It's gone crazy!

After being on the Radio re my role as a 24hr carer, life had to go back to normal.  My phone was busier than ever from texts on my mobile to phone calls from the the respite unit, PR man from Aberlour Childcare Trust and even from the producer of the radio show.

I had to pick Jack up from school, as he had an appointment for Craniosacral Therapy.  It takes 15 mins to drive to Forres so I turned up, on time I hasten to add which is quite rare for me, only to find that Jack is being changed.  After 10 minutes they came to get me and I thought they were ready but he'd just had a seizure and they had to change him again as his sling was wet!  As we were chatting, my mobile rang and it was a journalist from the Sunday Herald asking to chat to me about Jack and being a carer.  I told him that I only could give him 5 minutes of my time as I had to rush off to an appointment with Jack.  It was quite noisy in the unit so I headed out off into a quiet part of the school corridor.

Finally Jack was ready, half an hour after I had arrived and I was going to be about 15 minutes late for my appointment.  I tried to call Joanna, the therapist but I only had her home phone number so could only leave a message on her answering machine.    My stress levels were getting higher by the minute as I hate messing people about and sods law, there was so much traffic on the road so it took nearly 20 minutes instead of the usual 15.  Once there, getting Jack out of the car took another few minutes and finally I arrived, windswept and interesting at Health Works where Joanna was waiting patiently for me!  She wasn't in the least bit fazed by my lateness, reassuring me that "things happen" and it "can't be helped".  Suffice to say, we swapped mobile numbers after that so that we can text each other if there is a problem in the future.



We had a quick catch up and she asked "were you on the radio or am I thinking of someone else?".  I laughed and said "yes it was definitely me and now the Sunday Herald just did a quick interview with me while I was waiting for Jack!".  I was feeling particular sick at this point because when I am with my friends and family, I have no problem being the centre of attention because I am with people who know me well but putting myself and Jack in the spotlight like this was inviting a whole lot more attention than I would like and felt comfortable with.

Joanna was very gentle with Jack not pushing him too hard as he was still wiped out from the seizure but he was sneaking a peek at her quite a few times and she even managed to coax a half smile from him.  I always feel so tired while I am sitting next to Jack in these sessions!  I think it is a combination of me relaxing a little and  getting a blast of Cranio while sitting next to Jack.

Jack always sleeps really well after these sessions and his muscles are so much more relaxed.  I've been taking him to Joanna for over 2 years now and his muscles were so so tight back then compared to what they are like now, it has been a huge help. She doesn't have any equipment or gimmicks, she just uses her hands.

Holly once sat in on a session and she said that she could feel the effects of the Cranio just by being in the room.  She likened it to a wave pushing up against her and she tried to push it back but it was so strong and it gave her a headache! I on the other hand don't get anything like that at all and if I didn't see the effects of her work first hand I probably would be a bit of a sceptic.

After the session, I headed home to pick up Holly from school as she had guitar lessons and it was back to Forres again.

When I got home, there was a message from the Sunday Herald photo desk so I called them back and they wanted to arrange a photographer to take our photos.  And there was me thinking that I had escaped that delight! Have I told you how much I hate getting my photo taken??? Nearly as much as I hate being in the spotlight!

We arranged it for the next day. The photographer was a lovely guy, very genuine and professional.  He wanted to get a photo of Jack sitting on my knee but when he saw the size of Jack he thought he had perhaps rethink his plans but I said I was willing to give it a go.  We ended up taking the photo in the grounds of the school that looks onto my garden and then others in the house.  He was with us for two hours and we were all over the place and so was he.  He was snapping away from all angles and at one point was lying on his stomach.  I didn't realise how much I blinked until I was faced with a camera for two hours.

I had to be so serious in the pics too and I was really struggling with the "poker face" let me tell you as I smile a LOT considering the life I lead but I managed! I was exhausted after he had gone and I had a wee chuckle to myself thinking "thank god I am not model material cos it was really really hard work".  John (that was the photographer's name) took some lovely photos, I know cos he showed me some of them. I commented that  "it is rare for me to get photos of myself with Jack as it is usually me taking the photos" so he said that he would send me some via email.  How lovely is he??? People never cease to surprise me and blow me away with their kindness and thoughfulness.

I never expected it to be such a huge article so when my dad called this morning to say we had made front page I was expecting there to be only a small picture accompanied by writing but click here to see just how wrong I was!!!

Hopefully the article will highlight the plight of people who care and who are so so exhausted.  Oh and you can tell that I really did have my serious face on!