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New toys
I think I’ve already mentioned my new four-wheel-drive wheelchair. Over the last few weeks I’ve managed to take it outside and begin to figure out what it can and cannot do without actually testing it to destruction. A few minor adaptations have been required to keep my legs secure but otherwise it’s been a great success allowing me to climb Blackford Hill, follow friends and wife over the links at Gullane and visit the zoo and city farm with my nearly – two year old grandson.

It’s nearly 2 years since I suffered a cycling accident in Spain which left me paralysed below the neck. This blog is a description of my experiences – not necessarily in chronological order and, given the circumstances, intended to be a light read. It’s the end of December since I last wrote so I think I owe you all an update.

I have not written this blog in date order. This entry aims to describe the difficult period between arriving in the spinal injuries high dependency unit (Edenhall) in Glasgow and moving – six weeks later – to the rehab unit (Phillipshill) where I was to spend another 13 months.
I arrived in Glasgow on Friday 10th May 2019, sedated for the flight from Majorca.

That’s not correct – it’s a hospital but I thought it might encourage you to start reading. Until last week, over the nine months I have been in the spinal injuries unit here in Glasgow, I’ve been out once, with my brother to Kelvingrove Park. The nursing staff here have pointed out that I may be running the risk of “institutionalisation” – basically the idea that I could become more at home in the hospital than in my own home. It’s difficult not to love the nurses here, with whom I spend a great deal of time.

Just for a change, here is a more up-to-date post on my recent meeting with a man with a Taser and his friend with ketamine.
I think I’ve said, my high-level spinal injury means I will spend the rest of my life on a ventilator. Although, that’s the normal outcome, it is not quite true. There is a chance – about 50/50 – that a pacemaker (in addition to my redundant heart pacemaker) can be used to stimulate the phrenic nerve that drives my diaphragm. At best, this can mean I won’t need a ventilator at all. […]