Highlights from the OT Show

As usual the Occupation Therapy show was a great event. We've made lots of great new contacts, and also got to meet a few old friends (Jo Southall and Jen Patchett who popped in to say hi, and Kim Clayden who came and helped out on our stand) and met with old-new friends who I've known onlinen but not met (like from Burning Nights CRPS).

Rather than boring you with details, here are some random bullet point highlights:

• Many of the OT's who visited us had a special interest in mental health. The conversations started almost universally with them giving an apologetic "Well, I work in adult mental health, so this probably isn't..." so I got to watch their faces light up when they realise that yes, we really do have lots on offer that can help and support adults with conditions that affect their mental health!
• My hotel room was cold. Some of you will know I'm heat intolerant - so I collapse/get drunk when I'm too warm. The average hotel room is too warm. So discovering that not only could I open the window, but also turn off the radiator completely, was just heavenly!
• Our location was near the exit to a lecture hall, so we would get periodic crowds of people - at times we'd have so many people at the stand that the ones at the back were being handed leaflets through the crowd!
• This time I decided to have a smaller table so a short padded bench could fit alongside it - just long enough for me to lie down on - so I could get lots of short 'horizontals' throughout the day - essential for my POTS management. It turned out to have the added bonus that by the end of the day I got extra visitors because I had a seat.
• Our stand was next to the EHOB stand. They specialise in products that relieve pressure sores. I'm fortunate that I don't have a problem with pressure sores, but I was most interested in their foot/ankle products. I have floppy feet and ankles - and consequetnly a lot of night-time pain as the pressure from the mattress can cause pain, as can allowing the foot to flop unsupported. But I also need to be able to wriggle my feet and legs - making standard rigid resting splints unlikely to help. These very lightweight inflatable, flexible boots might be the solution I'm after! So I will be trying a pair out for the next few weeks and will blog about how I get on with them.
• I was interviewed on Thursday by Jack March for the Physio Natters podcast about physiotherapy and hypermobility (which might be aired in December, or possibly January - I'll let you know). I didn't do a great job of explaining (but bearing in mind it was day 2 of the show, I was actually doing really well to be able to put sentences together!) so I'll probably try and publish a blog that goes into some of the issues we covered in a bit more detail.

But this was my favourite moment:

The show entrance is a very wide ramp. long enough to get a good speed up. At the bottom of the ramp you had to stop to get your badge scanned every time you entered. Having to stop at the bottom takes the fun out of ramps. The toilets were outside the show and so was food - so I lost count of how many times I went out and then back in to the show, and had to curb my ramp appreciation to get scanned. Until the last time. It was quieter. The scanner chap caught my eye as I reached the top of the ramp. Instead of preparing to stop, I lined myself up...

...and let out a whoop as he successfully scanned me in while I sped past him, roller-coaster style.