It is amazing how the posts bring back deeply buried memories.
Jane's post about the plaster cast making brought this all back to me. For a long time I had a posterior plaster but after my operation I had a full plaster from my shoulders to my hips. I remember the plaster sores which were very painful and had a terrible smell. After a while the plaster was removed in order to treat these sores but as soon they healed I had a new cast.
I recall when I was told I could learn to walk, however I first had to get accustomed to being in a vertical position. I was placed in a frame, made of wood I think, which enable me to be upright without falling over. After a while in this frame I must have been taught to walk although I don't recall that part of it.
After I was discharged and attended school, the headmaster, who knew I had had a long spell in hospital, did not know how to treat me and so came to discuss this with my father who told him to treat me the same as any other pupil.
When the patients were having lessons in hospital they had to write with pencils of course. Pen and ink was not possible. The result was of course that I did not know how to use a pen and ink. We had to use those awful pens with steel nibs and so I always had school books covered in ink blots which always got me into hot water. The headmaster had a short fuse and often threw the wooden blackboard eraser at an offending pupil. He was a good shot however as he never hit anyone.
