With physiotherapy and just working on exercises, I can manage to prepare myself a meal,
I can make tea, I can butter bread or cut you food or open a tin, all of which I can do now.
I also use a couple of cans of soup or large cans of beans to help exercise this shoulder, which is still fairly weak.
And I practise this almost every day, perhaps for five or ten minutes.
When I go to the gym I use small dumb bells.
Doing things naturally, ie dancing, is as good as aerobic exercise, so sometimes when people aren't around and I can stick a tape on and shake around the house.
[SoundEffects Status Quo]
Well it took a wee while to settle, because I've never been a good mixer.
I mean, I'm all right with a small crowd, one or two people, but if there's a bigger crowd I just don't feel so much at ease.
But I mean, that isn't a new thing, I've been like that all my life.
But I've settled now and got to know people and I'm on first name terms with most
of the ladies and gentlemen here. Thanks Alan.
Jeremy Beadle at the back as well, is he?
Well don't block the way for the star. I'm the star.
Sorry.
The meetings are every week on a Wednesday. Sometimes we go outings, maybe go to a hotel, outside of Penicuik,
and have tea and a sandwich and cakes, or sometimes we go a run somewhere.
Ethel and among others and I play dominoes this afternoon.
We always sit together at the same table and have a wee chat in between the game of dominoes and the next game.
I think it's one of the things he can do for quite a long period of time
without him getting tired or his brain sort of closing down on him, isn't it?
Uh huh, uh huh.
Yeah. Whereas speaking makes you tired and difficult. Your art seems to be something you can do for quite long periods of time, isn't it?
Yes. Well, piecesů painting of ů
Of the countryside, or just anything?
Paper.
Oh Paper.
It speaks, has the same asů
It's the same as speaking.
Yes.
But you're putting it on paper. Yeah.
Isabel supported me in a lot of ways but now I'm managing to gain a bit more independence.
She used to help me with my bathing, my shopping, and advise me about different things,
but now I'm able to do wee bits more myself.
My wife and I went shopping in Edinburgh about three weeks ago and I said to her this time last year I really needed to be pushed around in my wheelchair
if we went to do shopping, but now we don't need it today.
You're here for the chair?
I've come for the chair
I'll get it, it's in the garage.
Thanks very much.
The Astley Ainslie hospital are coming to take away my wheelchair which they gave me about 18 months ago,
and send it back and give it to someone else.
[Inaudible chat between two men]
I'll get you to sign for that, if you can.
Everybody said to me oh the fact that you've got two very young children will really motivate him to get on and so on, and he has.
I mean, he's made enormous steps forward, literally.
I'm back at work, largely because of an initiative by the Employment Agency.
They pay for taxis to take me to and from my place of work.
I'll see you tonight.
Yeah. Off to work to keep the girls in the style to which they're rapidly becoming accustomed.
It's not the only reason for doing it, but a pretty important one, and they make a contribution towards special equipment which I need which isn't very much.
Things like a hands free telephone has been the only one so far.
And I hope through time to become more independent. I'll be glad of help too from Isabel,
and glad of her advice, but at the same time, I'll have to try to start living my own life more completely.
I've been back at work part time eight weeks now. I started off three mornings a week and it's increasing by half a day a week.
I'll be full time by the second week in June. So it gives me something different to think about.
Right, I'll just tackle these steps.
Nice to see that going. A sort of big step I think, you know, two years after having it delivered to us, it's nice to see it going away.
Every day he gets a bit better, don't you?
Yes, yes.
Every day you get another wee skill back. And a wee bit of his speech comes back, or he finds it easier to communicate some days than others.
Uh huh, uh huh.