Dawn Seals Communication
School
When I was two and a half, I went to a special school called Hebden Green for children with disabilities for 2 mornings each week.
My teacher was called Mrs Solari and the head teacher of the nursery unit was Toni Finley. They helped me to start learning to use a computer. Toni saw computers as being a big part of my future so they focused on that. I met a boy called Alex, he was 2 years older than me and I fancied him. I stayed for my dinner and went home after that.
Mum found out that she was pregnant again with my brother Peter. While Mum went for her check ups, I would stay with my Grandad. When Mum saw the doctor she said she was worried that the same thing might happen again when she had to deliver. She said to the doctor that she either wanted a C section or a termination because she couldn't go through nine months of wondering if it would happen again. The consultant told her that they would make sure she had a 'perfect'baby this time! He told her that they would deliver the baby by Caesarean section when she was 38 weeks pregnant.
When Mum went for a check up at 37 weeks, she saw a different doctor. He checked her over and said to return for another check up in two weeks time. Mum said to him that he obviously hadn't read her notes properly. He said he had.Mum said that if he had, he would know that she had a daughter with a physical disability and that she needed to have somebody to look after her whilst her mum was in hospital. He told her to go in the following Wednesday and have her baby on Thursday. Mum had Peter by C section on 26th November 1987.
When Mum woke up she asked Dad if the baby's legs were all right. She explained that when she had had her second scan at 28 weeks, they hadn-t shown her the baby's legs. The nurse told her his legs were fine and that the reason they hadn't shown her the legs was because it was obvious that he was a boy. In those days, hospitals would not tell you the sex of the baby. They wanted to call him Alexander Peter but I couldn't say Alexander. So they called him Peter Alexander.
I stayed with Grandma and Grandad while Mum and Dad were at the hospital.
I was the first person to see Peter.
One day me and Mum were shopping and saw Toni, the head teacher from my nursery, her husband and 2 of their boys. She ran towards me and said I was Dawn, the little girl that she looked after at school. She had 3 boys and loved them to bits but I was the little girl that Toni had always wanted.
Dad worked for the Coal Board in Stoke on Trent and was offered a job in Nottingham. That meant that we had to move house and I had to move school.
Dad went to look at houses on his own because Mum had to look after me and Peter.
Dad found our new house, it was in Mansfield.
Anthony went back to live with his Mum.
Me, Mum and Dad went to look at new special schools in Nottingham. We looked around the first school and I sat in a buggy curled up in a ball because I didn't like it. nNeither did Mum or Dad. Mum said she hoped we liked the next one.
We looked at Fountaindale School, I stayed in the nursery while Mum and Dad looked around the school. We all liked the school.
Mum asked Toni, at Hebden Green if I could increase my days there to prepare me for my new school as when I moved to Nottingham I had to go to school for 5 days, all day. Toni let me go for 3 full days.
I started at Fountaindale special school 2nd May 1988.
I went into the nursery with Mrs Michael, the teacher and Paula the classroom assistant. We had a lot of fun.
In December, the head teacher, Mr Newnes retired. So we had a new head teacher called Miss Brighton. Things were very different because she wanted the school to follow the national curriculum instead of us just having fun.
We had physiotherapy to fit in as well as lessons. Not all the teachers liked that because to them, their subjects were more important. Physiotherapy is just as important because it maintains the body and stops the disability getting any worse.
I had to have a body brace because I couldn't sit very well. That helped me a lot. I only wore it until dinner time to allow my body to work for itself rather than be dependant on it.
I really worked hard at physiotherapy because I knew it helped me.
Sometimes me and my friend Rob did physiotherapy together as we had a similar disability and worked well together.
After 4 years in the nursery I moved into Miss Noyes´s class. One day Mum came in and noticed that when the teacher was doing a question and answer session, the ones who couldn't talk switched off and looked into space. This was because the ones who could speak, shouted out the answers. Mum told her this and Miss Noyes was horrified and tried to changed it to make sure we were all an active part of the lesson.
There was a boy who came for 1 day a week, his name was STM. I really liked him. After a while we were boyfriend and girlfriend. Before I had a talker STM used to talk for me. He used to get frustrated when the staff didn't listen to me. He also fed me too as I couldn't feed myself.
One Christmas, Miss Noyes arranged for the whole class to go to the Victoria Centre shopping centre, in Nottingham, to do some Christmas shopping. There was a letter sent out asking parents if they could write a shopping list and send money for us to spend. I bought Peter a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles torch and some candles for Mum and Dad.
Mum took the things off me and hid them until Christmas day.
At school, we always had a concert at Christmas time, different every year. Mrs Pursglove, the music teacher did her best to do something different but when it's the Christmas story, you can't really change it.
Peter really liked the torch that I bought him. Somebody else bought him a Thomas the tank one as well.
When I was 5, I had to have plaster casts put on my feet and up to my knee, to stretch my tendons. I didn't like the procedure so Anthony came to school to help to hold me still while it was done. They left them on for 6 weeks.
Miss Brighton was getting married and the school decided to celebrate it by having a mock wedding. They chose me to be the bride and Rob to the groom. We dressed up in wedding clothes, I still had pots on my feet to.
Aged 6, I had to have to have an operation on my tummy to repair a hernia, at Queen Medical Centre. Miss K, was my consultant. I stayed in hospital over night and then was allowed to go home.
Miss Noyes and the class came to visit me at home. They stayed about half an hour because my classmates went home by taxi and had to be back at school before the taxies arrived to collect them.
I was told I couldn't do PE or swimming for 6 weeks.
I had a swimming party for my 7th birthday at Water Meadows swimming baths, in Mansfield, during school time, so that all my school friends would be there. A lot of them lived quite a long way from school and wouldn't have been able to come to a party after school. As we pulled up outside, Anthony was waiting for us. Nobody knew that he was coming. My Grandma and Grandad were there as well.
We went in and got changed. There was a big water flume and Anthony took me and everyone of my friends on it. After a while we had to get ready to go back to school and Anthony had to go back to work. It was a nice suprise that he came to join us. He has his own business now, as a burglar alarm installer.
When we got back to school, mum had provided a buffet so we had that instead of our school dinner. After lunch, we could do anything we wanted to, so I went into the nursery. Neil, one of the post 16 students, came down to see me, with his Mum Margaret, to give me a present. It was a teddy which I've still got.
When I got home, I got changed into some party clothes then all of us went into town to McDonald´s for another party, for my other friends and Peter, because Peter missed out on the swimming party. We all had a happy meal and birthday cake. Then we played some games.
Anthony and Mandy (his girlfriend) announced that she was expecting a baby. It was due on my 8th birthday. When Peter was told about the baby and that he would be an uncle, he said, 'No I won't.' When it was my birthday, Anthony and Mandy sent a card, that said, 'To Dawn, happy birthday, lots of love from Anthony, Mandy, Becky (Mandy´s daughter) and 'the bump'.The baby didn't arrive until a week later, 5th March, 1993.
They called him Thomas Owen Seals. We went to see him the week after he was born. I held him for a moment or two.
At school, we had to do government tests (SATS) to check that the teachers were teaching us the right things. The teachers thought it was to pick fault with them.
Mum and Dad bought a time share in Tenerife, at the Paradise Club. We met Lin, who ran the kids club. We went to Tenerife nearly every year.
Before I had a talker of my own, the speech thearpist sometimes gave me a simple talker to use for a while, then, as I was starting to get used to it, would take it away again.
When I was 10 I was nominated, along with my friend Rob, for a project to see how two youngsters would get on with a talker and weekly speech therary with a communication specialist. It was a year long project and I progressed very well but, there were a few problems.. Everybody expected me to start speaking with it, using proper sentences. They seemed to forget that I had to learn where all the words were and how to build up sentences (I could not write but was able to read). The talker they gave me was called a Liberator, which had 128 icons or pictures on it. It was very complex and took time to learn it. I was in Mrs Keward's class and she was quite supportive.
I really wanted to learn how to use the talker because would help me communicate with other people. My own speech improved. It took all the frustration out of communication.
Mum and Dad thought that having a talker would take away the little speech that I'd got, but, my speech improved quite a lot so they were really pleased.
Rob didn't like his talker much, he thought people looked at him more. He didn't like drawing attention to himself.
Our parents were told that they would have to find funds to buy the talkers which cost £8,000. We could have them until we left school.
They were worried that they couldn't raise that much. When the year was up they were told that the talkers had been paid for by the project and that we could keep them, without our parents having to buy them.
The school speech thearpist we had, at that time, was more interested in the pupils who could talk and those who had feeding problems. So we didn't get much speech theapy until she left.
At Christmas time Sooty and Matthew Corbet came and stayed at our school. This was because when Matthew's wife, Sally, was poorly, and they were in Mansfield, doing Sooty shows at the theatre, the school offered them beds, until she got better.
As a thank you to the school, they returned every year. During the week that they stayed at our school, we had a 'Sooty dinner' where the cast from the show joined us for lunch. After the dinner the hall was cleared so that Matthew and Sooty could do a bit of the show for us.
Each year, we lined up to meet Sooty. When it came to my turn, Matthew told me to put my around Sooty's neck. I did and Matthew said under his breath, 'She is breaking Sooty´s neck and breaking my hand
Every year, on the last day of term, we had another Christmas dinner.
One year, I was Mary and Rob was Joseph. My Grandma, Grandad, Mum and Dad came to watch me.
On Christmas day we used to get up early, to open our presents, Then Grandad and Grandma Seals came at midday to bring their presents and watch us opening them.
One Christmas me and Peter got some dressing up clothes. I was given a Captain Scarlet play suit and Peter got a Fireman Sam play suit. Grandad made me an ironing board that had short legs, so I could iron whilst kneeling on the floor. He made Peter a garage.
Grandma and Grandad stayed for a couple of hours then went home to have their dinner. Mum made the Christmas dinner which is my favourite meal. Then we had Christmas pudding, one of my favourite desserts.
On Boxing day evening we went to Uncle John´s (dad's brother) to see Dad´s side of the family, have tea and open their presents.
We did it all over again with Grandma and Grandad Trixi, who lived in Crewe, on the day after Boxing Day.
In 1995, Anthony and Mandy said that they were getting married but in Greatna Green. They were having a reception the day after, when they got back to Crewe. It was also a 30th birthday party for Mandy.
The same year, my cousin Clair said she was getting married and asked if I wanted to be her little bridemaid. I said yes. There were two other bridemaids, Clair's sister, Ruth and Clair´s friend Ann.
We all went to the bridal shop to look at dresses, Clair wanted us to wear burgandy and she wanted to wear white. My dress had a floral top and draped overskirt with burgandy showing under it. The dresses for Ruth and Ann were plain burgandy. Clair chose her dress as well.
Mum bought me some white sandals to go with my dress.
The day before the wedding me and Mum went up to Knaresborough, where Auntie Anne (Clair's mum, my dad's sister) lived. It was a long way to drive on the day annd as a bridesmaid, I needed to be there early to have my hair done.
Dad and Peter came on the day of the wedding.
When we arrived in Knaresborough, Auntie Anne had got tea on the table because we had to go for a rehearsal of the service.
Ruth and Ann had to wear petticoats under their dresses, to make their skirts stand out we all laughed.
When we got back to the house, Clair had bought all the bridemaids a little something, to say thank you. Mine was a church money box.
Mum and I were staying at a hotel near their house.
The next morning we got up and went down for breakfast. As we were eating, Anthony and Mandy arrived. They were staying there that night. After breakfast we went to Auntie Anne´s to get ready for the wedding.
Clair´s hairdresser arrived to do our hair. We had head dresses to wear but mine kept coming off my head. There was comb in the middle of it to keep it in but that didn't work. After having our hair done we put our dresses on.
A woman came to the house to take some photos of us in the gardon before we went to the church.
The bridemaids went first. We waited outside the church for Clair to arrive. We walked behind her, Ruth and Ann holding me up between them. When we got to the front of the the church, me, Ruth and Ann sat down for the service. When the service was over, the bride, groom and bridemaids went into another room to watch the bride and groom sign the register. As we came out of the church, the bells started ringing.
We got to where the reception was being held and lined up to go into the dining room for the meal. They had put a table next to the main table so I could be part of the bride and the groom´s table. It was a 3 course meal. Afterwards we listened to the speeches.
After the meal we chatted to other members of the family.
We went Auntie Anne´s until the evening reception. We got changed and went to the park. Then we got ready for the evening.
There was a buffet and a disco. After we had eaten we went home to Mansfield.
In 1996, when I was 11, my class moved up to the secondary department, I decided that I wanted to go to a mainstream school, to see if I would like it. So I asked at my annual review, if I could try it out. My new form tutor said I wouldn't cope in mainstream school. That made me determined to prove her wrong.
In 1996, a business man named Jack, contacted the school to say that he was organising a trip to Seattle for disabled pupils, near Thanksgiving and wondered if our school wanted to take part in it.
I put my name forward to go. I got a letter in the post, to say that I was one of those chosen to go.
The parents and the students went for a meeting to talk about the trip. Malvina and Sarah from British Airways came to meet us before the trip.
There were five students and 3 members of staff going to Seattle. The staff that went were Mrs Chambers, Jane and Jenny.
On the day of the trip, we had to be at school for half past five in the morning. That meant that I had to be up at 3 o´clock. I had mixed feelings about going because I hadn´t gone abroad before without my mum and dad.
We went to Heathrow in the school bus. We checked in and went through to the departure lounge. We had been told to take a packed lunch with us but, we didn't eat it because, the airline paid for all of us to have a McDonald´s.
After we had eaten we went to the tunnel to board the plane. As we neared the plane, a man appeared and he said that there was a problem with engine. We had to wait in the tunnel until the problem was fixed. The cabin crew came to join us. A male steward stood behind me. I asked what his name was.He said it was Julian.
I went with Jane to phone her husband, David, and I phoned Mum and Dad to say that the plane was delayed. As we were on the phone, we realised that they were calling us over the loud speaker because the plane was mended and they were waiting for us so that we could board.
During the flight, the crew came down to ask if we would like to go and look at the cockpit. We all said yes please.
Towards the end of the flight, Juilan brought me a glass of steaming ice as a present.
Juilan told me that his girlfriend was called Dawn so it made me feel special.
When we got off the plane, Juilan said to Malvina that she was to look after this one for him (meaning me) because he said I was special.
As we went through arrivals, there was a welcome party from the school that we were staying at, to meet us. Outside there were yellow school buses for us to travel on.
When we got to the school, they had prepared a meal for us.Unfortunately, we were all too tired to eat so we went to bed.
On our first day we went into the classrooms to see the students. They had little gifts for all of us. We spent the day with them.
That night we made pizzas then we went to the cinema to watch Anastasia.
On our second day, we went on a boat across Puget Sound. We visited the aquarium where I bought Peter a jigsaw, for his birthday. I was away for his special day as we travelled the day before.
We were there for their Thanksgiving day. We had a turkey dinner. We spent the evening with the school.
The next day was the day we travelled back to England. On the way to the airport, we went to a shopping mall. I bought a big Minnie Mouse that was twice the size of me.
We had a McDonald's for lunch. Malvina told us to be back at the buses by 4.00.pm. We were looking at shops, when all of a sudden Malvina said we were late for the bus. Instead of going outside the mall, which would have been faster, she decided that we would go through the mall,. where it was busy, being Thanksgiving In order to get through the crowds I thought I would help by waving my arms about but everybody thought I was having a fit. Malvina and I thought it was hilarious because people just moved out of the way.
Malvina said that Minnie Mouse would need a seat of her own because she was so big.
We got back to England on Saturday moring but we didn't get back to school until about 6pm.
In January of 1997, I started going to Berry Hill middle school for one day a week. It was made easier for me because a disabled friend had started there the year before. I was in Mrs Darby's class. Paula, a classroom assistant from my special school, went with us. I made some new friends. Sam wanted to help me at break and dinner times. I found the work harder and the teachers taught at a faster pace but I loved it.
In February, 1997 the students from Seattle came over to England. They stayed at my special school.
They came over for a week because the organisers realised that 4 days was too tiring for everyone. They arrived at school on a Sunday. The students, their parents and the staff who went to Seattle, were waiting to greet them. There was a buffet laid on for them.
On the first day, they went into classes to meet the rest of the school. At lunch time we had a posh meal to welcome them to the school. After dinner the hall was cleared away so we could use it for games.
We had pancake races the next day because it was Shrove Tuesday.
Each day our visitors went out to different places in Nottingham.
Malvina had to go back to Seattle on Wednesday so she came into class and asked Mr Goddard if I could leave my class to have a photo taken. He said yes.
On Thursday, we went to vist the Sheriff of Nottingham. We went to the 'Tales of Robin Hood' which gives the history with sights, sounds and smells from that period in time.It was very good because there was a car ride that visitors go on, to see how he lived in Nottingham. We saw Robin Hood and Maid Marian near Nottingham castle.
. In the evening, I stayed at school for sports club and after that we put on a disco (it was my birthday). Robin Hood came to school. It was Jane's husband David dressed up. I danced with him.
On Friday, it was mine and Lauren´s day to go to Berry Hill. After school me, Mum, Dad and Peter went to school for a traditional fish supper. After supper we all played some games.
In July 1997, Berry Hill held a leaver's disco for students leaving to go to secondary school.Paula told us that she wouldn't be going to the secondary school with us.
As I was one of the leavers, I went to it. , I was given a certificate saying that I had attended the school and worked hard.
Before the schools in Mansfield broke up for the summer holidays, Lauren and I went to Brunts secondary school to look round.
Our new form teachers came to the special school to meet us. Mrs Wirth was my form tutor and Lauren´s tutor was Mrs Weir. They looked around school.
They said to the head of department that they would like us to go to the induction day to meet the other students. The head of the department said we couldn't go because it was our sports day on the same day and were needed for that.
The first day at Brunts, was good and went well but none of the students or teachers talked to me apart from my form tutor,Mrs Wirth.
They arranged for an art student to help me with my art class while Jenny, my classroom assistant, went for a break.
The next day, I went to a technology lesson. The male teacher, stood there and shouted at the students because they weren't behaving. I nearly shot out of my skin. I asked the classroom assistant, Nicola, who he was. She said his name was Mr Jackson. I said that I didn't like him because he scared me.
We had planners given to us and any homework set had to be written in, so that our parents could see what we were expected to do. They also had to sign it each week.
Mum read my planner to see what homework Mr Jackson had set. He had asked us to get protractors, compasses, HB pencils etc, all of which I couldn't use. He also wanted us to draw household objects like a washing machine and television. She asked me if this man was real or what because he knew that I couldn't draw so it was pointless me doing this homework.Mum bought me the things he asked for and helped me with the homework. Over the next few weeks I started to like Mr Jackson.
The SENCO (Special Educational Needs Coordinator) said to Mr Jackson that she thought that I would be better off having another lesson of English instead of having Graphics. He said he didn't agree because he thought I was enjoying his lessons. All that mattered to him was that I was enjoying it and learning something new. A few weeks later it was parents evening. Mum went to see Mr Jackson. He told Mum that when he heard about me, he was frightened of me. Then, when he met me, he was petrified of me but now, he loved me to bits. He told Mum, if he pulled out a chair for me, on one side of the room, to make room for my wheelchair, I went somewhere else. He thought that was great because the other students could choose where they wanted to sit, so why shouldn't I.
One day, as Mr Jackson bent over to help another student, I touched his bottom. I apologised and told him it was an involuntary movement. He took my word for it.
In November, that year, I went on another trip with my special school to Stoke Mandeville disabled games, to compete. I choose to do bean bag throwing, wheelchair slalem and swimming.
We went for 5 days. We got there at lunch time on the Monday. The games didn't start until the next day so the rest of the day was spent getting ready for the events.
My first event was wheelchair slalem. I won the bronze medal. My second event was bean bag throwing. Again, I won the bronze medal. Before I took part in the swimming race, I had a few practise swims to improve my speed. On the day of the swimming race, I started off alright.I swam as fast as I could but as I saw everyone else finish, I got upset and I started to cry. Jane told me to keep going. I to get changed quickly. Somebody said Dawn Seals has won a gold medal and broke the games record for her age group. I had been swimming with a group that was nothing to do with my race because I was the only entrant for my race. I couldn't believe that I had won a gold medal.
I used to swim every Friday evening, with my friend Jane, at the Ken Martin pool in Bulwell, not far from where I lived. One Friday, after our swim, Jane took me to the noice board. It said that there was a trip to Germany. Jane asked me if I wanted to go. I said yes. She said you will have to ask my family if you can come with us as we are the organisers of the trip. I asked Jane´s family if I could go with them and they said yes.
Before I went to Germany, Mum, Dad, Peter and I went to Seattle for half term. The week before we went, I had pots put on to stretch my tendons.
We stayed with Linda, one of the helpers, who came with the students from Seattle, when they stayed at my school.
Linda was waiting for us at the airport when we arrived. She had borrowed a school bus for the week so that we could visit places in Seattle.
We got to Linda´s house and unpacked, then went to meet Bobby and Delfino, students from the trip, at McDonald´s. The next day we got up and went to look round Seattle.
The second night I had restless night because my pots were hurting me. The next morning, Mum and Dad were not impressed with me because I had kept Linda´s niece awake all night, because I was crying in pain. My left leg was like a bow, I couldn't put it on the floor to weight bear. Mum and dad spent all morning telephoning doctors to see if they would cut my pot off. They eventually found a doctor who would do it. When the pot came off, me leg went straight again and I had a look of sheer relief on my face. The doctor lifted my heel up and there was a big ulcer on it. It was almost down to the bone. The doctor asked me if I wanted the other one off but I said it was fine.
After we had been to the clinic, we went back to Linda´s. She rang Malvina and put the phone to my ear. My speech isn't very good and Malvina hung up because she thought it was a prank phone caller. Linda rang Malvina back and told her it was me who was on the phone when she hung up. Malvina just laughed. Malvina invited us to a British Airways quiz night. It was a good night.
We all went on Jack´s boat on Valentine´s day, on Puget Sound. He bought me a strawberry tart in the shape of a heart. He let us drive his boat.
We all took food with us and had a buffet on board. It was a lovely day.
On the last day we went to the shopping mall. We did some shopping before going to the airport.
When we got back to England I told Mum that my other pot was starting to hurt. As soon as we got home, Mum took me to hospital so they could remove it but they wouldn´t. They said that only Mr Moulton, my consultant, could authorise the removal of it. We had to wait until Monday morning before Mum could do anything else about it. I had another day of discomfort. Mum rang my physiotherapist to tell her about the problems we'd had. The physio rang the plaster room to say we were on our way.
When we got to the plaster room, Mum explained what had happened in Seattle and that now, my other pot was hurting me. She asked them to cut it off.. They said they couldn't. Mum asked them to ring my physio at school and she would authorise them to do it. They still said no, the pots were supposed to be on for 6 weeks. Eventually, they phoned Mr Moulton, my consultant, to come down and advise them what to do. He looked at my left heel and what had happened to it and told them to remove the one from my right foot. When it came off they said if they had left it on for another day, the area where it was rubbing, would have been even worse than the ulcer on my left foot.
For six months, I couldn't wear anything on my feet, apart from socks because every time shoes were put on me, my heel broke down again.
In March, I went to Germany with Ken Martin swimming club. Two days before we were due to travel, I started with a bad cold. When I got home from school I went to bed. Mum rang Jane to tell her that I was full of cold and ask if she still wanted to take me. Jane said to Mum that I had been looking forward to it for months and that she was happy to take me..
I stayed in bed all day, on the day we were due to travel. I got up at six pm and went for a McDonald´s on the way to Jane and David´s. We got on the coach at Hucknall leisure centre. David carried me to the coach. There were two drivers because it was a long drive. The law says the driver is only allowed to drive for four hours at a time. Their names were Simon and Trevor.
We went to Dover to get the ferry to France. .
When we got to Germany, we were met by the members of a German swimming club. The swimmers from our club went to stay with the families of the German swimmers. Jane, David, me and their youngest son stayed in an hotel. David had to carry me up to our room because there wasn't a lift. The next morning when we went down for breakfast, I only had yoghurt. We went to the railway staion to catch the train into town and meet up with the rest of the swimmers from our group.
We were put into groups and told to find different bulidings. When it got to the upstairs part Jane told David that she would take me and their son to McDonald´s. Later, we returned to our hotel to get ready to go to a party at a shed.
David talked to our hosts in German. I didn't have a clue what they were saying so, David had to translate.
We had to be up early the next day as we were going to a theme park. I went on the log flume and the rapids 6 times. We went on it in threes. I really enjoyed it at the theme park.
We went up the mountains the day after in a cable car. They had snow on them. We went into the woods at night and had a BBQ. I didn'thave anything off the BBQ because Jane said it wasn´t cooked properly. David said to Jane that I was in their care and all I was eating was junk food. Jane said she would give me what I fancied, because it was better than not eating at all.
We were supposed to leave in the early hours of Friday morning but, Jane and David thought that it was better if we left at midnight.
Shortly after I returned from Germany, Mum noticed that I had a lump on the lower part of my back, on the left side. She asked my physiotherapist if she had noticed it too. She said she hadn´t. Mum asked what she could do to help me. She said ask Mr Moulton, my Orthopeadic consultant, what needed to be done..
We saw him at school. He said he would make an appointment for me with a spinal surgeon at Queen's Medical Centre, a large hospital in Nottingham
When Mum, Dad and I arrived at the reception desk of the spinal clinic, I was told that I needed to go to have some x-rays taken. We returned to the clinic with my x-rays. We had to wait a long time to see the consultant. He looked at my x-rays and said that I had a scoliosis (where the spine curves) and that the curve was at 30%. He said they would see me in a year.
I changed my Liberator for a Vangand in October 1997, because I was finding it hard to remember where words were. This was because my teachers, all wanted vocabulary for their subject, to be stored in my talker. Mum tried to keep words in categories but the sequences were getting longer and longer for just one word, which wasn't the idea of the talker. A few months earlier, my new speech thearpist, Nikki, suggested I might like to try to a Vangaurd which had a dynamic screen but had only 45 icons. I said that I didn't want to change my talker. Then I saw Rob's new one. I tried it, liked it and decided that I would like one of my own.
A few weeks later I got one to try out. Nikki told me to take it home and play with it, to find out where the vocabulary was stored. I certainly did that ! Mum and Dad went out and I stayed at home. When they got back I was crying. I had gone into the tool box and pressed the wrong button which erased the vocabulary. It then brought up the American language programme.
It had to be sent away to be re-programmed.
Nikki thought I should do a presentation using my talker, at a conference called Communication Matters, which is for people who use talkers, parents, carers and professionals eg speech therapists.
I told Mum what I wanted to say and she programmed my talker for me.
I did my talk and everyone liked it. I got runner up in the Distinguished User Award .
We met a lady called Katy Clarke. She was a founder of a charity called One Voice. She said that she would like me to be a role model at their family weekend, held in a hotel in Blackpool . It was being arranged for that November. She said she would contact me nearer to the time. (For more information about One Voice, go to:visit One Voice!
Lauren had to have an opreation on her back, to have rods put in, to keep her back straight. So, I was on my own at mainstream school for a while.
It was 7 months before Lauren came back to school.
At Brunts, at the end of year 9 everyone had to choose what subjects they wanted to take for G.C.S.E.'s. I wanted to take music and child development. We went to the parents' evening and talked to each of my teachers. When we got to Mr Jackson, he asked me if I had thought about taking resistant materials. I said no, because I couldn't do it and I couldn´t draw. He said that it didn't matter that I couldn't draw, as long as I enjoyed the subject. .
In July 1998, we went back to the hospital about my back. We saw Mr Webb who looked at my X-rays. He asked me what my name was, over and over again. He told me that my back had progressed to 43 degrees but that wasn't much. He took Mum and Dad into the connecting room and told them that if I was able bodied, he would do the operation straight away, for cosmetic reasons, because girls of my age liked to wear little tight tops. Mum told him I was very particular about the way I looked. He said he wasn't saying that. He went on to imply that IF I had been mentally and physically disabled he wouldn´t do it at all, mumbling about quality of life. By this point, Mum was ready to knock him out. I heard efery word that he said. He said he would put me on the waiting list to have an operation. He told me the waiting list was about 8 months long and said that if my back did not progress any further in that time, he would remove me from the list. If it did get worse, he would operate.
We didn't hear anything and after nearly a year my mum rang the ward to see if they could arrange for me to have another x-ray, to make sure everything was okay.
Every tutor group was put into a house. The houses were named after famous people. My tutor group was Harrop White 5. We had an inter house sports day every year. Lauren and I watched until 12 o'clock then went to Mr Jackson's lesson. He was sorting out playing bricks. I talked to him as he was sorting. He suggested that I should do a message for Mr Dalton, (the head teacher), thanking him for letting me go to the school. He also suggested that I could mention him as my favourte teacher. So, I did.
When it was the last day of term, the whole school paid 50 pence to wear normal clothes, instead of uniform. This money went to charity. The staff arranged events like football and tennis matches. .
In the summer holiday we went to a theme park because it was the last time I would be able to go on rides, if I had to have my back done.
In September, when we got back to school, we had different timetables, covering our G.C.S.E subjects. We no longer did Maths and English work at Brunts. We only did those subjects at Fountaindale.
My time was perfect until they messed about with it. Lauren had chosen to take science as one of her subjects. Her science teacher didn't want just one disabled student in her class so, I was told I would be taking science, instead of graphics. I was really upset about this..
When Lauren and I went back to Brunts in year 11, we had to pick a work placement for work experience. I chose to go to Royal Mail where David worked. I went there for two days, with Jenny, my classroom assistant. I had to sign the Official Secret´s Act. I spent the other 3 days working with my dad at his office.
I used my talker to give a talk, to all of the students in my year, at mainstream school, about how my talker worked and how I coped, using it.
I got a letter in the post from the hospital saying that they wanted me to go in for tests on 10th October with a view to having the operation on the 17th October. I told my school physiotherapist and she said she didn't think that I would need an operation, as my back was so mobile (meaning that it hadn't fixed in one position). She even wrote a letter to the consultant to that effect.
We had to go to ward D8 for the tests. We were taken to a section of the ward where people waited for pre op assessments. A man I hadn't met before came across and said his name was Brian Freeman. He told me that he was taking over some of Mr Webb's cases
I told him that I didn't want the operation. He said we needed to wait for the new x-rays before making any decisions. We gave him the letter that my physiotherapist had sent with us. We told him that I did blanket riding at our local stables.
When I had had my x-rays taken, we returned to the ward. As we waited for Mr Freeman, Mum noticed some x-rays on the wall and said she thought that they were mine. Mr Freeman asked us to look at the X-rays with him. I shook my head, meaning I didn't want to. He said said that he thought that I ought to. We could see the curve had got worse. It had gone from 43 to 77 degrees in the space of 11 months. Mr Freeman said that he was sorry but he would have to operate. If he left it until after Christmas, the curve would be over 100 degrees and would be harder to correct. He said that I had no option because I was a minor.
I had booked to go and see the boy band A1. I asked Mr Freeman if I would still be able to go to the concert. He said yes if I could get myself well.
After we had been to the hospital we went to my special school because it was parents' evening. We saw Mrs Chambers (the head of secondary( and my physiotherapist to let them know what had been said at the hospital. Ann Peters, my physiotherapist, said that she was shocked that I needed to have an operation.
The next day, my form tutor, Mrs Purseglove suggested that I talked to STM and Lauren about what they went through when they had their back operations. So I did. That really helped me.1The day before the operation we went to the ward for more tests and x-rays. One of the tests that they did was to put electrodes on my head which moved different parts of my body eg. my fingers and toes. The electrodes, known as spinal monitoring, were used because if they screwed a screw into the spinal cord it could paralyse me for life.
Mr Freeman told us that they were going to use a new paediatric profile (the rods being used to straighten my spine) on me because I was so small for my age. A team of surgeons from Switzerland were going to be there to advise him, during the operation.
They did some more X-rays to see how flexible my back was. When we got back, Mr Freeman said that my back was very fluid and flexible because of the blanket riding and physiotherapy which would make the operation easier.
Mum and Dad went outside to have a cigarette so I stayed on the ward, looking at a notice board. Mr Freeman walked towards me and stopped. He asked me if I scared about the surgery. I said that I was. He said not to worry because he would look after me
Later in the day, the anaesthetist, Dr Chriton came to see us to expain what she was going to do during the operation. I expressed my concerns about the anaesthetic because in the past I had had bad experiences being anaesthetised. I have got little veins, which collapsed if a large needle was used.
I told her what Mr Freeman had said to me. She laughed and said that she would be looking after me, not Mr Freeman.
Mum and I had to be up up at 5 o´clockon the morning of my operation because the lady who was putting the electrodes on my head was coming at 6. I had to get showered and ready before she arrived.
Half an hour before I was taken down to theatre, a nurse put some emla cream on my hands covering it with a plastic film so that it didn't rub off. This was put on so that the needle wouldn't hurt me.
Dad arrived before the porters came to take me to theatre. They took me down on my bed so that they didn't have to mess me around, moving me to another bed, when I went into intensive care.
We seemed to be in the theatre waiting area for a long time before they took me through. I was very worried.
Dad went into the anaesthetic room with me. Dr Chriton took off the plastic film and wiped off the emla cream.
She put the needle in my hand and it hurt me, causing me to cry. It hurt because the emla cream had been put in the wrong place. Dr Chriton asked me not to cry because I would set her off. The next thing I remember is waking up, after what seemed only a few minutes after being put to sleep. In fact it was 10 hours later.
When I woke up Mr Freeman was at the end of my bed. He asked me if I could move my feet. Before I tried to move them, I gave him a big smile and waved to him.
Mr Freeman went on to the ward to collect Mum and Dad and took them to intensive care to see me.
On the way to intensive care, Mr Freeman told Mum and Dad how the operation had gone and what to expect when they saw me. He said that they had a remarkable daughter. He told them that I had smiled and waved to him when I woke up. He said that normally, patients were too groggy and not with it.
When they first came into intensive care the curtaints were around me. I had pulled one of the lines out because my right arm was moving nineteen to the dozen and I couldn't stop it. All the movements that had been in my back, before the rods were put in, had moved to my weakest arm which was my right one.
When Mum and Dad saw me they were shocked because my face and arms were very swollen. I had to be face down during the operation and all the fluid drained to my face and arms. Each patient in intensive care had a nurse looking after them .
The next day Dr Chriton wanted a chest x-ray to make sure the anaesthetic hadn´t caused any problems. I was told to cough.
The radiographer came to intensive care. She put a metal board, containing the film, behind my back. My arms were flying about because I was in a lot of pain. The radiographer shouted for someone to hold that child still. Mum said that I had had major surgery less than 24 hours ago, had had a metal plate shoved under my wound which was hurting me so what did she expect. Mum also asked if she realised that I was physically disabled.
Later that morning they took me from intensive care to the High Dependency Unit on ward D8. The nurse, who I was handed over to, was called James. I had met a few of the nurses from the ward when they came for a vist to Fountindale. James was one of them. He was very good with me because he asked what I wanted.
I stayed in HDU for 4 days. In HDU there are 4 beds with one nurse looking after two patients.
The day after my operation, the physiotherapist came to sit me in a chair. He had to hoist me but put me in a sling that was too big. As the hoist was raised I started to slip out of the sling. Mum made him put me back and shorten the cuffs so that I was less likely to slip. When he lowered me into the chair, my hips were to one side, instead of being squarely in the middle of the seat. Mum said to him that if she did, at work, what he had just done, she would have had her knuckles rapped! He asked what she did. She replied that she was a professional carer and thought she may learn something useful from him but had only seen poor work in practise. He left Mum to hoist me on her own after that.
Another time he tried to stand me up when I had my feet and knees together, which meant I went into extension, not good following a major spinal operation. He should have made sure my feet were apart so that I could get my weight forwards, over my knees, before trying to stand. Again Mum had a go at him..
I was in hospital for three weeks because Mum wanted to be confident handling me on her own, before we went home. I had to be moved in a totally different way to the way I was moved before my operation.
I had my walking frame with me at the hospital so that I could practise walking. One day I was walking up the corridor when Mr Freeman stopped and asked who this tall young lady was, walking with a walker. He said that I looked much better for having the operation.
The day I went home, Dad came to fetch me and Mum.
Mum sat in the back with me because it was the first time that I had been in a car since the operation.
I had to sleep downstairs because Mum and Dad couldn't get me up and down the stairs any more. We started looking for a bungalow to live in.
While I was at home I did some work from Brunts because I had missed so much. I focused on child development. It was my favourite subject and I wanted to do well in the exam. I had a lot of work to catch up on. It was hard because I was on a lot of painkillers which made me very sleepy.
One of my teachers from my spaecial school, came to my house so that I could take a maths exam.
I wasn´t allowed to go back to mainstream school for 7 months after the operation because Mr Freeman didn't want me to be knocked about by able bodied students or their heavy bags full of books. I went to Brunts for a vist and while I was there Mr Jackson came out to see me. He'd had his hair dyed blond. He explained that he had done it for charity.
I went to Fountindale a few times, but only to vist as my physios came to the house to give me exercises. I went back on the last day for Christmas dinner. The physiotherapist put me in my standing frame. I wasn´t in it for very long because I nearly fainted. They got me out and put me back in my wheelchair.
After Christmas I went back to Fountindale for a few mornings, to start with, as I got very tired. I gradually built up my time there, week by week, until I was there full time.
I went to Brunts on the last day before year 11 (my year) left school for study leave (to revise for exams at home). I went to see Mr Jackson to say bye to him before I went home. He asked me if I would be going back to the sixth form in September. I said yes. In his room he had some choclates. He asked me if I would like one. Of course, I said yes please. Jenny came to find me to tell me that Mum was waiting for me.
Mum helped me with my revision by reading my notes to me. I found it hard to read and take in what I had read.She read to me for 2 weeks, none stop. By the end, she was hoarse.
Mum, Dad and I looked for a bungalow make life easier for all of us. We looked at a lot but they weren´t suitable. We eventually found one in Hucknell near Nottingham.
We had to have it adapted. A bedroom and bathroom were built for me, at the back of the bunglow. It took over a year to complete.
For my child development exam, I went to Brunts where I was put into a separate room, so that nobody could cheat. Jenny read the questions to me and I used my talker and my own voice to answer. Jenny wrote down my answers. I took loads of chocolatewith me to keep my energy up.
It took me all day to do the exam. I was allowed extra time because of my disability. By the end of it, I was exhausted.
We moved into my bungalow on 1st August 2001.
Anthony and Grandma came to help us. Jane and Julie, David´s sister came too.
We got there before most of the guests, STM came which made my night because he had been poorly.
There was a buffet layed on for us. I had 3 cakes, one was bought by Grandma and Granddad, the other 2 were bought by Mum and Dad.
Anthony fed me, Mum and Dad were mixing with people. After we had eaten Dad and I made speeches. The reason I cried was because they were people I knew very well not people I talked in conferences. Then we got on with parting.
I saw STM leaving so I ran after him and went up his van to say bye to him.
I danced with lots of peope and had a good time.
The following night me, Mum, Malvina and Sam went into town for a night out but went home because there was a lot of fighting and I got banging into, we were in line waiting to a night club. I askes i we could go home. Everyone was glad to go.
The second year in Post 16 was a wease of time as far as I was concerned because we did the same work for 2 years and I was board so I decided that I would leave and go to collage.
Post 16 took us to Portland collage for a visit, when I asked about courses and they were a lower than I was working at.
The staff want us to go to Portland because they throught that we all should learn independent living, the we were too dependent on other people.
I went to West Notts Collage for an interview for independent living. I didn't want to do that. I wanted to do Office Administration. I showed them what I had achieved they didn't take any notice of the certificates I taken in to show them. they said that I would be better on the independent living course. They said come on Tuesdays until collage breaks up.
I told Mr Dengel that I was leaving.
Post 16 were planning a trip to Holland, I put my name down. There ware lot of students that wanted to go. When they picked the students to go, they said that they were going to arrange for another trip for the ones who didn't get on the Holland trip.
I went to Center Parks, in Shewood Forest, for 5 days. We had fun.
I left because I grew out of it, I don't think I could do another year.
The day I left was an end of a chapter, I had been there 15 years which is a long time to go to one school. Also I left a year early. We had a leavers assembly, Mr Evens was leaving too. We dressed up motor bike clothes. Mum left as well as a midday supervisor. I gave her some flower on behalf of the school.
The rest of the clapped the leavers out.
A lot of people have died in this chapter, too many to mention.
My teacher was called Mrs Solari and the head teacher of the nursery unit was Toni Finley. They helped me to start learning to use a computer. Toni saw computers as being a big part of my future so they focused on that. I met a boy called Alex, he was 2 years older than me and I fancied him. I stayed for my dinner and went home after that.
Mum found out that she was pregnant again with my brother Peter. While Mum went for her check ups, I would stay with my Grandad. When Mum saw the doctor she said she was worried that the same thing might happen again when she had to deliver. She said to the doctor that she either wanted a C section or a termination because she couldn't go through nine months of wondering if it would happen again. The consultant told her that they would make sure she had a 'perfect'baby this time! He told her that they would deliver the baby by Caesarean section when she was 38 weeks pregnant.
When Mum went for a check up at 37 weeks, she saw a different doctor. He checked her over and said to return for another check up in two weeks time. Mum said to him that he obviously hadn't read her notes properly. He said he had.Mum said that if he had, he would know that she had a daughter with a physical disability and that she needed to have somebody to look after her whilst her mum was in hospital. He told her to go in the following Wednesday and have her baby on Thursday. Mum had Peter by C section on 26th November 1987.
When Mum woke up she asked Dad if the baby's legs were all right. She explained that when she had had her second scan at 28 weeks, they hadn-t shown her the baby's legs. The nurse told her his legs were fine and that the reason they hadn't shown her the legs was because it was obvious that he was a boy. In those days, hospitals would not tell you the sex of the baby. They wanted to call him Alexander Peter but I couldn't say Alexander. So they called him Peter Alexander.
I stayed with Grandma and Grandad while Mum and Dad were at the hospital.
I was the first person to see Peter.
One day me and Mum were shopping and saw Toni, the head teacher from my nursery, her husband and 2 of their boys. She ran towards me and said I was Dawn, the little girl that she looked after at school. She had 3 boys and loved them to bits but I was the little girl that Toni had always wanted.
Dad worked for the Coal Board in Stoke on Trent and was offered a job in Nottingham. That meant that we had to move house and I had to move school.
Dad went to look at houses on his own because Mum had to look after me and Peter.
Dad found our new house, it was in Mansfield.
Anthony went back to live with his Mum.
Me, Mum and Dad went to look at new special schools in Nottingham. We looked around the first school and I sat in a buggy curled up in a ball because I didn't like it. nNeither did Mum or Dad. Mum said she hoped we liked the next one.
We looked at Fountaindale School, I stayed in the nursery while Mum and Dad looked around the school. We all liked the school.
Mum asked Toni, at Hebden Green if I could increase my days there to prepare me for my new school as when I moved to Nottingham I had to go to school for 5 days, all day. Toni let me go for 3 full days.
I started at Fountaindale special school 2nd May 1988.
I went into the nursery with Mrs Michael, the teacher and Paula the classroom assistant. We had a lot of fun.
In December, the head teacher, Mr Newnes retired. So we had a new head teacher called Miss Brighton. Things were very different because she wanted the school to follow the national curriculum instead of us just having fun.
We had physiotherapy to fit in as well as lessons. Not all the teachers liked that because to them, their subjects were more important. Physiotherapy is just as important because it maintains the body and stops the disability getting any worse.
I had to have a body brace because I couldn't sit very well. That helped me a lot. I only wore it until dinner time to allow my body to work for itself rather than be dependant on it.
I really worked hard at physiotherapy because I knew it helped me.
Sometimes me and my friend Rob did physiotherapy together as we had a similar disability and worked well together.
After 4 years in the nursery I moved into Miss Noyes´s class. One day Mum came in and noticed that when the teacher was doing a question and answer session, the ones who couldn't talk switched off and looked into space. This was because the ones who could speak, shouted out the answers. Mum told her this and Miss Noyes was horrified and tried to changed it to make sure we were all an active part of the lesson.
There was a boy who came for 1 day a week, his name was STM. I really liked him. After a while we were boyfriend and girlfriend. Before I had a talker STM used to talk for me. He used to get frustrated when the staff didn't listen to me. He also fed me too as I couldn't feed myself.
One Christmas, Miss Noyes arranged for the whole class to go to the Victoria Centre shopping centre, in Nottingham, to do some Christmas shopping. There was a letter sent out asking parents if they could write a shopping list and send money for us to spend. I bought Peter a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles torch and some candles for Mum and Dad.
Mum took the things off me and hid them until Christmas day.
At school, we always had a concert at Christmas time, different every year. Mrs Pursglove, the music teacher did her best to do something different but when it's the Christmas story, you can't really change it.
Peter really liked the torch that I bought him. Somebody else bought him a Thomas the tank one as well.
When I was 5, I had to have plaster casts put on my feet and up to my knee, to stretch my tendons. I didn't like the procedure so Anthony came to school to help to hold me still while it was done. They left them on for 6 weeks.
Miss Brighton was getting married and the school decided to celebrate it by having a mock wedding. They chose me to be the bride and Rob to the groom. We dressed up in wedding clothes, I still had pots on my feet to.
Aged 6, I had to have to have an operation on my tummy to repair a hernia, at Queen Medical Centre. Miss K, was my consultant. I stayed in hospital over night and then was allowed to go home.
Miss Noyes and the class came to visit me at home. They stayed about half an hour because my classmates went home by taxi and had to be back at school before the taxies arrived to collect them.
I was told I couldn't do PE or swimming for 6 weeks.
I had a swimming party for my 7th birthday at Water Meadows swimming baths, in Mansfield, during school time, so that all my school friends would be there. A lot of them lived quite a long way from school and wouldn't have been able to come to a party after school. As we pulled up outside, Anthony was waiting for us. Nobody knew that he was coming. My Grandma and Grandad were there as well.
We went in and got changed. There was a big water flume and Anthony took me and everyone of my friends on it. After a while we had to get ready to go back to school and Anthony had to go back to work. It was a nice suprise that he came to join us. He has his own business now, as a burglar alarm installer.
When we got back to school, mum had provided a buffet so we had that instead of our school dinner. After lunch, we could do anything we wanted to, so I went into the nursery. Neil, one of the post 16 students, came down to see me, with his Mum Margaret, to give me a present. It was a teddy which I've still got.
When I got home, I got changed into some party clothes then all of us went into town to McDonald´s for another party, for my other friends and Peter, because Peter missed out on the swimming party. We all had a happy meal and birthday cake. Then we played some games.
Anthony and Mandy (his girlfriend) announced that she was expecting a baby. It was due on my 8th birthday. When Peter was told about the baby and that he would be an uncle, he said, 'No I won't.' When it was my birthday, Anthony and Mandy sent a card, that said, 'To Dawn, happy birthday, lots of love from Anthony, Mandy, Becky (Mandy´s daughter) and 'the bump'.The baby didn't arrive until a week later, 5th March, 1993.
They called him Thomas Owen Seals. We went to see him the week after he was born. I held him for a moment or two.
At school, we had to do government tests (SATS) to check that the teachers were teaching us the right things. The teachers thought it was to pick fault with them.
Mum and Dad bought a time share in Tenerife, at the Paradise Club. We met Lin, who ran the kids club. We went to Tenerife nearly every year.
Before I had a talker of my own, the speech thearpist sometimes gave me a simple talker to use for a while, then, as I was starting to get used to it, would take it away again.
When I was 10 I was nominated, along with my friend Rob, for a project to see how two youngsters would get on with a talker and weekly speech therary with a communication specialist. It was a year long project and I progressed very well but, there were a few problems.. Everybody expected me to start speaking with it, using proper sentences. They seemed to forget that I had to learn where all the words were and how to build up sentences (I could not write but was able to read). The talker they gave me was called a Liberator, which had 128 icons or pictures on it. It was very complex and took time to learn it. I was in Mrs Keward's class and she was quite supportive.
I really wanted to learn how to use the talker because would help me communicate with other people. My own speech improved. It took all the frustration out of communication.
Mum and Dad thought that having a talker would take away the little speech that I'd got, but, my speech improved quite a lot so they were really pleased.
Rob didn't like his talker much, he thought people looked at him more. He didn't like drawing attention to himself.
Our parents were told that they would have to find funds to buy the talkers which cost £8,000. We could have them until we left school.
They were worried that they couldn't raise that much. When the year was up they were told that the talkers had been paid for by the project and that we could keep them, without our parents having to buy them.
The school speech thearpist we had, at that time, was more interested in the pupils who could talk and those who had feeding problems. So we didn't get much speech theapy until she left.
At Christmas time Sooty and Matthew Corbet came and stayed at our school. This was because when Matthew's wife, Sally, was poorly, and they were in Mansfield, doing Sooty shows at the theatre, the school offered them beds, until she got better.
As a thank you to the school, they returned every year. During the week that they stayed at our school, we had a 'Sooty dinner' where the cast from the show joined us for lunch. After the dinner the hall was cleared so that Matthew and Sooty could do a bit of the show for us.
Each year, we lined up to meet Sooty. When it came to my turn, Matthew told me to put my around Sooty's neck. I did and Matthew said under his breath, 'She is breaking Sooty´s neck and breaking my hand
Every year, on the last day of term, we had another Christmas dinner.
One year, I was Mary and Rob was Joseph. My Grandma, Grandad, Mum and Dad came to watch me.
On Christmas day we used to get up early, to open our presents, Then Grandad and Grandma Seals came at midday to bring their presents and watch us opening them.
One Christmas me and Peter got some dressing up clothes. I was given a Captain Scarlet play suit and Peter got a Fireman Sam play suit. Grandad made me an ironing board that had short legs, so I could iron whilst kneeling on the floor. He made Peter a garage.
Grandma and Grandad stayed for a couple of hours then went home to have their dinner. Mum made the Christmas dinner which is my favourite meal. Then we had Christmas pudding, one of my favourite desserts.
On Boxing day evening we went to Uncle John´s (dad's brother) to see Dad´s side of the family, have tea and open their presents.
We did it all over again with Grandma and Grandad Trixi, who lived in Crewe, on the day after Boxing Day.
In 1995, Anthony and Mandy said that they were getting married but in Greatna Green. They were having a reception the day after, when they got back to Crewe. It was also a 30th birthday party for Mandy.
The same year, my cousin Clair said she was getting married and asked if I wanted to be her little bridemaid. I said yes. There were two other bridemaids, Clair's sister, Ruth and Clair´s friend Ann.
We all went to the bridal shop to look at dresses, Clair wanted us to wear burgandy and she wanted to wear white. My dress had a floral top and draped overskirt with burgandy showing under it. The dresses for Ruth and Ann were plain burgandy. Clair chose her dress as well.
Mum bought me some white sandals to go with my dress.
The day before the wedding me and Mum went up to Knaresborough, where Auntie Anne (Clair's mum, my dad's sister) lived. It was a long way to drive on the day annd as a bridesmaid, I needed to be there early to have my hair done.
Dad and Peter came on the day of the wedding.
When we arrived in Knaresborough, Auntie Anne had got tea on the table because we had to go for a rehearsal of the service.
Ruth and Ann had to wear petticoats under their dresses, to make their skirts stand out we all laughed.
When we got back to the house, Clair had bought all the bridemaids a little something, to say thank you. Mine was a church money box.
Mum and I were staying at a hotel near their house.
The next morning we got up and went down for breakfast. As we were eating, Anthony and Mandy arrived. They were staying there that night. After breakfast we went to Auntie Anne´s to get ready for the wedding.
Clair´s hairdresser arrived to do our hair. We had head dresses to wear but mine kept coming off my head. There was comb in the middle of it to keep it in but that didn't work. After having our hair done we put our dresses on.
A woman came to the house to take some photos of us in the gardon before we went to the church.
The bridemaids went first. We waited outside the church for Clair to arrive. We walked behind her, Ruth and Ann holding me up between them. When we got to the front of the the church, me, Ruth and Ann sat down for the service. When the service was over, the bride, groom and bridemaids went into another room to watch the bride and groom sign the register. As we came out of the church, the bells started ringing.
We got to where the reception was being held and lined up to go into the dining room for the meal. They had put a table next to the main table so I could be part of the bride and the groom´s table. It was a 3 course meal. Afterwards we listened to the speeches.
After the meal we chatted to other members of the family.
We went Auntie Anne´s until the evening reception. We got changed and went to the park. Then we got ready for the evening.
There was a buffet and a disco. After we had eaten we went home to Mansfield.
In 1996, when I was 11, my class moved up to the secondary department, I decided that I wanted to go to a mainstream school, to see if I would like it. So I asked at my annual review, if I could try it out. My new form tutor said I wouldn't cope in mainstream school. That made me determined to prove her wrong.
In 1996, a business man named Jack, contacted the school to say that he was organising a trip to Seattle for disabled pupils, near Thanksgiving and wondered if our school wanted to take part in it.
I put my name forward to go. I got a letter in the post, to say that I was one of those chosen to go.
The parents and the students went for a meeting to talk about the trip. Malvina and Sarah from British Airways came to meet us before the trip.
There were five students and 3 members of staff going to Seattle. The staff that went were Mrs Chambers, Jane and Jenny.
On the day of the trip, we had to be at school for half past five in the morning. That meant that I had to be up at 3 o´clock. I had mixed feelings about going because I hadn´t gone abroad before without my mum and dad.
We went to Heathrow in the school bus. We checked in and went through to the departure lounge. We had been told to take a packed lunch with us but, we didn't eat it because, the airline paid for all of us to have a McDonald´s.
After we had eaten we went to the tunnel to board the plane. As we neared the plane, a man appeared and he said that there was a problem with engine. We had to wait in the tunnel until the problem was fixed. The cabin crew came to join us. A male steward stood behind me. I asked what his name was.He said it was Julian.
I went with Jane to phone her husband, David, and I phoned Mum and Dad to say that the plane was delayed. As we were on the phone, we realised that they were calling us over the loud speaker because the plane was mended and they were waiting for us so that we could board.
During the flight, the crew came down to ask if we would like to go and look at the cockpit. We all said yes please.
Towards the end of the flight, Juilan brought me a glass of steaming ice as a present.
Juilan told me that his girlfriend was called Dawn so it made me feel special.
When we got off the plane, Juilan said to Malvina that she was to look after this one for him (meaning me) because he said I was special.
As we went through arrivals, there was a welcome party from the school that we were staying at, to meet us. Outside there were yellow school buses for us to travel on.
When we got to the school, they had prepared a meal for us.Unfortunately, we were all too tired to eat so we went to bed.
On our first day we went into the classrooms to see the students. They had little gifts for all of us. We spent the day with them.
That night we made pizzas then we went to the cinema to watch Anastasia.
On our second day, we went on a boat across Puget Sound. We visited the aquarium where I bought Peter a jigsaw, for his birthday. I was away for his special day as we travelled the day before.
We were there for their Thanksgiving day. We had a turkey dinner. We spent the evening with the school.
The next day was the day we travelled back to England. On the way to the airport, we went to a shopping mall. I bought a big Minnie Mouse that was twice the size of me.
We had a McDonald's for lunch. Malvina told us to be back at the buses by 4.00.pm. We were looking at shops, when all of a sudden Malvina said we were late for the bus. Instead of going outside the mall, which would have been faster, she decided that we would go through the mall,. where it was busy, being Thanksgiving In order to get through the crowds I thought I would help by waving my arms about but everybody thought I was having a fit. Malvina and I thought it was hilarious because people just moved out of the way.
Malvina said that Minnie Mouse would need a seat of her own because she was so big.
We got back to England on Saturday moring but we didn't get back to school until about 6pm.
In January of 1997, I started going to Berry Hill middle school for one day a week. It was made easier for me because a disabled friend had started there the year before. I was in Mrs Darby's class. Paula, a classroom assistant from my special school, went with us. I made some new friends. Sam wanted to help me at break and dinner times. I found the work harder and the teachers taught at a faster pace but I loved it.
In February, 1997 the students from Seattle came over to England. They stayed at my special school.
They came over for a week because the organisers realised that 4 days was too tiring for everyone. They arrived at school on a Sunday. The students, their parents and the staff who went to Seattle, were waiting to greet them. There was a buffet laid on for them.
On the first day, they went into classes to meet the rest of the school. At lunch time we had a posh meal to welcome them to the school. After dinner the hall was cleared away so we could use it for games.
We had pancake races the next day because it was Shrove Tuesday.
Each day our visitors went out to different places in Nottingham.
Malvina had to go back to Seattle on Wednesday so she came into class and asked Mr Goddard if I could leave my class to have a photo taken. He said yes.
On Thursday, we went to vist the Sheriff of Nottingham. We went to the 'Tales of Robin Hood' which gives the history with sights, sounds and smells from that period in time.It was very good because there was a car ride that visitors go on, to see how he lived in Nottingham. We saw Robin Hood and Maid Marian near Nottingham castle.
. In the evening, I stayed at school for sports club and after that we put on a disco (it was my birthday). Robin Hood came to school. It was Jane's husband David dressed up. I danced with him.
On Friday, it was mine and Lauren´s day to go to Berry Hill. After school me, Mum, Dad and Peter went to school for a traditional fish supper. After supper we all played some games.
In July 1997, Berry Hill held a leaver's disco for students leaving to go to secondary school.Paula told us that she wouldn't be going to the secondary school with us.
As I was one of the leavers, I went to it. , I was given a certificate saying that I had attended the school and worked hard.
Before the schools in Mansfield broke up for the summer holidays, Lauren and I went to Brunts secondary school to look round.
Our new form teachers came to the special school to meet us. Mrs Wirth was my form tutor and Lauren´s tutor was Mrs Weir. They looked around school.
They said to the head of department that they would like us to go to the induction day to meet the other students. The head of the department said we couldn't go because it was our sports day on the same day and were needed for that.
The first day at Brunts, was good and went well but none of the students or teachers talked to me apart from my form tutor,Mrs Wirth.
They arranged for an art student to help me with my art class while Jenny, my classroom assistant, went for a break.
The next day, I went to a technology lesson. The male teacher, stood there and shouted at the students because they weren't behaving. I nearly shot out of my skin. I asked the classroom assistant, Nicola, who he was. She said his name was Mr Jackson. I said that I didn't like him because he scared me.
We had planners given to us and any homework set had to be written in, so that our parents could see what we were expected to do. They also had to sign it each week.
Mum read my planner to see what homework Mr Jackson had set. He had asked us to get protractors, compasses, HB pencils etc, all of which I couldn't use. He also wanted us to draw household objects like a washing machine and television. She asked me if this man was real or what because he knew that I couldn't draw so it was pointless me doing this homework.Mum bought me the things he asked for and helped me with the homework. Over the next few weeks I started to like Mr Jackson.
The SENCO (Special Educational Needs Coordinator) said to Mr Jackson that she thought that I would be better off having another lesson of English instead of having Graphics. He said he didn't agree because he thought I was enjoying his lessons. All that mattered to him was that I was enjoying it and learning something new. A few weeks later it was parents evening. Mum went to see Mr Jackson. He told Mum that when he heard about me, he was frightened of me. Then, when he met me, he was petrified of me but now, he loved me to bits. He told Mum, if he pulled out a chair for me, on one side of the room, to make room for my wheelchair, I went somewhere else. He thought that was great because the other students could choose where they wanted to sit, so why shouldn't I.
One day, as Mr Jackson bent over to help another student, I touched his bottom. I apologised and told him it was an involuntary movement. He took my word for it.
In November, that year, I went on another trip with my special school to Stoke Mandeville disabled games, to compete. I choose to do bean bag throwing, wheelchair slalem and swimming.
We went for 5 days. We got there at lunch time on the Monday. The games didn't start until the next day so the rest of the day was spent getting ready for the events.
My first event was wheelchair slalem. I won the bronze medal. My second event was bean bag throwing. Again, I won the bronze medal. Before I took part in the swimming race, I had a few practise swims to improve my speed. On the day of the swimming race, I started off alright.I swam as fast as I could but as I saw everyone else finish, I got upset and I started to cry. Jane told me to keep going. I to get changed quickly. Somebody said Dawn Seals has won a gold medal and broke the games record for her age group. I had been swimming with a group that was nothing to do with my race because I was the only entrant for my race. I couldn't believe that I had won a gold medal.
I used to swim every Friday evening, with my friend Jane, at the Ken Martin pool in Bulwell, not far from where I lived. One Friday, after our swim, Jane took me to the noice board. It said that there was a trip to Germany. Jane asked me if I wanted to go. I said yes. She said you will have to ask my family if you can come with us as we are the organisers of the trip. I asked Jane´s family if I could go with them and they said yes.
Before I went to Germany, Mum, Dad, Peter and I went to Seattle for half term. The week before we went, I had pots put on to stretch my tendons.
We stayed with Linda, one of the helpers, who came with the students from Seattle, when they stayed at my school.
Linda was waiting for us at the airport when we arrived. She had borrowed a school bus for the week so that we could visit places in Seattle.
We got to Linda´s house and unpacked, then went to meet Bobby and Delfino, students from the trip, at McDonald´s. The next day we got up and went to look round Seattle.
The second night I had restless night because my pots were hurting me. The next morning, Mum and Dad were not impressed with me because I had kept Linda´s niece awake all night, because I was crying in pain. My left leg was like a bow, I couldn't put it on the floor to weight bear. Mum and dad spent all morning telephoning doctors to see if they would cut my pot off. They eventually found a doctor who would do it. When the pot came off, me leg went straight again and I had a look of sheer relief on my face. The doctor lifted my heel up and there was a big ulcer on it. It was almost down to the bone. The doctor asked me if I wanted the other one off but I said it was fine.
After we had been to the clinic, we went back to Linda´s. She rang Malvina and put the phone to my ear. My speech isn't very good and Malvina hung up because she thought it was a prank phone caller. Linda rang Malvina back and told her it was me who was on the phone when she hung up. Malvina just laughed. Malvina invited us to a British Airways quiz night. It was a good night.
We all went on Jack´s boat on Valentine´s day, on Puget Sound. He bought me a strawberry tart in the shape of a heart. He let us drive his boat.
We all took food with us and had a buffet on board. It was a lovely day.
On the last day we went to the shopping mall. We did some shopping before going to the airport.
When we got back to England I told Mum that my other pot was starting to hurt. As soon as we got home, Mum took me to hospital so they could remove it but they wouldn´t. They said that only Mr Moulton, my consultant, could authorise the removal of it. We had to wait until Monday morning before Mum could do anything else about it. I had another day of discomfort. Mum rang my physiotherapist to tell her about the problems we'd had. The physio rang the plaster room to say we were on our way.
When we got to the plaster room, Mum explained what had happened in Seattle and that now, my other pot was hurting me. She asked them to cut it off.. They said they couldn't. Mum asked them to ring my physio at school and she would authorise them to do it. They still said no, the pots were supposed to be on for 6 weeks. Eventually, they phoned Mr Moulton, my consultant, to come down and advise them what to do. He looked at my left heel and what had happened to it and told them to remove the one from my right foot. When it came off they said if they had left it on for another day, the area where it was rubbing, would have been even worse than the ulcer on my left foot.
For six months, I couldn't wear anything on my feet, apart from socks because every time shoes were put on me, my heel broke down again.
In March, I went to Germany with Ken Martin swimming club. Two days before we were due to travel, I started with a bad cold. When I got home from school I went to bed. Mum rang Jane to tell her that I was full of cold and ask if she still wanted to take me. Jane said to Mum that I had been looking forward to it for months and that she was happy to take me..
I stayed in bed all day, on the day we were due to travel. I got up at six pm and went for a McDonald´s on the way to Jane and David´s. We got on the coach at Hucknall leisure centre. David carried me to the coach. There were two drivers because it was a long drive. The law says the driver is only allowed to drive for four hours at a time. Their names were Simon and Trevor.
We went to Dover to get the ferry to France. .
When we got to Germany, we were met by the members of a German swimming club. The swimmers from our club went to stay with the families of the German swimmers. Jane, David, me and their youngest son stayed in an hotel. David had to carry me up to our room because there wasn't a lift. The next morning when we went down for breakfast, I only had yoghurt. We went to the railway staion to catch the train into town and meet up with the rest of the swimmers from our group.
We were put into groups and told to find different bulidings. When it got to the upstairs part Jane told David that she would take me and their son to McDonald´s. Later, we returned to our hotel to get ready to go to a party at a shed.
David talked to our hosts in German. I didn't have a clue what they were saying so, David had to translate.
We had to be up early the next day as we were going to a theme park. I went on the log flume and the rapids 6 times. We went on it in threes. I really enjoyed it at the theme park.
We went up the mountains the day after in a cable car. They had snow on them. We went into the woods at night and had a BBQ. I didn'thave anything off the BBQ because Jane said it wasn´t cooked properly. David said to Jane that I was in their care and all I was eating was junk food. Jane said she would give me what I fancied, because it was better than not eating at all.
We were supposed to leave in the early hours of Friday morning but, Jane and David thought that it was better if we left at midnight.
Shortly after I returned from Germany, Mum noticed that I had a lump on the lower part of my back, on the left side. She asked my physiotherapist if she had noticed it too. She said she hadn´t. Mum asked what she could do to help me. She said ask Mr Moulton, my Orthopeadic consultant, what needed to be done..
We saw him at school. He said he would make an appointment for me with a spinal surgeon at Queen's Medical Centre, a large hospital in Nottingham
When Mum, Dad and I arrived at the reception desk of the spinal clinic, I was told that I needed to go to have some x-rays taken. We returned to the clinic with my x-rays. We had to wait a long time to see the consultant. He looked at my x-rays and said that I had a scoliosis (where the spine curves) and that the curve was at 30%. He said they would see me in a year.
I changed my Liberator for a Vangand in October 1997, because I was finding it hard to remember where words were. This was because my teachers, all wanted vocabulary for their subject, to be stored in my talker. Mum tried to keep words in categories but the sequences were getting longer and longer for just one word, which wasn't the idea of the talker. A few months earlier, my new speech thearpist, Nikki, suggested I might like to try to a Vangaurd which had a dynamic screen but had only 45 icons. I said that I didn't want to change my talker. Then I saw Rob's new one. I tried it, liked it and decided that I would like one of my own.
A few weeks later I got one to try out. Nikki told me to take it home and play with it, to find out where the vocabulary was stored. I certainly did that ! Mum and Dad went out and I stayed at home. When they got back I was crying. I had gone into the tool box and pressed the wrong button which erased the vocabulary. It then brought up the American language programme.
It had to be sent away to be re-programmed.
Nikki thought I should do a presentation using my talker, at a conference called Communication Matters, which is for people who use talkers, parents, carers and professionals eg speech therapists.
I told Mum what I wanted to say and she programmed my talker for me.
I did my talk and everyone liked it. I got runner up in the Distinguished User Award .
We met a lady called Katy Clarke. She was a founder of a charity called One Voice. She said that she would like me to be a role model at their family weekend, held in a hotel in Blackpool . It was being arranged for that November. She said she would contact me nearer to the time. (For more information about One Voice, go to:visit One Voice!
Lauren had to have an opreation on her back, to have rods put in, to keep her back straight. So, I was on my own at mainstream school for a while.
It was 7 months before Lauren came back to school.
At Brunts, at the end of year 9 everyone had to choose what subjects they wanted to take for G.C.S.E.'s. I wanted to take music and child development. We went to the parents' evening and talked to each of my teachers. When we got to Mr Jackson, he asked me if I had thought about taking resistant materials. I said no, because I couldn't do it and I couldn´t draw. He said that it didn't matter that I couldn't draw, as long as I enjoyed the subject. .
In July 1998, we went back to the hospital about my back. We saw Mr Webb who looked at my X-rays. He asked me what my name was, over and over again. He told me that my back had progressed to 43 degrees but that wasn't much. He took Mum and Dad into the connecting room and told them that if I was able bodied, he would do the operation straight away, for cosmetic reasons, because girls of my age liked to wear little tight tops. Mum told him I was very particular about the way I looked. He said he wasn't saying that. He went on to imply that IF I had been mentally and physically disabled he wouldn´t do it at all, mumbling about quality of life. By this point, Mum was ready to knock him out. I heard efery word that he said. He said he would put me on the waiting list to have an operation. He told me the waiting list was about 8 months long and said that if my back did not progress any further in that time, he would remove me from the list. If it did get worse, he would operate.
We didn't hear anything and after nearly a year my mum rang the ward to see if they could arrange for me to have another x-ray, to make sure everything was okay.
Every tutor group was put into a house. The houses were named after famous people. My tutor group was Harrop White 5. We had an inter house sports day every year. Lauren and I watched until 12 o'clock then went to Mr Jackson's lesson. He was sorting out playing bricks. I talked to him as he was sorting. He suggested that I should do a message for Mr Dalton, (the head teacher), thanking him for letting me go to the school. He also suggested that I could mention him as my favourte teacher. So, I did.
When it was the last day of term, the whole school paid 50 pence to wear normal clothes, instead of uniform. This money went to charity. The staff arranged events like football and tennis matches. .
In the summer holiday we went to a theme park because it was the last time I would be able to go on rides, if I had to have my back done.
In September, when we got back to school, we had different timetables, covering our G.C.S.E subjects. We no longer did Maths and English work at Brunts. We only did those subjects at Fountaindale.
My time was perfect until they messed about with it. Lauren had chosen to take science as one of her subjects. Her science teacher didn't want just one disabled student in her class so, I was told I would be taking science, instead of graphics. I was really upset about this..
When Lauren and I went back to Brunts in year 11, we had to pick a work placement for work experience. I chose to go to Royal Mail where David worked. I went there for two days, with Jenny, my classroom assistant. I had to sign the Official Secret´s Act. I spent the other 3 days working with my dad at his office.
I used my talker to give a talk, to all of the students in my year, at mainstream school, about how my talker worked and how I coped, using it.
I got a letter in the post from the hospital saying that they wanted me to go in for tests on 10th October with a view to having the operation on the 17th October. I told my school physiotherapist and she said she didn't think that I would need an operation, as my back was so mobile (meaning that it hadn't fixed in one position). She even wrote a letter to the consultant to that effect.
We had to go to ward D8 for the tests. We were taken to a section of the ward where people waited for pre op assessments. A man I hadn't met before came across and said his name was Brian Freeman. He told me that he was taking over some of Mr Webb's cases
I told him that I didn't want the operation. He said we needed to wait for the new x-rays before making any decisions. We gave him the letter that my physiotherapist had sent with us. We told him that I did blanket riding at our local stables.
When I had had my x-rays taken, we returned to the ward. As we waited for Mr Freeman, Mum noticed some x-rays on the wall and said she thought that they were mine. Mr Freeman asked us to look at the X-rays with him. I shook my head, meaning I didn't want to. He said said that he thought that I ought to. We could see the curve had got worse. It had gone from 43 to 77 degrees in the space of 11 months. Mr Freeman said that he was sorry but he would have to operate. If he left it until after Christmas, the curve would be over 100 degrees and would be harder to correct. He said that I had no option because I was a minor.
I had booked to go and see the boy band A1. I asked Mr Freeman if I would still be able to go to the concert. He said yes if I could get myself well.
After we had been to the hospital we went to my special school because it was parents' evening. We saw Mrs Chambers (the head of secondary( and my physiotherapist to let them know what had been said at the hospital. Ann Peters, my physiotherapist, said that she was shocked that I needed to have an operation.
The next day, my form tutor, Mrs Purseglove suggested that I talked to STM and Lauren about what they went through when they had their back operations. So I did. That really helped me.1The day before the operation we went to the ward for more tests and x-rays. One of the tests that they did was to put electrodes on my head which moved different parts of my body eg. my fingers and toes. The electrodes, known as spinal monitoring, were used because if they screwed a screw into the spinal cord it could paralyse me for life.
Mr Freeman told us that they were going to use a new paediatric profile (the rods being used to straighten my spine) on me because I was so small for my age. A team of surgeons from Switzerland were going to be there to advise him, during the operation.
They did some more X-rays to see how flexible my back was. When we got back, Mr Freeman said that my back was very fluid and flexible because of the blanket riding and physiotherapy which would make the operation easier.
Mum and Dad went outside to have a cigarette so I stayed on the ward, looking at a notice board. Mr Freeman walked towards me and stopped. He asked me if I scared about the surgery. I said that I was. He said not to worry because he would look after me
Later in the day, the anaesthetist, Dr Chriton came to see us to expain what she was going to do during the operation. I expressed my concerns about the anaesthetic because in the past I had had bad experiences being anaesthetised. I have got little veins, which collapsed if a large needle was used.
I told her what Mr Freeman had said to me. She laughed and said that she would be looking after me, not Mr Freeman.
Mum and I had to be up up at 5 o´clockon the morning of my operation because the lady who was putting the electrodes on my head was coming at 6. I had to get showered and ready before she arrived.
Half an hour before I was taken down to theatre, a nurse put some emla cream on my hands covering it with a plastic film so that it didn't rub off. This was put on so that the needle wouldn't hurt me.
Dad arrived before the porters came to take me to theatre. They took me down on my bed so that they didn't have to mess me around, moving me to another bed, when I went into intensive care.
We seemed to be in the theatre waiting area for a long time before they took me through. I was very worried.
Dad went into the anaesthetic room with me. Dr Chriton took off the plastic film and wiped off the emla cream.
She put the needle in my hand and it hurt me, causing me to cry. It hurt because the emla cream had been put in the wrong place. Dr Chriton asked me not to cry because I would set her off. The next thing I remember is waking up, after what seemed only a few minutes after being put to sleep. In fact it was 10 hours later.
When I woke up Mr Freeman was at the end of my bed. He asked me if I could move my feet. Before I tried to move them, I gave him a big smile and waved to him.
Mr Freeman went on to the ward to collect Mum and Dad and took them to intensive care to see me.
On the way to intensive care, Mr Freeman told Mum and Dad how the operation had gone and what to expect when they saw me. He said that they had a remarkable daughter. He told them that I had smiled and waved to him when I woke up. He said that normally, patients were too groggy and not with it.
When they first came into intensive care the curtaints were around me. I had pulled one of the lines out because my right arm was moving nineteen to the dozen and I couldn't stop it. All the movements that had been in my back, before the rods were put in, had moved to my weakest arm which was my right one.
When Mum and Dad saw me they were shocked because my face and arms were very swollen. I had to be face down during the operation and all the fluid drained to my face and arms. Each patient in intensive care had a nurse looking after them .
The next day Dr Chriton wanted a chest x-ray to make sure the anaesthetic hadn´t caused any problems. I was told to cough.
The radiographer came to intensive care. She put a metal board, containing the film, behind my back. My arms were flying about because I was in a lot of pain. The radiographer shouted for someone to hold that child still. Mum said that I had had major surgery less than 24 hours ago, had had a metal plate shoved under my wound which was hurting me so what did she expect. Mum also asked if she realised that I was physically disabled.
Later that morning they took me from intensive care to the High Dependency Unit on ward D8. The nurse, who I was handed over to, was called James. I had met a few of the nurses from the ward when they came for a vist to Fountindale. James was one of them. He was very good with me because he asked what I wanted.
I stayed in HDU for 4 days. In HDU there are 4 beds with one nurse looking after two patients.
The day after my operation, the physiotherapist came to sit me in a chair. He had to hoist me but put me in a sling that was too big. As the hoist was raised I started to slip out of the sling. Mum made him put me back and shorten the cuffs so that I was less likely to slip. When he lowered me into the chair, my hips were to one side, instead of being squarely in the middle of the seat. Mum said to him that if she did, at work, what he had just done, she would have had her knuckles rapped! He asked what she did. She replied that she was a professional carer and thought she may learn something useful from him but had only seen poor work in practise. He left Mum to hoist me on her own after that.
Another time he tried to stand me up when I had my feet and knees together, which meant I went into extension, not good following a major spinal operation. He should have made sure my feet were apart so that I could get my weight forwards, over my knees, before trying to stand. Again Mum had a go at him..
I was in hospital for three weeks because Mum wanted to be confident handling me on her own, before we went home. I had to be moved in a totally different way to the way I was moved before my operation.
I had my walking frame with me at the hospital so that I could practise walking. One day I was walking up the corridor when Mr Freeman stopped and asked who this tall young lady was, walking with a walker. He said that I looked much better for having the operation.
The day I went home, Dad came to fetch me and Mum.
Mum sat in the back with me because it was the first time that I had been in a car since the operation.
I had to sleep downstairs because Mum and Dad couldn't get me up and down the stairs any more. We started looking for a bungalow to live in.
While I was at home I did some work from Brunts because I had missed so much. I focused on child development. It was my favourite subject and I wanted to do well in the exam. I had a lot of work to catch up on. It was hard because I was on a lot of painkillers which made me very sleepy.
One of my teachers from my spaecial school, came to my house so that I could take a maths exam.
I wasn´t allowed to go back to mainstream school for 7 months after the operation because Mr Freeman didn't want me to be knocked about by able bodied students or their heavy bags full of books. I went to Brunts for a vist and while I was there Mr Jackson came out to see me. He'd had his hair dyed blond. He explained that he had done it for charity.
I went to Fountindale a few times, but only to vist as my physios came to the house to give me exercises. I went back on the last day for Christmas dinner. The physiotherapist put me in my standing frame. I wasn´t in it for very long because I nearly fainted. They got me out and put me back in my wheelchair.
After Christmas I went back to Fountindale for a few mornings, to start with, as I got very tired. I gradually built up my time there, week by week, until I was there full time.
I went to Brunts on the last day before year 11 (my year) left school for study leave (to revise for exams at home). I went to see Mr Jackson to say bye to him before I went home. He asked me if I would be going back to the sixth form in September. I said yes. In his room he had some choclates. He asked me if I would like one. Of course, I said yes please. Jenny came to find me to tell me that Mum was waiting for me.
Mum helped me with my revision by reading my notes to me. I found it hard to read and take in what I had read.She read to me for 2 weeks, none stop. By the end, she was hoarse.
Mum, Dad and I looked for a bungalow make life easier for all of us. We looked at a lot but they weren´t suitable. We eventually found one in Hucknell near Nottingham.
We had to have it adapted. A bedroom and bathroom were built for me, at the back of the bunglow. It took over a year to complete.
For my child development exam, I went to Brunts where I was put into a separate room, so that nobody could cheat. Jenny read the questions to me and I used my talker and my own voice to answer. Jenny wrote down my answers. I took loads of chocolatewith me to keep my energy up.
It took me all day to do the exam. I was allowed extra time because of my disability. By the end of it, I was exhausted.
We moved into my bungalow on 1st August 2001.
Anthony and Grandma came to help us. Jane and Julie, David´s sister came too.
We got there before most of the guests, STM came which made my night because he had been poorly.
There was a buffet layed on for us. I had 3 cakes, one was bought by Grandma and Granddad, the other 2 were bought by Mum and Dad.
Anthony fed me, Mum and Dad were mixing with people. After we had eaten Dad and I made speeches. The reason I cried was because they were people I knew very well not people I talked in conferences. Then we got on with parting.
I saw STM leaving so I ran after him and went up his van to say bye to him.
I danced with lots of peope and had a good time.
The following night me, Mum, Malvina and Sam went into town for a night out but went home because there was a lot of fighting and I got banging into, we were in line waiting to a night club. I askes i we could go home. Everyone was glad to go.
The second year in Post 16 was a wease of time as far as I was concerned because we did the same work for 2 years and I was board so I decided that I would leave and go to collage.
Post 16 took us to Portland collage for a visit, when I asked about courses and they were a lower than I was working at.
The staff want us to go to Portland because they throught that we all should learn independent living, the we were too dependent on other people.
I went to West Notts Collage for an interview for independent living. I didn't want to do that. I wanted to do Office Administration. I showed them what I had achieved they didn't take any notice of the certificates I taken in to show them. they said that I would be better on the independent living course. They said come on Tuesdays until collage breaks up.
I told Mr Dengel that I was leaving.
Post 16 were planning a trip to Holland, I put my name down. There ware lot of students that wanted to go. When they picked the students to go, they said that they were going to arrange for another trip for the ones who didn't get on the Holland trip.
I went to Center Parks, in Shewood Forest, for 5 days. We had fun.
I left because I grew out of it, I don't think I could do another year.
The day I left was an end of a chapter, I had been there 15 years which is a long time to go to one school. Also I left a year early. We had a leavers assembly, Mr Evens was leaving too. We dressed up motor bike clothes. Mum left as well as a midday supervisor. I gave her some flower on behalf of the school.
The rest of the clapped the leavers out.
A lot of people have died in this chapter, too many to mention.