Over the next few weeks I was mainly in bed taking antibiotics and anti cramping medication. I got up occasionally to watch a bit of tv and eat a little bit but I couldn’t manage much. I remember thinking everyone else looked like pigs eating big meals but I knew I wasn’t well. I was still doubled over and used a microwave heat pack to help with the pain. The antibiotics were for 3 weeks so I took them and felt a bit better but it felt like something had just moved. I also had a bladder infection. When I had finished the course of antibiotics I had to go back to doctor as I still wasnt that well. She arranged a scan and I went for that. The doctor at the hospital after prodding around for ages said he couldn’t see anything wrong but I knew he had seen something. He just didn’t want to say.
Over the next couple of weeks it did get gradually better and I arranged to do a shift at some local bunkhouses and cafe where I knew the woman that ran it. I had to go into the local town to go to a Jobseekers appointment to keep my payment going. I went to that but realized afterwards that I still wasnt well and phoned to say I wasn’t going to be able to make it tonight. They said they’d phone when they needed me. I went home thinking my dad would make a thing of it but he didn’t this time. I just enjoyed another few days of rest before they phoned me. I went in and had to work in the kitchen at first. It was 2 guys that worked there and they were really friendly and said I could have drinks when I needed them and some food if I wanted. I could tell I still wasnt well as I was sweating and I knew I’d lost at least a stone through being Ill.
Over the next couple of months I worked between the cafe/restaurant sometimes waitressing or sometimes in the kitchen. I also did some housekeeping as she had bunkhouses at the back. I cleaned them but sometimes I had to have a lie down on one of the sofas. I got paid but sometimes had to keep reminding her and she would get annoyed at being asked but I needed paid. My dad said I had to pay 20 pound a week because I was working so I paid that when I had it. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to work there long term but it was allowing me to put away money every week and I got about 700 from the guy in Harris so I was accumulating a bit of cash and had just under a grand when I left. It was mostly okay in the house because I was working and they were working and I was paying 20 pound a week towards things but there was an incident in the car where I asked for my change. It wasn’t much but he went nuts saying it’s only a pound and he would give me money. I said keep it but I wanted out of the car and that I’d get the bus. He let me out and I got the bus. During the 3 months I was there I filled in a form for the local council. I told them there wasn’t enough space as other family members stayed there sometimes and the problems I had with my dad. Most of it was true. I just exaggerated a little bit and put something in about my niece staying there aswell. I thought I would at least get a response but there was nothing. I had asked when I went back for visits but nothing arrived.The night before I left was the night before my 37th birthday. There was some hostility between my dad and me and I had decided to get away for a while. I had the money now. He was saying some funny things to do with religion and wasn’t being that nice about it. I tried looking for somewhere local to stay around the area and a bit further afield but everywhere was really expensive and I didn’t want to dwindle all the cash I had saved so I looked at Newcastle and there was decent hotels for 40 pounds a night so I booked myself into one for 2 nights. I’d think what to do after then. I got my stuff together overnight, had a bit of a sleep then put my bags at the front door as I knew he wouldn’t look there. He would usually go into the living room and switch the tv on. I did a double check and made sure the coast was clear then I went for the bus. I didn’t want to do it that way but I knew they wouldn’t understand me leaving when I had work so it was the only way. When on the train to Glasgow I gotta phone call asking me where I was and that I hadn’t turned up to work. I said i had booked somewhere to stay and that I needed to get away a while. He just kept saying get off the train at the next stop. We will pay your fare back. I said he wasn’t listening and that I didn’t want to come back. People on the train overheard it and it was all a bit embarrassing. Anyway I got to Glasgow and then to Newcastle. After finding the place and treating myself to a new tablet from Argos I enjoyed a couple of nights in a small hotel on the outskirts of Newcastle. It was basic and I had to go and ask for some more teabags but it had a nice bar where I had dinner and a couple of cocktails one night. I decided that I had to do something with the money I had earned so I booked myself 5 days in Gran Canaria. I didn’t have anyone to go with but I thought it would be a good break seeing as I had been so I’ll and didn’t have much time to recover before working again. I couldn’t quite afford a week but I found a place at 40 euros a night for a small apartment. I booked it and a couple of days later I flew out to Gran Canaria. I told them my plans. They weren’t that happy but it was my life and I needed the break.
Living with Neurodivergence 