Housebound most of the time, any
outing, however simple, is a treat. Fortunately there are a number of places to
go relatively near by, but I have to rely on
others to drive me. I hate the loss of independence in this respect, but
have unwillingly come to terms and accept it.
I have been struggling to use my
mobile phone for some time, which is a dinosaur according to my husband. The
buttons small and too sensitive for Parkinson's fingers, I reluctantly agreed
to upgrade. Someone had recommended a particular mobile flip phone, with large
buttons, making it far easier to use which was designed for older people, but
works equally well for anyone with dexterity problems. I wear it on a cord
around my neck so it's with me all the time, but the best feature of all is the
red emergency S.O.S. button on the back of the phone. This has been set to
automatically phone my husband and daughter in a crisis situation. It cannot be
accidentally pushed in my handbag, but needs to be pressed and held for several
seconds, which then lets out a loud siren noise, not dissimilar to an ambulance
or police car, indicating a message calling for "help" has been sent.
This is a marvellous feature - but I hope I won't need to use it!
Having a little outing to a local
café, my husband ordered an espresso coffee, which arrived in a tiny cup,
reminiscence of the dolly's tea cups I played with as a child. Barely one sip
and the strong coffee was gone. What interested me far more than the miniature
china wear, was the bottle of soda water that accompanied the espresso, (just
as they serve it in Italy to clear the bitter after-taste). I have never seen
such a tiny plastic bottle before, and immediately saw a great use for it. I
now keep it in my handbag filled with water, so that when out, and need to take
one of my many Parkinson's pills that are carefully spread out throughout the
day, I always have a sip of water with me to take the pills, no matter where I
am.
Changing the subject completely and unable
to segue from water bottles to cars, I'll just jump straight in….
I have received many e-mails
over the last year from people around the world, about a particular article I
wrote for The Huffington Post during January 2013, and since decided to write a
follow up piece seeing the amount of interest shown, so take a look at an issue
that effects many but little seems to have been done to rectify this problem
for the advertisers and PR of car manufacturers plainly think "Disability Isn't Sexy"!
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