At this stage I think it is a convenient time to assess my physical condition and how I managed on this trip.  Of course, the good doctor attended to most of my personal needs.  He insisted on sponging me down in the shower, dressing me, collecting my food, cutting it up and occasionally even spooning it into my mouth.  Once up and dressed and fed the only other thing I needed help with was lavatorial and, being a doctor,  none of this caused him  any concern. As he said himself he has seen more bottoms and I have had Sunday lunches.

I can still managed to shave myself after a fashion with my electric razor.  I have always shaved in bed, in any event, so lying flat on my back and planting the razor in my  right hand behind the permanently curled fingers and clasping that hand with my left hand, which like the other, is half permanently curled, I can move the razor around my face and neck.  I don’t end up with a very professional job but probably just enough to avoid me looking like one of those young (apparently) sexy unshaven male models which we see on most advertisements today!

The shower at home is over a bath which I have to step into, this I can manage at present but I wonder how long it would be before we have to dispose of this lovely deep cast-iron old-fashioned tub and replace it with a rather nasty walk-in shower.  Teeth is another thing I am still just managing  – after ‘my lovely’ has applied some toothpaste to the brush – by virtue of my fancy electric toothbrush, which tells me when I have spent 30 seconds on each quadrant!  My only difficultly is turning the brush in my hands which I can do in a rather clumsy fashion but maybe at some stage this task too will be have  to be handed over.

Beds can be a slight problem particularly my lovely’s antique four-poster which is rather high off the ground.   I’m now using a stool to get in. I know ‘my lovely’ is keen to replace it with some sort of orthopaedic bed but as I have slept in it for the best part of 50 years and my darling daughter Chloe was born in it and my little grandchildren have crept into it in the early hours of every Christmas morning, when they have spent Christmas with us, eagerly anticipating opening their Christmas stockings, as I hope they will again this Christmas – their parents not wishing to know at 5 a.m. in the morning – I am loathe to get rid of it. I have no difficulty in turning over and to some extent adjusting the bedclothes using my legs and elbows. I do  find it virtually impossible to pull up the duvet around my neck which can be a little annoying when it’s rather chilly.  The other thing I find difficult is moving the pillows. Even the lightest down pillow is too heavy for me to lift other than clenched between my two-fisted hands.

Talking of beds, for as long as I can remember I have kept a large pile of cut paper by the side of the bed with a pen on which I would records notes or ideas which came to me during the night. I did all this in the dark when my ‘my lovely’ still slept with me. Now, sadly as I can no longer write so I have recently turned to a Dictaphone which, although I have some little differently in pushing the record switch, enables me to continue this rather bizarre habit.  Some of my very best ideas have come to me in the early hours of the morning after my two or three hours deep sleep.

Although the good doctor sat at the back of the hall, during some of the Beijing lectures, I insisted that he went sightseeing for two of the three days but I did have  a student with me who turned the pages of my lecture notes and pressed a key, on my laptop, to change the PowerPoint slide where marked. So this side of things went very smoothly.

There’s no doubt, however, that I have weakened during the last month both  in my arms and legs. For example, on returning home, and resuming my morning exercises, I can no longer raise my arm from the floor when lying flat on my stomach. More than once, on this trip,  I found myself in a squat position unable to get up.  On one occasion, in Hua Hin,  I got stuck in a tuk tuk unable to move forward or back. It took the driver and the doctor a bit of shoving and pushing to get me into an upright position onto the seat. On another occasion, when I dropped my plastic room card and attempted to recover it, I found myself wedged against the door practically on my knees, again unable to move. My right arm now occasionally locks rigid and I have to throw my weight into it to bend it. One night I managed to fall out of bed and hit my cheek on the bedside table when reaching for my water.

Once on my feet however, in an upright position, I am able to walk fairly normally albeit a little more slowly than before.  It will be interesting to see how I manage to walk around the golf course next Tuesday.

I am still able to use my laptop as the forefinger and middle finger of my left hand seems to have frozen in an almost horizontal position which is very handy for operating my mouse or switching lights on and off. I have to be particularly careful about shutting doors. On several occasions I have had to ring through to the house to get ‘my lovely’ to open my office door which seems to jam on the cill. Bill, our carpenter, is coming shortly to fit a new cill to overcome this problem.

When away from home, if I use a toilet for the disabled, I usually get a friend, or the attendant, to stand guard outside so I do not have to lock the door and then I usually ask them if they will be kind enough to assist me to adjust my dress. Most people are obliging and do not seem to mind.

I have decided that my driving days are over as I cannot risk having an accident if my right arm locks solid. This means that I shall shortly dispose of my car although I have no high hopes for getting a good price in this current market.

‘My lovely’ has now taken over the duties performed by the good doctor, washing me etc. where, prior to this trip I was able to manage myself.  At all mealtimes I now wear a full-length apron as eating has become a rather sloppy affair, frequently dropping food from the angled spoon, into my lap.  At home I have my articulated arm rest which still enables me to feed myself, albeit rather clumsily. I am working on the design of a sling which will go  from foot to foot, around the back of my neck, connected to the wrist of each hand, which I’m hoping will enable me to raise my right hand to my mouth when I am eating away from home and do not have the articulated arm rest.

Drinking is now done almost entirely in my two handled lightweight mug using a long straw. Smoking is still possible by clamping the cigar, into the spring clip screwed to the top of the freestanding cigar holder which I designed and had made by my carpenter.

Lastly there is the problem of signing my name.  This had to be done on several occasions during this recent trip on arrival and departure cards. In many instances the good doctor had to forge my name. He obviously didn’t want to get embroiled in an hour long discussion and I imagine there must be some system that enables an illiterate to make his mark. I have already given ‘my lovely’ authority to sign my cheques so I am completely at her mercy over my money- I just hope she doesn’t run off with the milkman!!  But how do I cope in other circumstances when she is no longer with me? I can give her a general power-of-attorney but when she is not physically standing next to me how will the person to whom I’m speaking and who is demanding my signature, know that I have authorised the pre-signed cheque?  Clearly there is a procedure as I’m not the first person to find myself in this position, so I must make some enquiries.

Feeding is OK as long as the food is cut up, I can use a spoon. Most drinking is through a straw as most glasses are too heavy for me, although I can still cup a wine glass. Driving is fine in my automatic as I can still curl my fingers.

My greatest fear is getting locked into a public lavatory – in the train or in someone’s offices. Locks with a circular knobs are the worst.

Richard Bamford had his beautiful black lab with him and I must say it made my heart ache for the loss of my own old lab., Woody. My lovely wife says that I may have another dog when I finally swear I have given up international travel (am I not there already?). I suspect it will be some tiny terrier as opposed to a lolloping lab but any dog would be better than none.

I must say there are all very good in helping me with my shoes, tie etc. and chopping up my food. Most all of them have had small children at some time or other and are used to that sort of thing. Legs still working O.K. I had intended to make this the unveiling of the kilt but decided that it was a bit chilly and breezy and would leave it for a warmer day. Perhaps next Tuesday.

One thing I did learn today and that was the easiest way to eat a sandwich. My weakened arms means that I have to use both hands to get it to my month. I now have the sandwich chopped up into small bite-size squares, stab it a fork and, with the assistance of my wrist splint, can manage with my right hand alone.

The cricket was great, an excellent win for England against the West Indies and particularly encouraging to see new boys Swan and Onions doing really well, not to mention Bophara. I look forward to the Ashes in June. I think we will give the Aussies a good run for their money.

I spent Friday night at daughter Chloe’s in anticipation of taking son-in-law (and nephew Tom Grand) for the Saturday match, which sadly did not take place, the match being all over on the third day. So we went out to lunch in East Dulwich instead.

The first thing I have to say is that the miracle concerning my artificial urinary sphincter (AUS) continues. In other words, I can urinate naturally without squeezing me control pump and still no significant leakage. As much as anything else for this reason I am still coping and able to go to London by myself and manage to do so today without falling over!

I usually start the day doing 20 minutes of gentle exercises which I have done for over 30 years.

I find I can no longer plug in my razor or my electric toothbrush as the socket is above my head. I’m still managing to shave OK with my electric shaver but only by lying down on the bed – the shaver itself is quite heavy. Somehow I don’t think it will be too long before someone else has to shave me and operate my electric toothbrush.

After breakfast in bed I then take a shower which I can manage myself – just – but I do need a hand with the drying. I can manage my legs and lower parts but my wife has to help me with the rest of it. As I can still raise my arms above my head I can manage to get my vest and shirt over my head, although I must admit it is becoming a little bit of an effort and it only possible by me throwing up my arms high into the air. From that point on, my lovely helps me finish dressing, particularly with my socks and trousers. If I’m wearing a tie, say, to go to London, these I have pre-tied and they just slip over my head. There is no way now that I could possibly tie one myself. We finish up with my lovely brushing my hair which again, although I can get my hands up to my head I cannot comfortably work around even with the long handled comb that I bought.

For meals I now have a selection of spoons and forks with a large rubber handles which I made myself from hollow piping – so much cheaper than buying the ready-made ones. ‘My lovely’ has bought me some two handled, lightweight plastic tumblers – mugs that I can also use with a straw as I am finding it difficult to lift a heavy cup up to my mouth. I travel about with my own special cutlery and two handled lightweight cup, even in the smart restaurants. I eat most things with a spoon and can manage quite well, provided someone cuts up the food for me. What I really need, and I will make one if I cannot buy one, is a shover. In other words instead of using my finger to push things onto the spoon I can do it more elegantly with a special piece of cutlery. I am sure I’ve seen such a thing in a infants feeding kits somewhere.

The other thing, that has made eating a little easier, is a wrist splint that was provided by the hospital, which I put on before eating. It just gives that little extra support. The MND unit have also provided a very expensive and complicated looking armrest which is clamped to the side of my armchair sidetable. It certainly does help by taking the weight of the arm but for the moment I seem to manage OK with just the wrist splint.

Once I am up and dressed I can pretty well cope by myself, spending the day in the office, with the occasional hand to plug things in, lift heavy files out of the filing cabinet or to trim paper etc. I’m spending most of my time, at present, trying to finish my autobiographical notes whilst I still have some use on my hands. Frankly, although I rely heavily on voice activation, I do not fancy this amount of work when I’m trying to operate a mouse with my foot.

When I get into bed, at night, I’m able to sit up and read comfortably as my lovely has generously bought me a sort of rubber armchair which sits on the bed. Having said that it is becoming more difficult for me to position myself in this ‘armchair’ not being able to use my arms to push my body back. I can manage it by wriggling inch by inch but it does take me a few minutes.

Heavy books I find almost impossible to handle so we place them on a sloping bed tray and hold the pages in position with an elastic band. The e-book should be here shortly so that might make reading a little easier.