Les Misérables assessments begin…

Being a full twelve months since the Drug Trial began, the full complement of assessments were due. That meant five trips into London. There was the MRI, the Lung Function Tests, eyes, skin and the usual round of blood tests, questionnaires and EDSS. And like the initial ones, they are in close proximity time wise. Three of them were in the same week! A serious challenge to my fatigue levels.

The first assessment was the skin one. Last year she had inspected every mole, spot and scratch which she then wanted photographed. She was pleased to note that the mole on the third toe of my left foot had not changed in any way. I didn’t think it would. It’s been there forever. Quick inspection over and the assessment was finished. It had taken all of twenty minutes. I was free to go meet my friends. It felt like an anti-climax. Part of me felt what was the point? It had been a long journey for a short visit. I was glad I was meeting a couple of friends afterward to go to the theatre. We were going to see Les Misérables.

As I was travelling with my little mobility scooter, I had booked assistance for when I got to the theatre. It was fantastic. I couldn’t go in the main door because there was a step but they took me round to a side entrance. They took us to where I could park the scooter and direct to our seats. They came to ask if I needed anything during the interval, and at the end, they brought my scooter to me.

The show was even more wonderful than I remember from twenty years ago. I’d forgotten just how much more there is to the story. The cast recording that I often listen to is but a glimpse. It is a powerful tale of society and life in 19^th Century France. Victor Hugo was the French equivalent of Charles Dickens and, like Dickens’ tales, although written over a hundred years ago, Les Misérables’ message is just as relevant today. Tears pricked the back of my eyes when Jean Valjean sang Bring Him Home. In my head I was singing and crying with him.

By the end we felt rung out with emotion. And we had seen the matinee. How do the cast go through all that again twice in the same day? I was exhausted.