Welcome back! 🇵🇱✈️🇮🇪

🦋 Home is not a place, it’s a feeling 🦋

I was at home in Poland for another 6 months (March-September 2016), but this time it didn’t feel so long plus it was much more pleasant 🤗. Dad’s and granny’s home cooking🤤😋, organic fruit & veg from grandparents’ garden 🍊🍒🥬🍎🍋, freshly caught fish by grandad 🎣🐟, surrounded by family 👨‍👩‍👧💕, and plenty of sun ☀️were just some of many advantages. The food was such a huge change compared to hospital food, even though my dad was always buying me extra food from the shop. Main meals were provided by the rehabilitation centre/hospital, with no chance of cooking by yourself. Funny story actually 😂🙉 just reminded myself…every dinner I was getting these steamed meatballs, everyday the same! 😱🍽🧆, so after a week or so, my dad just grabbed the plate and took it to the kitchen, to find out what was happening?! You will never guess why I was getting the same boiled/steamed boring main course every day 🙈🙉 the reason is actually very funny 😂. “Your daughter is on a special diet plan”… “Special diet? For what🤔?!”... It turned out that according to them I had a liver problem/damage 🤷🏻‍♀️. First time I heard to be honest 🙄🤦🏻‍♀️ It was news to me 😁! Anyway that got straightened out, so no more meat balls for me 😜🙌-Thank God 🙏😇. What a choice for a patient with a liver problem anyway 🤦🏻‍♀️🙄. At least they were boiled, not fried…😮. They seriously needed to fire the nutritionist working there 🤭🤫! (Just my opinion-harsh but honest!) 😅🤷🏻‍♀️🙊. As a nutritionist you’re supposed to improve people’s health through food, it’s so important, especially in a hospital environment, where people go with multiple health issues and the main goal is to heal themselves, right?!🤔 I’ve seen that across the board-very poor, non-nutritious food in hospitals/nursing homes, etc. But that’s a totally separate problem-HUGE issue that needs fixing (again just in my opinion). I’m talking from experience…I’ve been there, and I’ve seen it…👎❌

“Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food”

~Hippocrates

I had private physiotherapy Monday to Saturday at home usually twice a day, my dad was my main carer, and my mum was working and living in Ireland 🤷🏻‍♀️. It wasn’t ideal, and we had to get back… Mr P along with my mum applied for my admission to the National Rehabilitation Centre (NRH) Dún Laoghaire. As I mentioned in my previous post I was really excited about going there, because I heard amazing things about the place, but most of all they had this amazing machine there-Robotic Gait Training 👣. Little did I know, I would never get to use it 🙄🥺 (that’s the lokomat therapy that I’m doing now at An Saol). Yet another place I heard “amazing” things about 🤦🏻‍♀️🙄, I should have learnt my lesson the first time 🤷🏻‍♀️, but you live and learn. Now I don’t believe until I actually see for myself, especially about a rehabilitation place being wonderful! 🙄

Here are some videos from my rehabilitation in Poland 👇

🛩🏨 Beaumont Hospital-September 2016 🇮🇪

From Dublin airport I went straight to Beaumont hospital for some tests and brain scans, before I could be admitted to NRH. Hospital again 🤦🏻‍♀️🙄 for a week. My parents were with me during the day for a few hours, and Mr P would visit in the evenings. But at night I was all alone 😨😓🥺. First night I was in the main ward, with other patients, our beds separated by a curtain. The next day I was moved to a private side room. It was better for privacy, however no one would check on me, unless I pressed the call bell 🛎. That was fine during the day, because I would usually have someone there, or staff would come in and out to bring food, carry out some tests and doctor’s rounds etc. At night, the whole ward would be very quiet 🤫, and kind of scary if you ask me 😣😱…

One night I woke up for some reason, I don’t exactly remember why 🤷🏻‍♀️. Either to be repositioned-because of discomfort, or I was cold and needed help fixing the covers. I went to press the bell, that was close to me on my bed, and you won’t believe what happened…🤦🏻‍♀️🙄 the bell fell on the ground before I managed to press it! 🤬😳😰What now!? 🤷🏻‍♀️ I looked around 👀 and started calling for help. Unfortunately no one was coming. I waited and waited, listening out for anyone passing the corridor outside my room door 👀👂🏼. Very rarely there was any movement outside, and whenever I could hear someone passing by I would call again…and again…and again, but nothing! I couldn’t fall back asleep, so I kept trying to call for help 🗣🆘, until I finally gave up. It took a very long time to fall back asleep, I must have been very uncomfortable, or cold 🥶. I’ll never forget that night…this time I was in the room alone, not like months ago in neurology ward (when similar situation took place🙄-post called “HELP). This time I was all alone, thank God it wasn’t an emergency that was life threatening, because there was no way I could alert anyone to help me…but hey! What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger 💪 isn’t that what they say? If that’s true then by now I’m pretty indestructible 💪💁🏻‍♀️🦾🧘🏻‍♀️. Next step, NRH Dún Laoghaire-in my next post 🦋🤗.

🦋 When something bad happens you have three choices. You can either let it define you, let is destroy you, or you can let it strengthen you…🦋

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