but in this case it seems that I am one.

Not to call the whaa-bulance, but it was oddly comforting to find out that I wasn’t alone. For me pain can vary between a stiff pulling sensation on my joints, an intense tingling, a strong burn, or a dull ache throughout my entire body. The stiff pulling sensation is the most common sensation for me, which, after a day of concentrating, will leave me with the dull ache throughout my entire body. Read more: Pain

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Not going down without a fight

Welcome back to the Freefall blog – it is great to be able to share thoughts and ideas with you all again …

I’ve always been pretty aware of the effect that my CP has on my body.

I’m only in my early 30s and in the last year or two, time has bitten hard. I am having knee issues. This makes standing harder and, at times, downright painful – thank heavens for cortisone. Read more: Not going down without a fight

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Wake up calls

They say this cerebral palsy thing isn’t progressive. I would say that, while the initial brain injury isn’t, its impact can be. As you get older, things become harder, even things you do everyday. Moving was much easier when I was younger. When I was younger, I was also swimming once a week and having physio twice a week.

’Til I was about sixteen, it seemed like keeping that part of me in check required complete devotion. It was boring and monotonous to me, especially as I felt young and indestructible. Around that time, I started cutting back on exercise and physio in favour of school and other less mundane things.

Read more: Wake up calls

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(Part 2) A day in a ward: drugs, why anyone hospitalised needs them

For my first night in hospital, I was placed in the men’s spinal unit. They all snored in unison. All night! The next morning, I was moved into a room with three other women. I think I was the youngest by at least thirty years. It was like the ‘ghosts of Christmases to come’. And these futures made me shudder.

The woman to my right was easily 80 and did not eat solids – not that chocolate custard for lunch would bother me. She had fallen and broken her hip. Ouch! I am not a fan of potential hip problems, but the most confronting part was that she would often have quite lucid moments where she’d converse with a gentleman who wasn’t actually there. She used to be a nurse apparently. Time can be cruel.

Read more: (Part 2) A day in a ward: drugs, why anyone hospitalised needs them

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