It’s been over two years since tics in my legs began severely affecting my mobility. When I’m out and about I use a wheelchair, but indoors I tend to wobble around holding onto furniture or grab rails, or I crawl around on my knees.…

It’s over two years since I first wrote about the strange tics that only emerge when I’m in pain. I described then how instead of saying ‘Ouch’ I’d tic “Mystery.” I had no explanation for this then and I still haven’t now.…

For a few moments earlier this evening I felt desperately alone and extremely vulnerable. It’s unusual for me to ever be on my own because I almost always have someone with me, but a mix-up this evening led to a gap in my care.…

… to rub your face raw on the carpet.

Part 1

It’s been freezing today, and despite the heating being on in the castle this evening I was still chilly, so while my agency carer was in the kitchen I wobbled along to my bedroom to get another top.…

It’s April Fools’ Day, a day recognised all over the world as the time for jolly pranks and elaborate hoaxes. Today we’ll read absurd stories about spaghetti growing on trees, interruptions to gravity or Viagra for hamsters, and people will play tricks on each other.…

Yesterday I talked about the ambulance service. It’s a crucial service but it’s one small part of the NHS, the largest public healthcare system in the world, which is made up of a huge number of services and specialisms, each using its expertise to keep people well and relieve suffering.…

Over the last few months my ticcing fits have become less frequent. They’ve gone from happening at least five or six times to just a couple of times per day. This is positive in many ways but the knock-on effect is that when they do happen they tend to be more intense.…

Tomorrow evening Bruce Willis will be taking to the big screen for the fifth time as maverick ‘Die Hard’ cop John McClane. John always finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time – at which point everything around him tends to blow up.…

Everywhere I go my red bag goes too. It’s my emergency bag and contains everything I need when I have a ‘ticcing fit‘. One of the things in contains is a plastic wallet for the sheets my support workers use to record the time my fits occur and how long they last.…

At 3:45am this morning I was woken up by my body jerking wildly about. The movements were so violent I fell out of bed and smashed onto the floor. My body continued to writhe and I could feel my eye rubbing hard against the carpet.…