sympatheticReassurance doesn't seem to be helping right now. I tried, but it just doesn't. It's hard watching her go through the same kind of problematic thinking I went through when my spine went wrong, four and a half years ago. Still, people have to work through stuff at their own rate.
Adding to that, she's stressed about the way that the University seems to be dragging its feet about the aids and adaptations she needs at work. Sure, they're expensive, but, under the relevant government programme, they'll only have to pay 20% of the costs, which works out that they'll pay no more than buying her a top-line PC would cost them. A mere couple of thousand quid. She's having a meeting with them on Friday, and will be taking an AUT union rep with her as 'friend'. Personally, I think the Uni will cave in, because they actually have a statutory duty to provide her with necessary adaptations so she can work, but she's feeling dreadfully pessimistic about it. So I'm going to go over on Friday, hang around outside the meeting (or even go in if she'd like me to), and then we're going to spend the rest of the day enjoying ourselves a little.
The rest of the weekend I'm going to spend with her going over the work that we really have to have ready by January for the first 'real' Protocol Day. I'm convinced it's all perfectly good, but she's so twitchy that it's the only way I can think of to be really helpful, just sitting down with her and making sure she has everything done, all the data properly analysed, the presentation up to scratch, all the awkward questions that could be asked provided with reasonable answers...
It's kind of a shame, because I was hoping that I'd get to spend some of the weekend with Matt
mattp, who I haven't seen in way too long and who could do with some company too. Still, I'm hoping he will get to come to Birmingham at the w/e to visit his sister, because if he does, I should be able to get some time to see him before Christmas. And I'm really hoping I'll be able to get to his New Year do in Manchester.So, that's the shape things are at the moment.
