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Post by kenny83 on Jan 6, 2021 13:31:17 GMT
Well,
Sadly, Due to life situations changing for me, My visit to VB and have some braces made is now on hold! (COVID lock downs and tiered systems has not been very helpful either). Which is quite disappointing.
Hopefully when things get back to normal and this COVID period clears up a bit, hopefully i can try and get a visit to VB and get some braces. (Whatever normal will look like & whenever this COVID side of things will start going away.)
Has anyone else had and bracing plans changed / put on hold in these odd times?
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rk52
Junior Member
Posts: 79
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Post by rk52 on Jan 6, 2021 16:26:06 GMT
I had been fairly seriously considering getting a KAFO from VB around autumn 2019 but didn't progress it for a number of reasons, one being that I had lost interest a bit, and also I live a long way from London and it would probably mean an overnight stay for each visit. This pandemic has really demotivated me in lots of areas too, and I'm not sure if my interest in getting a brace will return when/if this awful situation ends.
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Post by kenny83 on Jan 6, 2021 18:30:03 GMT
Also living far away from London was a factor of not going to VB sooner as well.
For me, It would also be over night trips regardless how / which way of getting there and back again, There were many plans on getting there and back home. One idea I had was to fly from a local airport into London (Cant recall which airport was closest to VB) and then get a overnight sleeper train back. If FlyBe were still in service / operation I could of done it within the day.
I have hopes that one day all of the jigsaw pieces will come together and it can be done. I think its good to think positive in anyway or form in these times.
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Post by busboy on Jan 7, 2021 10:24:59 GMT
rk52, the pandemic has demotivated most of us. But the fact that you are logged on to this site suggests that your interest is still stronger than you think. So try and stay positive and dream of the day when you can come to VB for your brace. With vaccination underway it may be closer than you think.
For the beneift of you and Kenny83, VB is situated in East Barnet, North London. It is quite close to the East Coast Main Line which runs from Edinburgh into Kings Cross. The nearest station on that line is Oakleigh Park which is about a 10 minute walk away. From Central London, the Piccadilly Line will take you to Arnos Grove station from where you can catch the 184 bus which goes right past VB's door. As for the nearest Airport, Luton is probably the nearest. Trains from Luton Airport Parkway station will bring you into st Pancras Station, next door to Kings Cross.
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Post by kenny83 on Jan 7, 2021 14:10:36 GMT
Hi busboy,
You have brought up a good point with rk52 still logging into the forum and seeing what's going, the interest is still alive. :-)
In reference to travelling to VB, London Luton was a service FlyBe used to run frequently before they collapsed. Was a service I used often for my job. As far as I know, Heathrow is the only London based airport that I can use with the local airport. Sadly no where as frequent flights that Flybe used to do. So I could use the Heathrow express to at least get to some sort of better train link. On the way back i will have to use a train with GWR. Which is where a sleeper train came into some of my plans.
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rk52
Junior Member
Posts: 79
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Post by rk52 on Jan 7, 2021 14:23:58 GMT
You're quite right, I do still have the interest in braces but I rarely play with my own these days so spending a four figure sum on a new made-to-measure one isn't easy to justify to myself at the moment .
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Post by kenny83 on Jan 7, 2021 19:51:06 GMT
For me, Funding is also one many of reasons for getting new braces on hold. :-(
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Post by deejay on Jan 9, 2021 22:59:47 GMT
Yes, still alive here also. My kafo has been out a few times but the likelihood of being able to go out with it has been put on hold for the time being. I would still like to get another made for a matching pair but cant really justify it at the moment due to other events. still like to hear of others' activities though.
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Post by rowland on Jan 10, 2021 18:40:10 GMT
From tomorrow morning I am changing my routine. Instead of getting breakfast before I shower, I will have a shower first to cut down the time I am going around the house without my brace on.
I'd like to hear details of other people's routines. For instance when you sit down/stand up, at what point do you lock/unlock your brace?
Another thing that is bothering me just now is damage to my jeans. I am used to having a hole at the crotch but recently I am getting a hole at the side of the knee where the kneelock wears through. A reason for buying cheaper jeans, or for wearing shorts when the weather allows.
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Post by kenny83 on Jan 11, 2021 16:04:58 GMT
I remember having to change routines when I first started wearing AFO'S. Can be a completely different mind set.
Like rowland said, Having a shower first thing and then put the braces on was something I did. 1, Was more time in the braces, 2, I couldn't be bothered to put the braces on and go downstairs and get breakfast, Then go back up stairs take the braces off shower and put the braces back on again. (However there was many many cases of me waring the braces to bed as well, So it did change from time to time)
Another example was if I decided to go to a friends house. I had to make a decision of, Do I bring crutches with me or not just in case we decide to go into town or go to another friends afterwards.
I have wondered when I get braces again, Would some of these routines come back to me as if it's second nature.
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Post by Onlooker on Feb 5, 2021 17:57:09 GMT
Back in the late 1960s I worked with a young woman, then in her twenties, who walked with a limp. I knew her well enough to ask whether perhaps it was the result of an accident. It wasn't: she had suffered polio at age 7 but had regained enough strength in the affected leg that she no longer needed a brace. (She had initially needed a full-length calliper and then, when she started at secondary school, could manage with a below-the-knee calliper mainly to stop her foot turning over). She said that although the AFO was much less difficult to manage than the KAFO (she used "long" and "short" rather than KAFO and AFO), the AFO was still a nuisance in many ways, for example, the time taken to do a simple task like changing her socks or stockings. It was that kind of inconvenience that encouraged her to manage without the AFO as much as possible and eventually to abandon it altogether. She said she no longer possessed any calliper nor the "special shoes" she had to wear with it. Later she told me that her left leg was about an inch and a half shorter than her right but she hated wearing a built-up shoe and managed with a couple of insoles worn inside her normal shoe.
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Post by rowland on Mar 4, 2021 15:35:46 GMT
Back in the late 1960s I worked with a young woman, then in her twenties, who walked with a limp. I knew her well enough to ask whether perhaps it was the result of an accident. It wasn't: she had suffered polio at age 7 but had regained enough strength in the affected leg that she no longer needed a brace. (She had initially needed a full-length calliper and then, when she started at secondary school, could manage with a below-the-knee calliper mainly to stop her foot turning over). She said that although the AFO was much less difficult to manage than the KAFO (she used "long" and "short" rather than KAFO and AFO), the AFO was still a nuisance in many ways, for example, the time taken to do a simple task like changing her socks or stockings. It was that kind of inconvenience that encouraged her to manage without the AFO as much as possible and eventually to abandon it altogether. She said she no longer possessed any calliper nor the "special shoes" she had to wear with it. Later she told me that her left leg was about an inch and a half shorter than her right but she hated wearing a built-up shoe and managed with a couple of insoles worn inside her normal shoe. This example of a person changing the way she appears to others suggests to me that I might vary the way that I myself appear to others. I habitually wear my KAFO but I carry crutches in my car. Before Covid I used to go to the gym and used crutches then to get to and from the gym and to get around in the gym. A gym member died and at his funeral I was wearing the KAFO. Just one person asked me about the brace and I said I could use either according to circumstances. What if I decided to use a wheelchair? Would it have to be permanent or is a change as good as a rest?
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rk52
Junior Member
Posts: 79
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Post by rk52 on Mar 4, 2021 18:16:55 GMT
I don't see any reason why you would need to make the choice permanent. On TV some time ago I remember Frank Gardner, the BBC's security correspondent, saying that while he can struggle around in calipers he finds it hard work, and prefers to use a wheelchair most of the time.
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