• AnchorFm

Hi! I have managed to make it back on my podcast. And here is the latest episode about the addition of a table and chair. Which may seem innocuous, but is incredibly helpful when you’re living 24/7 in your bedroom.

I hope you can pop by for a listen and let me know your thoughts.

Have a blessed day⚘

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Transcript below. I have just worked out a super easy way to do it via Otter ai.

Podcast Transcript

Hi, it’s Penny here. It’s been a while since I recorded any podcasts and we’re health has been up and down. It’s pretty much down at the moment. But I thought it’s about time to check back in to say hello

so I guess you could call this a thought for the week. And my thought for the week is how do you care about having a meeting? In your bedroom? I don’t mean a free song or liaison. I mean a meeting with people where you have to have a discussion or talk about form filling or your health or something like that. So, I’m going to talk a little bit about how I’ve gone about that. So just to sort of qualify where I am at the moment I went into a massive relapse in June of this year and have basically been pretty much bed bound and room bound since then. So we had to have a complete rethink about how I live and in the process, we’ve had to have people visit to discuss things from having a stairlift installed and having stairs measured. But it hasn’t all been serious. I mean, I’m haven’t been willing enough really to have many visitors but one of my siblings is visited and a relative from the US visited recently, which was so lovely. And I had to say to them, Well, how do you feel about meeting in my bedroom? And thankfully, the people who know me well are quite happy with that and other people. Were yes, no. Okay, that’s fine. But you set it up so my dog goes bed, so moved on to the landing. And over time I was after a friend had visited to sit in with me when I was having a really rough patch and just couldn’t be on my own for very long. She didn’t look very happy, very comfortable, I should say on the chair. That was there and I was thinking, Well, what can I do to make it more more welcoming for people? So I remembered that I have a sort of desk chair downstairs, which my husband very, very kindly brought upstairs. So I jazz that up a bit with a flowery pillowcase on the back of the seat because it was black and it sounds disgusting. And cushion on seat just make it more comfy. And we had a garden coffee table which we’ve brought upstairs so it just makes it more like a casual coffee meeting area by the window by the bed so it makes it less awkward for people because they haven’t got to perch on the bed or perch on a blanket box that actually looks like a formal seating area.

Most people who know me will know that. I normally don’t arrange to see anybody here until after two o’clock in the afternoon. Certainly after one o’clock, and one thing that Allah has allowed me to do with these is my little cafe area is make sure that the bed is made. So my husband will help me tied to the bed. So and I personally like to have that distinction because I’m spending 24/7 In the bedroom. I like to actually be out of the bed rather than under the covers. So he helps make the bed and tidy top and I have separate blankets and cushions that I use during the day so that I do have that clear distinction and and I have sort of like daytime pyjamas so I look reasonably tidy and it’s less awkward for people. I guess they wouldn’t be bothered if I couldn’t do that. But it’s I guess more for me really so this I feel more like a human being. I also like to try and make sure that things are reasonably tidy. I mean, no can’t be that tidy if you’re living in one room all the time, but I have I have a place for things which I’ve had to get into the habit of over the past 18 years of any any way so that I know where things are. Because too much energy can be wasted trying to find something because you can’t remember where it is. But I try not to have too much in here. I mean I’m fortunate that we’ve been able to use another bedroom to put others of craft things in again in a tidy way. But in the bedroom here, I now have a fridge I have a little kitchen area. My husband brings up water supplies and we have like non perishable dry foods. So it looks quite inviting and when my siblings visited. They were quite surprised at how pleasant it is in here as a as a room to spend your life.

Also, if I’m able to tolerate tolerate the daylight, I have foil curtains so that dims the daylight anyway, but I have you know reasonable lighting so that it it feels quite normal. My husband always offered tea or coffee with I have got tea and coffee making facilities up here with plant milk that’s known as dairy. So it has worked quite well and I’ve become more used to it and I quite like it I mean I love people and I miss seeing them and it’s good to have a place where people will feel comfortable and I think certainly when my relatives visited from the US I think because there was clearly a space for them to sit comfortably and they weren’t sort of having to sit on the bed. Not that that’s a problem. But not everybody wants that especially if you have met them before. And I think it sort of encourages the state to be a bit longer if that suits you obviously, capacity comes into it too. But also having a table is clear if it’s a formal meeting, which I have had four more meetings up here with my doctor and people from the council occupational therapists, as I said, stare, quotations. They have somewhere to put their documentation. They don’t feel awkward. They haven’t got to say, alright, if I just put that on the bed, maybe it’s cleared sort of like the designation is clear. And that definitely makes it much better. So it’s worked out quite well. It’s taken a bit of thinking it takes time, because I don’t always remember what we have around the house and you can’t just suddenly splurge out in an armchair and to be honest, an armchair wouldn’t be the right thing there anyway, with the office chair there it’s more of a sitting height. So for somebody you know, it’s fine. And for somebody who don’t know, they don’t feel uncomfortable or awkward. So yeah, it’s definitely worked out well. So I hope that helps. So I think you’ve probably noticed that I’ve mentioned stairlift a few times it might be a Tim my dog whining in the background. That’s been quite a long process to get organised but I’ll talk about that another time. But once that in that we helped me a lot. I can’t rest a lot downstairs. So I’ll still be up here a lot of the time, but it will give me choices and it’d be really great. So I’m looking forward to that. I never thought I would say I would be looking forward to having a stairlift but no, you’ve got to adapt. I’ve adapted with so many other aids that this is just another one and so yeah, that will be good to have that in place

but I have to say we have definitely learned from the many years of relapses, that it’s better to rather than wondering how long it’s going to last and just muddling through. If you’re in a position to get strategies in place, even if it’s just minor changes to help you cope think it isn’t easier for sleeping, a relapse. It’s horrible. But if you have strategies to help you manage to help maintain a little bit of independence and just make your life more comfortable. It’s absolutely worth it. It’s worth doing it’s worth making those changes. It just it improves your life helps you remain relaxed, maintain energy, you’re not having to ask for things all the time. And it just helps you cope better. And interestingly thing that prompted me to actually recruit other people podcast was because my husband was having dinner up here with me this evening, and he was sitting at our table in chair and we were just chatting and he was we were sort of reminiscing over different subjects and I said to him, it would be so much fun to record a podcast with him. So I’m hoping in the future that I will be bringing people into my podcast and chatting to them about a variety of subjects. So it’s not just about me and that would be just so much fun. But yeah, it was just so funny. I thought to him, I haven’t done that for so long. And it was just lovely for him to be chatting away and it would be lovely for my listeners to hear some of our conversations and with other people on a variety of topics. So do listening, and I will let you know when that happens. But so from a very difficult period and it’s still difficult, but we’re getting there and trying to make the most of it and just lots has happened and some not so great things but a lot of good things have come from it. So it’d be nice to share some of that and to share with other people. So do check in so I’ll be in touch with you soon. So have a good day wherever you are hope nice going well and you know if it’s rough, don’t give up it will get better. Okay, Chat soon take care bye.

End of transcript. I clearly need to pause for breath more frequently!