A Little Upside Down Reading !

During the outpatients appointments Hari would be examined but I always felt that I was not being given a great deal of information.

On one occasion Peter Fleming did say that Hari had brain damage - this was the full extent of the information he gave me on this subject. 'Brain damage' is a catch all phrase that can mean very little and cover a wide range of problems.

I only learnt the full and official diagnosis by being a bit crafty!

At that time medical notes at the GP surgery were not on computer but on paper. I had to take Hari to the GP for something and Annette Bradley pulled the papers out of the envelope style file. Whilst she was busy writing something in the notes I was busy reading upside down - the top piece of paper in the pile she had removed was a letter from Peter Fleming.

I read the fact that Hari had 'spastic quadriplegia' (a form of cerebral palsy) - this was the first time I had encountered this term.

So my next task was to investigate the exact meaning of the term 'spastic quadriplegia' - in order to ascertain the facts that nobody had bothered to tell me.

It would not be the last time that I had to research the facts for myself and this was before the widespread use of the Internet made such research easy! Back then the only way to do this was to traipse around libraries and bookshops (with three children in tow)!

As if I didn't have enough to do already!