The Occupational Therapist has been!

She's a really nice lady, likes cats, so she must be good.

She was astonished at the shoddy work they housing did for the last OT brief for the side door. Apparently it does not meet the brief set out at all and she thinks she may have to 'ride them hard' to make sure they actually do the work to standard. Good and bad really, there are some areas she cannot help with in the kitchen as Ana isn't classed as using the kitchen, but that will change as she gets older.

Things we are getting :-

A shower woooooooooo! No more running baths at 2am or in the final minutes before school.

A douche toilet (sounds lovely that doesn't it) so Ana can wash and dry her bottom as she has difficulty wiping and I still have to 'polish'

A second hand rail on the stairs

A special door to Ana's room that cannot be slammed

Special magnetic lockable doors to the kitchen and the side of the house that are linked to the fire alarm system (no more walking round like a jailer)

A hatch way to through to the living room from the kitchen so when I am cooking/washing up I can still 'be in the living room'. Also helpful for passing dinner through so I don't have Ana bouncing in the kitchen next to the cooker and hot pans.

A referral to the incontinence team for discrete pads so I don't go through tons of knickers.

Excellent when all we asked for was a shower and the side door sorted.

The OT is also going to research other implementations that can help Ana.

Part of me is so happy that we're now getting the help, another however will believe it when it sees it. I also wonder how Ana will react to the work going on and the new stuff. Being restricted from the kitchen will be a big change (only restricted when I am unable to supervise to stop the stealing of food, she ate a whole multibag of plain crisps the other week while I was hoovering upstairs)!