11/08/2024 - 'In search of Worzel, lighthouses and....antibiotics' by David

Another week of feeling like a poor poorly pig I'm afraid. I just can't seem to shake this thing I've picked up, but I had things planned for Monday and Tuesday though, so on with the show!

People of a certain age will remember the former Doctor Who actor Jon Pertwee from the 1970’s, swapping heads and being regenerated in the 80's as the scarecrow that comes to life - Worzel Gummidge. I was that age and I enjoyed his portrayal of the lovable but recalcitrant scarecrow, who very rarely scares any crows. 

As a child growing up on the Isle of Wight, I didn’t realise it was filmed just a few miles over the water in various Hampshire locations until I moved to Southampton a decade ago. My friend Dean grew up in Southampton and when he mentioned that he knew where the episodes were filmed, I was excited to go in search of Worzel!

We chose a lovely day and Dean pushed me in Duggy the buggy for the first time as we made our way through small villages, getting more and more rural as we went. After passing churches, village halls, thatched cottages and ponds, we eventually reached Braishfield, and found Ten Acre Field, where Worzel used to stand, overlooking Scatterbrook Farm in the valley below, but unfortunately there was no sign of Worzel.

Of course I had to recreate his pose (who doesn't like a comedy photo?), so I hopped out of the buggy and into the field and Dean snapped away as I stood with arms outstretched, with not a crow in sight.

On our return to civilization, we passed the former home of another 80's icon, Kevin Keegan from the time he played for Southampton, stopped in Romsey for "a cup of tea and a slice of cake" in honour of Worzel and Aunt Sally, and before we retired for the day, Dean wheeled me to the Warhorse statue nearby. We were out for over 5 hours and he had pushed me 12.4 miles, doing 22,000 steps, turning his ankle in the process, so sorry, but thank you Deano! 

The next day, my daughter Anna and boyfriend Jake came down from London as Jake hadn't seen the house.

It was great to see them and Jake got to push me around the block, while Anna picked and fed me blackberries from the bushes. 

Unfortunately by midweek, I had lost my voice and had to give in to this lurgy. I contacted my doctors surgery but unfortunately we can only have telephone consultants, so although they are quick to respond, you don't actually get seen face to face. After describing my symptoms, she prescribed some antibiotics, which is great if it's laryngitis or a throat infection, but if it's Covid, antibiotics will be useless. After asking for them to be sent to the pharmacy and asking Alice to pick them up, she was told that they had infact been sent in the post, as I have other meds posted to me, which was annoying as I wanted to get the tablets on board as soon as possible. 

My illness meant that I couldn't attend an International Food event that my old department at the hospital had organised to raise money for MND. In a week where we have seen anti immigration riots break out in cities around Britain, it is heartening to know that the NHS is an institution that relies on, encourages and celebrates a diverse workforce bringing culture, colour and culinary skills to our shores, and the spread looked gorgeous. I was very happy when Alice presented me with a doggy bag when she came home. As well as the food, one of my former colleagues Helena, auctioned one of her paintings, called Daisies At Durdle Door, which raised £125, and she also sold copies made into greetings cards, which raised a further £100 so thank you Helena x.

The amount raised has now taken our Just Giving page over £10,000 raised, which is absolutely amazing and we are humbled by everyone's generosity in the quest for a cure.

I was hoping the antibiotics would arrive on Thursday, they didn't. Friday? No.

I spent the next 3 days on my own feeling rough and not talking to anyone which gave me a chance to recover. I was determined to enjoy the weekend though, so I popped some pills and off we toddled to our local parkrun in Southampton. Andy the Anaesthetist pushed me to a Bakermobile pb of 27.15! It was a bit of a white knuckle ride for me!

My friend Nathann and I travelled to Aldershot FC to watch Forest Green Rovers first game back in the National league and it was an exciting 3-3 draw. FGR are the world's first and only vegan football club, and are owned by millionaire environmental entrepreneur Dale Vince (or Stale Mince as the vegan haters call him!). We met another Hampshire Vegan Runner Mark at the game too, and we've planned to go and watch another game soon - "Green Army!!!"

On Sunday, Alice organised a social run/walk/push around Southampton City to find the 8 foot high lighthouses that have been decorated by local artists and placed around the city, raising money for the hospital charity. There are 70 in Southampton and 10 on the island. 18 of us spent the morning searching for them and we found all but 6, which were inside the closed library, and we will search for the last 10 on the island next week.  

It was nice to be pushed around in the sunshine, trying to do a bit of navigating and chatting away to our friends.  Being disabled really does open your eyes about how hard life can be with a wheelchair. While everyone else can skip across the road, we had to look for dropped curbs to cross safely but of course, everyone was very patient waiting for us, even when we had to get in the lift in West Quay shopping centre while they all took the stairs.

I've turned into a bit of a chair snob now as I feel so cosy in the buggy, all other seats feel uncomfortable! We went for a well earned pit stop in Cafe Thrive after our adventures and their wooden chairs just didn't cut the mustard compared to the Bakermobile!

It's Sunday night as I write this and my antibiotics still haven't arrived so I'm in the strange position of feeling poorly and waiting desperately for some medicine to arrive in the post that might not work anyway! 

I have some good news to report though. Athough my leg strength deteriorated rapidly about a month ago, to the point that I thought I would soon be wheelchair bound, I really do think it's plateaued since which is very encouraging and even though many of my fellow sufferers that we meet tell us how many times they have fallen, I have somehow stayed on my feet. Whether it's my balletic grace, agility and balance, or whether I'm just lucky I don't know, but I'm very grateful that I can still get around the house, up the stairs, and with care, walk outside. 

Here's hoping that my voice will keep me talking and that my legs will keep me walking for a while yet. 

David x