A Trip to London

A week or so ago i went to London on a day trip, i didnt realise how much my fibro would limit me but it did. I caught a train to Brighton didnt really have any problems well not really with my Fibro there was a few problems with the train which broke down but nothing which overly effected my illness.

I met up with some friends at Brighton, one of which who has Fibromyalgia but who is at a different stage and is able to walk usually with one walking stick and when we went to London had decided to take two which was a good idea.

We caught the train to London Victoria again no problems, i had taken my 11 year old sister with me too mainly as the reason we were going to London was to go to see the Doctor Who Exibition at Earls Court. My Sister although she is very young is very aware of things that cause problems with disabled people as her mother (my stepmum) has MS.

When we got to Victoria to get to Earls Court, i had planned a route that involved going on several trains and that would involve hardly any walking which of course would be good for myself and my friend with Fibro but the person who was leading us wanted to go via the underground and he believe the overground direct route to be unreliable.

So we set off on the underground. We went on several escalators which took a little bit of balancing to begin with with my crutches but i soon got the hang of it. Then we had to walk down many stairs, i find walking down stairs not too difficult but i am still rather slow because of pain in my legs and hips. My friend was very slow and seemed to be suffering alot too. Once we got down there an underground train came but it was packed and it waws obvious that there was not going to be any seats so we stayed on the platform and waited for the next one.

After the next underground train came we took it and several of us managed to get seats and we travelled stations. At the destination we got out off the train there wea a lift and we managed to get to the surface, to get to the front of Earls Court there was alot of walking and by the time we got there i was in a great deal of pain, i contemplated taking one of my morphine patches, i already had a morphine patch on. But didnt want to take a morphine tablet as this would make me drowsy and would make me not enjoy myself for the rest of the day.

We collected our tickets and people went to the bathroom i waited as i couldnt deal with anymore stairs and sat down on a chair to rest then we went for a walk to get some food. After which we went back to Earls Court for our walk around the Exibition.

We spoke to the guide who told us to get to the exhibition there was stairs we advised him there was a lift and he showed us too it and we started our walk around the. The Doctor Who Exhibition was amazing, although it was quite a walk, and i became very tired and overheated, i took many photos which was quite difficult whilst on two crutches but after slowing down and much resting we completed it.

After we had finished the Exhibition we tried to head back to the underground but i had hurt my knee more and the walking had tired me very much all my joints hurt. So we made a decision to take a taxi to the Doctor Who shop which was own by a friend of several members of the group. The taxi ride was good as we got to see alot of sights and have a good rest.

After the shop we headed back to the underground, throughout the trip i could not walk through the normal ticket barriers and had to walk through the disabled ones, some of the staff seemed lazy and unwilling to unlock them to let me through, My sister complained to them although she is only 11 years old!

We managed to get back to London Victoria and get some more food and head back home.

I must admit there was alot more walking involved than i had thought there would be, aalso i would have thought the underground would have been more accessable for disabled people i struggled on crutches i dont know how people in wheelchairs would have copied.

The next day i was exhausted and found myself covered in bruises i dont know if this is part of my fibro or because of all the people passing by.. i do bruise easily normally.. i do think it will be a long time before i work up the energy to go to London again!