I've had some bad luck this year. MS was enough of a challenge but on top of that, in January I managed to fracture my leg. It was a tiny fracture, but I needed a full leg cast that stayed on for five weeks. That meant I could not use my wheelchair, and was dependent on carers to hoist me to a commode (for the most basic of bodily functions). Then, when the cast came off, some of the carers couldn't manage to hoist me.

That went on for nine days and I was spending an awful lot of time in bed. As a result, I developed a grade 4 pressure ulcer. (The most serious) When the ulcer became infected I was admitted to hospital. Up to that point I knew very little about pressure ulcers, but now I know far more than I ever wanted to.

The 'wound' was debrided by a surgeon, which is a fancy way of saying that the black dead tissue was cut away so the wound could begin to heal. (No it didn't hurt, the nerves in dead tissue are dead too), Following that, the wound had to be dressed every day. A piece of dressing packed in the deepest part, so the the wound would heal from the base, and not heal over the top of a hole. I was on intravenous antibiotics for three weeks and for ten weeks I lay in a hospital bed turning from one side to the other every two hours, day and night.

The pressure ulcer is now healing well, but my legs are very stiff from laying in bed. To straighten them I need the help of an expert physiotherapist at least three times a week.

I used my savings to pay for physiotherapy, and I am now using the small amount of money my husband and I had put away for emergencies, but even that is about to run out.

I want to, once again, transfer in and out of my wheelchair, cook a meal, get on a bus to go shopping, and go to the park with my grandchildren. That is why I need physiotherapy.

So my heartfelt thanks go to anyone who can make a donation, however small.

Thank you so much,

Tricia xxx