Wheelchair Services – Update 3

Wheelchair Services have contacted me again to arrange another visit in roughly two weeks time, they are going to bring an Invacare TDX SP and a rep from Invacare with them, while this chair isn’t perfect it’s a big step up from the Spectra they had originally decided on.  The lesson here is NEVER accept the first chair Wheelchair Services offer you, they will go with the cheapest chair they can offer, push and they will move.

I also asked Ms.Bush if there was any way I could get modifications to a private chair, I’m also pursuing over avenues in regard to this I just thought I may as well be polite and ask her too, I got a flat out no, Wheelchair Services do not do this and will not negotiate at all, she also said that the PCT/Commissioners  would not even consider it (I don’t believe she has actually asked them), even though she did say that in the future this may well have to be implemented depending on the South West Wheelchair pilots findings.  This is the typical attitude of most NHS departments I have encountered, they know change is coming but instead of embracing it or trying it to see if the change is beneficial, or will reduce costs, they will flatly refuse to take action until they are forced to, and then they will claim they need time (usually years) to implement it.

There was also a discussion regarding the voucher scheme for wheelchairs, she has not been keen on this option from the start and I actually had to find out about it myself as she never mentioned it, she inferred that I would not be given the option of a voucher as in her opinion my clinical needs may change within five years, this is a nice loophole as anyone’s clinical needs may change within this period and it is purely down to the assessing Wheelchair Therapists opinion.

I know the next point will probably just sound like me being picky and whining about anything Wheelchair Services says to me, but I believe if they are going to use policy against service users then they should also stick to that policy themselves.  The last emai from Ms.Bush stated that

“The wheelchair service is commissioned to provide appropriate equipment to meet your clinical needs to facilitate independent indoor mobility initially, and outdoor mobility is an extension of use …. As we provide for a clinical need, if there are additional features over clinical needs (social/leisure choices), then these would generally need to be met from personal or charity funding.”

this sounds very official but in their own policy, sent to me by Ms.Bush herself it clearly states

“The Wheelchair Service provides a service for those clients who have a clinical need to use a wheelchair for essential mobility indoors, and to allow them to undertake their Activities of Daily Living.”

the thing is the Activities of Daily Living include social needs, such as taking dogs for a walk or having hobbies, I personally like going for ‘walks’ in woodland, this isn’t a clinical need so from Ms.Bush’s comment should be ignored.

That’s it for now, so goodbye until next time.

Wheelchair Services – Update 2

The meeting with wheelchair services went pretty well, far better than I had expected, the O.T. had a totally different attitude, not sure if it was due to my emails or not, and the rehab engineer (who I’ve known for ages) was great, they will probably end up offering me a decent chair, maybe a Sunrise Medical Salsa, they brought a Spectra with them but the engineer suggested a Salsa may be better, not perfect but unless I go private I’m not going to get that.

They will make a lot of adaptations to make the chair fit my clinical needs, which I can’t see anyone else having the expertise to do, the things they have agreed to do are special Gel seating cushions, slightly curved backrest cushion, special foot supports (with special air padded cushioning), a modified swing away armrest to attach the joystick control to, increase the maximum recline angle of the chair and supply a special headrest with cheek support, I will have to apply to the PCT for an attendant control as WCS can’t provide it as standard.

The thing is I would love a private chair which I could get modified for a smoother ride, more torque etc. but if I do that Wheelchair Services won’t adapt it at all, not even cushions, I can understand them not being able to repair a private chair, but adaptations seem like something they should do whether the chair is NHS owned or not. The report “Get Moving – The case for effective wheelchair services” suggests private chairs should be allowed to have adaptations from WCS and the NHS South West pilot also seems to want this.

There are a few other issues with having an NHS chair, I will probably have a hard time convincing them I need 6 mph rather than the standard WCS 4 mph, I can’t make any modifications to it myself, they own it which means I must constantly meet their criteria and they can assess me or take the chair away whenever they want, there are other issues too but those are the main ones which worry me .

So my challenge now is to some how get WCS to agree to make adaptations to a voucher and charity funded chair, I’d be willing to forfeit the 75 % extra they give with the voucher scheme for repairs etc. if it’s a budget issue.  This is my real sticking point, if I can’t have adaptations to a private chair done by an expert like the rehab engineer at WCS, who knows my needs well and I trust, I will have to go with a WCS provided chair.

I have emailed a few people to see if I can get WCS to adapt a private chair but am waiting on replies, as the NHS likes moving slowly and changing policies is something they usually have to be forced into kicking and screaming I will have a hard fight on my hands, but unlike personal budgets, which won’t be available in Gloucestershire for quite some time according to an official source I have talked to, this seems to be a policy issue and not a legal one so there may be a chance.

The ideal chair I have in mind is a Sunrise Medical Quickie F55 which I know some other WCS have provided but mine don’t, so obviously they can be adapted, in fact the chair is not that different from what they may offer (it’s made by the same manufacturer).  I want WCS to adapt it for my clinical needs, and then have it modified by a specialised engineering company to add better tyres, for a smoother ride and to enable me to go on bumpy ground/grass safely, standard wheelchair tyres just don’t do this well, I’ve nearly tipped out of my old chair several times in parks or crossing fields and it has pretty decent, large pneumatic tyres.  Add better motors for greater speed, 8 mph is the maximum legal speed in the UK so it will only be equal or less than this, the new motors will also provide more torque for steeper slopes and better control.  Change batteries to give more power, higher capacity and enable faster charging (standard batteries usually take 12 hours).  Finally a new control unit which will make the other stuff work and be customisable to my exact needs, all wheelchairs supplied by commercial companies are sluggish and unresponsive when supplied, probably due to excessive health and safety policies and to make sure they are safe to use with any disability or by and any age group.

I want to use this new chair for a long time which will save the NHS money, I’m not out to rip them off, in fact if they had agreed to repair and adapt my old chair, which I’ve had for 15 years, I probably wouldn’t even be asking for a new chair, although members at my multidisciplinary meeting with CHC were also quite insistent I should have a new chair.

Donations are still very much appreciated as I will have to privately pay for some if not all of my new chair, I’m currently considering getting a second hand chair and having it modified, this should bring the price down to around £3000 hopefully.

 

Please consider donating to help me buy a power chair

 

 

I am having trouble getting a suitable, or in fact any, wheelchair from wheelchair services, I have done a lot of research and found the cheapest suitable option to be a Sunrise Medical Quickie F55 power chair, this with the necessary adaptations will cost over £8000! So I am asking you to please help me, I don’t like begging or taking charity but unfortunately I am left with little choice.

You can read my previous posts and the “About” page to see the problems I am having and why I need a power chair.

Please consider donating, even a little will help.

WCS – Update 1

I have had a reply from Ms.Bush, who I had asked for temporary batteries for my old chair until our meeting, here it is -

I have checked with the repair service engineers who have looked at alternative temporary batteries, and the possibility of just having power to the controller to operate tilt/recline was explored, without power to the motors, but for 2 reasons they have advised this is not possible 1) the battery compartment is a specific size that would not allow temporary batteries to be fitted, and 2) the shape of the terminals will not allow connection and the positioning of the safety fuse.

These reasons sound like they may be legitimate for the batteries they have lying around, they have also offered a shorter appointment on the 27th which is slightly better.

In my reply I asked to test the Spectra until then, doubt that they will but it’s worth a try, I also asked for the email address of whoever is running the NHS South West Wheelchair Pilot project so I could discuss personal budgets with them.

I will post again with any further updates,

Edtit:- I have been told by an expert that the points above are false, “The storm can accept the group 24 batteries, or any of the other commonly used powerchair batteries. With or without tilt etc. There are just 3 common battery types used on powertchairs like yours. All will fit, regardless of terminal type – even if incorrect, with about 2 minutes work.”

A new fight – Wheelchair Services

Well here we go again, another NHS department, another arrogant budget watcher in charge of my case, this time I will call her Ms.Bush.

I was supplied a Storm Power chair many years ago (1996?) by the wheelchair assessment centre, within the past few years I have used it less and less due to panic attacks, until just over a year ago when I stopped using it altogether (although I have sat in it just not used it to move around).

At the end of 2009 Continuing Healthcare arranged for a care package which provides carers for personal care and feeding.  They also provide a Registered Nurse to allow my Main carer to leave the building.

We had a couple of follow up meetings with CHC and other medical professionals to discuss a general care plan and how to improve my health and quality of living, during one of these meetings my lack of use of my power chair was discussed.  The consensus of the meeting was that I should be encouraged and supported in using my power chair again, it was agreed that I should be assesed by the wheelchair centre to see if they could help, and to discuss having a new power wheelchair which would fit my needs better, the meeting was attended by my CHC nurse, my respiratory nurse, my neuromuscular advisor, the agency providing my carers, my main Registered Nurse who provides my weekly nursing care and my community nurse.

Following the meeting, as I was now having less panic attacks and had a good support team, I agreed to a wheelchair assessment as I felt this would be beneficial to both my health needs and give me some independence which had been lacking (I believe independence is a major goal of the NHS).

The meeting was arranged for November 2010, during this meeting, headed by Ms.Bush (O.T. from wheelchair services), my health needs were discussed and my power chair was looked at, I did not feel particularly involved in the discussions, with some of it even being conducted outside of my bedroom where I couldn’t hear what was being said.  At the end of the meeting I was told that I needed a new power chair which would need a moulded seat, and that my current power chair was unusable, I would also need to prove to Ms.Bush that I could sit up in a fairly upright position for over 30 minutes and that I could only have a new chair if she felt I would use it regularly.

At the time I could not meet Ms.Bush’s criteria, so it was decided that my registered nurse would contact her again as soon as she felt I would be able to pass a further assessment.  I also agreed to both my manual and power chair being returned to the NHS, following the meeting I discovered the power chair still worked, I had wrongly assumed when I was told that it was unusable that it was no longer in working condition, so I asked my Mother to inform Ms.Bush that I would like to keep the chair to help me prepare for the next assessment, which she agreed to.

During the meeting Ms.Bush did not seem interested in what I had to say, I was given very little chance to participate in the discussions and was not really given any options or choices besides those decided by Ms.Bush, by the end of the meeting I was very dissatisfied and felt pressured into following Ms.Bush’s chosen path.

In February Ms.Bush got in touch again saying that my power chair was due a service, but that she felt it was not worth servicing as I may be applying for a new power chair soon, and she didn’t want to waste money making any repairs to my current power chair should it be needed.  I asked my registered nurse to phone Ms.Bush to see what could be done as I was not yet happy for the chair to be taken away, after some discussion Ms.Bush agreed to let the chair be serviced with the condition that my nurse take full responsibility for my safety should I use it.

The engineer came to service the chair and decided he would need to take it away to fix it, I was worried that the chair would not be returned, he made a phone call and then returned guaranteeing that it would be returned.  A few days later it was returned without any batteries leaving it in an unusable state, we were told the chair would need new batteries and a new joystick control unit (I do not personally believe this is faulty) and Ms.Bush was unwilling to fund this even though she had agreed to service the chair previously.

As I was extremely upset with this outcome I emailed Ms.Bush, her reply was extremely unsatisfactory and I believe she is breaching several codes of conduct, the NHS policy for patient centric care and other NHS policies, and possibly even restricting my human rights.

Some choice quotes from the emails Ms.Bush sent me are below with personal analysis of key points from her emails.

I then asked my Registered Nurse to phone Ms.Bush again, she somewhat backtracked on what she had previously said, and stated that a like for like wheelchair swap had been offered at the meeting, and that she was still happy to proceed with this (neither my nurse, my Mother, my other O.T. or myself have any recollection of this offer), she also agreed to send out an engineer to adjust my power chairs recline and tilt position so I could use it again to build up my stamina.  The engineer has been out, he put my old batteries in the chair so he could adjust it to my preferred position, then took them away again, and another meeting with Ms.Bush was arranged.

I received another email stating that Ms.Bush was bringing a Re-Hab engineer with her and that they had decided the most appropriate chair for me was an Invacare Spectra Plus/Comfort so they would bring that too.

I suspected the Spectra wouldn’t be a good chair so did some googling, this review pretty much sums everything up, other than being pretty rubbish it did not nearly match the specifications of my old Invacare Storm XS, I also found out it’s one of the standard power chairs offered by most wheelchair services around the country (if you are offered this chair please read the review above before accepting it).

I decided however to continue with the meeting and have worked at increasing my stamina and sitting in the un-powered chair despite pain and discomfort (I am not physically able to change my position in the chair without powered tilt/recline to ease pressure and get more comfortable).  This has gone well and I should now be able to use a new chair, unfortunately I can’t go any further without batteries for my old chair or a suitable new chair.

I was willing to wait as the meeting was due this week, but, there’s always a but isn’t there?  The Wheelchair Services receptionist phoned Monday morning to say they had had to cancel the meeting, the next available morning appointment is the middle of next month, so until at least then I cannot leave my bedroom.

As you can imagine I’m extremely frustrated by all this, I have sent an email to Ms.Bush requesting she supply me with some loan batteries until the meeting, if she doesn’t reply soon, or if her answer is no, I shall be getting in touch with various other people including PALS.

For now I wait……


ANALYSIS of first email from Ms.Bush -
Equipment is provided for regular use, but not for very occasional use e.g. a holiday or one off event.

- is she assuming I will not use it regularly, I never said it was for a one off event or holiday.
- does this mean cancer or other possibly terminal patients are not eligible as they may not get chance to use it frequently.


You may recall that during our visit (11/10), you had agreed to the collection of the Storm powered wheelchair as it was discussed that it would not meet your current physical and mobility needs

- The discussion regarding the wheelchairs condition took place outside of my bedroom and I was not involved in it at all.
- I was told the chair was unusable, this led me to believe it did not work, after the meeting it was clarified for me that the chair still worked, I immediately contacted Ms.Bush to say as it worked I would keep it until a suitable replacement was found.
- I am not stupid and obviously recall what was said at the meeting.

we discussed that it may be appropriate to be considered for custom moulded seating

- This was discussed between Ms.Bush and her colleagues, and again I was not really involved until she had made a decision, I was not keen on this decision as I said I wanted a recline feature from the very start of the meeting.
- No other seating options were given to me.

A manual recline and tilt wheelchair was discussed, but you preferred to explore the powered wheelchair option.

- A manual chair would give me much less independence than a powered chair.
- Ms.Bush actually suggested the manual chair as a temporary measure before moving to a power chair, this sounded like a waste of funds to me.

You reported that the wheelchair had not been used at all in the last 12 months, and use has been very limited in the previous 3 years.

- No I said that I had not used the wheelchair outdoors in the past 12 months, I had sat in it.
- It was stated that my Mother had used it outside at the beginning of 2010 (to test it worked fine).
- I explained my use had been limited due to severe panic attacks, which I was beginning to manage, I also stated that it was only recently I had been given support staff including an RGN, and that before this it had just been me and my Mother, and that I felt with an RGN as well as my Mother present it would be much safer and less stressful to start using the chair again.


We agreed at the visit that you would need to build up your sitting tolerance to at least 30-60 minutes after being hoisted out, in order to further assess your needs to decide on a replacement wheelchair that would meet your current needs

- Yes we discussed this, but obviously without my wheelchair working there is no way to do this.

I later had a telephone conversation with your carer, who requested that although it was understood that the seating would not meet your current needs, it would be used as part of a programme for you to start sitting out and build your sitting tolerance in advance of a further assessment for a replacement wheelchair; there is no other seating available for you to use for this purpose. It was agreed that although this was an unusual request, if it would assist in regaining sitting balance, then I would agree to the chair being kept.

- The conversation was with a registered nurse not a carer.
- Yes Ms.Bush agreed to let me use the chair to assist in regaining sitting balance, but as she insisted on a service first and returned the chair with no batteries I can not use it as she had agreed.

The wheelchair service, however, does not provide wheelchairs as a replacement for armchairs.

- I find this an inappropriate comment.

Following a visit from the repair service to undergo annual maintenance, they reported that 2 key problems were identified with the chair:
1) as the batteries had not been charged for a considerable time, they were no longer holding an effective charge, were starting to over heat, potentially making them unsafe and a fire risk.

- The chair had been regularly charged which Ms.Bush was made aware of at the meeting.
- If they were not holding their charge it was purely because the wheelchair center had not replaced them in years.
- I was assured the chair would be returned to me before I let the engineer take it, obviously I should of made it clear that I wanted it working when returned.

2) the wheelchair control system was not functioning safely, as again it has not been used for a long time; it was jerky and unable to be driven forward safely and consistently.

- As stated the control had been used recently, and it was working fine when it was last used.
- I fail to see how an electronic device like the control system would be caused problems through not being used, this seems totally ridiculous and un-scientific.
- When the engineer was here it moved forwards fine.
- The chairs tilt and recline features could still have been used safely to allow me to build up sitting tolerance (the price of new batteries is far less than providing another solution).

We took the advice of the engineers and agreed that as the chair was only being left with you to assist with building up your sitting tolerance, and not for driving around, the batteries would be removed

- How can I do this without batteries to power the tilt/recline feature?  She seems to be contradicting herself.

Unfortunately, you have been unable to use the chair for some time, and the chair has fallen into a poor state of repair

- As stated above this so called “poor state of repair” has nothing to do with lack of use.
- She seems to be inferring we have not looked after the chair, this is untrue as we have used it in accordance with the manufacturers specifications and advice given us by her engineers.

as your needs have changed, a replacement chair is required. I am happy to assess for a replacement once you are able to manage sitting up for the required length of an assessment (as agreed on our visit) in a more upright ‘chair shape ‘

- How can I increase my sitting up tolerance (as agreed) without the wheelchair working?  She is basically stating that although she agreed to several things to get me ready for further assesment that she will not hold up her end of the deal, therefore there can be no new assessment.

could potentially put you at risk due to the lack of support offered by the seating.

- I can not possibly prove to her whether there is a potential risk without her seeing me in the wheelchair, which I cannot do as it does not work.  Adding this comment seems purely to be an excuse and totally pointless.

On the visit it was agreed that you or your carer would inform me of when you felt ready for a further assessment for a replacement wheelchair. The offer remains to carry out the further assessment to decide on a new chair and seating to meet your needs, so please let me know when you are able to proceed and I will for the necessary appointment to be arranged.

- She is a registered nurse not a carer, Ms.Bush seems to be consistently making this error although she knows this fact.
- As repeatedly stated above Ms.Bush is giving me no chance of a future assessment, this paragraphs only point is to make it sound like she wants to help me get into a wheelchair again.


CHC – Update and Case Closed

Well things have been going very well, no problems to report with my care package from CHC, they have handed control to my District Nurses who will arrange any future updates or assessments.

It was quite a hard and long struggle but everything seems this way when dealing with the NHS, I will admit I don’t feel I actually ‘won’ this battle, much of my research and preparation wasn’t needed once it came to the actual meeting.  The turning point was when they swapped my CHC Nurse to one who actually cares and understands patients needs rather than just worries about budgets and rules, I was lucky as there don’t seem to be many management level people in the NHS nowdays who care, or are willing to make an effort for patients if it means more work for them.

Hopefully this will be my last post about problems with CHC – Case Closed.

Privacy and a brief update

Well the meeting has been and gone and I have a reasonable care package until September, when it will be reviewed again.  I will post more about the meeting in a future post but the main thing is they agreed to me having a registered nurse, for now.

This post is about privacy and AN’s (my Nursing agency) seeming lack of rules on confidentiality and lack of understanding of the law.

The problem started when I asked one of my carers, Mr.P, to plug in my webcam so I could record the audio of a meeting with my community nurse that morning, I can’t write to take notes so this made perfect sense, I of course checked that it was legal to record a meeting in my own home and according to section 36 of the Data Protection Act 1988 it is.

The problem first became apparent when we received a phone call about our next meeting with the community nurse, she asked if the telephone call was being recorded, it wasn’t, although I did check the OFCOM website afterwards and found that should I want to, in my own home it is legal, the community nurse then said that she had been told I was intending to record the upcoming meeting, I had no intention of recording that meeting and hadn’t said I was going to to anyone.

The idea of me recording her obviously worried the community nurse, although I have no idea why, one of the reasons she was unhappy was probably because I had not told her that I was recording the previous meeting, I had no legal obligation to do so, but I would of notified her if it had not been a last minute decision, but in this circumstance she would not have had chance to check it was legal and may have even cancelled the meeting, which could have adversely affected my care as it was an important meeting.

Now after the phone call it was pretty obvious that Mr.P had told somebody about the webcam, I had explained at the time he set up the webcam for me that it was legal and he expressed no concerns.  I would have expected him to tell me of any issues he had, he never had any problems sharing his opinions in the past and had been quite forthright on occasion.

So I contacted AN saying that I was concerned that Mr.P had passed on this information, which is unrelated to my care, and that I felt this was a breach of privacy, the manager, Ms.S.D contacted me saying she would look into it.  A short time later I contacted CHC and after a few emails was told that it was AN who passed this information on to them, they had obviously then passed this information on to the community nurse, of course Ms.S.D had not told me it was her that had passed the information on so we arranged a meeting to discuss the issue.

Now I didn’t expect the meeting to be particularly pleasant but I did not expect some of the things Ms.S.D said, firstly we discussed the actual recording, she said she had asked CHC legal and they had told her that I wasn’t allowed to record in my own home without telling the person first, I argued that actually telling the person was voluntary and that I had asked the ICO who should know more about this than CHC, she would not change her position and stated that four carers had expressed concerns about me using my webcam, although I had stated I would not record carers to both NA and the carers themselves, again none of my carers had mentioned any concerns over the webcam to me.  She then asked me how she was supposed to know that I wouldn’t post videos of her carers on YouTube, I pointed out that doing so would be illegal so I obviously wouldn’t do that, she didn’t seem to accept that either.

I then brought up my main concern, which was her passing on information to CHC which was unrelated to my care and not consulting me first, her answer shocked me somewhat, she stated that she was able to pass on any information, care related or not, to anyone involved in my care including CHC, the community nurse and my GP, this seemed very wrong to me so I pushed the issue by asking if technically CHC was her client and not me, and she said yes.  She then tried to infer that she was doing me a favour by talking to me and that had CHC got involved it would be more official and would not be as good for me, she even said that CHC would have brought PALS with them as though that would be bad for me, why CHC would bring PALS is beyond me as they are a body for helping patients not bodies like CHC, eventually Ms.S.D decided that we were not going to agree and that we should end that part of the meeting and move on to other matters.

Since the meeting I have heard nothing more from AN regarding my concerns and have twice requested copies of their privacy policy, which I have not received, and have also asked who at CHC gave her legal advice with no reply, I have also contacted the ICO, CQC and sought legal advice, both the ICO and my legal adviser stated I hadn’t broken any laws, so obviously Ms.S.D has either been given incorrect information or no information.

I am currently following up on the issue and will hopefully have more information on whether or not service users, and their families, have any expectation of privacy when receiving care in their own home in a future post.

First post – An introduction

Welcome to my blog, this first post is to introduce myself and give some general background of why I started the blog.

I am 35 years old and have Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, I have been receiving care in my own home funded by the Continuing Health Care (CHC)  department of my local PCT, CHC pay a care agency, lets call them AN, who provide trained carers and nurses to come into my home to give me personal and other care.

The care package I was receiving had to be increased last September due to my main carer, my Mother, having to go into hospital for a foot operation, Ms. B from CHC along with my community nurse carried out a standard assessment and it was decided that I would need 24 hour care for several months, and after that I would need a higher care package than I had received in the past.

There were a couple of disagreements regarding how I would be cared for between me and Ms. B, but the care agency AN sorted things out so they could give me the level of care I needed.

The whole situation was running smoothly until it was time for a review in December, Ms. B discovered that my care package was not the original one she had set up (although it’s pretty much a certainty she had known this for some time), now the new care package had been suggested by AN and agreed by me, AN also claim they had checked with CHC regarding the changes and I have no reason to believe they didn’t, but Ms. B was not happy and after a telephone conversation accusing my Mother of changing the package, she decided to drop the registered nurses who came in at night.

After she notified me of the decision I challenged it and formally asked for an appeal, Ms. B ignored my concerns and changed my care package without my agreement.  Following this I sent several emails to Ms. B saying I was not happy with the changes and quoting sections from the National Framework for Continuing Health Care which stated she could not behave in this way, things escalated with me eventually asking for her managers name or someone else in authority who could help me, her reply was a very short email saying that I should talk to my community nurse instead of her.

Shortly afterwards I had a meeting with my respiratory nurse, we discussed the issues and she suggested we have a case conference, after she left she talked to CHC and I was sent an email from Ms. B’s manager, Ms. D,  saying we needed a case conference and that registered nurses had been reinstated immediately for two nights a week in addition to my current 24/7 carer cover until the case conference.

The meeting is due on this Tuesday, we have been waiting since the beginning of February, I have prepared my case as well as possible and am sure that the law and NHS guidelines are on my side, but I’m not overly confident I will get the care package I need, we’ll see.

This is just a summary of what has occurred and there is much more I intend to write in future posts about this period, but until Tuesday I will be busy with last minute preparations, expect my next post Tuesday or Wednesday.