JB Progress

Friday 22nd March 2019 marked one year since I was diagnosed with MND. We marked it with 3 days staying in Sidmouth. Here is a video of me rolling through the Byes, which run alongside the River Sid. Here is a selfie of Sandie and me: This blog entry also marks the point at which I started to use the wheelchair for indoor as well as outdoor use. An involuntary giving way of the knees in my bedroom late one evening has triggered this, as I found I was unable to rise from the floor by my own efforts and had to phone a strong neighbour to lift me on to the bed. The wheelchair is safer, as one cannot fall; and now faster than using a rollator. I can't afford to allow myself to slump to the ground if I cannot then pull myself back on to my feet. I started the past year walking without any supports; moving to using one, then two sticks. That period was followed by many months using rollators, which has only just ended.  

I visited the Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity yesterday, for a whole day of being a research subject.  It involved three unusual and interesting machines. I've linked each title to Wikipedia, should you want to find out more. The first was  TMS . This only required me to sit still and be relaxed. Electrodes were attached to head and hands. A coil was held at a precise point on my head and I felt pulses that caused fingers to twitch slightly. Its purpose was to look at nerve conductance between motor cortex and hands. The second was  MEG .  This was more impressive, involving a sealed metal room, with a control desk outside with about half a dozen screens. They attached lots of electrodes to me with long wires, then slotted me into the machine which fitted like a helmet.  I had a simple task to do. The third was  MRI .  Their MRI machine has a magnet twice as powerful as the average NHS machines, so they are extra cautious about safety. After a cheerful grilling, they d