50. 23

This Friday was my 23rd birthday. My friends Joe and Anna came down from Sheffield for the weekend. Because Anna will be living with me at university, they met my therapists. They talked about the assistance I will need in my routines, and her practising walking with me. I'll probably have to get a light-weight walker/lean-on zimmer frame for the job. Dad took Joe, Anna and me home. Joe was immediately roped into helping dad take our broken washing to the tip, then he and Anna made a cake for that evening. We then took this cake to my godmother's,  who also has the same birthday as me, and we had a family/ friends meal together.

On Saturday, I had a special birthday treat from the NHS; an MRI scan! At 8:00, I was the first appointment of the day. This was the follow-up to my last scan in January, so I did want it. To be honest, I hadn't slept that well the night before, so being asked to lie in silence for 45 minutes wasn't really a big trial. Yes, it was incredibly noisy, all that beeping and knocking, but I wasn't too bothered.

Later that day, I'd invited about 20 young people to join me at my house for a few hours. These were peers from school and my gap year, flatmates and coursemates, my cousins and students from my church. I thought hard about who to invite, but trusted everyone to be grown up enough to socialise amongst each other. We'd got mario kart and bananagrams in the front room, the garden opened up, and we converted mum's study/my downstairs bedroom into a 'cosy room'. Joe and Anna were sent to the shops, helped prepare lunch, and made the same cake all over again. Invaluable.

It all worked really well! We had cake together in the garden, and I walked out to join everyone. People said "speech!" but let's be real, I'd have probably just cried. It felt like too much of a milestone, and I felt so honoured by all the people who had travelled to see me. Some had seen me last in intensive care, and I hadn't seen them all year. It really was amazing how so many rallied to my call. I'll be seeing some again in Sheffield soon, as they also return (from year-abroads) to complete final year.

I've got two more weeks here in my centre. I will be relieved to finish living in a care home, and to be around students again. Looking back, I've learnt a lot about neurology, and interacting with all different kinds of people, but I've learnt it the hard way. Amongst the important lessons learned, about taking people as they are, and just how paradoxical and socially awkward care is, I've seen the best and the worst of the system. However, I know I've made amazing progress here, and the support I've been given has been so rewarding. Two more weeks left to really make the most of everything on offer.

EDIT: I also had all my hair shaved off to a number 2. Because I donated the hair to the Little Princess Charity, the barber I went to did it for free. It was 46cm.

Nearly everyone!