Some Encouragement

I managed to get on top of the OCD on Monday, and rather than feeling overwhelmed by thoughts of the trip was able to turn it around and get fully on top of planning for it, and be able to look forward to it. My friend was going to take care of finding somewhere to stay but I was able to spend some time looking, and eventually found the ideal airbnb place so just went for it. It was looking expensive and complicated until I found that. The place I found was a twin room close enough to my friend’s parents’ house, and way cheaper than any other option. A rare find.

Before the weekend I’d rejected the idea of going, but over the weekend decided I really wanted to do it if it was logistically possible. Then finding that suitable place to stay made it suddenly much more doable. I was close to giving up.

Also over the weekend I came up with a plan for getting my scooter onto the train. It’s only a problem if they know I’ve got a scooter. So I found and bought a compact, good-value “sack truck”/trolley with the idea of strapping my scooter to it with rope, wrapped in a tarp. I’ll test it out tomorrow. I really wanted to have the scooter as it means we can do so many more things, and with two days to fill it seems necessary. This kind of problem-solving is the thing I’m good at, and helped with feeling more normal again.

Only…the airbnb host doesn’t have anywhere for me to store the scooter overnight, so I’ll leave the scooter at my friend’s parents’ both nights. We’ll be getting a taxi to their house in the morning both days to hang out and plan the day. Also at the airbnb host there are six steps to get into their house, then two flights of steps to the room, so I’ll also take my crutches strapped to the trolley, since stairs are fine with crutches.

I was determined to just keep going with making the adaptations to make the trip possible. Since I’ll have the scooter we won’t need to get as many taxis, and can consider going for a walk in the woods again which was something we did last time four years ago.

The last thing I’m a bit anxious about is that there’s rail strikes happening on Saturday 8th, between the days I arrive and leave, with less trains on Sunday too. Sunday evening is a busy time to get a train anyway and now it will be even more busy. To be honest the main thing is getting there, since coming back can be more flexible.

I’ve also been able to do a lot more physio exercises, building up my leg strength and doing more exercises in general, so that’s helping.

The psychology place finally replied to me. They were very apologetic as they’d got ill last week but forgot to set an out of office reply. I was getting worried as they’d seemed to ghost me! Great to have an explanation and they said that they’re on it and will speak to a psychologist they think is very suitable. So that’s also encouraging.

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