18th December: Farewell to Asher

This has been a special week. Asher and Simon have been able to hang out together in the Vale visiting some favourite haunts and catching up on many stories since they last met. It has been wonderful to have our good friend here for Simon's first week at home and it was with great sadness that we said goodbye today. We will all meet again; soon I hope.

Meanwhile, we have acquired a dog. His name is Spike Milligan Shurville, a maltese cross (unspecified), just about a year old and mad as a hatter. Spike came from the RSPCA rescue centre where he had been taken in as a stray. His fur was terribly matted and about five inches thick, so they had him sheered. When we met him he looked like a little skin-head. Spike has settled in well at our new home although our cat, Skippy, is not happy about it. For the moment, we keep Spike in the laundry at night while Skippy comes indoors, then release Spike in the mornings once Skippy has gone out on patrol.

Simon has four weeks of rehab in the home underway. Almost everyday a therapist from one of the disciplines (speech, physio, occupational therapy) comes out to McLaren Vale from the Repat hospital (a long way to travel) and spends up to an hour with Simon. We also have a therapist who comes three mornings to help with showering. This team is doing really good work with Simon, his speech is particularly improved. I have learned a lot about how to transfer from bed to wheelchair to shower-chair etc. We have also successfully managed to transfer to and from the car and load the wheelchair into the boot of the car. This is difficult and heavy work and quite painful for Simon but it gives us a bit of flexibility to go out of the house.

We had some disappointing news about the funding for Simon's home assistance and his powered wheelchair. The state agency responsible for this had run out of funds (only six months into their budget) and said that we were on a hopeless waiting list. We really cannot do without the powered wheelchair, Simon would be trapped in the house on his own, he cannot manage the ramps by himself and it is dangerous in the event of fire. My sister, Margaret, got on the case today. She made repeated phone calls to various state agencies insisting that Simon should have priority for funding. After much perserverance, she got them to agree to raid next year's budget (six months ahead) to fund Simon's wheelchair. It might still take several weeks, but we think that this will happen. When Simon heard this news he insisted that we jump in the car and go to see Margaret to thank her in person. Which we did. We found her at the plumbing shop where a number had gathered for the staff/customer/hangers on xmas barbecue. This was a lovely way to end our day. Here are some pictures of Simon and Gerry in the plumbing shop warehouse, and Raina (aged three) with her daddy driving the fork-lift!

Pictures of Spike to follow....

Love Marian x