Living with Neurodivergence

I moved into the flat in musselburgh. I was really excited as it was away from Edinburgh, the flat was really spacious with one big room and a box room as it didn’t have a window but I could use it for storage and the landlord had left a futon in it which I liked. I walked about a bit getting used to the area and I seen there were some things I might be interested in. There was a nice leisure centre with a gym and swimming pool. It was combined with a restaurant so I thought it might be expensive to join but when I asked it wasn’t that bad and I knew I’d use the pool a bit so I paid it and arranged a session at the gym. I knew I’d gained quite a bit of weight in the previous flat and wasn’t looking forward to being weighed but I had to do it. It was a bit further getting into work but I sometimes did nightshifts in the main hospital for extra money. I went to the gym one day for my session and I got weighed. I couldn’t believe I was up to 18 stone. I was really shocked as that was the most I had ever been. I had to do some walking on the treadmill, some steps, get on the bycicle and then the rowing machine. The guy was a little bit pushy but they usually are in the gyms. I’d eaten beforehand but I still felt a little bit lightheaded as I hadn’t done much in a while. I started on the rowing machine and did about 10 minutes. I stood up to get off and something went wrong, I think I caught my foot on something and came crashing to the ground. As I did I fell onto my left ankle. I just remember screaming in pain. I knew I’d broken it and the guy was trying to help me but I couldn’t move. It took about 10 minutes for me to get myself together enough. I wondered if he was going to phone for paramedics as I couldn’t walk. He said he would drive me home, which was just round the corner. I just accepted because I couldn’t imagine sitting in hospital in the state I was in. He helped me over to the car and drove me home. I somehow managed to stagger up the stairs and lay down for ages. I had to get up for a drink though and by the time I staggered through to get it I was about to pass out with the pain. I sat on the chair and held onto the table. Luckily I had sports drink from earlier and some irn bru. I got through those and some paracetamol I had. It was a very uncomfortable night and I knew I would have to get to the hospital the next day but by then I would feel more normal. I woke up still in agony. I was amazed I got any sleep. I tried to get ready but it was really difficult to get my foot into my shoe. I managed it by keeping it at an angle. I had muesli before I left to fuel myself as I didn’t want to feel faint.I was going to try for a bus but that was too much so I got a taxi. I waited a couple of hours once I got to the hospital then I seen a doctor, I actually recognized her from one of my old flats as her sister lived next door. She x rayed me and said it was a bad break and it would need plastered. I had to wait again and 2 nursing staff plastered it. Breaking my ankle was agony but getting it plastered made up for it. I just lay back and enjoyed it as it felt really relaxing and they said it was one of the better jobs. I went home with some co-codomol and put my feet up. I had to go back in a week or so to get a proper mesh cast on it. I wasn’t able to get about so I had to get my sister to do some shopping for me. That did me a while until I could walk. I put a post on Facebook about it and before I knew it my landlord was knocking at my door. I knew she had heard but I couldn’t answer as there were cups and plates everywhere. I could only manage to make easy things that only took 5 minutes of standing such as cup a soups or flavoured cous cous. She went away for the time being but I knew she would be back. I knew I would be losing weight because of what I was just eating but I was glad as I felt sick about falling onto it and what I had felt. I had to take time off work and got statuatory sick pay which was quite good. Gradually it got a bit better and I could do further walks from the flat to get shopping. One day the landlord came round with her boyfriend to check on things as she quite often did. I could tell they could see I had lost weight. It wasn’t a massive loss and I knew how I’d done it but I felt a lot better about myself as I knew I’d lost at least a stone to a stone and a half. I’d only been eating small portions and going out for little walks. I took the codeine but they sometimes made me feel really tired, although I enjoyed the feeling sometimes I wanted it to get better so I wouldn’t have to keep taking them. I was off work about 8 or 9 weeks until I knew it was healed enough. I was only going about with one crutch for a while to build myself up and taking baths were a nightmare. It wasn’t the best start to the new place but it made me take it easy for a while and I was ready to start back at work.