Tag: life

Posted in April 2013, Archive

A glimpse into the consequence of pain

Posted on by dystoniaandme

Normally if you are in pain or need help for some reason, you are able to call out or make a noise/movement to indicate that you need someone to assist you. I cannot always do this and to be honest it terrifies me. It is one of my bodies latest tricks. I class it as one of my Non Epileptic Attacks, even though it does not look like a seizure.

It will start with a spasm somewhere in my body, as usual I will try to ignore it and try not to get wound up. Then, if it is a bad spasm/spasms comes the agony.

Picture this, you are lying on your bed reading, ignoring the searing pain that is consuming your right leg. Suddenly the book falls from in-between your fingers. You frown, there is no spasm in your hands, so why did it fall. You have not realised that your eyebrows never moved when you frowned. You go to reach down to pick up your book, but your arms don’t move. You try to wiggle your fingers, but again they do not move.

Your getting a bit concerned now. Taking a deep calming breath, you order yourself to stay relaxed, there’s no point getting worked up as you know it will do you no good. You decided to lie on your back with your eyes closed, so that you can day-dream peacefully until your body responds better. That’s when you realise that you no longer have control of any part your body. You are stuck on your side, your arms frozen in the position they were holding the book. You cannot move. Your eyes are stinging because they are no longer blinking. Your eyes can only take so much before they spasm upwards due to the pain.

Now you are blind, unable to move and in agony. You try to yell for help, but your lips do not move and no sound comes from your throat. You are locked in your body. Unmoving, making no sound. You can feel the panic levels rising, you try to control your breathing and keep calm, but its hard. The pain from the spasms in your leg and eyes are only getting worse. You want to scream but only silent tears run down your cheeks. You can hear people in the house, they think your fine. No one will know what’s happening unless they come to check on you.

The minutes are slipping past so slowly. You have only your mental voice for company. The panic is getting worse, as is the pain. By now you know that unless someone comes to help you soon, the unconsciousness of a Non Epileptic Seizure will soon engulf you, silencing the one part of you that is still free, your mental voice.

You can feel the unconsciousness creeping up on you as the pain gets worse, its like a slow fog creeping across your brain. You can feel that your state of awareness is slipping away bit by bit. It won’t be long now. You know that there is nothing anybody can do to help you. A small part of you is welcoming the creeping fog, in a sick way it will help.

Its getting hard to think now.

The fog finally consumes you.

That is a glimpse into the latest torture that I put up with. Sometimes the unconsciousness helps, and when I regain consciousness I’m ok, other times this goes on for hours and hours, and it is truly terrifying. It takes severe pain to cause it all, and part of me is now extremely frightened of feeling pain as I know what may come with it. All I can do is hope that each spasm will not be too bad, and if it is bad, try to relax.

The sun is shinning today, and I’m taking that as a good omen for a hopefully pain-free day.

 

Posted in Archive, March 2013

Illness and Inspiration

Posted on by dystoniaandme

Over the last week I have not been well. My seizures have increased to the point that one night I seized from 12am till 6am, my body was spasming constantly and I was feeling really under the weather. The last three days I have had a temperature along with a sickness bug, so have spent the days in bed resting. As I have mentioned before Dystonia does not respond well when the body has an infection/bug, for me this means it acts up a lot. I have put this last week of bad spasms and seizures down to my body fighting off the bug and then succumbing to it.

Today whilst reading through some material on the Dystonia Society’s website I came across a section on Dystonic Storms/attacks and it has really got me wondering if my ‘new’ Non Epileptic Seizures are actually not Non Epileptic attacks and Dystonic Storms instead. In my ‘new’ type of seizures I am completely conscious  however I am unable to communicate verbally, sometimes I may be able to do this via twitching a finger or blinking my eyelids, other times I am unable to communicate in any form, which is terrifying! The Dystonia Society describe Dystonic Storms as :

“episodes of a rare condition called status dystonicus where people develop frequent and intense episodes of severe generalised dystonia. A single episode of this severe dystonia may be referred to as a ‘ Dystonic storm’ or ‘ Dystonic attack’. They usually occur in individuals who already have dystonia affecting a lot of the body…During an attack people do not lose consciousness  and are completely aware of their surroundings but they may not be able to communicate to others as the muscles of the face and larynx are often involved. “

Naturally when I next see my consultant – which shall hopefully be soon – I shall put this to him and get his thoughts on the matter. – if you would like to read more on Dystonic Storms or Dystonia in general then please visit the Dystonia Society’s website http://www.dystonia.org.uk/index.php .

I found this picture earlier on today and it inspired me.

I am not going to have a perfect day everyday, and some days I am going to struggle to find the silver lining. However something good happens everyday, it may a day from hell, but if I woken up that day and I am alive, well that is fantastic and I am going to be grateful for it. There is no point in dwelling on the negatives in life.

So I am going to ignore my spasms and seizures, force my spasming face into a smile and carry on.

Posted in Archive, March 2013

Two steps in the right Direction

Posted on by dystoniaandme

After a week of being in pain, I am feeling a lot better! On Friday one of the GPs at my Doctors surgery prescribed me a muscle relaxant to help with the spasms in my back, it has worked wonders! The spasm has gone, my body is no longer twisting and I can finally move around without being in pain! I am going to my see GP on Monday to discuss whether we keep this particular medication for emergency situations or if there a different muscle relaxant that he feels would be more beneficial.

Last night I gave myself a rather pleasant shock. I had gotten out of bed to do something, and I walked the two footsteps there!! My body did not react to it at all! You can imagine my joy, as I have not been able to do this since January 1st!!! Not wanting to push my luck I quickly hopped back into bed, trying to work out if I had done anything differently or if it was just pot luck. I am so happy, and I am hoping that my body will continue to progress like this.

It is such a relief for my body to finally be doing something ‘normal’ without over reacting. Now I know that I may not be able to do this again, it may have been complete fluke, but on the other hand it could just keep improving. All I can do is hope that this a good sign. Hopefully when I receive my leg/foot splint that the Surgical Orthotic department are making for me, this should help me progress with walking even more! I just have to accept each day as it comes, it’s all about taking baby steps, as there is no use trying to run before I can walk.

No matter how dark may life may seem, there is always a candle of hope flickering somewhere, you just have to look for it!

 

A flicker of hope at the end of a dreadful weekend.

Today has felt like someone has lit a tiny candle at the end of long tunnel, one that I am still at the beginning of. I cannot turn back, all I can do is head towards the tiny flickering light I can see in the distance. I must jump, duck, slide, and fight hurdle after hurdle on my way to that light. That light is hope! Finally being able to see it, feels like I can put everything into perspective. I can breathe, and acknowledge that no matter how much I have to go through, no matter how much physical and emotional pain I have to go through, there is happiness at the end. I will get my happy ending!

I am the type of girl, who wont just sing in the shower, I will sing under my breath in the shop, I will sing at the top of my lungs in my house. Singing, for me, creates happiness. And if by chance I am singing a song from a Disney film such as Pocahontas or Mulan, then I am completely joyful and content. However, I cannot sing when I am unconscious  I cannot sing when my body is bend backwards due to a spasm in my back, and my neck is trying to over rotate due to another spasm. Agony, causes me to have Non Epileptic Seizures  However this weekends agony, took things to a whole new level.

Saturday night, my neck and back were awful. I could not move without setting a spasm off, and as soon as I had a spasm I had a seizure. It was a vicious circle. One that I have no recollection of. My mum ended up having to sleep in my room that night, due to the agony I was in and the lack of consciousness I had. Eventually I thankfully fell asleep and the spasms and seizures stopped. I had hoped that Sunday would be a better day. Despite my neck still insisting on spasming, the morning started off well. At midday, I unfortunately collapsed from standing, giving my head and body a good whack as I landed. Whilst the spasms were slightly more frequent, at first it seemed that this fall had not done much damage. However I quickly began to deteriorate. By 7pm the seizures had become constant, and the spasms wouldn’t stop. I was getting mere seconds of consciousness now and then, before slipping straight back into another seizure. My mum had originally thought that we would do the same as the night before and ride it out, however by midnight she phoned for a paramedic, who after assessing me phoned for an ambulance.

I arrived at my local hospital at 2am. I finally regained consciousness between 5 and 6 am. A doctor did not come to see me until 8 am! This particular doctor worried us. We were completely convinced that she was a crazy cleaner who had put on some scrubs and stolen a stethoscope. On seeing me she felt my forehead and told me I was beautiful, she then informed us that there was nothing she could do for me other than pray, which she then did. Now, I have nothing against prayer. I am Christian, and I appreciate people praying for me. However when I am in a hospital it’s not what I want or need! I need medication! If I was the doctor I would have tried administering muscle relaxants to see if they would take the edge of the spasms and in turn calm down the seizures. The doctor then told my parents that the hospital could do nothing for me and they should take me home, this was despite the fact I was still having dreadful spasms and could not sit up without going into a seizure.

My mother expressed her concerns to a nurse, who then called a consultant into see us. This man was rude beyond belief, if I had been well enough to argue or make a complaint against him then and there I would have. At one point during a seizure my mother tried to shield my head to stop me from hitting it against the metal bars on the bed. The consultant told my mum to stop it and that I would not hit my head, he refused to listen when my mum pointed out that I had already hit my head on them several times. He then started rambling on about the type of seizures I was having. My mum tried to point out to him that we already knew that I was having Non Epileptic Seizures, and that we were not concerned about them, we were concerned about the sudden change in my spasms and the way they had presented themselves so violently. The consultant listened to none of this and told my mum to stop talking. He was useless, arrogant, and down right rude!

We tried to get the hospital to call my consultant up in London  to see if he could offer us any advice, but they refused to do this. My step dad had to do phone my consultants secretary instead and leave a message. Hours later, after my body had eventually calmed down, we left the hospital, with no help from them. I felt so angry and upset. I had been in extreme pain, and yet they did nothing. We had to do battle with them just to get them to give me some basic painkillers!! Once I arrived home I phoned my GP and explained the situation to him. He was extremely shocked at the lack of care I had received at the hospital and prescribed me some stronger pain relief. The whole weekend had left me feeling physically and emotionally broken. It was ridiculous.

Today, I had to go back to the hospital. Luckily this time it was just for an appointment with the surgical orthotic department. The man I saw was superb. He had dealt with Dystonia before and had a good understanding of it. After having a feel of my legs and getting me to stand up and show him the spasm, he said he thought he could help! He is going to make a splint that should hopefully prevent the spasms twisting my leg into painful positions. Whilst we there he made a plaster cast of my leg/foot, which should be ready for me in around 3 -4 weeks. He said that if the splint did not work for me then he would look at what other ways there were for him to help me!  After telling him about the spasms my arm does, he suggested I get my GP to do another referral to him so that we can look at what he can do to help contain the spasm.

It was such a positive appointment. It helped me to not completely give up hope on Doctors and showed me that there are a handful out there who want to help you. You just have to find them. Both my neck and back have behaved so far today, which is fantastic and gives my body some much-needed relief. I feel slightly ‘normal’ again, to the point that I can see the distant light at the end of the tunnel. I can now relax and sing along to my favourite songs, knowing that no matter what happens and how bad it seems, there is always going to be something positive at the end of it. I just have to find it!

Posted in Archive, March 2013

Life Challenges: Would you fight or would you run?

Posted on by dystoniaandme

At 20 years old I didn’t expect to feel like my world was crumbling around me. I thought that I would be out clubbing with my friends, or trying to stay awake during a night shift on placement. I expected to be having the time of my life. The reality is extremely different to the expectations I had.

Today I felt like life was trying to show me just how difficult it could make my life. I knew this weekend would be a hard one anyone due to personal things, however it has so far been hell. Yesterday afternoon until I went to bed, my hand did an extremely painful spasm, that resulted in me having hours of Non Epileptic Seizures, with only a few seconds of consciousness in between. Then today I have spent the majority of the day unconscious having seizures. Again these were caused by a bad hand spasm.

I feel like every bit of normality I had (e.g uni, relationship, walking, freedom) has been cruelly snatched away from me. I have to fight constantly with different government departments, with the NHS, and with my own brain. I won’t ever give up, but at the same time I am already very emotionally and physically tired.

Today due to spasms and seizures I have not been able to get out of my bed. I have felt so many emotions, such as anger and sadness, in some ways I feel as if today has defeated me. Now I know I will get up tomorrow and continue to fight, but I should not have to fight! Days like today I dread because of the way I feel physically and emotionally. I am lucky that bad days are few and far between. I have not felt this bad since January 1st. I will never stop fighting Dystonia, just like I will always campaign to raise awareness of it.

I keep thinking how silly it is of me to get so upset over everything that has happened to me. I could be so much worse off. I guess in a way I am grieving for the life I had, whilst carefully trying to create some degree of normality for myself. Life challenges us all in different ways. Whether we run screaming away from them at the top of our lungs or battle it with all we have, is up to the individual. For me I shall battle on, whilst knowing that on some days Benedict is going to have won and I am going to be unable to cope, but that is just at that moment in time. Who knows how I will feel the next day or the next month or even the next year! I need to learn when to accept defeat for that day and start preparing myself to battle on the next.

Image

 

Posted in Archive, February

Late Night Antics

Posted on by dystoniaandme

Yesterday my body was seemingly well-behaved. The only time it got irritated was when I went out for an hour or so, and my foot really did not want to be put in my shoe, and my eyes went blind a few times due to the lighting. However all in all, I found this to be an extremely positive and promising day.

As I was still feeling shattered after the busy week I had had, I decided it would be best to go to bed early. Meaning that when I went to bed, I would actually go to sleep and not pick up Harry Potter (I am rereading the series for what must be the 40th time) and read for hours. My little Dystonia alien, Benedict, however had other plans for me. I was just beginning to drift off to sleep when I felt the familiar tightening sensation in my leg and foot. I decided to ignore this and carried on trying to get to sleep. Benedict, unhappy that he had not managed to grab my attention, then decided to bend my foot as far back as it could possibly go. This roused me, however I tried to stay calm, and implemented my breathing exercises from my meditation CD. My leg then started doing two rather painful movements. It seemed to be trying to rotate so it was completely back to front, whilst going slightly upwards and pulling outwards, as if trying to go in the air whilst attempting to dislocate itself. This completely woke me up, with all hope of sleep gone,  I flipped myself over, so that I was lying on my stomach, to try to counteract the spasm by forcing it into the mattress.  I then started doing distraction techniques, such as making my good leg do movements, reciting lyrics in my head etc. In the end I switched on my Ipod, and just focused on my breathing. I did this to not only to keep me calm, but also to try and lull my body into a state of relaxation.

It was 3 am by the time the spasms relaxed, it only took 5 long hours, and I was finally allowed to drift off to sleep. Whilst this was an irritating experience, as I like and need my sleep, it was also a positive one. I manage to cope with it all without panicking. I kept calm, and did all the distraction techniques I knew, and tried each one for a fair amount of time, before allowing myself to give in and just let the spasm run its course.

Today has been a fairly good day. My Dystonia had not been that bad, so I am rather happy. I did not have my usual soup for dinner today as I am trying to up my protein intake, so I had mashed up fish fingers, mashed potato and beans instead. Whilst this was nice and extremely filling, it sadly set my jaw off. Recently when my jaw spasms, it has just been my lips going – thanks to the Botox treatment. However this evening my jaw also deviated to the left when it went into spasm. Thankfully the deviation was nowhere near as extreme as it has been before. I am hoping that this deviation is a fluke, as my last lot of Botox treatment was only administered about 5 weeks ago, so I still have 7 more weeks to go before I can have any more.

I am hoping for a quiet and relaxed day tomorrow. Which will be full of positivity!

 

Posted in Archive, February

Positive Proactive Progress!

Posted on by dystoniaandme

As I sit here, beginning another blog post that allows you all to witness what it is like to live life with Dystonia, I must admit that I have an almighty smile spread across my face. The last few days have each been perfect in their own ways. I spent the whole of Tuesday in bed recovering from Mondays lovely trip to Chelmsford. To some of you this may seem lazy or even a waste of a day, so let me reassure you this was completely and utterly necessary, I barely had the energy to sit up! Yet I was perfectly happy due to the fabulous day I had the day before. I am also enjoying some lovely choccies that my man brought me for Valentines Day.

Yesterday one of my oldest friends came to visit me. I had not been able to see him, in a long time due to me moving to Essex for university and us both being broke students. So it was fantastic to have a really good catch up, which was full of laughter. By the time he left, my spirits were soaring. Socializing does the world of good for me, it allows me to feel ‘normal’. He has promised to come and see me more often, as now I am only a 20 minute bus ride away from him. I shall hopefully see him again in just under two weeks time.

Today I had my riding lesson. Once again it was fantastic, I love the thrill riding gives me. There is nothing like it. The horse I ride, Connie, is so very lovely and patient, and puts up so well with my different style of mounting. We did lots of trotting whilst weaving in and out of cones today, which I loved. Towards the end of the lesson, with my instructor watching carefully, I stood up in my stirrups, whilst walking. I managed this fairly well, now and then my right leg would decided it had had enough and would shoot forwards, causing me to sit/drop back down into the saddle. However every time it relaxed again I stood straight back up. We did the exercise repeatedly until my right leg really had had enough and I lost the feeling/connection to it. Riding is not on next week as it is the local school’s half term holiday, so I am counting down the days until the 28th when I can go back.

Yesterday and today, I attempted placing my foot on the floor to see how it would react. When it was placed flat on the ground, it spasmed rather violently, and I had to wait a fair while for it to calm down. Once it had, I tried it again, though this time I only placed my toes very lightly on the ground. This time there was no reaction. This is good progress!!! I plan on doing this a few times a day, if this all goes well then in a weeks time, I shall attempt to put my foot flat on the ground again. I hope if I keep trying this, then I shall be able to get back some of the movement I had managed to build up back in December.

This week has truly been fantastic. With only one real hiccup,  my right hand decided it had had enough of me writing and decided to spasm violently. I happened to be holding a fountain pen at the time, so ink ended up all over my face, hand, quilt etc. However I found this to be quiet amusing.

I have several more brilliant days planned, which I am really looking forward to! I know that I am going to be completely exhausted by the end of it all and my body will most likely try to get revenge, however it is worth it! I have accepted that at this time because I have Dystonia and Non Epileptic Seizures, I am disabled, however I refuse to let these conditions control my life. I am going to live life the best I can, and I shall enjoy every second of it.

Just watch me!

 

Posted in Archive, January

Hospital visit and a girlie shopping day!

Posted on by dystoniaandme

Today started out on a bit of a low but ended on a high. This morning my step dad and I, set out rather early to battle the snow, to get me to a hospital appointment in Chelmsford, Essex. The drive normally takes an hour from Tring (Hertfordshire) but due to snowy conditions took a lot longer than expected and at times we were doubtful we would make it there on time. Thankfully we arrived at the hospital 20 minutes early so had time for a quick coffee before going into see my consultant.

I was getting the results back from some procedures I had recently had (2 different types of Endoscopy’s) , in relation to difficulties I have had for some time with vomiting  regurgitation and acid reflux. It turns out I have a condition called Rumination syndrome. For many years this condition  was thought to be a psychogenic condition that only affect infants and mentally disabled people. However, more recently it has been discovered that it can affect healthy infants, adolescents and adults as well, and in the majority of cases is not psychogenic… yet they still have not found out what causes this. It is poorly understood and is often unheard of by the medical profession, patients and public. Unfortunately there are no pills or surgery to cure the condition  My consultant also believes that I have Dystonia affecting my Oesophagus and thinks that this aggravates the Rumination Syndrome. However, the Rumination Syndrome, does not really bother me at the moment, so I am not to fussed about it. I know that by the time I wake up tomorrow I will most likely have forgotten all about it. That may sound silly but I do not see the point in concentrating on the negatives in life.

On a more positive note however, whilst I was in Chelmsford today, I went and met up with one of my close uni friends, and had a fabulous girlie day out shopping! I tried to push myself around the shops, however my arm was not at its best and after sending a number of objects flying in New Look, we deemed it sensible for Emma to spend the rest of the day pushing me around. The poor girl.

I had such a fantastic time. Not only did I get to have a good catch up with her but I also felt like a normal everyday young adult! I did not have my parents with me, which gave me more independence, and I felt like I was on top of the world. The day went perfectly minus one or two spasms. It gave me so much confidence.

I was rather sad to leave Chelmsford, as when I was at uni there, I completely loved the city, and could not imagine ever moving away from it. The last time I was there was the day I moved out of the uni accommodation in July last year, after Dystonia put a stop to my Midwifery training.

However I refuse to focus on the negative. I am concentrating on how much of an amazing day it was and it was so good to see my friend. I am completely exhausted from it, so I am going to bed early tonight. I have a great week planned, a friend is coming to see me on Wednesday, I am going riding on Thursday, another uni friend is coming to see me on Friday, my boyfriend is coming round on Saturday and my grandparents are coming over on Sunday! It is going to be a good week.

Posted in Archive, February

Benedict’s Obstacle Course.

Posted on by dystoniaandme

 Imagine this: You wake up in the morning, your eyelids open but you can see nothing due to a spasm pulling your eyes back. You massarge around your eyes blinking violently, trying to beat the first obstacle of the day. Suddenly your sight is back! You celebrate silently, not wanting Benedict to realise you have won, in-case he wants to take revenge. Next you decide to dress quickly before he wakes up and realises what you are doing. You have your top half done, and one leg in your jeans, when suddenly Benedict strikes! Your right leg contorts, as if it’s trying to physically turn backwards, meanwhile your foot has turned under and is dragging along the floor. You stop, take a deep breath, and then start attacking your own leg. Desperately trying to get your jeans over it.

Bang! Your hurried attempts have caused you to fall backwards on to your bed. However you keep on wrestling with your leg until finally you have won. You are officially dressed. You look in the mirror, do you dare attempt to tame your hair and do your make up? With a quick glance at the clock, you decide to attempt to do it. Nervously you brush through your hair, and quickly put it up in a simple pony tail. Relief sweeps through your body. Now on to the make up. Your doing well, almost done. Then, suddenly, pain sears through your eye. Your right hand, which is holding the mascara brush, has spasmed, causing the brush to go straight into your eye.

It has now been two hours since you got up. You have finally managed to get dressed, with hair and most your make up done. Now you need to get through to the living room, so you can grab your bag. Splinting your right hand up first, so as to contain any more unwanted spasms, you slip your arms through your crutches and hop out your room into the hall way. You glance down at the shoes and bags scattered around on the floor like a minefield, and hop around them. Careful not to misplace a crutch or slip.

Now you have reached the penultimate hurdle. You squeeze yourself past the sofa and clothes horse into the living room. Reaching down you pick up your handbag, and swing it over your shoulder. You give yourself a satisfactory smile. You are beating Benedict’s obstacle course so far. You start hopping forwards. You go to squeeze back through the gab between the sofa and the clothes horse…when your right knee collides with the end of the sofa. The knock immediately triggers a spasm. Your leg is twisting side ways and upwards. Pain is taking over. Your balance is now lost. You haphazardly try to place your crutches in a position that will stabilise you. It is a losing battle. You fall backwards onto the other sofa that is just behind you.

After the spasm has calmed down, you decide to take on the final hurdle. This time you choose to leave the crutches behind. Hoping that it will enable you to pass through the dangerous gap between the sofa and clothes horse with ease. You jump up onto your good leg. Keeping your right one off the floor, bent slightly. With arms whirling round widely to prevent you from falling, you hop successfully past the sofa and back into the hallway. You have finally reached the front door! You do not have much further to go. You link your arm round a family member for support and hop out the door. In front of you lies three large steps. Each one looks like a mountain. It fills you with dread. Half of you wants to turn back around, go back to bed and claim defeat. However you hold your ground and preserver, refusing to give in to the evil Dystonia alien, Benedict. You bend your good knee, and cling to the railing with your working/free arm and hop up the huge steps.

You have finally reached your goal. You have reached the car that is waiting to take you to your doctor’s appointment. For the mean time, you have beaten Benedict the Dystonia alien.

Welcome to my life!

 

Posted in Archive, January

Amazing Progress!

Posted on by dystoniaandme

Today has been truly wonderful! I had my third R.D.A lesson, and I made so much progress today. I really shocked myself! In the last two lessons I have had, I have had a leader and two volunteers on either side of me, so that they can catch me if I have a Non Epileptic Seizure whilst on the horse. However at the start of my lesson today I only had a leader, and by the end of the first ten minutes it had been decided I did not have a need for a leader!!! This was fantastic and I was extremely happy.

We spend the majority of the lesson in trot, and practising changing the rein in trot etc. This I adored, as I was being allowed to do even more than I had done in my previous lessons. I normally just do sitting trot and I just try to stay as still as possible in the saddle, however as my Dystonic leg was behaving rather well today, my instructor and I decided that I should give rising trot a go. I was slightly nervous at the idea of it, as I did not know how my leg would react. It turned out that I had no reason to worry!! I put as much weight as possible through my left leg (the working one), and started doing a slightly lop sided (but who cares about that) rising trot. To say I was in heaven would be an understatement. I felt so carefree and alive. I could have cried with happiness when I realised that all my leg had done in reaction was to twist sideways!!! This was such amazing progress and has given me so much confidence!!

There are not enough words to describe how much I love riding!! I treasure every single second of it, and feel very lucky to have the opportunity to ride among such a vibrant and supportive group of people.

I also attended my support/research group. As usual I had a laugh with the group, and really enjoyed the session. I had also made progress in the group, by being able to do some of the relaxation methods more successfully than I had managed previously. I left feeling very relaxed and over-joyed from having such a great day, full of amazing progress!