Introducing… My arm bike! At Stanmore there is a lot of time to kill as you are on your own a lot, as the other patients are in physio sessions and visitors aren’t allowed in until 2pm. For me, using the arm bike was a great way to kill time but more importantly it improved my strength and got me moving which inevitably made me feel good about myself.

It’s hard to start off with, well at least it was for me! I couldn’t push the bugger for more than 3 minutes. I invested in some ActiveHands, which are gloves that allow you to grip onto a handle, ironically named Get A Grip, which I felt wasn’t a great slogan! I remember when I reached 9 minutes and it felt like I had cycled a marathon… Weird thinking about that now as I can now watch a whole movie whilst pushing!

My best friend has only let me down once after I had finished a session. There is a slight ramp going onto the bike which I warn you not to come off sideways from… Yeah, that wasn’t one of my best ideas as I ended up on the floor with a massive bump on my head and music blaring so nobody could hear me! I now am particularly careful when coming off the arm bike!