New bathroom

Having the workmen in can be a stressful for anyone, for someone with a chronic condition it can have an enormous impact. 

We're having the bathroom done; with the guys due to arrive anywhere from eight thirty, it meant that I had to get up at 'healthy person' times. When I was healthy I often used to be in work for seven in the morning, then finish at three. Admittedly when I first started working, we were not allowed to actually enter the building or start until seven thirty, so I used to arrive and collapse on the sofa in the lobby and chat to Paul, the security guy. There were times that I would arrive straight from a night out, or still drunk from the night before. Paul always found it highly amusing. We used to have some good chats, though i wish he had not insisted on telling the senior management team that they should promote me while they were walking through the lobby after doing promotion interviews one day.....

That, however, is long in the past. Nowadays, while I can still be wide awake at three in the morning, getting out of bed is almost an Olympic event. It takes a great deal of time and effort, and I feel like I have been in training and preparation for ages for this week. They were due to arrive around eight thirty this morning, which meant that the alarm was going off at seven. It took me until seven forty-five to even sit up. I am not going to tell you how long it took me to shower and get into clothes, nor shall I mention how much assistance I required to do so. I am sure that my disabled friends can take a wild guess, while my able-bodied friends are left wondering what on earth I am talking about. 

Still, I was actually dressed and (in theory) awake by eight thirty. Actually, no, that is a lie. What I was at eight thirty was in a drugged (medicated) haze sitting on the bed wondering whether I should attempt to move or not. In the end the effort of getting out of bed, showered and dressed made the decision for me and I fell asleep again. Although I woke up at various point through the day I actually never even met the men who spent most of the day dismantling the bathroom. I have to say that they have worked extremely hard. The bath is gone, sink is out, there's new plasterboard up, tiles delivered and we actually have an extractor fan. 

They're here for the next two days; I think tomorrow they're doing the tiling and putting in the shower tray etc, then Wednesday it will be the shower itself and the 'disability' bit - the grab rails and shower seat. 

Now that part is fantastic and I'm really looking forward to having a new bathroom, but the next two days are going to be interesting. I have to admit that I am dreading getting up early in the morning, especially as I have a doctors appointment so will have to get to moms for a shower as early as possible before the doctors. Right now I'm thinking of cancelling the appointment as it's a case of balancing what I can manage and making sure that I do not overdo it.