Tag: douchestoel

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Diary May 2002

Summer fun

I started May off the right way with buying some potted plants. I know you’re actually supposed to wait till mid-May, but every time I get back from a holiday I get the urge to do some gardening. We buy the same things each year, a bit boring. Visiting other people’s gardens only confirmed my opinion that gardens should be kept simple. Not too much variety, not too many seasonal plants, not too many bulbs (while daffodils do look pretty, I can’t stand the way they look after they’ve stopped blooming) and use symmetry, which makes it look more tranquil. Because of that, we got two of everything: two potted daisies and different pairs of geraniums. I’m completely satisfied. Continue reading “Diary May 2002”

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Diary July 2007

Planning

One would think that, with the amount of time I’ve got on my hands, all of my days are perfectly planned out. Not so. The fact that a minimum of two people is required to care for me makes that impossible sometimes. It’s especially obvious whenever Hein is away. Floor told me, in passing, that she would be seeing the new Harry Potter movie at half past six that evening. Immediately, my brain went in overdrive. Because that would mean that she’d be gone after 18:15, meaning I’d need to use the bathroom and have dinner before then. It takes two people to help me into my shower seat or on the commode. Thus, I had dinner at 17:15. The same thing goes for hiking trips. There always has to be at least one person at home to help me in and out of my wheelchair. Continue reading “Diary July 2007”

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Diary August 2007

My packing list

One wheelchair, one comfortable chair, one commode, one shower seat, one patient lift and one motorised rubber boat. We’re taking three cars, two of which are vans. The only thing that absolutely has to be handicap-accessible is my bed, which it isn’t, it’s too low. Besides not having any doorsteps, the cottage was not built with the handicapped in mind. It’s a good thing we can take most of the things I need with us in the van and there’s plenty of space in the cottage. Although, for privacy reasons, our fellow travellers did need to evacuate the cottage whenever I had to use the bathroom, but they did so without any fuss. It became a routine. Hein’s cousin Adriaan drove the van back to Leiden to collect the last few amenities I needed. I couldn’t thank him enough, my hero. Continue reading “Diary August 2007”