As I mentioned the other day, my ‘ticcing fits’ are a lot less frequent than they’ve ever been. But even so they’re still happening about once a day most days and I can still go from being fine one moment to being in real danger the next. While I fully recognise the significance of this in theory, a few days ago I got a sharp reminder of what it meant and felt like in practice.

Ruth was supporting me and had gone to bed while I was still watching TV in the living room. I hadn’t remembered to make sure I had my buzzer to hand in case I needed her, and that was something I soon regretted.

The moment I started to fit I knew I was in trouble. I could tell it was a relatively bad but quiet one. Fortunately, I was just near enough to the emergency telecare system to reach out and press the emergency button. The system connects to the ‘smart team’ and they call for help, either from the emergency services or from one of my emergency contacts – Leftwing Idiot, Fat Sister and King Russell.

I wasn’t able to speak to the woman on the line but I hoped the noise of an unfamiliar voice echoing around the castle would wake Ruth, but it didn’t. So they called Leftwing Idiot and he got here very quickly, just after Ruth had woken up and come to help.

The fit ended a bit later and was otherwise uneventful. But it was a timely reminder that I mustn’t get complacent about my safety.