Delia's story
Delia has been attending Thistle's gym since July 2022. Here she describes the difference it's made to her.
“In January 2020 I caught Covid. When it hit me, I nearly died. I spent three weeks in the hospital on a ventilator. When I was discharged, I thought I was okay. But when I walked into my house, I went ‘splat’ on the hall floor. I couldn’t get up, but thankfully my son was there to pick me up.
“I had to start using a cane, and I was worried about becoming psychologically dependent on it. I was going downhill, health wise, and I started to feel really down. I had to grapple in the bathtub and scramble to get out, because I had no strength. I’d sit down when we went out for a picnic as a family, but I couldn’t get back up. Worst of all, I couldn’t kneel when I went to church anymore. I found it quite embarrassing, so I stopped going altogether. I really felt very old, that I was deteriorating. I thought I maybe had two years left in me.
“I had done a 24 week program from the hospital to help improve my balance, but I worried when I finished it. What was I going to do? That’s when my GP advised me to go and visit Thistle. I met with Grace, a Health and Wellbeing Practitioner, and together we made an exercise plan for me to work more on my balance.
“Life now is very different. I feel a lot better thanks to the help from Thistle. I feel more energized – I can get out of the bath without difficulty now! I noticed that my stamina was improving a lot when I queued to see The Queen lying in state. Whilst I was standing, I started doing my exercises – and everybody around me started doing them with me! With standing for six hours, if I hadn’t done that I probably would have keeled over. And then about three weeks ago, I decided to try going back to church. I automatically bent one knee, and to my amazement I was able to kneel! That made me so happy.
“The atmosphere at Thistle is really friendly, and I now aim to go three times a week. I go to the Tai chi classes, as well as now using the gym independently, and my aim is to be able to do the movements standing. My focus is to get my balance fully back, and when I do achieve that, I’ll be a lot happier. I’ll be able to go anywhere I want, on my own! Every two weeks I go with my son to Gullane, or Yellowcraig Beach, because they have such great stretches of sand to walk along. At the moment I get tired about halfway, so my son brings his skis with him and I use them like trekking poles on the sand and climb uphill! I’m looking forward to being able to walk the whole way with him and my grandchildren.”